VIRTUAL NETWORK FUNCTION BUS-BASED AUTO-REGISTRATION

• US 20200136929A1
• Filed: 10/25/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Takla, Mourad B., Oliveira, Fernando
• Granted Patent: US 10,826,798 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0866 Checking the configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5041 characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/20 the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) system reads, from a data bus coupled to the NFV system, Virtual Network Function (VNF) parameters published to the data bus by a new VNF. The NFV system publishes, to the data bus based on the VNF parameters, instructions to multiple components of the NFV system defining which VNF capabilities of the new VNF are to be managed, controlled, or monitored by which of the multiple NFV system components. The multiple components of the NFV system control, manage, or monitor the new VNF based on the published instructions. The data bus can include a Data Movement as a Platform (DMaaP) system that publishes and subscribes to streams of records.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

reading, from a data bus by a network functions virtualization (NFV) system, Virtual Network Function (VNF) parameters published to the data bus by a new VNF;

publishing, by the NFV system to the data bus based on the VNF parameters, instructions to multiple NFV components of the NFV system defining which VNF capabilities of the new VNF are to be managed, controlled, or monitored by which of the multiple NFV components; and

controlling, managing, or monitoring the new VNF, by the multiple NFV components of the NFV system, based on the published instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the NFV system comprises an Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data bus comprises a Data Movement as a Platform (DMaaP) system.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the DMaaP system comprises a distributed streaming platform that publishes and subscribes to streams of records.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the reading the VNF parameters from the data bus comprises:

reading, by a controlling function of the ONAP, the VNF parameters published to the data bus by the VNF.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of NFV components comprise a Management and Orchestration (MANO) component, a generic Virtual Network Function Manager (gVNFM), and a Data Collection, Analytics, and Events (DCAE) component of the ONAP and wherein publishing the instructions to the multiple control components of the NFV system comprises:

publishing the instructions to the MANO component, the gVNFM, or the DCAE component of the ONAP, and

wherein controlling, managing, or monitoring the new VNF comprises;

controlling, managing, or monitoring the new VNF, by the MANO component, the gVNFM, and the DCAE component, based on the instructions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the VNF parameters comprise VNF configuration parameters, VNF control parameters, and/or VNF monitoring parameters associated with the new VNF.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the VNF configuration parameters indicate a type of inputs and outputs of the new VNF and how those inputs and outputs would be used and from where they would be sourced, wherein the VNF control parameters indicate control ports, control parameters, and types of severity errors and how to manage them, and wherein the VNF monitoring parameters indicate types of flags and status information associated with monitoring the new VNF.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein reading the VNF parameters from the data bus comprises:

reading the VNF parameters from a first topic of the data bus to which the new VNF published the VNF parameters for declaring the existence of the new VNF.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein publishing the instructions to the data bus comprises:

publishing first configuration data to a first record of a second topic of the data bus, wherein the first configuration data identifies a first control component of the multiple control components of the NFV system to which the first configuration data is directed, and includes a mapping between one or more topics of the data bus and VNF capabilities and VNF parameters of the new VNF that are to be managed, controlled, and/or monitored by the first control component.

11. A network functions virtualization (NFV) system coupled to an external data bus, comprising:

multiple NFV system components; and

an application controller configured to;

read, from the data bus, Virtual Network Function (VNF) parameters published to the data bus by a new VNF,

publish, to the data bus based on the VNF parameters, instructions to the multiple NFV system components that define which VNF capabilities of the new VNF are to be managed, controlled, or monitored by which of the multiple NFV system components, wherein the multiple NFV system components are configured to;

control, manage, or monitor the new VNF based on the published instructions.

12. The NFV system of claim 11, wherein the NFV system comprises an Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP).

13. The NFV system of claim 11, wherein the data bus comprises a Data Movement as a Platform (DMaaP) system.

14. The NFV system of claim 13, wherein the DMaaP system comprises a distributed streaming platform that publishes and subscribes to streams of records.

15. The NFV system of claim 12, wherein the multiple NFV system components comprise a Management and Orchestration (MANO) component, a generic Virtual Network Function Manager (gVNFM), and a Data Collection, Analytics, and Events (DCAE) component of the ONAP and wherein, when publishing the instructions, the application controller is further configured to:

publish the instructions to the MANO component, the gVNFM, and the DCAE component, and

wherein, when controlling, managing, or monitoring the new VNF, the multiple NFV system components are further configured to;

control, manage, or monitor the new VNF, by the MANO component, the gVNFM, and the DCAE component, based on the instructions.

16. The NFV system of claim 11, wherein the VNF parameters comprise VNF configuration parameters, VNF control parameters, and/or VNF monitoring parameters associated with the new VNF.

17. The NFV system of claim 16, wherein the VNF configuration parameters indicate a type of inputs and outputs of the new VNF and how those inputs and outputs would be used and from where they would be sourced, wherein the VNF control parameters indicate control ports, control parameters, and types of severity errors and how to manage them, and wherein the VNF monitoring parameters indicate types of flags and status information associated with monitoring the new VNF.

18. The NFV system of claim 11, wherein, when reading the VNF parameters from the data bus, the application controller is further configured to:

read the VNF parameters from a first topic of the data bus to which the new VNF published the VNF parameters for declaring the existence of the new VNF.

19. The NFV system of claim 18, wherein, when publishing the instructions to the data bus, the application controller is further configured to:

publish first configuration data to a first record of a second topic of the data bus, wherein the first configuration data identifies a first control component of the multiple NFV system components to which the first configuration data is directed, and includes a mapping between one or more topics of the data bus and VNF capabilities and VNF parameters of the new VNF that are to be managed, controlled, and/or monitored by the first control component.

20. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by one or more network devices implementing a network functions virtualization (NFV) system, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the one or more network devices to:

read, from a data bus coupled to the one or more network devices, Virtual Network Function (VNF) parameters published to the data bus by a new VNF;

publish, to the data bus based on the VNF parameters, instructions to multiple components of the NFV system defining which VNF capabilities of the new VNF are to be managed, controlled, or monitored by which of the multiple control components; and

control, manage, or monitor the new VNF, by the multiple components of the NFV system, based on the published instructions.