Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises: determining that a first monitoring index of a first service satisfies a first condition; and sending first information to a virtualized network function manager VNFM network element, the first information being used for instructing the VNFM to execute a complete machine elastic task, the complete machine elastic task including capacity expansion processing or capacity reduction processing on each of a plurality of services, the plurality of services including the first service. According to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the capacity expansion requirement or the capacity reduction requirement of the service can be better met, so that the service performance can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] With the development of communication technology, some communication systems support elastic management of network elements, that is, automatic expansion and contraction of network element capacity when the service capacity carried by the network element changes, so as to avoid a certain service (the service capacity carried by the network element can be completed by multiple services) triggering overload flow control and causing damage to the service. For example, when the workload of a certain service exceeds or falls below the configured threshold, the service can be expanded or reduced. However, there are still some problems with the existing automatic expansion and contraction methods. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can better meet the capacity expansion or contraction requirements of a service, thereby improving service performance.

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method being applied to a containerized network function CNF network element or a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit or a functional module, etc.) in the CNF network element, the method comprising:

[0005] Determine that a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition; send first information to a virtualized network function manager VNFM network element, wherein the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, wherein the whole-machine elasticity task includes expanding or shrinking the capacity of each service in a plurality of services, and the plurality of services includes the first service.

[0006] In an embodiment of the present application, when a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition, first information is sent to a VNFM network element. In this way, multiple services including the first service can be expanded or reduced in capacity synchronously to keep the workloads of multiple services consistent. This can avoid damage to the service due to overload flow control triggered by failure to expand or reduce a service in time, and can better meet the expansion or reduction needs of the service, thereby improving service performance.

[0007] In some possible implementations, the first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

[0008] In some possible implementations, sending the first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM includes: sending the first information to the VNFM within a first preset time period.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information is sent to the VNFM within the first preset time period, so that the VNFM can execute the whole-machine elasticity task within an appropriate time period, which helps to avoid executing the whole-machine elasticity task during the business peak period, helps to reduce the impact of the whole-machine elasticity task on the business, and avoids business damage.

[0010] In some possible implementation manners, the first condition includes at least one of the following conditions: the continuous M sampling values of the first monitoring index all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring index, the M sampling values of the first monitoring index within the second preset time period exceed the threshold of the first monitoring index, or the sampling values of the first monitoring index within the second preset time period all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring index, where M is an integer greater than 1.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, the first condition includes at least one of the above conditions, which can avoid triggering the expansion processing or the contraction processing due to short-term business fluctuations, thereby helping to avoid the ping-pong effect of the whole-machine elasticity task.

[0012] In some possible implementation manners, the second preset time period is determined by the sampling period, the start time, and / or the duration.

[0013] In some possible implementation manners, before sending the first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, the method further includes: sending second information to the VNFM, where the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole-machine elasticity task.

[0014] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole-machine elasticity task. Sending the second information to the VNFM can create the elasticity task in advance before executing the elasticity task, thereby helping to execute the elasticity task in a timely manner.

[0015] In some possible implementation manners, the method further includes: receiving third information from the container infrastructure service management CISM network element, where the third information instructs at least one of the following information: the elasticity start mode, the elasticity granularity, the first condition, or the execution time period of the elasticity task; where the elasticity start mode includes delayed start or non-delayed start, the elasticity granularity includes executing the whole-machine elasticity task or the service elasticity task, the elasticity task includes the whole-machine elasticity task or the service elasticity task, and the service elasticity task includes expanding or contracting the first service.

[0016] In the embodiment of the present application, receiving the third information from the CISM network element helps the CNF network element to trigger the whole-machine elasticity task based on the third information, helps to meet the expansion or contraction requirements of the business, and thus helps to improve the business performance.

[0017] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method being applied to a virtualized network function manager VNFM or a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, or a functional module, etc.) in the VNFM, the method comprising:

[0018] Receive first information from a containerized network function CNF network element, where the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, where the whole-machine elasticity task includes expanding or shrinking each of a plurality of services, where the plurality of services include the first service; and perform the whole-machine elasticity task according to the first information.

[0019] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to execute the elastic task of the whole machine. After receiving the first information from the CNF network element, the multiple services including the first service can be expanded or reduced synchronously to make the workloads of the multiple services consistent. This can avoid damage to the service due to overload flow control triggered by failure to expand or reduce a service in time, and can better meet the expansion or reduction needs of the service, thereby improving service performance.

[0020] In some possible implementations, the first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

[0021] In some possible implementations, the receiving the first information from the containerized network function CNF network element includes: receiving the first information from the CNF network element within a first preset time period.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present application, receiving the first information from the CNF network element within a first preset time period can enable the VNFM to execute the whole machine elasticity task within an appropriate time period, and avoid executing the whole machine elasticity task during the business peak period, thereby reducing the impact of the whole machine elasticity task on the business and avoiding business damage.

[0023] In some possible implementations, before receiving the first information from the containerized network function CNF network element, the method further includes: receiving second information from the CNF network element, wherein the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

[0024] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information instructs the VNFM to create a whole-machine elastic task, and receives the second information from the CNF network element, so that the elastic task can be created in advance before the elastic task is executed, thereby facilitating the timely execution of the elastic task.

[0025] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, the method being applied to a container infrastructure service management CISM network element or a component in the CISM network element (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, or a functional module, etc.), the method comprising:

[0026] Sending third information to the containerized network function CNF network element, where the third information indicates at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, the first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task;

[0027] Among them, the elastic startup mode includes delayed startup or non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, the elastic task includes the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, and the service elastic task includes expanding or shrinking the first service.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present application, sending the third information to the CNF network element helps the CNF network element to trigger the whole machine elasticity task based on the third information, helps to meet the capacity expansion or contraction needs of the business, and thus helps to improve business performance.

[0029] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: the communication device can be used for the containerized network function CNF network element of the first aspect, the communication device can be a CNF network element, or a device in the CNF network element (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, or a processor), or it can be a device that can be matched with the CNF network element, or it can be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the CNF network element.

[0030] The communication device includes a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The module can be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: the communication device can be used for the virtualized network function manager VNFM of the second aspect, the communication device can be VNFM, or a device in VNFM (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, or a processor), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with VNFM, or it can be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of VNFM.

[0032] The communication device includes a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The module can be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software.

[0033] In the sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: the communication device can be used for the container infrastructure service management CISM network element of the third aspect, the communication device can be a CISM network element, or a device in the CISM network element (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, or a processor), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the CISM network element, or it can be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the CISM network element.

[0034] The communication device includes a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect. The module can be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software.

[0035] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program is executed by the processor, the device executes a method in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0036] In some possible implementations, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0037] In some possible implementations, there are one or more processors and / or there are one or more memories.

[0038] In some possible implementations, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction) is stored. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes a method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects.

[0040] In the ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute a method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementations of any one of the aspects.

[0041] In the tenth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that a device or equipment equipped with the chip executes a method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementations of any one of the aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of an automatic expansion and contraction process in an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of an HPA processing architecture in an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] Figure 3 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Figure 5 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0047] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0048] Figure 7 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0049] Figure 8 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0050] Fig. 9 It is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0052] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a kind of association relationship describing the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or its similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, in the embodiment of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily limit the difference. It should be understood that in this application, "under the circumstances of", "if", "when", "if", and similar descriptions can be used interchangeably.

[0053] The following first introduces the relevant nouns and terms involved in this application.

[0054] Machine elasticity: Automatically scale up and down according to the service capacity. For example, if the network element capacity increases by 1 million (w) users, the minimum point of deployment (POD) of type A container needs to be expanded by 10, type B POD by 15, etc. The automatic scaling controller will scale up all POD types and the corresponding number of PODs required by 1 million users at a time according to the configured scaling step.

[0055] Scaling step size: The number of PODs that are increased or decreased during expansion or contraction.

[0056] Horizontal expansion: refers to deploying more pods or reducing the number of pods deployed.

[0057] Vertical scaling: Allocating more resources (e.g., memory (MEM) or central processing unit (CPU)) to a POD that is already running for a workload.

[0058] Kubernetes: K8s for short (8 is the abbreviation for "ubernete" in the middle of the name), is an open source containerized application for managing multiple hosts in a cloud platform. The goal of Kubernetes is to make the deployment of containerized applications simple and efficient. Kubernetes provides a mechanism for application deployment, planning, updating, and maintenance.

[0059] Operator: A method for encapsulating, deploying, and managing Kubernetes applications. You can use the Kubernetes application programming interface (API) and the kubectl tool to deploy and manage Kubernetes applications on Kubernetes. For example, an Operator can be understood as an application-specific controller that extends the functionality of the Kubernetes API to create, configure, and manage instances of complex applications on behalf of Kubernetes users.

[0060] VNFM operator: An operator that replaces some functions of VNFM.

[0061] helm: An open source packaging tool that helps install and manage the lifecycle of Kubernetes applications. Similar to Linux package managers such as APT and Yum, helm can be used to manage Kubernetes charts, which are pre-configured packages of Kubernetes resources.

[0062] helmclient: helm client.

[0063] helm template: chart template.

[0064] Chart template: Helm application packages can be called charts, which can be combined with configurations (config) containing configuration information and merged into charts to create a release, which is a running instance of the application (chart and config combined). A chart can be a collection of files that describe a set of related Kubernetes resources.

[0065] Automatic scaling of virtual machine architecture standards: Automatic scaling process built based on ETSI SOL002 standard.

[0066] Prometheus component: Prometheus is an open source system monitoring and alerting toolkit originally built at SoundCloud. Since its inception in 2012, many companies and organizations have adopted Prometheus, and the project has a very active developer and user community.

[0067] Virtual machine deployment: virtualized network elements deployed based on virtual machines.

[0068] Bare metal deployment: containerized network elements deployed based on bare metal containers.

[0069] Elastic workload: the key performance indicator (KPI) that affects automatic scaling.

[0070] Ping-Pong Effect: Continuously (or repeatedly) performing expansion or contraction processing.

[0071] Combine the following Figure 1 and Figure 2 The problems existing in the prior art are described in detail.

[0072] At present, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard specification does not define the elastic (automatic expansion and contraction) management process for bare metal scenarios. The overall framework process still uses the virtual machine standard (automatic expansion and contraction virtual machine architecture standard, such as the automatic expansion and contraction process built based on the ETSI SOL002 standard). However, for network elements deployed based on virtual machines and network elements deployed based on bare metal containers, in the architecture based on virtual machine deployment, the network element lifecycle management is completely controlled by the virtualized network function manager (VNFM), and the automatic expansion and contraction process can also be managed by VNFM. However, in the architecture based on bare metal deployment, due to the introduction of helmclient, the VNFM function has been greatly weakened. If VNFM is continued to be used for automatic expansion and contraction process management, it will conflict with the bare metal architecture to a certain extent, and each module needs to be customized and cannot be decoupled. Therefore, the automatic expansion and contraction process defined by the current ETSI standard is no longer applicable to bare metal scenarios.

[0073] Kubernetes provides native HPA horizontal elasticity function, but this function only monitors the workload (also referred to as load) of a single service and has no smooth control. Elasticity is triggered when the KPI is higher or lower than the threshold, which will cause elastic ping-pong effect due to business jitter.

[0074] For example, Figure 1 As shown, the automatic expansion and contraction process may include the following steps:

[0075] S110, the user instructs the horizontal POD autoscaler (HPA) (i.e., K8s) to update the chart template and enable the elasticity function.

[0076] S120, a containerized virtualised network function (CNF) deployed based on a bare metal architecture periodically obtains workloads (such as the usage of the central processing unit (CPU) and memory (MEM) of the POD) from the HPA according to an elastic policy.

[0077] S130: When a single sampling result exceeds a configured threshold, trigger an elastic task to the HPA.

[0078] S140, HPA updates instances (such as release) that exceed a threshold.

[0079] S150, repeat the above steps S120 to S140.

[0080] The above expansion and contraction process can only expand the capacity of a single service, but the service capacity carried by the network element is completed by multiple services. If only one service is expanded and other services are not expanded in time, it will cause the service to trigger overload flow control, which will cause the service to be damaged. Therefore, HPA cannot meet the requirements of telecom cloud scenarios for high stability and high reliability of services, and cannot realize the commercial use of automatic expansion and contraction in telecom cloud scenarios.

[0081] Next, continue to combine Figure 2 The problems existing in the prior art are described in detail.

[0082] Kubernetes provides a horizontal scaling capability, namely horizontal POD autoscaler (HPA). HPA monitors the workload of running replicas (such as POD replicas) and dynamically adjusts the number of replicas. Figure 2 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the HPA processing architecture. The HPA processing architecture may include a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM), a VNFM, and a CNF. Specifically, the following steps may be used to perform horizontal expansion and contraction:

[0083] Step 1: Create an update elasticity policy.

[0084] Since HPA has no configuration interface, you need to edit the chart template or rely on an external website user interface (webUI) interface to complete HPA configuration, update the release, and start the HPA function.

[0085] Step 2: Get the workload and custom load of each service.

[0086] The HPA controller can periodically monitor the load of release1 to releaseN (N is a positive integer) according to the HPA configuration. Currently, the HPA controller only supports obtaining two types of loads: CPU and MEM. If you need to report business loads (that is, other types of custom loads), you need a third-party plug-in, such as Prometheus, to complete the reporting of custom loads.

[0087] Step 3: Determine whether the workload of each service exceeds the configured threshold.

[0088] The HPA controller compares the acquired load with the configured threshold. If it exceeds / is lower than the configured threshold, the HPA controller triggers horizontal scaling.

[0089] Step 4, update the release.

[0090] The number of updated copies is calculated using a specific algorithm. For example, it can be calculated using the following algorithm:

[0091] Expected number of replicas = ceil[current number of replicas * (current index / expected index)], where ceil[] means rounding up, and the current number of replicas is the number of replicas currently running in the release. The result calculated by the algorithm (i.e., the expected number of replicas) may not be the scaling step size expected by the user.

[0092] It can be seen from the above embodiments that the scaling method using HPA as the automatic scaling control center has at least the following problems:

[0093] 1. HPA only supports elastic tasks (such as scaling) for a single service. If you want to scale multiple services at the same time, the loads of multiple services must meet the monitoring threshold to trigger the elastic task. However, when the business grows, only the service that handles the business may trigger the expansion, while other platform services may not trigger the expansion. In this way, other platform services may not be able to support the growth of business volume, thereby triggering overload flow control and causing business damage.

[0094] 2. The HPA horizontal elasticity function does not perform smooth control on the KPI detection of automatic business expansion and contraction. When the KPI is higher or lower than the threshold, the elasticity will be triggered, which may cause an elastic ping-pong effect due to business jitter (not real business growth).

[0095] 3. The HPA scaling step size is calculated based on the configuration and the actual number of replicas (such as the current index and the current number of replicas). This may result in the scaling step size being unexpected and thus failing to meet business needs.

[0096] 4. HPA cannot provide capacity expansion capabilities at specified times. Capacity expansion may be triggered during business peak hours, causing abnormal network fluctuations. For example, capacity expansion during the day may cause abnormal network fluctuations, resulting in business damage.

[0097] In order to solve one or more of the above technical problems, the present application proposes a communication method and a communication device, which can better meet the capacity expansion or contraction requirements of the service, thereby improving the service performance.

[0098] The embodiments of the present application are applicable to various communication systems based on bare metal container deployment, for example, the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) system or new radio (new radio, NR), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), satellite and other non-terrestrial communication systems, terrestrial communication and non-terrestrial communication fusion communication system, etc. The communication system applied in the present application can meet the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (European Telecommunications Standards Institute, ETSI) standard architecture.

[0099] Combine the following Figure 3 The communication method in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with examples.

[0100] Figure 3 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 The method 300 shown may include steps S310, S320 and S330, which are specifically as follows:

[0101] S310, the CNF network element determines that the first monitoring indicator of the first service meets the first condition.

[0102] The first monitoring indicator may be the workload of the first service. For example, the first monitoring indicator may include the CPU and MEM usage of the POD corresponding to the first service, and may also include other types of custom loads (custom loads may be reported to the HPAcontroller in the CNF network element through a third-party plug-in (such as a Prometheus component).

[0103] In some embodiments, the first condition may include: the first monitoring indicator exceeds a threshold of the first monitoring indicator, for example, a sampling value of the first monitoring indicator within a second preset time period exceeds the threshold of the first monitoring indicator. The threshold of the first monitoring indicator may be preconfigured.

[0104] The second preset time period may be determined by a sampling cycle, a starting time, and / or a duration.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first condition may include at least one of the following conditions:

[0106] The consecutive M sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, the M sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within the second preset time period all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, or the sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within the second preset time period all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, and M is an integer greater than 1.

[0107] In the embodiment of the present application, the first condition includes at least one of the above conditions, which can avoid triggering expansion or reduction processing due to short-term business fluctuations, thereby helping to avoid the ping-pong effect of the whole machine elastic task.

[0108] S320, the CNF network element sends first information to the VNFM network element.

[0109] In some embodiments, the first information may be used to instruct the VNFM to execute a whole-machine elasticity task, which may include scaling up or down each of a plurality of services, and the plurality of services may include the first service.

[0110] Optionally, each of the multiple services may correspond to a type of POD, for example, service 1 may correspond to type A POD, service 2 may correspond to type B POD, and service 3 may correspond to type C POD.

[0111] Optionally, multiple services may be associated with each other, and when monitoring indicators of some of the multiple services (such as n services among the multiple services, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) meet conditions, each of the multiple services may be expanded or reduced in capacity.

[0112] For example, multiple services may include access services, uplink transmission services, and downlink transmission services. The access services, uplink transmission services, and downlink transmission services may be related to each other. When the UE accesses the network, if the monitoring indicators of the access service meet the conditions, the access service, uplink transmission service, and downlink transmission service may be expanded or reduced at the same time.

[0113] In this way, the workloads of multiple services can be kept consistent, avoiding business damage caused by overload flow control triggered by a service not being expanded or reduced in time.

[0114] In some embodiments, the first information may include: indication information of at least one of the multiple services, and / or, expansion or reduction of capacity of at least one of the multiple services. That is, the first information may be used to indicate: at least one of the multiple services, and / or, the expansion or reduction step of at least one of the multiple services.

[0115] In some embodiments, in step S320, the CNF network element may send the first information to the VNFM in two ways. Specifically, as follows:

[0116] Method 1: Delayed sending of the first message.

[0117] The CNF network element may send the first information to the VNFM within a first preset time period.

[0118] In an embodiment of the present application, first information is sent to the VNFM within a first preset time period so that the VNFM can execute the whole machine elasticity task within a suitable time period, which helps to avoid executing the whole machine elasticity task during business peak hours, helps to reduce the impact of the whole machine elasticity task on the business, and avoids business damage.

[0119] Method 2: Send the first message immediately.

[0120] The CNF network element may immediately send the first information to the VNFM when determining that the first monitoring indicator satisfies the first condition.

[0121] In some embodiments, before step S320, method 300 may further include step S302, which is as follows:

[0122] S302, the CNF network element sends second information to the VNFM, wherein the second information may instruct the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

[0123] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information instructs the VNFM to create a whole-machine elastic task. By sending the second information to the VNFM, the elastic task can be created in advance before the elastic task is executed, thereby facilitating the timely execution of the elastic task.

[0124] S330: The VNFM executes the whole machine elasticity task according to the first information.

[0125] The whole machine elasticity task can also refer to the automatic expansion and contraction of the containerized network element whole machine (CNF level Auto scaling), that is, the automatic expansion and contraction of the whole machine based on CNF granularity.

[0126] In some embodiments, before step S330, the VNFM may obtain a flexibility policy. For example, the method 300 may further include step S304, which is as follows:

[0127] S304, the container infrastructure service management (CISM) network element sends third information to the CNF network element.

[0128] The third information may indicate at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, a first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task.

[0129] Optionally, the flexible start mode may include delayed start or non-delayed start.

[0130] Optionally, the elasticity granularity may include executing a whole machine elasticity task or a service elasticity task, the elasticity task may include a whole machine elasticity task or a service elasticity task, and the service elasticity task may include expanding or shrinking the first service.

[0131] Optionally, when the third information indicates the first condition, the third information may include at least one of the following information: a threshold value of the first monitoring indicator, a sampling period, a start time, and a duration of the second preset time period.

[0132] Optionally, the third information may also indicate the scaling step size corresponding to each of the multiple services, so that when executing the whole machine elastic task, each service may be scaled up or down according to the scaling step size corresponding to each service. Optionally, the scaling step size corresponding to each of the multiple services may be pre-configured.

[0133] In an embodiment of the present application, receiving the third information from the CISM network element helps the CNF network element to trigger the whole machine elasticity task based on the third information, helps to meet the capacity expansion or contraction needs of the business, and thus helps to improve business performance.

[0134] In some embodiments, before step S330, the VNFM may create an elasticity policy. For example, the VNFM network element may instruct a container infrastructure service management (CISM) network element to create an elasticity policy.

[0135] Optionally, the elastic policy may include at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, a first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task.

[0136] Among them, the elastic startup mode may include delayed startup or non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing whole-machine elastic tasks or service elastic tasks, the elastic tasks include whole-machine elastic tasks or service elastic tasks, and the service elastic tasks may include expanding or shrinking the first service.

[0137] For example, elastic policies can be included in a custom resource definition (CRD). CRD can refer to a custom resource provided by Kubernetes for users, and users can monitor custom resources.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, when a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition, first information is sent to a VNFM network element. In this way, multiple services including the first service can be expanded or reduced in capacity synchronously to keep the workloads of multiple services consistent. This can avoid damage to the service due to overload flow control triggered by failure to expand or reduce a service in time, and can better meet the expansion or reduction needs of the service, thereby improving service performance.

[0139] The following takes the delayed execution of elastic expansion and contraction in the elastic strategy (such as method 1 in method 300) as an example, combined with Figure 4 The communication method in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with examples.

[0140] Figure 4 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 The method 400 shown may include steps S401 to S424, which are specifically as follows:

[0141] S401, the user creates an elastic CRD.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, CRD may be used as a system release and created when a network element is deployed, or it may be manually created during subsequent network element operation.

[0143] S402, VNFM instructs CISM to create an elastic CRD.

[0144] VNFM can parse the helm template and call the CISM interface to create elastic CRD.

[0145] Among them, the elastic CRD may include an elastic policy, which may include: elastic granularity, elastic monitoring sampling period and duration, and specify the way to perform elastic expansion and contraction. The elastic policy may also include: specifying the expansion and contraction time, and specifying the elastic KPI collection time period.

[0146] The meanings of the various resilience strategies mentioned above can be as follows:

[0147] Elasticity granularity: used to indicate the elasticity of the entire machine (or called the entire machine elasticity) or the elasticity of a single service (or called service elasticity or single service elasticity). Among them, the elasticity of the entire machine granularity can mean that the automatic expansion and contraction is based on the growth capacity of the configured business, and multiple services (which can refer to multiple services corresponding to the configured business) are linked to expand and contract; the elasticity of a single service granularity can mean that the KPI of automatic expansion and contraction between services is independently monitored, and a single service is independently expanded and contracted.

[0148] Sampling period of elastic monitoring: Indicates the interval at which workload values ​​are collected from network elements.

[0149] Duration: Indicates how long the monitored indicator exceeds the threshold. Figure 4 As shown, CNF may include a VNFM operator and a service fabric (SF) to perform scaling operations.

[0150] Specify the method for executing elastic scaling: mark whether to execute elastic scaling immediately or with delay. Immediate execution can mean: when the VNFM operator monitors that the workload exceeds the threshold and meets the duration that requires automatic scaling, the VNFM operator will immediately generate a scaling task and execute the automatic scaling operation of this type of POD; delayed execution can mean: when the VNFM operator monitors that the workload exceeds the threshold and meets the duration that requires automatic scaling, the VNFM operator will immediately generate a scaling task, but will not immediately execute the automatic scaling operation. It will determine whether the scaling task needs to be executed based on the configuration "specify scaling time".

[0151] Specify the scaling time: After the scaling task is triggered, it will not be executed immediately, but will be performed at the specified scaling time.

[0152] Specify the elastic KPI collection time period: Identify the collection time period of the workload. During the collection time period, VNFM operator will continue to collect CNF expansion and contraction indicator workloads. Outside the collection time period, VNFM operator will no longer monitor CNF expansion and contraction indicator workloads. Specify the elastic KPI collection time period can be set to empty, which means collection is performed all day.

[0153] The setting values ​​in CRD can all be default values, and users can update the configuration later (the automatic expansion and contraction function is disabled by default). An example of elastic CRD can be shown in the following Table 1:

[0154] Table 1 An example of elastic CRD

[0155]

[0156] S403, the VNFM operator obtains the elasticity policy from the CISM.

[0157] The VNFM operator can monitor the elastic CRD and synchronize the elastic CRD to the local storage for subsequent monitoring of the automatic expansion and contraction KPI of the network element.

[0158] S404, the user updates the elastic policy.

[0159] The user can modify the automatic expansion and contraction policy through the automatic expansion and contraction policy editing webUI interface provided by the VNFM, including one or more elastic policies created in the above step S402.

[0160] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, VNFM only provides a configuration entry and no longer serves as a bare metal automatic expansion and contraction control center. Subsequent automatic expansion and contraction control is completed by the VNFM operator.

[0161] S405, the VNFM synchronizes the updated elastic policy to the CISM.

[0162] VNFM can synchronize the elastic policy edited by the user to CISM by updating CRD.

[0163] S406, the VNFM operator obtains the updated elasticity policy from the CISM.

[0164] VNFM operator can monitor the CRD change status and obtain the latest automatic expansion and contraction elastic policy configuration.

[0165] S407, the VNFM operator may periodically obtain workload from the SF.

[0166] After the VNFM operator obtains the latest elasticity policy and determines that the automatic scaling switch scaling_switch is turned on, it can periodically obtain the network element automatic scaling workload from SF according to the elasticity policy sampling period samplingInterval and duration duration. Among them, the automatic scaling workload supports being defined by the business, and the VNFM operator collects and summarizes the workload type defined by the business (such as collecting the workload of each service in multiple services corresponding to the configured business).

[0167] S408, the VNFM operator collects workload multiple times within a specified time period.

[0168] VNFM operator collects data according to the workload collection period kpiCollectStarttime and kpiCollectEndtime (optional) based on the elastic policy. If the workload is not within the collection period, it will not be collected. If the workload is within the collection period, it will be sampled according to the sampling period samplingInterval and duration duration. Automatic expansion and contraction will be triggered only when all sampling results within the collection period meet the automatic expansion and contraction threshold, which can avoid the ping-pong effect.

[0169] For example, if the elasticity granularity is the elasticity of the entire machine, the workload of each service in multiple services corresponding to a certain business (such as configuration business) can be sampled, and if the workload of at least one service in the multiple services meets the automatic expansion and contraction threshold, the multiple services can be automatically expanded or contracted; if the elasticity granularity is the elasticity of a single service granularity, the workload of a service can be sampled, and if the workload of the service meets the automatic expansion and contraction threshold, the service can be automatically expanded or contracted.

[0170] S409, the VNFM operator indicates to the SF whether the capacity can be expanded or reduced.

[0171] Before executing automatic expansion and contraction, the VNFM operator can notify the SF whether expansion and contraction can be performed at the current time (if the automatic expansion and contraction threshold is met), so as to avoid abnormalities caused by direct expansion and contraction due to the current business being in an unstable state.

[0172] S410, SF determines whether the current service status can be expanded or reduced.

[0173] SF determines whether the current business status can be expanded or reduced. If it can be executed, it returns success; if not, it returns failure.

[0174] S411, SF returns the determination result to the VNFM operator.

[0175] The VNFM operator responds based on the judgment result returned by the SSF. If the result is successful, the next step is triggered. If the result is unsuccessful, the current elasticity is skipped and monitoring is performed again. An alarm is reported to notify the user to intervene.

[0176] S412, the VNFM operator notifies the VNFM to trigger a pre-elasticity check (also called a health check) task.

[0177] This step is to avoid the failure of scaling execution due to the sub-health status of each component, and to ensure the success rate of scaling execution.

[0178] S413, VNFM notifies CNF and / or CISM to perform a pre-elasticity check.

[0179] VNFM can generate elasticity check tasks and notify CNF or CISM to perform elasticity pre-check. CNF can check service status (determine whether the current service can be expanded or reduced) and check alarms. VNFM or CISM can check node status, service status, I-layer resource satisfaction, etc. After the inspection is completed, the inspection results will be reported to VNFM. The VNFM interface provides a report download function for users (such as operation and maintenance personnel) to view the inspection details. Among them, the I layer can refer to the slice node managed in CISM.

[0180] S414, CISM performs I-layer node elasticity.

[0181] In case of insufficient Tier I resources, CISM can perform Tier I node resiliency.

[0182] S415, the VNFM sends the inspection result to the VNFM operator.

[0183] After the pre-elasticity check is completed, the VNFM can send the check result to the VNFM operator.

[0184] At this point, the VNFM operator can take corresponding actions based on the inspection results.

[0185] The specific processing can be as follows:

[0186] (1) If the check is successful, S416 can be executed, that is, the VNFM operator can perform corresponding processing according to the automatic scaling policy configuration. If the user selects delayed elasticity (such as scalingStarttype: delayed), the VNFM operator can notify VNFM to create a waiting elastic task for the entire machine according to the selected elastic granularity (such as scalingGranularity: CNF), that is, only tasks to be executed are generated during the day, but not directly executed. It will be executed at the specified time in the evening (such as scalingStarttime: 01:00:00). The scaling of the entire machine is to configure the associated service type (or POD type) and the scaling step according to the elastic policy, and scale multiple services in batches according to the service capacity of the entire network element. In this way, the purpose of rapid increase and decrease of capacity can be achieved.

[0187] (2) If the check fails, S417 can be executed, that is, the VNFM operator can stop executing the automatic expansion and contraction task and report an alarm to the element management (EM) to notify the user to intervene. For example, the VNFM operator can report an alarm to the EM to notify the user that the elastic task to be executed is currently generated. The user needs to pay attention to the subsequent execution results of the elastic expansion and contraction.

[0188] S418, VNFM operator triggers the whole machine elasticity task.

[0189] When the elastic execution time configured by the elastic policy is reached (usually during the low business peak period in the early morning), VNFMoperator can determine that it is necessary to trigger the execution of automatic expansion and contraction tasks.

[0190] S419, the VNFM operator notifies the VNFM to execute the whole machine elasticity task.

[0191] VNFM operator can notify VNFM to execute elastic tasks for the entire machine. VNFM can perform expansion and contraction of various types of PODs in linkage according to the configuration of elastic policies to achieve rapid elasticity of business capacity.

[0192] S420, VNFM notifies EM to start the service KPI monitoring task.

[0193] Before executing the elastic task, VNFM can notify EM to start the business KPI monitoring task. EM can pre-configure monitoring indicators according to the adaptation layer, collect business KPI indicators before and after expansion and contraction, and use them to compare the fluctuation of business indicators after elasticity. For example, the number of network element users and activation success rate can be judged. When the fluctuation of indicators before and after elasticity exceeds 5% (this threshold is configurable), compare whether there are new alarms before and after elasticity, and compare data of the specified business custom man-machine language (MML) commands to determine whether there is a business abnormality. If a business abnormality occurs, subsequent abnormality handling actions can be automatically executed.

[0194] S421, VNFM notifies helmclient to scale up or down.

[0195] After the elastic operation service KPI monitoring task is started, VNFM can notify helmclient to scale up or down.

[0196] S422, VNFM requests CISM to update release.

[0197] After receiving the request, CISM updates the release and can create or delete POD services corresponding to the business capacity.

[0198] S423, VNFM notifies EM to generate a comparison report of the service KPIs before and after elasticity.

[0199] After elasticity is completed, VNFM can notify EM to generate a comparison report of service KPIs before and after elasticity for users to view and obtain results. If abnormalities are detected in service KPIs or alarms, elastic service isolation or automatic rollback can be performed.

[0200] S424, VNFM outputs the execution result of this task.

[0201] After the elastic task is executed, the user can log in to the VNFM interface to view the execution results of this task.

[0202] The following takes the method of executing elastic expansion and contraction in the elastic policy as immediate execution (such as method 2 in method 300) as an example, combined with Figure 5 The communication method in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with examples.

[0203] Figure 5 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 The method 500 shown may include steps S501 to S522, which are specifically as follows:

[0204] Figure 5 Steps S501 to S516 in the above Figure 4 The steps S401 to S415 and S417 are similar to those in the above. The detailed description of steps S501 to S516 can refer to the above Figure 4 Steps S401 to S415 and S417 in the above are not described in detail here.

[0205] S417, the VNFM operator notifies the VNFM to execute the whole machine elasticity task.

[0206] VNFM operator can notify VNFM to execute elastic tasks for the entire machine. VNFM can perform expansion and contraction of various types of PODs in linkage according to the configuration of elastic policies to achieve rapid elasticity of business capacity.

[0207] S418, VNFM notifies EM to start the service KPI monitoring task.

[0208] Before executing the elastic task, VNFM can notify EM to start the business KPI monitoring task. EM can pre-configure monitoring indicators according to the adaptation layer, collect business KPI indicators before and after expansion and contraction, and use them to compare the fluctuation of business indicators after elasticity. For example, you can judge indicators such as the number of network element users and activation success rate. When the fluctuation of indicators before and after elasticity exceeds 5% (this threshold is configurable), compare whether there are new alarms before and after elasticity, and perform data comparison on the customized MML commands of the specified business to determine whether there is a business abnormality. If a business abnormality occurs, subsequent abnormality handling actions can be automatically executed.

[0209] S419, VNFM notifies helmclient to scale up or down.

[0210] After the elastic operation service KPI monitoring task is started, VNFM can notify helmclient to scale up or down.

[0211] S420, VNFM requests CISM to update release.

[0212] After receiving the request, CISM updates the release and can create or delete POD services corresponding to the business capacity.

[0213] S421, VNFM notifies EM to generate a comparison report of the service KPI before and after elasticity.

[0214] After elasticity is completed, VNFM can notify EM to generate a comparison report of service KPIs before and after elasticity for users to view and obtain results. If abnormalities are detected in service KPIs or alarms, elastic service isolation or automatic rollback can be performed.

[0215] S422, VNFM outputs the execution result of this task.

[0216] After the elastic task is executed, the user can log in to the VNFM interface to view the execution results of this task.

[0217] It should be noted that the steps included in the above-mentioned embodiments or the execution order of the steps are only examples and not limitations. The embodiments of the present application may include more or fewer steps, and may also include other steps. At the same time, the above-mentioned steps may also be executed in other orders, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0218] Combination of the above Figures 1 to 5 , describes the method embodiment of the present application in detail, and the following is combined with Figures 6 to 9 , describes the device embodiment of the present application in detail. It should be understood that the description of the method embodiment corresponds to the description of the device embodiment, so the parts not described in detail can refer to the previous method embodiment.

[0219] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 The communication device 600 shown can be used for the CNF network element in the aforementioned embodiment. The communication device 600 can be a CNF network element, or a device in the CNF network element (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit or a functional module, etc.), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the CNF network element, or it can be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the CNF network element.

[0220] like Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 600 includes a determining unit 610 and a sending unit 620, which are specifically as follows:

[0221] A determining unit 610, configured to determine whether a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition;

[0222] The sending unit 620 is used to send first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM network element, where the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, where the whole-machine elasticity task includes expanding or shrinking each of a plurality of services, where the plurality of services include the first service.

[0223] In an embodiment of the present application, when a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition, first information is sent to a VNFM network element. In this way, multiple services including the first service can be expanded or reduced in capacity synchronously to keep the workloads of multiple services consistent. This can avoid damage to the service due to overload flow control triggered by failure to expand or reduce a service in time, and can better meet the expansion or reduction needs of the service, thereby improving service performance.

[0224] In some possible implementations, the first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

[0225] In some possible implementations, the sending unit 620 is specifically configured to: send the first information to the VNFM within a first preset time period.

[0226] In an embodiment of the present application, first information is sent to the VNFM within a first preset time period so that the VNFM can execute the whole machine elasticity task within a suitable time period, which helps to avoid executing the whole machine elasticity task during business peak hours, helps to reduce the impact of the whole machine elasticity task on the business, and avoids business damage.

[0227] In some possible implementations, the first condition includes at least one of the following conditions: M consecutive sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, M sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within a second preset time period exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, or, the sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within the second preset time period all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, and M is an integer greater than 1.

[0228] In the embodiment of the present application, the first condition includes at least one of the above conditions, which can avoid triggering expansion or reduction processing due to short-term business fluctuations, thereby helping to avoid the ping-pong effect of the whole machine elastic task.

[0229] In some possible implementations, the second preset time period is determined by a sampling cycle, a starting time, and / or a duration.

[0230] In some possible implementations, before sending the first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, the sending unit 620 is further configured to: send second information to the VNFM, where the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

[0231] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information instructs the VNFM to create a whole-machine elastic task. By sending the second information to the VNFM, the elastic task can be created in advance before the elastic task is executed, thereby facilitating the timely execution of the elastic task.

[0232] In some possible implementations, the communication device 600 also includes a receiving unit 630, which is used to: receive third information from a container infrastructure service management CISM network element, and the third information indicates at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, the first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task; wherein the elastic startup mode includes a delayed startup or a non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, the elastic task includes the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, and the service elastic task includes expanding or shrinking the first service.

[0233] In an embodiment of the present application, receiving the third information from the CISM network element helps the CNF network element to trigger the whole machine elasticity task based on the third information, helps to meet the capacity expansion or contraction needs of the business, and thus helps to improve business performance.

[0234] Figure 7 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 The communication device 700 shown can be used for the VNFM in the aforementioned embodiments. The communication device 700 can be a VNFM, or a device in the VNFM (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, or a functional module, etc.), or can be a device that can be used in combination with the VNFM, or can be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the VNFM.

[0235] like Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 includes a receiving unit 710 and an execution unit 720, which are specifically as follows:

[0236] A receiving unit 710 is configured to receive first information from a containerized network function CNF network element, wherein the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, wherein the whole-machine elasticity task includes performing a capacity expansion or capacity reduction process on each of a plurality of services, wherein the plurality of services include the first service;

[0237] The execution unit 720 is configured to execute the whole-machine elasticity task according to the first information.

[0238] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to execute the elastic task of the whole machine. After receiving the first information from the CNF network element, the multiple services including the first service can be expanded or reduced synchronously to make the workloads of the multiple services consistent. This can avoid damage to the service due to overload flow control triggered by failure to expand or reduce a service in time, and can better meet the expansion or reduction needs of the service, thereby improving service performance.

[0239] In some possible implementations, the first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

[0240] In some possible implementations, the receiving unit 710 is specifically used to: receive the first information from the CNF network element within a first preset time period.

[0241] In an embodiment of the present application, receiving the first information from the CNF network element within a first preset time period can enable the VNFM to execute the whole machine elasticity task within an appropriate time period, and avoid executing the whole machine elasticity task during the business peak period, thereby reducing the impact of the whole machine elasticity task on the business and avoiding business damage.

[0242] In some possible implementations, before receiving the first information from the containerized network function CNF network element, the receiving unit 710 is further used to: receive second information from the CNF network element, where the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

[0243] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information instructs the VNFM to create a whole-machine elastic task, and receives the second information from the CNF network element, so that the elastic task can be created in advance before the elastic task is executed, thereby facilitating the timely execution of the elastic task.

[0244] Figure 8 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 The communication device 800 shown can be used in the CISM network element in the aforementioned embodiments. The communication device 800 can be a CISM network element, or a device in a CISM network element (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit or a functional module, etc.), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with a CISM network element, or it can be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of a CISM network element.

[0245] like Figure 8 As shown, the communication device 800 includes a sending unit 810, which is specifically as follows:

[0246] The sending unit 810 is configured to send third information to the containerized network function CNF network element, where the third information indicates at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, the first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task;

[0247] Among them, the elastic startup mode includes delayed startup or non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, the elastic task includes the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, and the service elastic task includes expanding or shrinking the first service.

[0248] In an embodiment of the present application, sending the third information to the CNF network element helps the CNF network element to trigger the whole machine elasticity task based on the third information, helps to meet the capacity expansion or contraction needs of the business, and thus helps to improve business performance.

[0249] Fig. 9 It is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided in one embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 The dotted line in the figure indicates that the unit or module is optional. The device 900 can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. The device 900 can be a chip or a communication device.

[0250] The device 900 may include one or more processors 910. The processor 910 may support the device 900 to implement the method described in the foregoing method embodiment. The processor 910 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, microprocessors (microprocessor unit, MPU), microcontrollers (microcontroller unit, MCU), graphics processors (graphics processing unit, GPU), artificial intelligence processors (artificial intelligence processor, AI processor) or neural network processors (neural processing unit, NPU), digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (application-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0251] The device 900 may also include one or more memories 920. The memory 920 stores a program, which can be executed by the processor 910, so that the processor 910 executes the method described in the above method embodiment. The memory 920 may be independent of the processor 910 or integrated in the processor 910. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 920 may include but is not limited to a cache, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), or a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc.

[0252] The apparatus 900 may further include a transceiver 930. The processor 910 may communicate with other devices or chips through the transceiver 930. For example, the processor 910 may transmit and receive data with other devices or chips through the transceiver 930.

[0253] It should be noted that the information interaction, execution process, etc. between the above-mentioned devices / units are based on the same concept as the method embodiment of the present application. Their specific functions and technical effects can be found in the method embodiment part and will not be repeated here.

[0254] The technicians in the relevant field can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, only the division of the above-mentioned functional units and modules is used as an example for illustration. In practical applications, the above-mentioned function allocation can be completed by different functional units and modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional units or modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. The functional units and modules in the embodiment can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units. In addition, the specific names of the functional units and modules are only for the convenience of distinguishing each other, and are not used to limit the scope of protection of this application. The specific working process of the units and modules in the above-mentioned system can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0255] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer implements the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0256] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer implements the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0257] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor is used to call and run the computer programs stored in the memory, so that a device or equipment (such as a communication device) equipped with the chip executes the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0258] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the present application implements all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment method, which can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program can implement the steps of the above-mentioned various method embodiments when executed by the processor. Among them, the computer program includes computer program code, and the computer program code can be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form. The computer-readable storage medium may at least include: any entity or device that can carry the computer program code to the device / equipment, a recording medium, a computer memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an electric carrier signal, a telecommunication signal, and a software distribution medium. For example, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disk. In some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, a computer-readable storage medium may not be an electric carrier signal and a telecommunication signal.

[0259] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described or recorded in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0260] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0261] In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices / equipment and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device / equipment embodiments described above are merely schematic, for example, the division of the modules or units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0262] 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 on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0263] The embodiments described above are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments may still be modified, or some of the technical features may be replaced by equivalents. Such modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and should all be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a containerized network function CNF network element, and the method comprises: Determining that a first monitoring indicator of a first service satisfies a first condition; Sending first information to a virtualized network function manager VNFM network element, where the first information is used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, where the whole-machine elasticity task includes expanding or shrinking each of a plurality of services, where the plurality of services include the first service.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or capacity reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The sending the first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM includes: The first information is sent to the VNFM within a first preset time period.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first condition includes at least one of the following conditions: The consecutive M sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, the M sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within the second preset time period exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, or the sampling values ​​of the first monitoring indicator within the second preset time period all exceed the threshold of the first monitoring indicator, and M is an integer greater than 1.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The second preset time period is determined by a sampling cycle, a starting time, and / or a duration.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Before sending the first information to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, the method further includes: Sending second information to the VNFM, where the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving third information from a container infrastructure service management CISM network element, the third information indicating at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, the first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task; Among them, the elastic startup mode includes delayed startup or non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, the elastic task includes the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, and the service elastic task includes expanding or shrinking the first service.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, and the method comprises: receiving first information from a containerized network function CNF network element, the first information being used to instruct the VNFM to perform a whole-machine elasticity task, the whole-machine elasticity task comprising performing capacity expansion or capacity reduction processing on each of a plurality of services, the plurality of services including the first service; The whole-machine elasticity task is executed according to the first information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first information includes: indication information of at least one service among the multiple services, and / or capacity expansion or capacity reduction of at least one service among the multiple services.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The receiving first information from a containerized network function CNF network element includes: The first information is received from the CNF network element within a first preset time period.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that Before receiving the first information from the containerized network function CNF network element, the method further includes: Receive second information from the CNF network element, where the second information instructs the VNFM to create the whole machine elasticity task.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a container infrastructure service management CISM network element, and the method comprises: Sending third information to the containerized network function CNF network element, where the third information indicates at least one of the following information: an elastic startup mode, an elastic granularity, the first condition, or an execution period of an elastic task; Among them, the elastic startup mode includes delayed startup or non-delayed startup, the elastic granularity includes executing the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, the elastic task includes the whole machine elastic task or the service elastic task, and the service elastic task includes expanding or shrinking the first service.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that include: A computer program, when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

17. A chip, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that a device or equipment equipped with the chip executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

Images