Edge application method and apparatus

Abstract

This application provides edge application methods and apparatus in the field of wireless communication technology. The method includes the following: An ECSP management system receives reserved resource requirement information from an ASP and requests MANO to reserve resources in the EDN at the corresponding location based on the reserved resource requirement information. The ASP can then place an EAS, etc., within the reserved resources. Resources for placing the EAS are reserved in advance within the EDN, thereby reducing the probability of failure to place the EAS due to insufficient remaining resources in the EDN or other reasons.

Description

Technical Field

[0005]

[0001] Cross - reference to Related Applications This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310532533.3, titled "EDGE APPLICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS", filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on May 11, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] Embodiments of this application relate to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to edge application methods and apparatuses.

Background Art

[0003] The basic concept of edge computing is to execute computing tasks on computing resources close to the data source, effectively reducing the latency of the computing system, reducing the data transmission bandwidth, liberating the pressure on the cloud computing center, improving availability, and ensuring data security and privacy. When an edge application server (EAS) is deployed in an edge data network (EDN), a "first come, first served" mechanism is used. If the remaining resources in the EDN cannot meet the deployment requirements of the EAS, problems such as the failure of EAS deployment may be caused.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of this application provide an edge application method and apparatus. Resources for deploying the EAS are reserved in advance in the EDN, thereby reducing the probability of failure in deploying the EAS due to reasons such as insufficient remaining resources in the EDN.

[0005] According to the first aspect, an edge application method is provided. The method is applied to an edge computing service provider (ECSP) management system, and the method may be performed by the ECSP management system, or by a chip or circuit used within the ECSP management system. For example, the method is performed by the ECSP management system, and includes the ECSP management system receiving reserved resource requirement information from an application service provider (ASP), the reserved resource requirement information including location information of the reserved resource, and the ECSP management system sending a first request to a management and orchestration MANO based on the reserved resource requirement information, the first request being used to request the MANO to reserve a resource in the EDN corresponding to the location information, there being a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource being used to deploy the ASP's edge application server (EAS).

[0006] According to the above design, the ASP may request that some resources be reserved before deploying the EAS application. For example, the ASP sends the requirements information for the reserved resources to the ECSP management system, the ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO based on the requirements information for the reserved resources, and MANO reserves resources in the EDN corresponding to the location information required for the reserved resources based on the first request. Then, after the resources have been successfully reserved, the ASP may send a request to the ECSP management system to deploy the EAS within the reserved resources. In this way, as long as it is within the quota of the reserved resources, the ECSP management system can satisfy the ASP's requirements for deploying the EAS application and solve the problem of EAS deployment where the failure rate of EAS deployment can be high due to the "first come, first served" mechanism.

[0007] In a particular design, the requirements information for a reserved resource further includes at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource.

[0008] According to the above design, the requirements information for reserved resources may include the quantity of the reserved resource and its performance parameters. For example, the performance parameters of a reserved resource may include at least one of the following: the central processing unit (CPU) parameters of the reserved resource, the storage capacity of the reserved resource, or the network bandwidth of the reserved resource. Resources that meet the quantity and performance parameters may be selected as reserved resources from the EDN at the corresponding location based on at least one of the reserved resource quantity or performance parameters. Furthermore, the requirements information for reserved resources may also include the expiration time of the reserved resource. The expiration time of a reserved resource is sometimes referred to as the effective time of the reserved resource. When the expiration time is reached or the effective time expires, the reserved resource becomes invalid and is no longer reserved for the ASP to deploy the EAS. In this way, cases where the ASP occupies a reserved resource for a long time without using it are avoided, and the utilization rate of reserved resources is improved.

[0009] In a certain design, the method further includes determining the usage status information of a reserved resource when the reservation of the reserved resource is successful, wherein the usage status information of the reserved resource includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved resource, the usage status of the reserved resource, the identifier of the EAS assigned to the reserved resource, or the usage rate of the reserved resource.

[0010] According to the above design, based on the usage status information of reserved resources, at least one of the following information may be determined: which reserved resources are occupied, which reserved resources are idle, the utilization rate of occupied reserved resources, the EAS placed on occupied reserved resources, or other information. Then, EAS placement can be facilitated. For example, EAS may be preferentially placed on idle reserved resources, or EAS may be preferentially placed on reserved resources with low utilization. Alternatively, when a reserved resource is to be deleted, the reserved resources that can be deleted may be determined based on the usage information of the reserved resources in order to avoid deleting reserved resources used to place EAS. When a reserved resource that can be deleted is deleted, reserved resources that are used to place EAS and that provide services to the placed EAS are not affected.

[0011] In one design, the identifier of a reserved resource includes the identifier of the virtualized network function (VNF) and the identifier of the network service (NS) to which the VNF belongs, and the usage status of the reserved resource includes whether the VNF is idle or occupied.

[0012] In a particular design, after sending a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of a reserved resource, the method further includes sending a second request to an operator management system, the second request being used to request the operator management system to establish a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, and the second request including connection information for the reserved resource.

[0013] According to the above design, when a resource is reserved, a connection network between the reserved resource and UPF is established in advance. In this way, when EAS is deployed to the reserved resource, the network between EAS and UPF becomes connected, allowing EAS to provide services to users at any time, and reducing latency from the time EAS is deployed to the time EAS provides services to users.

[0014] In one design, after sending a second request to the operator management system, the method further includes receiving a second response from the operator management system, the second response containing UPF connection information, and sending a third request to MANO, the third request being used to request MANO to update information about the connection between the reserved resource and the UPF, the third request containing UPF connection information.

[0015] In a certain design, before sending a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of a reserved resource, the method further includes sending a fourth request to an operator management system, the fourth request being used to request UPF connection information corresponding to location information, and receiving a fourth response from the operator management system, the fourth response including UPF connection information corresponding to location information.

[0016] In one design, the method further includes receiving a fifth request from the ASP, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within a reserved resource, and the fifth request including an identifier for the reserved resource.

[0017] According to the above design, once a resource is successfully reserved, the ASP places the EAS within the reserved resource, thus resolving the challenges of EAS placement, where the EAS is located in the EDN far from the user due to a "first-come, first-served" mechanism and limited resources for the EAS at the corresponding location, resulting in high latency when the user accesses the EAS.

[0018] In a particular design, the fifth requirement further includes EAS travel policy information, which includes at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range.

[0019] According to the above design, when an ASP requests that an EAS be deployed, a fifth request for the deployment of the EAS further includes the EAS relocation policy. When the EAS needs to be relocated, for example, when some servers running the EAS need to be shut down due to EDN maintenance or upgrades, the EAS needs to be moved to another server. Alternatively, the EAS may need to be moved to another server due to insufficient resources within the EDN. The EAS may be moved based on the EAS relocation policy information to ensure that the services provided by the EAS are unaffected or only slightly affected.

[0020] In a particular design, the move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether the ASP needs to be queried before the move, and the move scope includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS between different reserved resources within the same EDN, or moving the EAS across different EDNs.

[0021] According to a second aspect, an edge application method is provided. The second aspect relates to the ASP side corresponding to the first aspect. For advantageous effects, please refer to the description of the first aspect. The method applies to an application service provider ASP. The method is performed by the ASP, or by a chip or circuit used within the ASP. The method includes determining the requirements information for a reserved resource, the requirements information for the reserved resource including at least the location information of the reserved resource, and transmitting the requirements information for the reserved resource to an edge computing service provider ECSP management system, wherein there is a network connection between the reserved resource and the UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the ASP's edge application server EAS.

[0022] In a particular design, the requirements information for a reserved resource further includes at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource.

[0023] In one design, the method further includes sending a fifth request to the ECSP management system, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within a reserved resource, the fifth request including an identifier of the reserved resource.

[0024] In a particular design, the fifth requirement further includes EAS travel policy information, which includes at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range.

[0025] In a particular design, the move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether the ASP needs to be queried before the move, and the move scope includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS between different reserved resources within the same EDN, or moving the EAS across different EDNs.

[0026] According to a third aspect, an edge application method is provided. The third aspect pertains to the system corresponding to the first aspect. For advantageous effects, refer to the description of the first aspect. The method includes that an edge computing service provider ECSP management system receives requirement information of reserved resources from an application service provider ASP, and based on the requirement information of the reserved resources, sends a first request to management and orchestration MANO, where the requirement information of the reserved resources includes location information of the reserved resources, and the first request is used to request MANO to reserve resources within an edge data network EDN corresponding to the location information. There is a network connection between the reserved resources and a user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resources are used to deploy an edge application server EAS of the ASP, and that MANO receives the first request from the ECSP management system.

[0027] In one design, the method further includes that MANO reserves resources within the EDN corresponding to the location information based on the first request.

[0028] In one design, the method further includes that the ASP sends the requirement information of the reserved resources to the ECSP management system.

[0029] In one design, the requirement information of the reserved resources further includes at least one of the following: the amount of the reserved resources, the performance parameters of the reserved resources, or the expiration date of the reserved resources.

[0030] In one design, when the reservation of the reserved resources is successful, the method further includes that the ECSP management system determines the usage status information of the reserved resources, where the usage status information of the reserved resources includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved resources, the usage status of the reserved resources, the identifier of the EAS deployed on the reserved resources, or the utilization rate of the reserved resources.

[0031] In one design, the identifier of a reserved resource includes the identifier of the virtualized network function (VNF) and the identifier of the network service (NS) to which the VNF belongs, and the usage status of the reserved resource includes whether the VNF is idle or occupied.

[0032] In one design, after the ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of a reserved resource, the method further includes the ECSP management system sending a second request to the operator management system, the second request being used to request the operator management system to establish a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, the second request including connection information for the reserved resource, and the operator management system establishing a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource based on the second request.

[0033] In one design, the method further includes the operator management system sending a second response to an ECSP management system, the second response containing UPF connection information; the ECSP management system sending a third request to MANO, the third request being used to request MANO to update information about the connection between the reserved resource and UPF; and MANO updating information about the connection between the reserved resource and UPF based on the connection information which belongs to UPF and is contained in the third request.

[0034] In a certain design, before the ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of a reserved resource, the method further includes the ECSP management system sending a fourth request to the operator management system, the fourth request being used to request UPF connection information corresponding to location information, and the operator management system sending a fourth response to the ECSP management system, the fourth response being containing UPF connection information corresponding to location information.

[0035] In one design, the method further includes the ECSP management system receiving a fifth request from the ASP, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within a reserved resource, and the fifth request including an identifier for the reserved resource.

[0036] In one design, the method further includes the ASP sending a fifth request to the ECSP management system.

[0037] In a particular design, the fifth requirement further includes EAS travel policy information, which includes at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range.

[0038] In a particular design, the move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether the ASP needs to be queried before the move, and the move scope includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS between different reserved resources within the same EDN, or moving the EAS across different EDNs.

[0039] According to a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device can implement a method in any one of the first to third aspects. For example, the communication device includes means corresponding to any one of the first to third aspects. The communication device may be implemented by hardware, by software, or by hardware running the corresponding software.

[0040] In a given design, the communication device includes a unit for performing any one of the first to third embodiments.

[0041] In one design, the communication device includes a processor and memory. The processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory, enabling the communication device to perform any one of the methods in the first to third embodiments.

[0042] In a certain design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive signals from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signals to the processor, or to transmit signals from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device. The processor is configured to perform any one of the methods in the first to third embodiments by utilizing logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0043] According to the fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on the computer, the computer becomes capable of carrying out the method in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0044] According to the sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the method in any one of the first to third aspects is performed.

[0045] According to the seventh aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor. The processor is coupled to memory and is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory, enabling the chip to carry out the method in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0046] According to the eighth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a first communication device and a MANO, the first communication device being configured to carry out the method according to the first aspect. Optionally, the system further includes an operator management system. Furthermore, the system further includes a second communication device, the second communication device being configured to carry out the method according to the second aspect. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0047] [Figure 1] This is a diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 2] This is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the EAS within the EDN according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart for reserving resources according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 4] Here is another flowchart for reserving resources according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 5] Here is yet another flowchart for reserving resources according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating the placement of EAS within reserved resources according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] This is a flowchart illustrating the placement of an EAS within a reserved resource and the movement of an EAS according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 8] This is a flowchart for deleting a reserved resource according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 9] This is a diagram showing the structure of the apparatus according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 10] This is a diagram of another structure of the apparatus according to an embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0048] Figure 1 shows a communication system according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes the following:

[0049] An edge data network (EDN) 101: EDN 101 is a small local data center located at the edge. EDN 101 includes computing resources, storage resources, network resources, and other resources that can be provided to an application service provider (ASP) for deploying an edge application server (EAS). That is, an ASP can deploy an EAS within the EDN. For ease of explanation, two EDNs are used as illustrative examples in Figure 1, and this does not constitute a limitation of this embodiment of the application. For example, the communication system shown in Figure 1 may alternatively include several other EDNs, etc.

[0050] The edge computing service provider (ECSP) management system 102: ECSP102 is responsible for managing edge data networks, such as creating or deleting EAS and monitoring EAS performance. For example, an ASP may request the ECSP management system to deploy an EAS, and the ECSP management system may select an EDN that meets the conditions for deploying the EAS based on deployment requirements, such as resource size and resource location.

[0051] In embodiments of this application, the device configured to implement the functions of the ECSP management system may be the ECSP management system itself, or it may be a device capable of supporting the ECSP management system in implementing its functions, such as a chip system, hardware circuitry, software modules, or a combination of hardware circuitry and software modules. The device may be installed on the ECSP management system or used in conjunction with the ECSP management system. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip or other separate components. For ease of explanation, the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application will be described below using an example where the device for implementing the functions of the ECSP management system is the ECSP management system itself.

[0052] Management and Orchestration (MANO) 103: MANO 103 is responsible for managing virtualized network functions (VNFs), for example, deploying EAS within the EDN using a VNF scheme based on cloud computing technology. Network functions virtualization (NFV) utilizes virtualization technology that overlays the functions of dedicated devices onto general-purpose hardware devices and traditional networks, reducing the high costs associated with deploying dedicated devices. Software and hardware are separated, so network functions no longer depend on dedicated hardware. In addition, resources can be fully and flexibly shared, leveraging the characteristics of cloud computing to enable rapid development and deployment of new services and to perform automatic deployment, elastic scaling, fault isolation, and self-healing based on actual service requirements.

[0053] In embodiments of this application, the device configured to implement the functions of MANO may be MANO itself, or it may be a device capable of supporting MANO in implementing its functions, such as a chip system, hardware circuitry, software modules, or a combination of hardware circuitry and software modules. The device may be installed within MANO or used together with MANO. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip or other separate components. For ease of explanation, the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application will be described below using an example in which the device for implementing the functions of MANO is MANO itself.

[0054] ASP104: ASP104 is an application service provider that requests the deployment of EAS within the EDN using the ECSP management system and MANO. For example, an application service provider may determine the EAS and send a request to the ECSP management system to deploy the EAS, and MANO will deploy the EAS within the corresponding EDN.

[0055] In embodiments of this application, the device configured to implement the functionality of the ASP may be the ASP itself, or a device capable of supporting the ASP in implementing that functionality, such as a chip system, hardware circuitry, software modules, or a combination of hardware circuitry and software modules. The device may be installed within the ASP or used together with the ASP. The chip system may include a chip, or include a chip or other separate components. For ease of explanation, the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application will be described below using an example where the device for implementing the functionality of the ASP is the ASP itself.

[0056] In embodiments of this application, after the EAS is deployed, when a user is near an EDN, for example, near EDN1, the user can access an EAS application located within EDN1, such as a game server or a geolocation application server, using a proximity access manner. For example, the user uses terminal 107 to connect to a user plane function (UPF) that satisfies certain conditions, such as the nearest user plane function (UPF) 105, via access network device 106, and accesses the EAS to be accessed via UPF 105.

[0057] Optionally, the network architecture shown in Figure 1 may further include a UPF 105, an access network device 106, and a terminal 107. The UPF 105 is a network element responsible for data plane functionality within the core network. For example, the UPF is primarily responsible for transferring and receiving user data. For instance, in downlink transmission, the UPF may receive user data from the data network (DN) and transmit that user data to the terminal via the access network device. In uplink transmission, the UPF network element may receive user data from the terminal via the access network device and transfer that user data to the DN. In addition to UPF105, the network architecture shown in Figure 1 may further include at least one of the following other devices within the core network: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), application function (AF), unified data management (UDM), authentication server function (AUSF), or network slice selection function (NSSF).

[0058] It should be noted that in this description of the application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following, i.e., A, B, or C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" may indicate that it includes A, includes B, includes C, includes A and B, includes A and C, includes B and C, includes A, B and C, etc.

[0059] The access network device 106 may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, an access network device in an open radio access network (O-RAN), a next-generation base station in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system. It may also be a module or unit, for example, a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a central unit control plane (CU-CP) module, or a central unit user plane (CU-UP) module that completes some of the functions of a base station. The access network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor base station, a relay node or a donor node, etc. The specific technologies and device forms used by the access network device are not limited in this application.

[0060] Terminal 107 may be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal. The terminal can be widely used for communication in various scenarios, including, but not limited to, one or more of the following: device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, or smart cities. The terminal may be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver functionality, wearable device, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, or smart home device. The specific technologies and device forms used by the terminal are not limited in this application.

[0061] Access network devices and terminals may be located in a fixed position or may be mobile. Access network devices and / or terminals may be located on land and may include indoor devices, outdoor devices, handheld devices, or vehicle-mounted devices; they may be located underwater; or they may be located in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. Application scenarios for access network devices and terminals are not limited to the embodiments of this application. Access network devices and terminals may be located in the same scenario or in different scenarios. For example, both access network devices and terminals may be located on land, or the access network device may be located on land and the terminal may be located underwater. Examples are not provided one by one.

[0062] Furthermore, the communication system shown in Figure 1 may further include an operator management system not shown in Figure 1. For example, the operator management system includes one or more network elements, one or more of which interact with the ECSP management system in the embodiments of this application to perform operations such as establishing or deleting connections between reserved resources and UPF. For example, the operator management system includes a management system (MS) in a public land mobile network (PLMN), and the MS in the PLMN interacts with the ECSP management system to perform operations such as establishing or deleting connections between reserved resources and UPF.

[0063] In embodiments of this application, the device configured to implement the functions of the operator management system may be one or more network elements within the operator management system, or it may be a device capable of supporting the operator management system in implementing its functions, such as a chip system, hardware circuitry, software modules, or a combination of hardware circuitry and software modules. The device may be installed in one or more network elements within the operator management system, or it may be used together with the operator management system. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip or other separate components. For ease of explanation, the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application will be described below using the example that the device for implementing the functions of the operator management system is the operator management system itself.

[0064] The communication system shown in Figure 1 may support various radio access technologies (RATs). For example, the communication system shown in Figure 1 may be a 5G communication system (sometimes referred to as a new radio (NR) communication system), a Wi-Fi system, or a future-oriented advanced system. The communication systems and service scenarios described in embodiments of this application are intended to provide a clearer explanation of the technical solutions in embodiments of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that the technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical challenges as communication systems evolve and new service scenarios emerge.

[0065] An EDN is a small data center located near the edge and user area by an ECSP management system, and generally has limited resources. An ECSP management system may need to provide services to multiple ASPs, such as internet application vendors and game application vendors. According to the current EAS deployment procedure, the ECSP management system and MANO select an EDN that meets the requirements for deploying the EAS, based on the ASP's requirements, for example, by selecting an EDN corresponding to a location based on the ASP's requirements regarding deployment location. Typically, one ECSP management system manages only one EDN within an area. If the EDN has sufficient remaining resources to meet the requirements for EAS deployment, the EAS can be deployed. However, if the EDN is busy and does not have sufficient remaining resources to meet the requirements for EAS deployment, the EAS deployment may fail, or the ECSP management system and MANO may select another EDN further away from the user to deploy the EAS.

[0066] For example, as shown in Figure 2, the application of EAS1 is primarily for users close to EDN1. Because the remaining resources of EDN1 are insufficient to meet the requirements for deploying EAS1, the ECSP management system and MANO deploy EAS1 within EDN2. Each EDN has a service area. When users within an EDN's service area access applications within that EDN through terminals, access network devices, and UPFs, the EDN can provide optimal service, and users can enjoy an optimal service experience, such as low latency and high bandwidth. If EDN1 does not have sufficient resources, the edge application EAS1 can only be deployed within EDN2. In this case, users within EDN1's service area cannot access EAS1 through nearby access. For example, a user can only access UPF2 within EDN2's service area through UPF1, and then access EAS1 within EDN2 through UPF2. This results in a poor service experience for users within EDN1's service area, such as high latency. In EAS placement, a "first-come, first-served" mechanism is used, meaning that even for more important ASPs, the ASP that submits the request first has a greater chance of securing placement in the desired area.

[0067] Based on this, this application provides an edge application method and apparatus. The method includes the ASP requesting to reserve a portion of resources before deploying an EAS application, and after the reservation of those resources is successful, the ASP sending a request to the ECSP management system to deploy the EAS within the reserved resources. In this way, as long as it is within the quota of the reserved resources, the ECSP management system can satisfy the ASP's requirements for deploying the EAS application and solve the problems of EAS deployment, such as EAS deployment failing due to a "first-come, first-served" mechanism, or high latency when users access the EAS because the EAS is deployed in an EDN far from the user.

[0068] In embodiments of this application, it can be understood that the ASP, ECSP management system, MANO, and operator management system, etc., cooperate with each other to implement the solutions of the embodiments of this application. The functions implemented by the ASP may be implemented specifically by the ASP, or by chips or circuits used within the ASP. In the following description, the ASP is used as an example for illustrative purposes. Similarly, the functions of the ECSP management system, MANO, or operator management system, etc., may be implemented by the ECSP management system, MANO, or operator management system, or by chips used within the ECSP management system, MANO, or operator management system. In the following description, examples are used in which the ECSP management system, MANO, or operator management system implements the corresponding functions.

[0069] [Embodiment 1]

[0070] Figure 3 provides a procedure. This procedure may be used to reserve resources and includes the following:

[0071] Step 301: The ECSP management system receives the requirements information for reserved resources from the ASP.

[0072] The requirements information for a reserved resource includes the location information of the reserved resource. For example, the location information may be the latitude and longitude of the reserved resource, or the geographical location information of the reserved resource. Furthermore, the requirements information for a reserved resource may further include at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource. The performance parameters of a reserved resource may include at least one of the following: the central processing unit (CPU) parameters of the reserved resource, the storage capacity of the reserved resource, or the network bandwidth of the reserved resource. The expiration date of a reserved resource is sometimes referred to as the validity period of the reserved resource. When the expiration date is reached or the validity period expires, the reserved resource becomes invalid and is no longer reserved for the ASP to deploy the EAS.

[0073] For example, a reserved resource is a virtual machine (VM), and the requirements information for the reserved resource includes at least one of the following: the number of virtual machines (for example, 10).

[0074] Virtual machine performance parameters: CPU can be, for example, 1800 megahertz (MHz), storage capacity can be, for example, 2024 megabytes (MB), and network bandwidth can be, for example, 100M.

[0075] Expiration Date: For example, it could be 20230501. This means the reserved resource is valid until May 1, 2023. Specifically, after May 1, 2023, the reserved resource becomes invalid, and it is no longer reserved for an ASP to deploy the EAS. Reserved resources may be used for other purposes. For example, a reserved resource may be assigned to another ASP to deploy the EAS. The expiration date is sometimes referred to as the reservation expiration date.

[0076] Location information: For example, it could be a district in Nanjing. This means that the resource can be reserved within the EDN in a district of Nanjing. Location information is sometimes referred to as a location requirement.

[0077] According to the above design, the requirements information for reserved resources may include the quantity of the reserved resource and its performance parameters. For example, the performance parameters of a reserved resource may include at least one of the following: the central processing unit (CPU) parameters of the reserved resource, the storage capacity of the reserved resource, or the network bandwidth of the reserved resource. Resources that meet the quantity and performance parameters may be selected as reserved resources from the EDN at the corresponding location based on at least one of the reserved resource quantity or performance parameters. Furthermore, the requirements information for reserved resources may also include the expiration date of the reserved resource. The expiration date of a reserved resource is sometimes referred to as the validity period of the reserved resource. When the expiration date is reached or the validity period expires, the reserved resource becomes invalid and is no longer reserved for the ASP to deploy the EAS. In this way, cases where the ASP occupies a reserved resource for a long time without using it are avoided, and the utilization rate of reserved resources is improved.

[0078] In a particular design, the requirements information for reserved resources may be carried by an object, which contains the requirements information for the reserved resources. For example, the object may be referred to as a reservation job object. For instance, the implementation of step 301 includes the ECSP management system receiving a reservation job object from the ASP, which contains the requirements information for the reserved resources. Furthermore, the implementation of step 301 includes the ECSP management system receiving a request from the ASP to create a reservation job object instance, which includes a reservation job object, which contains the requirements information for the reserved resources, and so on.

[0079] Step 302: The ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource. The first request is used to ask MANO to reserve a resource in the EDN corresponding to the location information. A network connection exists between the reserved resource and the UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the EAS of the ASP.

[0080] In one implementation, MANO includes a Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFV MANO, NFVO) that can communicate with a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM) within MANO to perform at least one of resource allocation or resource reservation. In step 302, the ECSP management system may, in particular, send a first request to the NFVO. Based on the first request, the NFVO may reserve resources in the EDN corresponding to location information.

[0081] The following explanation describes the specific implementation of step 302 in the following two cases.

[0082] Case 1: The operator management system is responsible for the network connection between reserved resources and the UPF.

[0083] After sending the first request to MANO, the ECSP management system may receive a first response from MANO, which includes connection information for the reserved resource. The ECSP management system may request the operator management system to establish a network connection between the reserved resource and the UPF. For example, the ECSP management system may send a second request to the operator management system, which is used to request the operator management system to establish a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, and the second request includes connection information for the reserved resource. Based on the second request, the operator management system establishes a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource.

[0084] According to the above design, when a resource is reserved, a connection network between the reserved resource and UPF is established in advance. In this way, when EAS is deployed to the reserved resource, the network between EAS and UPF becomes connected, allowing EAS to provide services to users at any time, and reducing latency from the time EAS is deployed until it provides services to users.

[0085] For Case 1, the procedure is provided as shown in Figure 4. The procedure includes the following:

[0086] Step 401: The ECSP management system receives a request from the ASP to create a reserved job object instance, which contains the requirements information for the reserved resource.

[0087] Step 402: The ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resources, and the first request is used to ask MANO to reserve the resources in the EDN corresponding to the location information.

[0088] For example, MANO can use cloud computing technology to reserve resources based on virtualized network functions (VNFs). Network services virtualized through network functions virtualization (NFV) are sometimes referred to as network services (NSs). One NS may contain at least one VNF. When virtualizing and deploying an NS, the service requester (e.g., the ECSP management system) must provide service description information to the service provider (e.g., MANO), and this description information may be referred to as a network service descriptor (NSD) or NS deployment template. This description information mainly describes the topology structure of the service and the description information of each VNF. The topology structure information describes the connections between VNFs. For example, virtual links (VLs) or virtual private clouds (VPCs) may be used to describe the connections between VNFs.

[0089] In a given design, the ECSP management system determines the NSD based on the requirements information of the reserved resources. Each VM in the requirements information of the reserved resources is implemented using one or more VNFs. In the following explanation, an example is used in which each VM in the requirements information of the reserved resources is implemented using one VNF. The NSD may include the topology structure and descriptive information for each VNF. For example, the topology structure may include the number of VNFs and the network connections of all VNFs. Another example is that the requirements information of the reserved resources includes 10 VMs. In this case, the topology structure of the NSD may include 10 VNFs and the network connections of the 10 VNFs. In a given implementation, the 10 VNFs may be implemented within a single network, which may be referred to as a VL or VPC. The network may be an internal virtual local area network. Within the virtual local area network, the 10 VNFs may communicate with each other, and the virtual local area network may be isolated from other networks. The description information for each VNF includes performance parameters for each VNF, which include at least one of the following: the VNF's CPU, storage space, or network bandwidth requirements. The ECSP management system can send a request to MANO to instantiate an NS. Furthermore, the request to instantiate an NS further includes location information and NSD information. Alternatively, the request to instantiate an NS includes NSD information (used to obtain information about the NSD file). In addition to the topology structure and VNF description information described above, the NSD may further include location information. MANO selects the corresponding EDN based on the location information and instantiates the NS within the corresponding EDN. For example, one VL or VPC is created within the corresponding EDN, and the VL or VPC contains 10 VNFs, and the CPU, storage space, and network bandwidth of all 10 VNFs meet the requirements. MANO returns an NS instance creation response to the ECSP management system. In other words, the concrete implementation of the first request is the request to instantiate an NS.The specific implementation of the first response is the NS instance creation response.

[0090] Step 403: MANO sends a first response to the ECSP management system, which indicates that the resource reservation was successful and may include connection information for the reserved resource.

[0091] The first response may be an NS instance creation response. If the NS instance is successfully created, the ECSP management system may query MANO for information about the created NS instance. Based on the query request, MANO returns information about the NS instance to the ECSP management system, which includes connection information for reserved resources. The connection information for reserved resources may be the NS's access address information, for example, the NS's service access point (SAP), and SAP may be VPC egress gateway information, etc.

[0092] Step 404: The ECSP management system sends a second request to the operator management system, which is used to request a network connection between the reserved resource and the UPF.

[0093] For example, the second request is a request to create an edge computing management (EcmconnectionInfo) object instance, the second request includes an EcmconnectionInfo object, which includes access address information for the NS corresponding to the reserved resource. In addition, the second request further includes location information. In one implementation, the operator management system performs step 405, namely finding a UPF that satisfies the conditions, establishing a network connection between the UPF and the NS, and creating an EcmconnectionInfo object instance, and also performs step 406, namely sending a second response to the ECSP management system, the second response may be a response indicating that the creation of the EcmconnectionInfo object instance was successful.

[0094] Optionally, in step 405, the operator management system selects a UPF that meets the criteria based on location information and establishes a network connection between that UPF and the NS.

[0095] For example, each UPF has a specific service area, and a UPF whose service area includes a location corresponding to location information may be used as a UPF that satisfies the conditions. Alternatively, the UPF closest to the location corresponding to location information may be used as a UPF that satisfies the conditions. In one design, the operator management system may send the received NS access address information to the SMF that manages the UPF, the SMF may send the NS access address information to the UPF, and the UPF establishes a network connection to the NS. Optionally, the UPF may store the NS access address information. For example, the NS access address information is configured within the UPF's route. After the UPF has completed the network connection to the NS, the operator management system may return the UPF's connection information to the ECSP management system via a second response, and the connection information may be the UPF's IP address, etc.

[0096] Step 406: The operator management system sends a second response to the ECSP management system, which includes UPF connection information.

[0097] Step 407: The ECSP management system sends a third request to MANO, which is used to request MANO to update information about the connection between the reserved resource and UPF, and the third request includes the UPF connection information.

[0098] In the operation described above, MANO may be understood as placing only NS within the EDN and not configuring a specific route (e.g., SAP) in the external connection information, or as the route in the NS's external connection information being empty. Therefore, upon obtaining the UPF connection information, the ECSP management system may send a third request to MANO, which includes the UPF connection information. The third request may be an update request, and MANO may update the route in the NS's external connection information from empty to the UPF connection information. Alternatively, the third request may be a configuration request, and MANO may configure the UPF connection information within the route in the NS's external connection information.

[0099] Optionally, after step 407, the procedure may further include MANO sending a third response to the ECSP management system, the third response indicating that it has successfully updated information about the connection between the reserved resource and the UPF.

[0100] Step 408: The ECSP management system creates a reserved job object instance and sends a response to the ASP indicating that the creation of the reserved job object instance was successful.

[0101] For example, a reserved job object instance created by the ECSP management system includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved job object, the address of the reserved resource corresponding to the reserved job object, or the usage status information of the reserved resource. Optionally, upon successful resource reservation, the ECSP management system determines the usage status information of the reserved resource. For example, in Case 1, the resource reservation is considered successful after the ECSP management system sends a third request to update the NS and receives a third response indicating that the NS update was successful. The usage status information of the reserved resource includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved resource, the usage status of the reserved resource, the identifier of the EAS placed on the reserved resource, or the utilization rate of the reserved resource. Optionally, the identifier of the reserved resource includes the identifier of the VNF and the identifier of the NS to which the VNF belongs. The usage status of the reserved resource includes whether the VNF is idle or occupied, etc. As shown in Table 1, the usage status of a reserved resource is specifically as follows:

[0102] [Table 1]

[0103] In Table 1, reserved resources are implemented within NS-1. NS-1 may be the identifier of the NS corresponding to the reserved resource, or the instance identifier of the NS corresponding to that resource. The NS identifier may be the same as or different from the NS instance identifier; however, it is not limited to this. In Table 1, NS-1 contains 10 VNFs, each with identifiers from VNF1 to VNF10. The identifier of each VNF may be the VNF identifier or the VNF instance identifier. The VNF identifier may be the same as or different from the VNF instance identifier. It can be understood that Table 1 describes the usage status of reserved resources, as determined by the ECSP management system when the reservation of that resource is successful. In this case, there are no occupied reserved resources. Therefore, the usage status of each reserved resource is Idle, the utilization rate of each reserved resource is 0, or the identifier of the EAS assigned to each reserved resource is empty, etc. A reserved resource's usage status being "idle" can be understood as meaning that the VNF corresponding to the reserved resource has been successfully created, but there is no EAS application software deployed or running within the VNF. When EAS application software is deployed or running within a VNF, the VNF is considered occupied, and its usage status becomes "occupied." Optionally, the reserved resource's usage status may further include the usage status of the VPC corresponding to the NS, the identifier of the EAS deployed within the VPC, and the VPC utilization, as shown in Table 1. In the example in Table 1, the VPC corresponding to VPC-1 contains 10 VNFs, these 10 VNFs form one VPC, and the VPC identifier is VPC-1. If any of the VNFs within the VPC are occupied, the VPC is considered occupied.

[0104] According to the above design, at least one of the following pieces of information—namely, which reserved resources are occupied, which reserved resources are idle, the utilization rate of occupied reserved resources, the EAS placed on occupied reserved resources, or other information—can be determined based on the reserved resource usage status information. This makes EAS placement easier. For example, EAS can be preferentially placed within idle reserved resources, or EAS can be preferentially placed on reserved resources with low utilization. Alternatively, when a reserved resource is to be deleted, the reserved resources that can be deleted can be determined based on the reserved resource usage information, thus avoiding the deletion of reserved resources used to place EAS. When a reserved resource that can be deleted is deleted, reserved resources that are used to place EAS and that provide services to the placed EAS are not affected.

[0105] Case 2: MANO is responsible for network connectivity between reserved resources and UPF.

[0106] The ECSP management system sends a fourth request to the operator management system, which is used to request UPF connection information corresponding to the location information. The operator management system sends a fourth response to the ECSP management system, which includes UPF connection information corresponding to the location information. Based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, the ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO. In addition to reserving a resource in the EDN corresponding to the location information, the first request is further used to request a network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, and the first request includes UPF connection information, etc.

[0107] For Case 2, the procedure is provided as shown in Figure 5. The procedure includes the following:

[0108] Step 501: The ECSP management system receives a request from the ASP to create a reserved job object instance, which contains the requirements information for the reserved resource.

[0109] Step 502: The ECSP management system sends a fourth request to the operator management system, which is used to request UPF connection information corresponding to the location information.

[0110] For example, the fourth requirement may include location information for reserved resources. The operator management system selects a UPF that satisfies the conditions based on the location information of the reserved resources. For example, there may be multiple UPFs in an area, some of which are busy and some are idle, and the idle UPF is the one that satisfies the conditions. Alternatively, there may be one UPF in an area, and that UPF may be uniquely determined based on the location information of the reserved resources. In this case, the UPF is the one that satisfies the conditions. Furthermore, the fourth requirement may further include network requirements information, such as bandwidth requirements. Network requirements information may be determined based on the bandwidth information in the requirements information of the reserved resources. For example, in the above example, if the bandwidth requirement in the performance parameters of each VM in the requirements information of the reserved resources is 100M, the network requirements information in the fourth requirement may be 100M. Alternatively, if there are 10 VMs in the reserved resources and the bandwidth requirement for the 10 VMs is 1000M, the network requirements information in the fourth requirement may be 1000M, etc. The operator management system can determine a UPF that meets the conditions based on network requirements information. For example, one or more UPFs may be determined based on the location information of reserved resources. A UPF that meets the conditions may be determined based on network requirements information. For example, a UPF whose bandwidth is greater than or equal to that specified in the network requirements information may be selected from one or more UPFs that meet the location information, and that UPF will be used as a UPF that meets the conditions. For example, a UPF with a bandwidth of 100M (or 1000M) or more may be selected from one or more UPFs that meet the location information as a UPF that meets the conditions.

[0111] Step 503: The operator management system sends a fourth response to the ECSP management system, which includes UPF connection information that satisfies the conditions. For example, the UPF connection information may be the IP address of the UPF.

[0112] Optionally, in step 504, the ECSP management system determines the NSD based on the UPF connectivity information and the reserved resource requirements information. The NSD includes the topology structure and description information for each VNF. See the explanation in Case 1 for details on the topology structure and description information for each VNF. In addition, the NSD may further include network requirements information for the connectivity between the reserved resource and the UPF, for example, specifically network requirements information for the connectivity between the VPC of the VL or NS corresponding to the reserved resource and the UPF (e.g., bandwidth). Furthermore, the NSD may further include the UPF address information.

[0113] Step 505: The ECSP management system sends a first request to MANO, which is a request to instantiate an NSD.

[0114] MANO instantiates NSs based on NSDs. The process of instantiating an NS includes reserving resources in the EDN corresponding to location information and establishing network connectivity between the reserved resources and the UPF. In a given design, the process of MANO instantiating an NS includes creating a VL or VPC, the VL or VPC containing the VNFs that need to be reserved, and further configuring the network of the VL or VPC based on network requirements information in the NSD, for example, configuring the network bandwidth of the VL or VPC, establishing network connectivity between the VL or VPC and the UPF, configuring the UPF address information in the VL or VPC route, and configuring the VL or VPC route in the UPF route. It should be noted that reserved resources correspond to at least one NS, and NS correspond to one VL or VPC. Therefore, the network connectivity between reserved resources and the UPF may be described as the network connectivity between the NS and the UPF, or the network connectivity between the VL or VPC and the UPF, and so on. The address information for reserved resources may be described as NS address information, or VL or VPC address information, etc.

[0115] Step 506: MANO sends a first response to the ECSP management system, which indicates that the resource reservation was successful.

[0116] For example, the first response could be a response about instantiating an NS.

[0117] Step 507: The ECSP management system creates a reserved job object instance and sends a response to the ASP indicating that the creation of the reserved job object instance was successful.

[0118] For a description of reserved job object instances, please refer to the explanation in Case 1. The difference is that reserved job object instances include the usage status of the reserved resource. The ECSP management system can determine the usage status of the reserved resource once the reservation of the reserved resource is successful. In Case 2, when the ECSP management system receives the first response from MANO, the reservation of the reserved resource may be considered successful, and the ECSP management system can determine the usage status of the reserved resource.

[0119] In Case 1 or Case 2, the ASP may query the usage status of the reserved resource from the ECSP management system based on the identifier of the reserved job object instance. The ASP may then deploy an EAS, etc., based on the usage status of the reserved resource. For example, the ASP may deploy an EAS to a VNF that is idle among the reserved resources, or to a VNF whose utilization is below a threshold.

[0120] According to the above design, before deploying the EAS application, the ASP reserves a portion of the resources within the EDN using the ECSP management system and MANO, and these reserved resources are referred to as reserved resources. Then, when the ASP sends a request to the ECSP management system to deploy the EAS, the ECSP management system satisfies the ASP's requirements for deploying the EAS application, as long as it is within the allocated amount of reserved resources, thereby reducing the probability of EAS deployment failure and reducing latency when users access the EAS application.

[0121] [Embodiment 2]

[0122] In Embodiment 2, the EAS is placed in the reserved resource in Embodiment 1. For example, the ECSP management system receives a fifth request from the ASP, which is used to request that the EAS be placed in the reserved resource, and the fifth request includes the identifier of the reserved resource. According to the above design, after the resource reservation is successful, the ASP places the EAS in the reserved resource, which can solve the problem of high latency when users access the EAS because the EAS is placed in the EDN far from the user due to the "first come, first served" mechanism and the limited resources of the EAS at the corresponding location.

[0123] As shown in Figure 6, a procedure is provided. The procedure can be used to place the EAS. For example, the procedure in Figure 6 may be used to place the EAS on a reserved resource in Embodiment 1, and the procedure includes: Step 601: The reserved resource is successfully reserved.

[0124] For example, an implementation of a reserved resource being successfully reserved is the completion of the creation of the reserved job object instance. For a specific implementation of step 601, please refer to the description in Embodiment 1 above.

[0125] Step 602: The ECSP management system receives a fifth request from the ASP, which includes the identifier of the reserved resource.

[0126] In one design, the identifier of a reserved resource may be the identifier of the reserved job object instance associated with the reserved job object. The ECSP management system may place the ASP's EAS within the reserved resource corresponding to the reserved job object instance. In one implementation, the ASP may use the ECSP management system to query the usage status of a reserved resource and decide to place the EAS within one or more VNFs. In this case, the ASP must inform the ECSP management system of the identifiers of one or more VNFs. For example, the fifth request further includes the identifiers of one or more VNFs in which the EAS will be placed. Alternatively, the ECSP management system may decide to place the EAS within one or more idle VNFs within the reserved resource, or within one or more VNFs whose utilization is below a threshold. For example, the ECSP management system queries the usage status of the reserved resource as shown in Table 1 and, based on the usage status of the reserved resource, determines which VNFs the EAS will be placed in. It can be understood that one EAS may be placed in one or more VNFs, but is not limited to this. In this case, the fifth requirement no longer needs to include identifiers for one or more VNFs in which the EAS is located.

[0127] Step 603: The ECSP management system sends a sixth request to MANO, which is used to request MANO to place the EAS within the reserved resources.

[0128] For example, upon receiving a sixth request, MANO may deploy the EAS to one or more VNFs that meet the conditions and are located within the reserved resources. Deploying the EAS involves loading the EAS application file in one or more VNFs that meet the conditions. Optionally, the EAS application file may also be referred to as an EAS image file. The EAS image file is either pre-configured, or MANO retrieves the EAS application file using the ECSP management system. For example, the sixth request includes EAS application file information (e.g., application file address information). Based on the application file address information, MANO can download the application file from the corresponding location.

[0129] Furthermore, the ECSP management system may use ASP to retrieve EAS application file information. For example, the fifth request further includes EAS application file information. One or more VNFs that satisfy the conditions, i.e., one or more VNFs in which EAS is located, may be determined by MANO or determined by ECSP and presented to MANO. For example, the sixth request includes identifiers for one or more VNFs. Alternatively, one or more VNFs may be determined by ASP and presented to ECSP, and then presented to MANO by ECSP. For example, both the fifth and sixth requests include identifiers for one or more VNFs, etc.

[0130] In one implementation, the ECSP management system may determine the NS corresponding to a reserved resource and retrieve the usage status of the reserved resource based on the identifier of the reserved job object instance and sent by the ASP. VNFs that meet the criteria are selected based on the usage status of the reserved resource. For example, VNFs that meet the criteria are those whose usage status is idle or those whose usage is below a threshold. Optionally, VNFs that meet the criteria are those on which EAS is deployed. A specific implementation of the sixth request in step 602 is an update request. The sixth request is used to request MANO to update the VNFs that meet the criteria, in other words, to load the EAS application software into the VM corresponding to the VNFs that meet the criteria. The sixth request includes the identifier of the VNFs that meet the criteria. Furthermore, it includes the identifier of the NS corresponding to the VNFs that meet the criteria.

[0131] In one implementation, the specific implementation of steps 602 and 603 is as follows: The ASP generates an EAS requirement object, and the ASP sends a fifth request to the ECSP management system, which is a request to create an instance of the EAS requirement object, and the fifth request includes the EAS requirement object and an identifier for the reserved job object instance. The EAS requirement object includes the requirement information necessary to deploy the EAS, such as location information for deploying the EAS, or the virtual resources and EAS application files necessary to deploy the EAS. The ECSP management system requires the EAS requirement object to determine the EAS function object. For example, the EAS requirement object includes the deployment requirements for one or more EAS. For example, if the EAS requirement object is a game-related requirement object, the EAS requirement object includes requirements for deploying a location service-related EAS, and requirements for deploying a recharge service-related EAS. The ECSP management system determines at least one EAS function object based on the EAS requirements object, and each EAS function object contains one EAS placement requirement. For each EAS function object, the ECSP management system selects a VNF that meets the conditions from the reserved resources based on the usage status of the reserved resources, and sends a sixth request to MANO to place the EAS in the condition-measuring VNF. For example, the sixth request may be an update request, which is used to request that the EAS application files be loaded into the condition-measuring VNF.

[0132] Step 604; MANO sends a sixth response to the ECSP management system, which indicates that the EAS has successfully placed on the reserved resource.

[0133] As described above, the sixth request may be an update request, which is used to request MANO to update a VNF that satisfies the conditions, in other words, to place the EAS on a VNF that satisfies the conditions. The sixth response may be a response indicating that the update of the NS instance was successful.

[0134] Step 605: The ECSP management system updates the usage status of the reserved resources.

[0135] For example, the ECSP management system updates information such as VNFs in the reserved resource usage status shown in Table 1. For example, as shown in Table 2, the identifier of the VNF where the EAS is located is VNF1, and the EAS occupies all of the VNF's resources. In this case, the reserved resource usage rate of VNF1 is updated to 100%, the reserved resource usage status of VNF1 is updated to occupied, and the identifier of the EAS located on the reserved resources of VNF1 is updated to the identifier of the located EAS. In Table 2, the identifier of the located EAS is used as an example. Furthermore, information about the VPC to which VNF1 belongs (i.e., VPC-1) is updated. For example, the reserved resource usage status of VPC-1 is updated to occupied, and the identifier of the EAS located on the reserved resources of VPC-1 is updated to EAS-1. Since VPC-1 contains 10 VNFs and only VNF-1 is occupied, the reserved resource usage rate of VPC-1 is 10%.

[0136] [Table 2]

[0137] Optionally, after step 605, the procedure further includes the ECSP management system sending an update indication to the ASP about the reserved job object instance, and upon receiving the indication information, the ASP determining that the reserved resource corresponding to the reserved job object instance has been updated. The ASP then uses the ECSP management system to query the usage status of the reserved resource.

[0138] Step 606: The ECSP management system creates the EAS requirements object instance and the EAS functionality object instance, and sends a response to the ASP indicating that the creation of the EAS requirements object instance and the EAS functionality object instance was successful.

[0139] In this embodiment of the application, the EAS may be moved after it has been successfully deployed. For example, some servers running the EAS may need to be shut down due to maintenance or upgrades on the EDN. In this case, the EAS may need to be moved to another server. Alternatively, the EAS may need to be moved to another server due to insufficient resources within the EDN. For the ASP, a relocation policy may be configured when the EAS is deployed. For example, the fifth requirement may further include EAS relocation policy information, etc., to ensure that the services provided by the EAS are not provided or are only minimally affected.

[0140] As shown in Figure 7, the procedure is provided. The main difference between the procedure in Figure 7 and the procedure in Figure 6 is that when the EAS is deployed, the EAS's movement policy may be configured, and then the deployed EAS can be moved according to the configured movement policy. The procedure includes the following:

[0141] Step 701: The reserved resource is successfully reserved.

[0142] In one design, a successful reservation of a reserved resource is achieved when the instantiation of the reserved job object is completed.

[0143] Step 702: The ECSP management system receives a fifth request from the ASP, which further includes roaming policy information in addition to the identifier of the reserved resource.

[0144] For example, the move policy information includes at least one of the following: move conditions or move scope. Optionally, move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether the ASP must be queried before the move. Move scope includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS to different reserved resources within the same EDN, or moving the EAS to different EDNs.

[0145] In one design, the ASP may generate an EAS requirement object, which includes a movement policy, and the movement policy may be referred to as a movement and notification parameter, the value of which may be one of the following:

[0146] 1. "Movement is permitted": Movement is permitted.

[0147] The scope of movement includes situations where EAS is permitted to move within the same reserved resource, where EAS is permitted to move between different reserved resources within the same EDN, or where EAS is permitted to move between different EDNs.

[0148] 2. "Permission to move is granted by querying the ASP before moving": If a notification is given, the move will be permitted.

[0149] The scope of movement is the same as that for "movement being permitted."

[0150] 3. “Movement is not permitted”: No movement

[0151] For example, under certain conditions, a successfully deployed EAS may not be allowed to be moved. For instance, this condition might be that a successfully deployed EAS cannot be moved if the move crosses an EDN. Alternatively, no condition may be defined. Specifically, after a successful deployment of an EAS, the ECSP management system is not recommended to move the EAS to another server.

[0152] Step 703: The ECSP management system sends a sixth request to MANO based on the information about the identifier of the reserved resource, which is used to request MANO to place the EAS on the reserved resource.

[0153] For example, the ECSP management system may determine EAS functional objects based on the EAS requirements object. Each EAS to be deployed in the EAS requirements object corresponds to one EAS functional object. For each EAS functional object, the ECSP management system may select a VNF that meets the conditions from the reserved resources and request MANO to instantiate the VNF. Instantiating a VNF involves deploying EAS and other components to the VNF that meets the conditions.

[0154] Step 704: MANO sends a sixth response to the ECSP management system, which includes an instantiation success response.

[0155] Step 705: Update the usage status of reserved resources.

[0156] Step 706: The ECSP management system creates the EAS requirements object instance and the EAS functionality object instance, and sends a response to the ASP indicating that the creation of the EAS requirements object instance and the EAS functionality object instance was successful.

[0157] An EAS requirement object instance includes an identifier for the EAS requirement object instance, an identifier for the EAS to be placed, an identifier for the VNF to which each EAS is placed, an identifier for the NS to which the VNF belongs, and address information for each EAS. One EAS is described so that it corresponds to one EAS function object instance, or one EAS function object instance corresponds to one EAS placement, etc. An EAS function object instance includes an identifier for the EAS function object instance, an identifier for the EAS to be placed, an identifier for the VNF to which the EAS is placed, an identifier for the NS to which the VNF belongs, and address information for each EAS.

[0158] Step 707: When the ECSP management system needs to trigger a move of the EAS, it retrieves move policy information based on the EAS requirement object instances associated with the EAS and performs the corresponding action.

[0159] For example, when the ECSP management system discovers that a deployed EAS needs to be moved due to an upgrade in the EDN, resource shortage, or other reasons, it retrieves move policy information based on the EAS requirements object instance associated with the EAS. Details are as follows:

[0160] If the movement policy information indicates that movement is permitted and the movement scope is permitted within the same reserved resource, the ECSP management system requests MANO to move the EAS within the same resource reserved by the reserved job object instance. Alternatively, if the movement policy information indicates that movement is permitted but requires a query to the ASP before movement, and the movement scope is a movement across different EDNs, the ECSP management system may send a query message to the ASP, which is used to query whether the ASP agrees to move the EAS. If the ASP agrees to move the EAS, the ECSP management system requests MANO to move the EAS in a different EDN. In some implementations, when an EAS function object instance is created in step 706, the EAS function object instance includes a movement action parameter, the initial value of which is no movement. When the move policy information indicates that the move is permitted but requires a query to the ASP before it can be moved, the ECSP management system updates the move action parameter in the EAS function object instance associated with the EAS that needs to be moved to "movement required" and sends the updated EAS function object instance information to the ASP. The ASP determines the operational status of the EAS associated with the EAS function object instance and decides whether to allow the EAS move. For example, if the operational status of the associated EAS is that the EAS is currently serving a user, the ASP may decide that the EAS move is not permitted; otherwise, the ASP may decide that the EAS move is permitted. Furthermore, if the ASP allows the EAS move, the ASP updates the move action parameter in the EAS function object instance to "movement allowed," and the ECSP management system requests MANO to perform the move operation.Alternatively, if the ASP does not allow the EAS movement, the ASP updates the movement action parameter in the EAS function object instance to "movement not allowed," and the ECSP management system temporarily skips the movement.

[0161] According to the above design, the ASP configures a relocation policy when deploying the EAS. When the EAS needs to be moved to another server due to EDN maintenance or upgrades, etc., the EAS may be moved according to the EAS relocation policy to ensure that the services provided by the EAS are not affected or are less affected.

[0162] [Embodiment 3] As shown in Figure 8, embodiments of this application further provide a procedure which may be used to delete a reserved resource. For example, the procedure may be used to delete a reserved resource in Embodiment 1, and the procedure includes: Step 801: The ECSP management system receives a seventh request from the ASP, the seventh request which is used to request the deletion of the reserved resource. For example, the seventh request may be used to request the deletion of a reserved job object instance, and the seventh request includes an identifier of the reserved job object instance.

[0163] Case 1: The ASP queries the ECSP management system for the usage status of reserved resources based on the identifier of the reserved object instance, and deletes or moves all EAS placed on the reserved resources based on the requirements. When all reserved resources are idle, the ASP sends a request to the ECSP management system to delete the reserved job object instance.

[0164] Case 2: The ASP directly sends a request to the ECSP management system to delete a reserved job object instance, and that request may carry an indication to reserve the EAS that is placed on the reserved resource.

[0165] Optionally, in step 802, the ECSP management system determines the usage status of the reserved resource corresponding to the reserved job object instance.

[0166] Step 803: The ECSP management system sends an NS update request to MANO, which is used to delete the reserved resource.

[0167] In Case 1, all reserved resources are idle, and the ECSP management system can directly delete reserved job object instances. In Case 2, the ECSP management system requests MANO to remove the unoccupied VNFs from the reserved resources and reserve the occupied VNFs within the reserved resources. The occupied VNFs are those on which the EAS is located. For example, in the example in Table 2, the reserved resources contain 10 VNFs, and only VNF1 is occupied. In this case, only VNF1 can be reserved, and VNF10 can be removed from VNF2. Furthermore, only the network resources of the VL or VPC used by VNF1 are reserved, and the network resources of the other VNFs are removed. For example, 100M of network bandwidth is reserved for a VL or VPC, but EAS1, located on VNF1, uses only 10% of the network bandwidth. In this case, only 10M of bandwidth can be reserved, and the remaining 90M of bandwidth is released.

[0168] Step 804: MANO sends an NS update success response to the ECSP management system.

[0169] If, optionally, all reserved resources associated with the reserved job object instance are to be deleted, the procedure may further include the following: Step 805: If the connection between NS and UPF is established by the operator management system, the ECSP management system requests the operator management system to delete the connection between NS and UPF, for example, to delete the EcmConnectionInfo object instance.

[0170] Optionally, an EcmConnectionInfo object instance is created by the operator management system, and the object instance stores information about the connection between NS and UPF.

[0171] Step 806: The operator management system sends a response indicating that it has successfully deleted the connection between NS and UPF to the ECSP management system, for example, a response indicating that it has successfully deleted the reserved job object instance. Alternatively, if the connection between NS and UPF is established by MANO, MANO may further delete the network connection between NS and UPF after all reserved resources have been deleted.

[0172] According to the above design, when a resource has been successfully reserved, if the ASP no longer needs the reserved resource, the reserved resource may be deleted, thereby avoiding the waste of the reserved resource.

[0173] In the embodiments of this application, the following points should be noted. 1. The differences between the different embodiments are described in detail. The descriptions of the different embodiments may be referenced to one another.

[0174] 2. In various embodiments, unless otherwise noted or unless logically contradictory, the terminology and / or descriptions in different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to one another, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined based on their internal logical relationships to form new embodiments.

[0175] 3. The numbers used in the embodiments of this application are used solely for the purpose of distinction to facilitate explanation and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The sequence numbers of the processes described above do not imply an execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined based on the function and internal logic of the processes.

[0176] 4. In the procedures shown in Figures 3 through 8, the order in which the different steps are executed is not limited. For example, in Figure 6, step 605 may be executed before step 606 or after step 605. Each procedure in Figures 3 through 8 may include fewer or more steps than those in the schematic flowchart or text description, but this is not limited.

[0177] In the embodiments provided in this application, the methods provided in these embodiments are described in terms of device-to-device interaction. To implement the functions in the methods provided in these embodiments, an ASP, ECSP management system, MANO, or operator management system, etc., may include hardware structures and / or software modules, and the above functions are implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether any of the above functions are performed using hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the design constraints of the particular application and technical solution.

[0178] Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the structure of possible devices according to embodiments of this application. These communication devices may implement one or more corresponding functions in the above-described method embodiments, such as functions implemented by an ECSP management system or ASP. Thus, the advantageous effects of the above-described method embodiments can be realized.

[0179] As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 includes a processing unit 910 and a transceiver unit 920. Optionally, the units may also be referred to as modules. For example, the processing unit may be referred to as a processing module, and the transceiver unit may be referred to as a transceiver module.

[0180] For example, a processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing unit. A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver machine, transceiver module, or transceiver device. Furthermore, a communication unit may include at least one of a transmitting unit or a receiving unit. The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be integrated, or they may be two separate units.

[0181] In one design, the communication device 900 is configured to implement the functions of the ECSP management system shown in Figures 3 to 8. Specifically, the transceiver unit 920 is configured to receive reserved resource requirement information from the application service provider ASP, the reserved resource requirement information including location information of the reserved resource, and the processing unit 910 controls the transceiver unit 920 to send a first request to the management and orchestration MANO based on the reserved resource requirement information, the first request being used to request MANO to reserve a resource in the edge data network EDN corresponding to the location information, there being a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to its location information, and the reserved resource being used to deploy the ASP's edge application server EAS.

[0182] In other designs, the communication device 900 is configured to implement the functions of the ASP shown in Figures 3 to 8. Specifically, the processing unit 910 is configured to determine the requirements information for a reserved resource, which includes at least the location information of the reserved resource; the transceiver unit 920 is configured to transmit the requirements information for the reserved resource to the edge computing service provider ECSP management system, which has a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the ASP's edge application server EAS.

[0183] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 910 and the transceiver unit 920, please refer to the description in Figures 3 to 8 in the above-described embodiment of the method. Further details will not be explained again here.

[0184] In embodiments of this application, the division into units is an example and may be understood as merely a logical functional division. Other division methods may be used in actual implementations. In addition, the functional units in embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single physical device (e.g., a processor), each functional unit may be an independent physical device, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit for implementation. The integrated unit may be implemented in hardware form or in the form of a software functional module or the like.

[0185] Figure 10 shows another structure of the communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of this application. For example, the communication device 1000 shown in Figure 10 could be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device 900 shown in Figure 9. For ease of explanation, only the main parts of the communication device are shown in Figure 10.

[0186] As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. The processor 1010 and the interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other.

[0187] For example, the processor 1010 may be a central processing unit (CPU), another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), another programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor. The interface circuit 1020 may be a transceiver or an input / output circuit, etc.

[0188] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1030 configured to store instructions executed by the processor 1010, input data required by the processor 1010 to execute the instructions, or data generated after the processor 1010 has executed the instructions. For example, instructions may also be referred to as computer programs or computer program code.

[0189] For example, memory 1030 may be random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art.

[0190] When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the methods shown in Figures 3 to 8, the processor 1010 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 910, and the interface circuit 1020 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 920.

[0191] In one implementation, the interface circuit 1020 is configured to receive signals from communication devices other than the communication device 1000 and transmit those signals to the processor 1010, or to transmit signals from the processor 1010 to communication devices other than the communication device. The processor 1010 is configured to realize the functions shown in Figures 3 to 8 by using logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0192] Embodiments of this application further provide a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and memory. The processor is coupled to the memory and is configured to implement the functions shown in Figures 3 to 8. For example, the processor may execute instructions in memory, thereby enabling the communication device to implement one or more functions in the above-described method embodiment, for example, the functions shown in Figure 3 or Figure 8. For example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor, thereby enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located within an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be located within an ECSP management system or ASP, etc., as shown in Figures 3 to 8. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may exist as separate components in an ECSP management system or ASP, etc., as shown in Figures 3 to 8.

[0193] Embodiments of this application further provide a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which may also be referred to as computer programs or computer program code. The instructions are executed on a computer, thereby causing the computer to perform the functions shown in Figures 3 to 8 in the above-described embodiment of the method, for example, the functions of the ECSP management system or ASP shown in Figures 3 to 8.

[0194] Optionally, the computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, a network device, user equipment, or other programmable device. Computer programs or instructions may be stored in computer-readable storage media or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, computer programs or instructions may be transmitted by wire or wirelessly from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by the computer, or a data storage device that integrates one or more available media, such as a server or data center. The available media may be magnetic media, such as floppy disks, hard disks, or magnetic tapes; optical media, such as digital video discs; or semiconductor media, such as solid-state drives. The computer-readable storage medium may be volatile or non-volatile storage media, or may include two types of storage media: volatile storage media and non-volatile storage media.

[0195] Embodiments of this application further provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer, the methods shown in Figures 3 to 8 are performed. For example, the functions of the ECSP management system or ASP shown in Figures 3 to 8 are performed.

[0196] For example, a computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When a computer program or instruction is loaded onto a computer and executed, all or part of the procedures or functions shown in Figures 3 to 8 in the embodiments of this application are performed.

[0197] It can be understood that all or part of the methods in embodiments of this application may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination. When software is used to carry out the method, the method may be implemented all or partially in the form of a computer program product.

[0198] Embodiments of this application further provide a chip, which includes a processor, which is coupled to memory, and which is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory, thereby enabling the chip to implement the functions shown in Figures 3 to 8, for example, the functions of the ECSP management system or ASP shown in Figures 3 to 8. For example, the chip implements the functions of the ECSP management system. The chip may receive information from other modules in the ECSP management system (e.g., radio frequency or antenna), and this information may be transmitted to the ECSP management system by the ASP. Alternatively, the ECSP management system may transmit information to other modules in the ECSP management system (e.g., radio frequency module or antenna), and this information may be transmitted by the ECSP management system to MANO, etc.

[0199] Embodiments of this application further provide a communication system including a first communication device and MANO. The first communication device may implement the functions of the ECSP management system shown in Figures 3 to 8. For a specific structure of the first communication device, please refer to the description above, for example, the description in Figure 9 or 10. Optionally, the communication system further includes an operator management system. Furthermore, the communication system further includes a second communication device. The second communication device may implement the functions of the ASP shown in Figures 3 to 8. For a specific structure of the second communication device, please refer to the description above, for example, the description in Figure 9 or 10.

[0200] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to this application without departing from its scope. Thus, this application is intended to cover such modifications and variations to the extent that they fall within the scope of protection of the claims of this application and the equivalent art.

Claims

1. An edge application method, the method being applied to an edge computing service provider ECSP management system, A step of receiving requirement information for a reserved resource from an application service provider ASP, wherein the requirement information for the reserved resource includes location information for the reserved resource. A step of sending a first request to a management and orchestration MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, wherein the first request is used to request the MANO to reserve the resource in the edge data network EDN corresponding to the location information, there is a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the edge application server EAS of the ASP, and Edge application methods, including

2. The requirements information for the reserved resource further includes at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource. The method according to claim 1.

3. When the reservation of the reserved resource is successful, the step of determining the usage status information of the reserved resource further includes, namely, at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved resource, the usage status of the reserved resource, the identifier of the EAS placed on the reserved resource, or the utilization rate of the reserved resource. The method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The identifier of the reserved resource includes the identifier of the virtualization network function (VNF) and the identifier of the network service (NS) to which the VNF belongs, and the usage status of the reserved resource includes the VNF being idle or occupied. The method according to claim 3.

5. After the step of sending a first request to the MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, the method A step of sending a second request to an operator management system, the second request being used to request the operator management system to establish the network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, the second request further comprising the step of including connection information for the reserved resource. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. After the step of sending a second request to the operator management system, the method, A step of receiving a second response from the operator management system, wherein the second response includes connection information for the UPF, A step of sending a third request to the MANO, the third request being used to request the MANO to update information about the connection between the reserved resource and the UPF, the third request including the connection information of the UPF, and Further including, The method according to claim 5.

7. Before the step of sending a first request to the MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, the method: A step of transmitting a fourth request to an operator management system, wherein the fourth request is used to request connection information for the UPF corresponding to the location information, A step of receiving a fourth response from the operator management system, wherein the fourth response includes the connection information of the UPF corresponding to the location information. Further including, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. A step of receiving a fifth request from the ASP, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within the reserved resource, and the fifth request including the identifier of the reserved resource, further comprising: The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The fifth requirement further includes travel policy information for the EAS, the travel policy information including at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range, The method according to claim 8.

10. The aforementioned move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether the ASP must be queried before the move. The aforementioned movement range includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS within different reserved resources in the same EDN, or moving the EAS within different EDNs. The method according to claim 9.

11. An edge application method, the method being applied to an application service provider ASP, A step of determining the requirements information of a reserved resource, wherein the requirements information of the reserved resource includes at least the location information of the reserved resource. A step of transmitting the requirements information of the reserved resource to the edge computing service provider ECSP management system, wherein there is a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the ASP's edge application server EAS, and Edge application methods, including

12. The requirements information for the reserved resource further includes at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource. The method according to claim 11.

13. A step of sending a fifth request to the ECSP management system, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within the reserved resource, the fifth request including an identifier for the reserved resource, further comprising: The method according to claim 11 or 12.

14. The fifth requirement further includes travel policy information for the EAS, the travel policy information including at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range, The method according to claim 13.

15. The aforementioned move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether it is necessary to query the ASP before the move. The aforementioned movement range includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS within different reserved resources in the same EDN, or moving the EAS within different EDNs. The method according to claim 14.

16. The Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) Management System receives requirement information for reserved resources from the Application Service Provider (ASP), and transmits a first request to the Management and Orchestration MANO based on the requirement information for the reserved resources, Steps include: the requirement information for the reserved resource includes location information for the reserved resource, the first request is used to request the MANO to reserve the resource in the edge data network EDN corresponding to the location information, there is a network connection between the reserved resource and the user plane function UPF corresponding to the location information, and the reserved resource is used to deploy the edge application server EAS of the ASP; The MANO receives the first request from the ECSP management system. Edge application methods, including

17. The aforementioned method, Based on the first request, the MANO further includes the step of reserving the resource in the EDN corresponding to the location information, The method according to claim 16.

18. The ASP further includes the step of transmitting the requirements information of the reserved resource to the ECSP management system, The method according to claim 16 or 17.

19. The requirements information for the reserved resource further includes at least one of the following: the quantity of the reserved resource, the performance parameters of the reserved resource, or the expiration date of the reserved resource. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18.

20. When the reservation of the reserved resource is successful, the ECSP management system determines the usage status information of the reserved resource, further comprising the step that the usage status information of the reserved resource includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reserved resource, the usage status of the reserved resource, the identifier of the EAS placed on the reserved resource, or the utilization rate of the reserved resource. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19.

21. The identifier of the reserved resource includes the identifier of the virtualization network function (VNF) and the identifier of the network service (NS) to which the VNF belongs, and the usage status of the reserved resource includes the VNF being idle or occupied. The method according to claim 20.

22. After the step of the ECSP management system sending a first request to the MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, the method: The ECSP management system transmits a second request to the operator management system, the second request being used to request the operator management system to establish the network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource, and the second request including connection information for the reserved resource. The operator management system establishes the network connection between the UPF and the reserved resource based on the second request. Further including, The method according to any one of claims 16 to 21.

23. The operator management system transmits a second response to the ECSP management system, the second response including the UPF connection information, The ECSP management system sends a third request to the MANO, the third request being used to request the MANO to update information about the connection between the reserved resource and the UPF, The MANO updates the information regarding the connection between the reserved resource and the UPF based on the connection information which belongs to the UPF and is included in the third request. Further including, The method according to claim 22.

24. Prior to the step in which the ECSP management system sends a first request to the MANO based on the requirements information of the reserved resource, the method: The ECSP management system transmits a fourth request to the operator management system, wherein the fourth request is used to request connection information for the UPF corresponding to the location information. A step of transmitting a fourth response to the ECSP management system by the operator management system, wherein the fourth response includes the connection information of the UPF corresponding to the location information. Further including, The method according to any one of claims 16 to 21.

25. The ECSP management system receives a fifth request from the ASP, the fifth request being used to request that the EAS be placed within the reserved resources, and the fifth request includes the identifier of the reserved resources, further comprising the steps of: The method according to any one of claims 16 to 24.

26. The ASP further includes the step of transmitting the fifth request to the ECSP management system, The method according to claim 25.

27. The fifth requirement further includes travel policy information for the EAS, the travel policy information including at least one of the following: travel conditions or travel range, The method according to claim 25 or 26.

28. The aforementioned move conditions include whether the move is permitted, whether the move is not permitted, or whether it is necessary to query the ASP before the move. The aforementioned movement range includes moving the EAS within the same reserved resource, moving the EAS within different reserved resources in the same EDN, or moving the EAS within different EDNs. The method according to claim 27.

29. A communication device comprising a unit configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

30. A communication device including a processor and memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, thereby enabling the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

31. A communication device including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or to transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, and the processor is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 by using logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

32. A communication device comprising a unit configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 11 to 15.

33. A communication device including a processor and memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, enabling the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15.

34. A communication device including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or to transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, and the processor is configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15 by using logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

35. A chip including a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, enabling the chip to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15.

36. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program or instruction, wherein when the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer becomes capable of carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15.

37. A computer program product comprising a computer program or instruction, wherein when the computer program or instruction is executed by a device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15 is executed.

38. A communication system comprising a first communication device and a management and orchestration MANO, wherein the first communication device is configured to carry out the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

39. Including an operator management system, The system according to claim 38.

40. The present invention further includes a second communication device, the second communication device being configured to carry out the method described in any one of claims 11 to 15. The system according to claim 38 or 39.

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