Network Element Topology Change Method, Apparatus, System, Electronic Device, and Storage Medium

Abstract

The network element topology change method, device, system, electronic device and storage medium provided by the present invention belong to the field of cloud computing and communication technology, including: using a topology gateway component to obtain a Pod change event; using a topology gateway component to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element; writing the network element microservice Pod to a Kafka topic; using a topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element. The network element topology change method, device, system, electronic device and storage medium provided by the present invention dynamically identify the network element related Pods by parsing and verifying the Pod change event to update the topology structure of the network element, thereby realizing dynamic configuration update of the network element while ensuring business continuity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of cloud computing and communication technologies, and particularly to a method, apparatus, system, electronic device, and storage medium for network element topology change. Background Art

[0002] Currently, cloud-native technologies have penetrated various scenarios of Internet Technology (IT) and Communication Technology (CT).

[0003] In the CT scenario, operations such as the operation and maintenance, upgrade, and change of base stations and core networks bring great benefits.

[0004] However, the configuration changes of core network elements are implemented in a reconstruction manner, which will cause service interruption in the core network. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The network element topology change method, apparatus, system, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the present invention are used to solve the defect that the configuration change of network elements in the prior art causes service interruption in the core network, and to achieve automatic configuration change of network elements while ensuring continuous service without interruption.

[0006] The present invention provides a method for network element topology change, including:

[0007] Obtaining a Pod change event by using a topology gateway component;

[0008] Parsing the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain a network element microservice Pod of a target network element;

[0009] Writing the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod;

[0010] Invoking the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic by using a topology component to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0011] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, the obtaining of the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component includes:

[0012] Monitoring an API Server component by using the topology gateway component;

[0013] When the API Server component changes, obtaining the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component.

[0014] A network element topology change method provided by the present invention, wherein the topology gateway component is used to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element, including:

[0015] Using the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element Pod of the target network element;

[0016] Using the topology gateway component to verify the content of the annotation field of the network element Pod to obtain a first verification result;

[0017] When it is determined that the annotation field is a preset field and the first verification result is qualified, determining that the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod.

[0018] A network element topology change method provided by the present invention, wherein writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic includes:

[0019] When it is determined according to the first verification result that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, calling the topology gateway component to create the Kafka topic according to the network element microservice Pod;

[0020] Writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0021] A network element topology change method provided by the present invention, wherein using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy graph of the target network element includes:

[0022] Using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic;

[0023] Using the topology component to verify the network element microservice Pod to obtain a second verification result;

[0024] When it is determined according to the second verification result that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the initial field of the target network element, using the topology component to create a network element topology hierarchy graph;

[0025] The network element topology hierarchy graph is used to update the topology structure of the target network element.

[0026] A network element topology change method provided by the present invention, after using the topology component to create the network element topology hierarchy graph, further includes:

[0027] Querying the network element topology hierarchy graph through the topology component;

[0028] Generate the topology state of the target network element according to the network element topology hierarchy diagram.

[0029] The present invention also provides a network element topology change device, including:

[0030] An acquisition module, configured to use a topology gateway component to acquire a Pod change event;

[0031] An analysis module, configured to use the topology gateway component to analyze the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element;

[0032] A writing module, configured to write the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod;

[0033] An invocation module, configured to use a topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0034] The present invention also provides a K8s system for executing any one of the above network element topology change methods.

[0035] The present invention also provides an electronic device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, where when the processor executes the program, any one of the above network element topology change methods is implemented.

[0036] The present invention also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, any one of the above network element topology change methods is implemented.

[0037] The present invention also provides a computer program product, including a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, any one of the above network element topology change methods is implemented.

[0038] The network element topology change method, device, system, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the present invention dynamically identify network element-related Pods by analyzing and verifying Pod change events to update the topology structure of the network element, so as to realize dynamic configuration update of the network element while ensuring continuous business operation without interruption. Description of the Drawings

[0039] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0040] Figure 1 is one of the schematic flowcharts of the network element topology change method provided by the present invention;

[0041] Figure 2 is the second schematic flowchart of the network element topology change method provided by the present invention;

[0042] Figure 3 is the schematic structural diagram of the network element topology change device provided by the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 is the schematic structural diagram of the electronic device provided by the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0044] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the present invention in conjunction with the drawings in the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts based on the embodiments in the present invention belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0045] The Kubernetes (hereinafter referred to as: K8s) system is used to manage containerized applications on multiple hosts in a cloud platform. It is an open-source platform that can achieve functions such as automated deployment, automatic scaling, and maintenance of container clusters.

[0046] K8s can achieve rapid deployment of applications, rapid expansion of applications, and seamless docking of new application functions. It can save resources and optimize the use of hardware resources.

[0047] K8s also has multiple functions, which can specifically include: multiple application workloads (hereinafter referred to as: Pod) working together, mounting storage systems, application health detection, replication of application instances, automatic scaling / expansion of Pods, registration and discovery, load balancing, rolling updates, resource monitoring, log access, debugging application programs, and providing authentication and authorization, etc.

[0048] The following will describe the network element topology change method, device, system, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with Figures 1 to 4 Describe the network element topology change method, device, system, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

[0049] The network element topology change method provided by the embodiments of the present invention may be executed by an electronic device or a software or functional module or functional entity in the electronic device that can implement the network element topology change method. In the embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device includes, but is not limited to, the K8s system. It should be noted that the above execution subject does not constitute a limitation to the present invention.

[0050] Figure 1 is one of the schematic flowcharts of the network element topology change method provided by the present invention. As Figure 1 shown, it includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0051] First, in step S1, a topology gateway component is used to obtain a Pod change event.

[0052] Among them, the Pod change event may be event information generated due to changes in information such as the generation of Pods in the K8s system.

[0053] Specifically, the topology gateway component (topo-gw) is used to monitor the API Server component in the K8s system. In the case where the API Server component changes, it is determined that there is a change in the information about Pods in the K8s system, and the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to obtain the Pod change event corresponding to the information change.

[0054] Build an open-source cloud computing management platform project (OpenStack) environment on a physical machine, create multiple virtual machine nodes in the OpenStack environment through a container cluster management (Cloud Controller Manager, CCM) component, and configure domain names, networks, etc. for each virtual machine node.

[0055] Based on multiple virtual machine nodes, deploy a multi-node K8s cluster to build a K8s system, set the three roles of master, etcd, and worker on the same node, and realize the integration of the master node and worker node roles. Among them, the virtual machine nodes can be set to 3, and their indicators such as the central processing unit (CPU), memory, and disk are consistent with the kubernetes K8s system.

[0056] Among them, the target network element can be a cloud-native network element of the core network of the 5th generation mobile networks (5G), such as the User Plane Function (UPF) network element or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network element. In the subsequent embodiments of the present invention, the update of the topology diagram of the UPF network element is taken as an example for illustration, which is not regarded as a limitation on the protection scope of the present invention.

[0057] The K8s system deploys a UPF network element, an Elastic Load Balance (ELB) cluster for active-standby switching, a Redis cluster, an operation and maintenance component, and a common component. Among them, the target network element is deployed in the K8s cluster in the form of a Pod. The operation and maintenance component includes a topology component (topo component) and a topo-gw component, and the common component includes an etcd cluster and a Kafka cluster.

[0058] Inside the Pod of the UPF network element, a sidecar container cim will run in the sidecar mode. The cim configures the UPF network element to connect to the ELB cluster, the Redis cluster, the etcd cluster, and the Kafka cluster.

[0059] The components relied on by the UPF network element include: a highly reliable Redis cluster, an ELB cluster, etc.

[0060] Further, in step S2, the topology gateway component is used to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element.

[0061] The K8s system uses the topo-gw component to parse the obtained Pod change event, and parses out the network element Pod of the UPF network element in the Pod change event; when it is determined that the network element Pod has a standard annotation annotation field, the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to verify the content of the annotation field. When it is determined that the annotation field is a field such as me, nfc, nfs, or nfsi, it can be determined that the network element Pod parsed out this time is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element.

[0062] Further, in step S3, the network element microservice Pod is written into the Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod.

[0063] The Kafka topic is created by the topo-gw component and is used to store network element microservices.

[0064] When verifying the content of the annotation field, in the case where the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element, if it is determined that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, the K8s system calls the topo-gw component to create a Kafka topic according to the network element microservice Pod, and writes the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0065] The network element hierarchical structure includes four levels: network element, network function, network function service, and network function service instance.

[0066] Further, in step S4, the topology component retrieves the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0067] The K8s system uses the topo component to retrieve the written network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic, and uses the topo component to verify the me field of the retrieved network element microservice Pod. When it is determined that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the topo component creates a network element topology hierarchy diagram to maintain the network element topology tree of the UPF network element, so as to update the topology structure of the target network element; the topo component also needs to fill in the annotation-related fields according to the topo requirements, and the annotation-related fields can include network element and various service information. The initial configuration information is default configured when deploying the UPF network element, and the vender field is the default field of the initial configuration information.

[0068] The network element topology hierarchy diagram can dynamically display topology information, detect the health status of network elements, and facilitate operation and maintenance.

[0069] The K8s container management platform can also query the json file of the network element topology tree of the UPF network element through the API interface exposed by the topo component, and generate the topology status of the UPF network element according to the network element topology hierarchy diagram and display it on the page of the K8s container management platform.

[0070] The topology status includes: the hierarchical relationship of network element microservices, the dynamic monitoring status of network element Pods, and the link status between microservices, etc.

[0071] When there are addition or deletion changes to the network element microservice Pod, the page of the K8s container management platform will also update the network element topology tree. If an anomaly is detected, an alarm can be reported so that operation and maintenance personnel can handle it in a timely manner.

[0072] The network element topology change method provided by the present invention dynamically identifies network element-related Pods by parsing and verifying Pod change events, so as to update the topology structure of the network element, thereby realizing dynamic configuration update of the network element while ensuring continuous business operation without interruption.

[0073] Optionally, the obtaining of the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component includes:

[0074] Using the topology gateway component to monitor the API Server component;

[0075] In the case where the API Server component changes, using the topology gateway component to obtain the Pod change event.

[0076] Specifically, the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to monitor the API Server component. In the case where the API Server component changes, it is determined that there is a change in the information about the Pod in the K8s system, and the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to obtain the Pod change event corresponding to the information change.

[0077] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, by monitoring the API Server component, the Pod change event is further obtained, providing a basis for the update of the network element topology structure.

[0078] Optionally, the parsing of the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element includes:

[0079] Using the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element Pod of the target network element;

[0080] Using the topology gateway component to verify the content of the annotation field of the network element Pod to obtain a first verification result;

[0081] In the case where it is determined that the annotation field is a preset field and the first verification result is qualified, it is determined that the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod.

[0082] The annotation field can be a standard annotation annotation field, and the preset field can be fields such as me, nfc, nfs, nfsi, etc. In the case where the annotation field belongs to the preset field, the first verification result includes that the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod; in the case where the annotation field does not belong to the preset field, the first verification result includes that the network element Pod is not the network element microservice Pod.

[0083] The K8s system uses the topo-gw component to parse the obtained Pod change events, and parses out the network element Pod of the UPF network element in the Pod change events; when it is determined that the network element Pod has a standard annotation annotation field, the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to verify the content of the annotation field. When it is determined that the annotation field is a field such as me, nfc, nfs, or nfsi, it can be determined that the network element Pod parsed out this time is a network element microservice Pod.

[0084] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, by verifying the network element Pod, the network element microservice Pod is determined, providing a basis for the update of the network element topology structure.

[0085] Optionally, writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic includes:

[0086] When it is determined according to the first verification result that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, according to the network element microservice Pod, call the topology gateway component to create the Kafka topic;

[0087] Write the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0088] The network element hierarchical structure includes four levels: network element, network function, network function service, and network function service instance.

[0089] When the first verification result includes that the network element Pod is a network element microservice Pod, if the first verification result can also include that the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, then according to the network element microservice Pod, call the topo-gw component to create the Kafka topic, and write the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0090] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, by verifying the section of the network element microservice Pod and writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic, it provides a basis for the update of the network element topology structure.

[0091] Optionally, using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element includes:

[0092] Use the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic;

[0093] Use the topology component to verify the network element microservice Pod to obtain a second verification result;

[0094] When it is determined, according to the second verification result, that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the initial field of the target network element, a network element topology hierarchy graph is created using the topology component;

[0095] The network element topology hierarchy graph is used to update the topology structure of the target network element.

[0096] If the me field is consistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the second verification result is passed; if the me field is inconsistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the second verification result is not passed.

[0097] The K8s system uses the topo component to retrieve the written network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic, and uses the topo component to verify the me field of the retrieved network element microservice Pod. When it is determined that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the topo component is used to create a network element topology hierarchy graph to maintain the network element topology tree of the UPF network element, so as to update the topology structure of the target network element; the topo component also needs to fill in the annotation-related fields according to the topo requirements, and the annotation-related fields include network element and various service information. The initial configuration information is default-configured when the UPF network element is deployed, and the vender field is the default field of the initial configuration information.

[0098] The network element topology hierarchy graph can dynamically display topology information, detect the health status of network elements, and facilitate operation and maintenance.

[0099] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, after the network element is microserviced, a network element topology hierarchy graph is formed, and the data flow direction, data link health status, etc. between network element microservices are traced through the topology graph.

[0100] Optionally, after creating the network element topology hierarchy graph using the topology component, it further includes:

[0101] Query the network element topology hierarchy graph through the topology component;

[0102] Generate the topology status of the target network element according to the network element topology hierarchy graph.

[0103] The topology status includes: the hierarchical relationship of network element microservices, the dynamic monitoring status of network element Pods, the link status between microservices, etc.

[0104] The K8s container management platform can also query the json file of the network element topology tree of the UPF network element through the API interface exposed by the topo component, and generate the hierarchical relationship of the network element microservices of the UPF network element, the dynamic monitoring status of the network element Pod, and the link status between microservices, etc., and display them on the page of the K8s container management platform.

[0105] When there are addition or deletion changes to the network element microservice Pod, the page of the K8s container management platform will also update the network element topology tree. If an anomaly is detected, an alarm can be reported so that the operation and maintenance personnel can handle it in a timely manner.

[0106] According to the network element topology change method provided by the present invention, through the topology status, the running status of the network element can be dynamically sensed to check whether the network element is online or offline, as well as the topology relationship and data flow direction of other components on which the network element depends. Through the entire topology relationship, observe whether the running logic of the network element is normal. According to the data flow relationship of each component of the network element, judge whether the data flow is normal and whether the request-response between each component is normal.

[0107] Figure 2 It is the second schematic flowchart of the network element topology change method provided by the present invention. As Figure 2 shown, it includes:

[0108] Step 1: Prepare the physical machine environment and deploy a multi-node highly available OpenStack environment;

[0109] Step 2: Based on the OpenStack environment, create 3 virtual machine nodes, configure domain names, networks, etc. for each virtual machine node; and deploy a K8s cluster on the 3 virtual machine nodes;

[0110] Step 3: The K8s system deploys components such as the UPF network element, ELB, Redis, topo, topo-gw, etcd, Kafka

[0111] Step 4: Run the cim sidecar container inside the UPF network element;

[0112] Step 5: The topo-gw component monitors the API Server to obtain Pod change events;

[0113] Step 6: Analyze whether the Pod change event carries the annotation field of the UPF network element to obtain the network element Pod of the UPF network element;

[0114] Step 7: Verify the Pod. If the verification is qualified, it is the network element microservice Pod;

[0115] Step 8: Create a Kafka topic and put the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic;

[0116] Step 9, query the network element microservice Pod and verify the me field;

[0117] Step 10, create a network element topology hierarchy diagram and maintain the network element topology tree;

[0118] Step 11, fill in the annotation-related fields, including network element and various service information;

[0119] Step 12, the K8s system queries the network element topology tree, dynamically displays the addition and deletion changes of network element services, and real-time displays the health status of network element services.

[0120] Next, the network element topology change device provided by the present invention will be described. The network element topology change device described below can be correspondingly referred to the network element topology change method described above.

[0121] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the network element topology change device provided by the present invention, as Figure 3 shown, including:

[0122] An acquisition module 301, configured to obtain a Pod change event by using a topology gateway component;

[0123] An analysis module 302, configured to analyze the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element;

[0124] A writing module 303, configured to write the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod;

[0125] An invocation module 304, configured to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic by using a topology component to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0126] First, the acquisition module 301 obtains a Pod change event by using a topology gateway component.

[0127] Among them, the Pod change event may be event information generated due to information changes such as the generation of Pods in the K8s system.

[0128] Specifically, the topology gateway component (topo-gw) is used to monitor the API Server component in the K8s system. In the case of a change in the API Server component, it is determined that there is a change in the information about Pods in the K8s system, and the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to obtain the Pod change event corresponding to the information change.

[0129] Build an open-source cloud computing management platform project (OpenStack) environment on a physical machine. Create multiple virtual machine nodes in the OpenStack environment through the Container Cluster Management (CCM) component, and configure domain names, networks, etc. for each virtual machine node.

[0130] Based on multiple virtual machine nodes, deploy a multi-node K8s cluster to build a K8s system. Set the three roles of master, etcd, and worker on the same node to achieve the integration of the master node and worker node roles. Among them, the virtual machine nodes can be set to 3, and their CPU, memory, disk and other metrics are consistent with the kubernetes K8s system.

[0131] Among them, the target network element can be a cloud-native network element of the 5th generation mobile networks (5G) core network, such as the User Plane Function (UPF) network element, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network element, etc. In the subsequent embodiments of the present invention, the example of updating the topology diagram of the UPF network element is used for illustration, which is not regarded as a limitation of the protection scope of the present invention.

[0132] The K8s system deploys a UPF network element, an Elastic Load Balance (ELB) cluster for primary and standby switching, a Redis cluster, an operation and maintenance component, and a common component. Among them, the target network element is deployed in the K8s cluster in the form of a Pod. The operation and maintenance component includes a topology component (topo component) and a topo-gw component, and the common component includes an etcd cluster and a Kafka cluster.

[0133] Inside the Pod of the UPF network element, a sidecar container cim will run in the sidecar mode. The cim configures the UPF network element to connect to the ELB cluster, Redis cluster, etcd cluster, and Kafka cluster.

[0134] The components relied on by the UPF network element include: a highly reliable Redis cluster and ELB cluster, etc.

[0135] Furthermore, the parsing module 302 uses the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element.

[0136] The K8s system uses the topo - gw component to parse the obtained Pod change events, and parses out the network element Pod of the UPF network element in the Pod change events; when it is determined that the network element Pod has a standard annotation annotation field, the K8s system uses the topo - gw component to verify the content of the annotation field. When it is determined that the annotation field is a field such as me, nfc, nfs, or nfsi, it can be determined that the network element Pod parsed out this time is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element.

[0137] Further, the writing module 303 writes the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod.

[0138] The Kafka topic is created by the topo - gw component and is used to store network element microservices.

[0139] When verifying the content of the annotation field and the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element, if it is determined that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, the K8s system calls the topo - gw component to create a Kafka topic according to the network element microservice Pod, and writes the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0140] The network element hierarchical structure includes four levels: network element, network function, network function service, and network function service instance.

[0141] Further, the retrieval module 304 uses the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy graph of the target network element.

[0142] The K8s system uses the topo component to retrieve the written network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic, and uses the topo component to verify the me field of the retrieved network element microservice Pod. When it is determined that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the topo component is used to create a network element topology hierarchy graph to maintain the network element topology tree of the UPF network element, so as to realize the update of the topology structure of the target network element; the topo component also needs to fill in the annotation - related fields according to the topo requirements, and the annotation - related fields can include network element and various service information. The initial configuration information is default - configured when the UPF network element is deployed, and the vender field is the default field of the initial configuration information.

[0143] The network element topology hierarchy graph can dynamically display topology information, detect the health status of network elements, and facilitate operation and maintenance.

[0144] The K8s container management platform can also query the json file of the network element topology tree of the UPF network element through the API interface exposed by the topo component, and generate the topology status of the UPF network element according to the network element topology hierarchy diagram and display it on the page of the K8s container management platform.

[0145] The topology status includes: the hierarchical relationship of network element microservices, the dynamic monitoring status of network element Pods, and the link status between microservices, etc.

[0146] When there are addition or deletion changes to the network element microservice Pods, the page of the K8s container management platform will also update the network element topology tree. If an anomaly is detected, an alarm can be reported so that the operation and maintenance personnel can handle it in a timely manner.

[0147] The network element topology change device provided by the present invention dynamically identifies network element-related Pods by parsing and verifying Pod change events to update the topology structure of the network element, thereby realizing dynamic configuration update of the network element while ensuring continuous business operation without interruption.

[0148] The present invention also provides a K8s system, which can execute the network element topology change method provided by the above-mentioned various methods. The method specifically includes:

[0149] First, the K8s system uses the topology gateway component to obtain Pod change events.

[0150] Among them, the Pod change event can be event information generated due to changes in information such as the generation of Pods in the K8s system.

[0151] Specifically, the topology gateway component (topo-gw) is used to monitor the API Server component in the K8s system. In the case of a change in the API Server component, it is determined that there is a change in the information about Pods in the K8s system, and the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to obtain the Pod change event corresponding to the information change.

[0152] Build an open-source cloud computing management platform project (OpenStack) environment on a physical machine, create multiple virtual machine nodes in the OpenStack environment through the container cluster management (Cloud Controller Manager, CCM) component, and configure domain names, networks, etc. for each virtual machine node.

[0153] Based on multiple virtual machine nodes, deploy a multi-node K8s cluster to build a K8s system. Set the three roles of master, etcd, and worker on the same node to achieve the integration of the master node and the worker node roles. Among them, the virtual machine nodes can be set to three, and their CPU, memory, disk and other metrics are consistent with the kubernetes K8s system.

[0154] Among them, the target network element can be a cloud-native network element of the core network of the 5th generation mobile networks (5G), such as a User Plane Function (UPF) network element or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network element. In the subsequent embodiments of the present invention, the update of the topology diagram of the UPF network element is taken as an example for illustration, which is not regarded as a limitation of the protection scope of the present invention.

[0155] The K8s system deploys a UPF network element, an Elastic Load Balance (ELB) cluster for primary and standby switching, a Redis cluster, an operation and maintenance component, and a common component. Among them, the target network element is deployed in the K8s cluster in the form of a Pod. The operation and maintenance component includes a topology component (topo component) and a topo-gw component, and the common component includes an etcd cluster and a Kafka cluster.

[0156] Inside the Pod of the UPF network element, a sidecar container cim will run in the sidecar mode. The cim configures the UPF network element to connect to the ELB cluster, Redis cluster, etcd cluster, and Kafka cluster.

[0157] The components relied on by the UPF network element include: a highly reliable Redis cluster and an ELB cluster, etc.

[0158] Furthermore, the K8s system uses the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change event to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element.

[0159] The K8s system uses the topo-gw component to parse the obtained Pod change event, and parses out the network element Pod of the UPF network element in the Pod change event; when it is determined that the network element Pod has a standard annotation annotation field, the K8s system uses the topo-gw component to verify the content of the annotation field. When it is determined that the annotation field is a field such as me, nfc, nfs, or nfsi, it can be determined that the network element Pod parsed out this time is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element.

[0160] Furthermore, the K8s system writes the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod.

[0161] The Kafka topic is created by the topo-gw component and is used to store network element microservices.

[0162] When validating the content of the annotation field and the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod of the UPF network element, if it is determined that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchical structure of the target network element, the K8s system calls the topo-gw component to create a Kafka topic according to the network element microservice Pod and writes the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

[0163] The network element hierarchical structure includes four levels: network element, network function, network function service, and network function service instance.

[0164] Furthermore, the K8s system uses the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0165] The K8s system uses the topo component to retrieve the written network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic, and uses the topo component to validate the me field of the retrieved network element microservice Pod. When it is determined that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the vender field of the initial configuration information, the topo component is used to create a network element topology hierarchy diagram to maintain the network element topology tree of the UPF network element, so as to realize the update of the topology structure of the target network element; the topo component also needs to fill in the annotation-related fields according to the topo requirements, and the annotation-related fields can include network element and various service information. The initial configuration information is default-configured when deploying the UPF network element, and the vender field is the default field of the initial configuration information.

[0166] The network element topology hierarchy diagram can dynamically display topology information, detect the health status of network elements, and facilitate operation and maintenance.

[0167] The K8s container management platform can also query the json file of the network element topology tree of the UPF network element through the API interface exposed by the topo component, and generate the topology status of the UPF network element according to the network element topology hierarchy diagram and display it on the page of the K8s container management platform.

[0168] The topology status includes: the hierarchical relationship of network element microservices, the dynamic monitoring status of network element Pods, and the link status between microservices, etc.

[0169] When there are addition or deletion changes to the network element microservice Pod, the page of the K8s container management platform will also update the network element topology tree. If an anomaly is detected, an alarm can be reported so that the operation and maintenance personnel can handle it in a timely manner.

[0170] The K8s system provided by the present invention dynamically identifies the network element-related Pods by parsing and validating the Pod change events, so as to update the topology structure of the network elements, thereby realizing the dynamic configuration update of the network elements while ensuring the continuity of the service without interruption.

[0171] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the electronic device provided by the present invention, as Figure 4 shown, the electronic device may include: a processor 410, a communications interface 420, a memory 430, and a communication bus 440. Among them, the processor 410, the communications interface 420, and the memory 430 communicate with each other through the communication bus 440. The processor 410 can call the logical instructions in the memory 430 to execute the network element topology change method, and the method includes: obtaining the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component; parsing the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element; writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod; using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0172] In addition, when the logical instructions in the above-mentioned memory 430 are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as an independent product, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that makes a contribution to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memories (RAM, Random Access Memory), magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0173] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program. The computer program can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer can execute the network element topology change method provided by each of the above methods. The method includes: obtaining a Pod change event by using a topology gateway component; parsing the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain a network element microservice Pod of a target network element; writing the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic, where the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod; and using a topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0174] In another aspect, the present invention also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it is configured to execute the network element topology change method provided by each of the above methods. The method includes: obtaining a Pod change event by using a topology gateway component; parsing the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain a network element microservice Pod of a target network element; writing the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic, where the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod; and using a topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element.

[0175] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without creative effort.

[0176] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the essence of the above technical solution, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disc, etc., and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0177] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features. These modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A network element topology change method, characterized in that, Including: Using a topology gateway component to obtain Pod change events; Using the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change events to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element; Writing the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod; Using a topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element; The using the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change events to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element includes: Using the topology gateway component to parse the Pod change events to obtain the network element Pod of the target network element; Using the topology gateway component to verify the content of the annotation field of the network element Pod to obtain a first verification result; When it is determined that the annotation field is a preset field and the first verification result is qualified, determining that the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod.

2. The network element topology change method according to claim 1, characterized in that The using the topology gateway component to obtain Pod change events includes: Using the topology gateway component to monitor the API Server component; When the API Server component changes, using the topology gateway component to obtain the Pod change events.

3. The network element topology change method according to claim 1, characterized in that The writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic includes: When it is determined according to the first verification result that the content of the annotation field is consistent with the hierarchy of the target network element, calling the topology gateway component to create the Kafka topic according to the network element microservice Pod; Writing the network element microservice Pod into the Kafka topic.

4. The network element topology change method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that The using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic to update the network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element includes: Using the topology component to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic; Using the topology component to verify the network element microservice Pod to obtain a second verification result; When it is determined according to the second verification result that the me field of the network element microservice Pod is consistent with the initial field of the target network element, using the topology component to create a network element topology hierarchy diagram; The network element topology hierarchy diagram is used to update the topology structure of the target network element.

5. The network element topology change method according to claim 4, wherein After the using the topology component to create the network element topology hierarchy diagram, it further includes: Querying the network element topology hierarchy diagram through the topology component; Generating the topology state of the target network element according to the network element topology hierarchy diagram.

6. A network element topology change device, characterized in that, Including: An obtaining module, configured to use a topology gateway component to obtain Pod change events; An analyzing module, configured to use the topology gateway component to analyze the Pod change events to obtain the network element microservice Pod of the target network element; A writing module, configured to write the network element microservice Pod into a Kafka topic; the Kafka topic is created based on the network element microservice Pod; A retrieval module, configured to retrieve the network element microservice Pod from the Kafka topic by using a topology component, so as to update a network element topology hierarchy diagram of the target network element; The parsing module is further configured to parse the Pod change event by using the topology gateway component to obtain a network element Pod of the target network element; check the content of an annotation field of the network element Pod by using the topology gateway component to obtain a first verification result; and determine that the network element Pod is the network element microservice Pod when it is determined that the annotation field is a preset field and the first verification result is qualified.

7. A K8s system, characterized in that, It includes a UPF network element, an elastic load balancing service cluster with primary and standby switching, a Redis cluster, an operation and maintenance component, and a common component; the operation and maintenance component includes a topology component and a topology gateway component; the common component includes an etcd cluster and a Kafka cluster; the K8s system is configured to execute the network element topology change method according to any one of claims 1-5 based on the UPF network element, the elastic load balancing service cluster with primary and standby switching, the Redis cluster, the operation and maintenance component, and the common component.

8. An electronic device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, When the processor executes the program, it implements the network element topology change method according to any one of claims 1-5.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the network element topology change method according to any one of claims 1-5.

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