Management of hardware resources included in communication system

Abstract

The present invention enables efficient use of hardware resources included in a communication system. When the remaining amount of hardware resources included in a special spare resource group satisfies a remaining amount condition, a configuration management unit (76), in response to the satisfaction of a resource addition condition by the usage status of a hardware resource group, changes the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the special spare resource group from the special spare resource group to the hardware resource group. When the remaining amount of hardware resources included in the special spare resource group does not satisfy the remaining amount condition, a bare metal management unit (96), in response to the satisfaction of the resource addition condition by the usage status of the hardware resource group, executes setup for hardware resources included in a general-purpose spare resource group, and the configuration management unit (76) changes the affiliation of the hardware resources for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the hardware resource group.

Description

Management of hardware resources included in communication systems

[0001] The present invention relates to the management of hardware resources contained in a communication system.

[0002] There is a technology for managing hardware resources included in a communication system by dividing them into multiple hardware resource groups. As an example of such a technology, Patent Document 1 describes adding unused hardware resources, to which system software corresponding to a specific type of functional unit has been set up, to a resource pool associated with the specific type of functional unit.

[0003] Furthermore, Patent Documents 2 and 3 describe technologies for scaling out applications that run in a communication system, such as VNF (Virtualized Network Function).

[0004] International Publication No. 2021 / 171211 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-173894 International Publication No. 2017 / 170470

[0005] When the hardware resources included in a communication system are managed by dividing them into multiple hardware resource groups, if a large amount of hardware resources is reserved in advance in each of the multiple hardware resource groups in anticipation of application scale-out, hardware resources will be wasted.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and one of its objects is to enable efficient use of hardware resources included in a communication system.

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, a resource management system according to the present disclosure includes a usage status monitoring means for monitoring the usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resource groups included in a communication system, a resource adding means for changing the affiliation of a hardware resource included in a common backup resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups from the common backup resource group to the hardware resource group when the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups satisfies a resource adding condition associated with the hardware resource group, and a setup execution means for executing setup according to a predetermined application type, and when the margin of a hardware resource included in a special backup resource group that is part of the common backup resource group and for which setup according to the type has been executed satisfies a predetermined margin condition, the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which an application of the type is running is changed to the hardware resource group. In response to the resource addition condition associated with a resource group being satisfied, the resource adding means changes the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group itself; and if the margin of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group itself, the setup execution means executes setup according to the type of application on hardware resources included in a general-purpose backup resource group that is part of the common backup resource group and includes hardware resources for which the setup has not been executed, and the resource adding means changes the affiliation of the hardware resources for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose backup resource group to the hardware resource group itself.

[0008] Furthermore, a resource management method according to the present disclosure includes monitoring the usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resource groups included in a communication system; and, when a margin of a hardware resource included in a special backup resource group that is part of a common backup resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups and includes hardware resources for which setup according to a predetermined application type has been executed, changing the affiliation of the hardware resource included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying a resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group; and, when the margin of the hardware resource included in the special backup resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, performing setup according to the type of application on hardware resources included in a general backup resource group that is part of the common backup resource group and includes hardware resources for which the setup has not been executed, and changing the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general backup resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group.

[0009] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network service according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an association between elements established in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a function implemented in a platform system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of physical inventory data. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram showing an example of allocation of hardware resources included in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow diagram showing an example of a flow of processing performed in a platform system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow diagram showing an example of a flow of processing performed in a platform system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] 1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating an example of a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a diagram focusing on the locations of a group of data centers included in the communication system 1. Fig. 2 is a diagram focusing on various computer systems implemented in the group of data centers included in the communication system 1.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1 , the data centers included in the communication system 1 are classified into a central data center 10 , regional data centers 12 , and edge data centers 14 .

[0013] For example, several central data centers 10 are distributed and located within the area covered by the communication system 1 (for example, within Japan).

[0014] For example, several tens of regional data centers 12 are distributed and placed within the area covered by the communication system 1. For example, if the area covered by the communication system 1 is the entire country of Japan, one or two regional data centers 12 may be placed in each prefecture.

[0015] For example, several thousand edge data centers 14 are distributed within the area covered by the communication system 1. Each edge data center 14 is capable of communicating with communication equipment 18 equipped with an antenna 16. As shown in FIG. 1 , one edge data center 14 may be capable of communicating with several pieces of communication equipment 18. The communication equipment 18 may include a computer such as a server computer. The communication equipment 18 according to this embodiment performs wireless communication with a UE (User Equipment) 20 via the antenna 16. The communication equipment 18 equipped with the antenna 16 is provided with, for example, a radio unit (RU) (described later).

[0016] In this embodiment, the central data center 10, the regional data center 12, and the edge data center 14 each have a plurality of servers arranged therein.

[0017] In this embodiment, for example, the central data center 10, the regional data centers 12, and the edge data centers 14 are capable of communicating with each other. Furthermore, the central data centers 10, the regional data centers 12, and the edge data centers 14 are also capable of communicating with each other.

[0018] 2, the communication system 1 according to this embodiment includes a platform system 30, multiple radio access networks (RANs) 32, multiple core network systems 34, and multiple UEs 20. The core network systems 34, the RANs 32, and the UEs 20 cooperate with each other to realize a mobile communication network.

[0019] The RAN 32 is a computer system equipped with an antenna 16, which corresponds to an eNodeB (eNB) in a fourth-generation mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as 4G) or a gNB (NR base station) in a fifth-generation mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as 5G). The RAN 32 according to this embodiment is mainly implemented by a group of servers and communication equipment 18 arranged in an edge data center 14. Note that part of the RAN 32 (for example, a distributed unit (DU), a central unit (CU), a virtual distributed unit (vDU), and a virtual central unit (vCU)) may be implemented in the central data center 10 or the regional data center 12, rather than in the edge data center 14.

[0020] The core network system 34 is a system equivalent to an EPC (Evolved Packet Core) in 4G or a 5G Core (5GC) in 5G. The core network system 34 according to this embodiment is implemented mainly by a group of servers arranged in the central data center 10 and the regional data centers 12.

[0021] The platform system 30 according to this embodiment is configured, for example, on a cloud platform and includes a processor 30a, a storage unit 30b, and a communication unit 30c, as shown in FIG. 2 . The processor 30a is a program-controlled device such as a microprocessor that operates according to a program installed in the platform system 30. The storage unit 30b is, for example, a storage element such as a ROM or RAM, a solid-state drive (SSD), or a hard disk drive (HDD). The storage unit 30b stores programs executed by the processor 30a. The communication unit 30c is, for example, a communication interface such as a network interface controller (NIC) or a wireless local area network (LAN) module. Note that software-defined networking (SDN) may be implemented in the communication unit 30c. The communication unit 30c exchanges data with the RAN 32 and the core network system 34.

[0022] In this embodiment, the platform system 30 is implemented by a group of servers located in the central data center 10. Note that the platform system 30 may also be implemented by a group of servers located in the regional data centers 12.

[0023] In this embodiment, for example, in response to a purchase request for a network service (NS) by a purchaser, the requested network service is constructed in the RAN 32 or the core network system 34. Then, the constructed network service is provided to the purchaser.

[0024] For example, a purchaser such as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) is provided with network services such as voice communication services and data communication services. The voice communication services and data communication services provided by this embodiment are ultimately provided to customers (end users) of the purchaser (MVNO in the above example) who use the UE 20 shown in Figures 1 and 2. The end users can perform voice communication and data communication with other users via the RAN 32 and the core network system 34. The UE 20 of the end user can also access a data network such as the Internet via the RAN 32 and the core network system 34.

[0025] In addition, in this embodiment, an IoT (Internet of Things) service may be provided to an end user who uses a robot arm, a connected car, etc. In this case, for example, the end user who uses the robot arm, the connected car, etc. may become a purchaser of the network service according to this embodiment.

[0026] In this embodiment, a container-type virtualized application execution environment such as Docker (registered trademark) is installed on servers located in the central data center 10, the regional data centers 12, and the edge data center 14, allowing containers to be deployed and run on these servers. A cluster consisting of one or more containers generated by such virtualization technology may be constructed on these servers. For example, a Kubernetes cluster managed by a container management tool such as Kubernetes (registered trademark) may be constructed. Then, a processor on the constructed cluster may execute a container-type application.

[0027] In this embodiment, the network service provided to the purchaser is composed of one or more functional units (for example, network functions (NFs)). In this embodiment, the functional units are implemented as NFs realized by virtualization technology. NFs realized by virtualization technology are called VNFs (Virtualized Network Functions). It does not matter what virtualization technology is used for virtualization. For example, in this description, a CNF (Containerized Network Function) realized by container-type virtualization technology is also included in the VNF. In this embodiment, the network service is described as being implemented by one or more CNFs. Furthermore, the functional units according to this embodiment may correspond to network nodes.

[0028] Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network service in operation. The network service illustrated in Fig. 3 includes, as software elements, NFs such as a plurality of RUs 40, a plurality of DUs 42, a plurality of CUs 44 (CU-CPs (Central Unit - Control Plane) 44a and CU-UPs (Central Unit - User Plane) 44b), a plurality of AMFs (Access and Mobility Management Functions) 46, a plurality of SMFs (Session Management Functions) 48, and a plurality of UPFs (User Plane Functions) 50.

[0029] In the example of Figure 3, RU 40, DU 42, CU-CP 44a, AMF 46, and SMF 48 correspond to elements of the control plane (C-Plane), and RU 40, DU 42, CU-UP 44b, and UPF 50 correspond to elements of the user plane (U-Plane).

[0030] The network service may include other types of NF as software elements. The network service is implemented on computer resources (hardware elements) such as multiple servers.

[0031] In this embodiment, for example, a communication service in a certain area is provided by the network service shown in FIG.

[0032] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the multiple RUs 40, multiple DUs 42, multiple CU-UPs 44b, and multiple UPFs 50 shown in Figure 3 belong to one end-to-end network slice.

[0033] 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of associations between elements established in the communication system 1 in this embodiment. The symbols M and N shown in FIG. 4 represent any integers equal to or greater than 1, and indicate the relationship between the numbers of elements connected by a link. When both ends of a link are a combination of M and N, the elements connected by the link have a many-to-many relationship, and when both ends of a link are a combination of 1 and N or a combination of 1 and M, the elements connected by the link have a one-to-many relationship.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 4, the network service (NS), network function (NF), CNFC (Containerized Network Function Component), pod, and container have a hierarchical structure.

[0035] The NS corresponds to, for example, a network service configured from a plurality of NFs. Here, the NS may correspond to, for example, a granular element such as 5GC, EPC, 5G RAN (gNB), or 4G RAN (eNB).

[0036] In 5G, NFs correspond to elements with granularity such as RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, SMF, and UPF. In 4G, NFs correspond to elements with granularity such as MME (Mobility Management Entity), HSS (Home Subscriber Server), S-GW (Serving Gateway), vDU, and vCU. In this embodiment, for example, one NS includes one or more NFs. In other words, one or more NFs are under the control of one NS.

[0037] CNFC corresponds to a granularity element such as DU mgmt or DU Processing, for example. CNFC may be a microservice deployed on a server as one or more containers. For example, a certain CNFC may be a microservice that provides some of the functions of DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, etc. Also, a certain CNFC may be a microservice that provides some of the functions of UPF, AMF, SMF, etc. In this embodiment, for example, one NF includes one or more CNFCs. In other words, one or more CNFCs are under the control of one NF.

[0038] A pod is the smallest unit for managing a Docker container in Kubernetes. In this embodiment, for example, one CNFC includes one or more pods. In other words, one CNFC has one or more pods under its control.

[0039] In this embodiment, for example, one pod includes one or more containers, that is, one or more containers are subordinate to one pod.

[0040] Also, as shown in Figure 4, network slices (NSIs) and network slice subnet instances (NSSIs) have a hierarchical structure.

[0041] The NSI can also be considered an end-to-end virtual circuit spanning multiple domains (e.g., from the RAN 32 to the core network system 34). The NSI may be a slice for high-speed, large-capacity communication (e.g., for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)), a slice for high-reliability and low-latency communication (e.g., for Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC)), or a slice for connecting a large number of terminals (e.g., for massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)). The NSSI can also be considered a virtual circuit of a single domain obtained by dividing the NSI. The NSSI may be a slice of the RAN domain, a slice of a transport domain such as a Mobile Back Haul (MBH) domain, or a slice of the core network domain.

[0042] In this embodiment, for example, one NSI includes one or more NSSIs. That is, one or more NSSIs are subordinate to one NSI. Note that in this embodiment, multiple NSIs may share the same NSSI.

[0043] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, NSSIs and NSs generally have a many-to-many relationship.

[0044] Furthermore, in this embodiment, for example, one NF can belong to one or more network slices. Specifically, for example, one NF can be configured with NSSAI (Network Slice Selection Assistance Information) including one or more S-NSSAI (Sub Network Slice Selection Assist Information). Here, S-NSSAI is information associated with a network slice. Note that an NF does not necessarily have to belong to a network slice.

[0045] Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions implemented in the platform system 30 according to this embodiment. Note that the platform system 30 according to this embodiment does not need to implement all of the functions shown in Fig. 5, and functions other than the functions shown in Fig. 5 may also be implemented.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 5 , the platform system 30 according to this embodiment functionally includes, for example, an operations support system (OSS) unit 60, an orchestration (E2EO: End-to-End-Orchestration) unit 62, a service catalog storage unit 64, a big data platform unit 66, a data bus unit 68, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) unit 70, a monitoring function unit 72, an SDN controller 74, a configuration management unit 76, a container management unit 78, a repository unit 80, and a bare metal management unit 96. The OSS unit 60 includes an inventory database 82, a ticket management unit 84, a fault management unit 86, and a performance management unit 88. The E2EO unit 62 includes a policy manager unit 90, a slice manager unit 92, and a lifecycle management unit 94. These elements are implemented primarily using a processor 30 a, a storage unit 30 b, and a communication unit 30 c.

[0047] The functions shown in Figure 5 may be implemented by installing a program including instructions corresponding to the functions in a platform system 30, which is one or more computers, on the platform system 30 and having the processor 30a execute the program. This program may be supplied to the platform system 30 via a computer-readable information storage medium, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, a magneto-optical disk, or a flash memory, or via the Internet. The functions shown in Figure 5 may also be implemented using circuit blocks, memory, or other LSIs. Those skilled in the art will understand that the functions shown in Figure 5 can be realized in various forms, such as hardware alone, software alone, or a combination thereof.

[0048] The container management unit 78 manages the life cycle of a container, including processes related to the construction of the container, such as the deployment and configuration of the container.

[0049] Here, the platform system 30 according to the present embodiment may include a plurality of container management units 78. A container management tool such as Kubernetes and a package manager such as Helm may be installed in each of the plurality of container management units 78. Each of the plurality of container management units 78 may execute container construction, such as container deployment, for a server group (e.g., a Kubernetes cluster) associated with the corresponding container management unit 78.

[0050] The container management unit 78 does not need to be included in the platform system 30. The container management unit 78 may be provided, for example, in a server managed by the container management unit 78 (i.e., the RAN 32 or the core network system 34), or may be provided in another server that is annexed to the server managed by the container management unit 78.

[0051] In this embodiment, the repository unit 80 stores, for example, container images of containers included in a group of functional units (for example, a group of NFs) that realize a network service.

[0052] The inventory database 82 is a database that stores inventory information, which includes, for example, information about servers that are placed in the RAN 32 and the core network system 34 and that are managed by the platform system 30.

[0053] In this embodiment, inventory data is stored in the inventory database 82. The inventory data indicates the configuration of the elements included in the communication system 1 and the current status of the associations between the elements. The inventory data also indicates the status of resources managed by the platform system 30 (e.g., resource usage status). The inventory data may be physical inventory data or logical inventory data. Physical inventory data and logical inventory data will be described later.

[0054] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of physical inventory data. The physical inventory data shown in Fig. 6 is associated with one server. The physical inventory data shown in Fig. 6 includes, for example, a server ID, location data, building data, floor data, rack data, specification data, network data, an operating container ID list, a cluster ID, and the like.

[0055] The server ID included in the physical inventory data is, for example, an identifier of the server associated with the physical inventory data.

[0056] The location data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data indicating the location (for example, the address of the location) of the server associated with the physical inventory data.

[0057] The building data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data indicating the building (for example, the building name) in which the server associated with the physical inventory data is located.

[0058] The floor number data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data indicating the floor number on which the server associated with the physical inventory data is located.

[0059] The rack data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, an identifier of the rack in which the server associated with the physical inventory data is located.

[0060] The specification data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data indicating the specifications of the server associated with the physical inventory data, and the specification data indicates, for example, the number of cores, memory capacity, hard disk capacity, etc.

[0061] The network data included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data indicating information about the network of the server associated with the physical inventory data, and the network data indicates, for example, the NIC equipped in the server, the number of ports equipped in the NIC, the port ID of the port, etc.

[0062] The operating container ID list included in the physical inventory data is, for example, data that indicates information about one or more containers operating on a server associated with the physical inventory data, and the operating container ID list indicates, for example, a list of identifiers (container IDs) of instances of the containers.

[0063] The cluster ID included in the physical inventory data is, for example, an identifier of the cluster (for example, a Kubernetes cluster) to which the server associated with the physical inventory data belongs.

[0064] The logical inventory data includes topology data indicating the current state of associations between multiple elements included in the communication system 1, such as those shown in Figure 4. For example, the logical inventory data includes topology data including an identifier of a certain NS and identifiers of one or more NFs under the NS. Also, for example, the logical inventory data includes topology data including an identifier of a certain network slice and identifiers of one or more NFs belonging to the network slice.

[0065] The inventory data may also include data indicating the current status of geographical relationships and topological relationships between elements included in the communication system 1. As described above, the inventory data includes location data indicating the locations where the elements included in the communication system 1 are operating, i.e., the current locations of the elements included in the communication system 1. From this, it can be said that the inventory data indicates the current status of the geographical relationships between elements (e.g., the geographical proximity between elements).

[0066] The logical inventory data may also include NSI data indicating information about the network slice. The NSI data indicates attributes such as an identifier of an instance of the network slice and a type of the network slice. The logical inventory data may also include NSSI data indicating information about the network slice subnet. The NSSI data indicates attributes such as an identifier of an instance of the network slice subnet and a type of the network slice subnet.

[0067] The logical inventory data may also include NS data indicating information about NS. The NS data indicates attributes such as an NS instance identifier and an NS type, for example. The logical inventory data may also include NF data indicating information about NF. The NF data indicates attributes such as an NF instance identifier and an NF type, for example. The logical inventory data may also include CNFC data indicating information about CNFC. The CNFC data indicates attributes such as an instance identifier and a CNFC type, for example. The logical inventory data may also include pod data indicating information about pods included in the CNFC. The pod data indicates attributes such as a pod instance identifier and a pod type, for example. The logical inventory data may also include container data indicating information about containers included in the pod. The container data indicates attributes such as a container ID of a container instance and a container type, for example.

[0068] The container ID of the container data included in the logical inventory data and the container ID included in the operating container ID list included in the physical inventory data associate a container instance with the server on which the container instance is running.

[0069] Furthermore, the logical inventory data may include data indicating various attributes such as a host name and an IP address. For example, the container data may include data indicating an IP address of a container corresponding to the container data. For example, the NF data may include data indicating an IP address and a host name of the NF indicated by the NF data.

[0070] The logical inventory data may also include data indicating an NSSAI, including one or more S-NSSAIs, that is set in each NF.

[0071] The inventory database 82 is also able to grasp the resource status as needed in cooperation with the container management unit 78. The inventory database 82 then updates the inventory data stored therein as needed based on the latest resource status.

[0072] In addition, in response to actions being performed, such as constructing a new element included in the communication system 1, changing the configuration of an element included in the communication system 1, scaling an element included in the communication system 1, or replacing an element included in the communication system 1, the inventory database 82 updates the inventory data stored in the inventory database 82.

[0073] The service catalog storage unit 64 stores service catalog data. The service catalog data may include, for example, service template data indicating logic used by the life cycle management unit 94. This service template data includes information necessary for building a network service. For example, the service template data includes information defining NS, NF, and CNFC, and information indicating the correspondence between NS, NF, and CNFC. Furthermore, for example, the service template data includes a workflow script for building a network service.

[0074] An example of service template data is an NSD (NS Descriptor). The NSD is associated with a network service and indicates the types of multiple functional units (e.g., multiple CNFs) included in the network service. The NSD may also indicate the number of each type of functional unit, such as a CNF, included in the network service. The NSD may also indicate the file name of a CNFD (described later) related to the CNF included in the network service.

[0075] An example of service template data is a CNF Descriptor (CNFD). The CNFD may indicate computer resources (e.g., a CPU, memory, hard disk, etc.) required by the CNF. For example, the CNFD may indicate, for each of multiple containers included in the CNF, the computer resources (e.g., a CPU, memory, hard disk, etc.) required by the container.

[0076] The service catalog data may also include information about thresholds (for example, anomaly detection thresholds) that are used by the policy manager 90 to compare with the calculated performance index values. The performance index values ​​will be described later.

[0077] The service catalog data may also include, for example, slice template data, which includes information necessary to perform instantiation of a network slice, including, for example, logic utilized by the slice manager unit 92.

[0078] The slice template data includes information on the "Generic Network Slice Template" defined by the GSM Association (GSMA) ("GSM" is a registered trademark). Specifically, the slice template data includes network slice template data (NST), network slice subnet template data (NSST), and network service template data. The slice template data also includes information indicating the hierarchical structure of these elements, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0079] In this embodiment, for example, the life cycle management unit 94 constructs a new network service in response to a purchase request for an NS from a purchaser.

[0080] For example, in response to a purchase request, the lifecycle management unit 94 may execute a workflow script associated with the network service to be purchased. By executing this workflow script, the lifecycle management unit 94 may instruct the container management unit 78 to deploy a container included in the new network service to be purchased. The container management unit 78 may then obtain a container image of the container from the repository unit 80 and deploy the container corresponding to the container image to a server.

[0081] In addition, in this embodiment, the life cycle management unit 94 executes, for example, scaling and replacement of elements included in the communication system 1. Here, the life cycle management unit 94 may output a container deployment instruction or deletion instruction to the container management unit 78. Then, the container management unit 78 may execute processing such as container deployment or container deletion in accordance with the instruction. In this embodiment, the life cycle management unit 94 is capable of executing scaling and replacement that cannot be handled by a tool such as Kubernetes in the container management unit 78.

[0082] Furthermore, the life cycle management unit 94 may output an instruction to create a communication path to the SDN controller 74. For example, the life cycle management unit 94 presents two IP addresses at both ends of the communication path to be created to the SDN controller 74, and the SDN controller 74 creates a communication path connecting these two IP addresses. The created communication path may be managed in association with these two IP addresses.

[0083] Furthermore, the life cycle management unit 94 may output to the SDN controller 74 an instruction to create a communication path between the two IP addresses that is associated with the two IP addresses.

[0084] In this embodiment, for example, the slice manager unit 92 performs instantiation of a network slice. In this embodiment, for example, the slice manager unit 92 performs instantiation of a network slice by executing logic indicated by a slice template stored in the service catalog storage unit 64.

[0085] The slice manager unit 92 is configured to include the functions of the NSMF (Network Slice Management Function) and the NSSMF (Network Slice Sub-network Management Function), for example, as described in the specification "TS28 533" of the 3GPP (registered trademark) (Third Generation Partnership Project). The NSMF is a function that generates and manages network slices and provides NSI management services. The NSSMF is a function that generates and manages network slice subnets that constitute part of the network slice and provides NSSI management services.

[0086] Here, the slice manager unit 92 may output a configuration management instruction related to the instantiation of the network slice to the configuration management unit 76. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may perform configuration management such as setting in accordance with the configuration management instruction.

[0087] The slice manager unit 92 may also present two IP addresses to the SDN controller 74 and output an instruction to create a communication path between these two IP addresses.

[0088] In this embodiment, the configuration management unit 76 performs configuration management such as setting of element groups such as NFs in accordance with configuration management instructions received from the life cycle management unit 94 and the slice manager unit 92, for example.

[0089] In this embodiment, the SDN controller 74 creates a communication path between two IP addresses associated with a communication path creation instruction received from, for example, the life cycle management unit 94 or the slice manager unit 92. The SDN controller 74 may create a communication path between two IP addresses using a known path calculation method such as Flex Algo.

[0090] Here, for example, the SDN controller 74 may use a segment routing technology (for example, SRv6 (Segment Routing IPv6)) to construct NSIs and NSSIs for aggregation routers, servers, and the like present along the communication paths. Furthermore, the SDN controller 74 may generate NSIs and NSSIs across multiple NFs to be configured by issuing commands to configure a common VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) for multiple NFs to be configured, and commands to assign the bandwidth and priority indicated in the configuration information to the VLAN.

[0091] In addition, the SDN controller 74 may perform operations such as changing the maximum bandwidth available for communication between two IP addresses without constructing a network slice.

[0092] The platform system 30 according to this embodiment may include multiple SDN controllers 74. Each of the multiple SDN controllers 74 may execute processing such as creating a communication path for a group of network devices such as an AG associated with the SDN controller 74.

[0093] In this embodiment, for example, the monitoring function unit 72 monitors the group of elements included in the communication system 1 in accordance with a given management policy. Here, the monitoring function unit 72 may monitor the group of elements in accordance with a monitoring policy specified by a purchaser when purchasing a network service, for example.

[0094] In this embodiment, the monitoring function unit 72 performs monitoring at various levels, such as the slice level, the NS level, the NF level, the CNFC level, and the hardware level of a server or the like.

[0095] For example, in order to perform monitoring at the various levels described above, the monitoring function unit 72 may set a module that outputs metric data in hardware such as a server or in a software element included in the communication system 1. Here, for example, an NF may output metric data indicating metrics that are measurable (identifiable) in the NF to the monitoring function unit 72. Also, a server may output metric data indicating metrics related to hardware that is measurable (identifiable) in the server to the monitoring function unit 72.

[0096] Furthermore, for example, the monitoring function unit 72 may deploy a sidecar container on the server that aggregates metric data indicating metrics output from multiple containers on a CNFC (microservice) basis. This sidecar container may include an agent called an exporter. The monitoring function unit 72 may repeatedly execute, at a given monitoring interval, a process of acquiring metric data aggregated on a microservice basis from the sidecar container using a mechanism of a monitoring tool such as Prometheus, which can monitor container management tools such as Kubernetes.

[0097] The monitoring function unit 72 may monitor performance indicator values ​​for performance indicators described in, for example, “TS 28.552, Management and orchestration; 5G performance measurements” or “TS 28.554, Management and orchestration; 5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI).” Then, the monitoring function unit 72 may acquire metric data indicating the monitored performance indicator values.

[0098] In this embodiment, the monitoring function unit 72 performs a process (enrichment) of aggregating metric data, for example, in a predetermined aggregation unit, thereby generating performance index value data indicating the performance index values ​​of the elements included in the communication system 1 in that aggregation unit.

[0099] For example, for one gNB, performance index value data for the gNB is generated by aggregating metric data indicating the metrics of elements (e.g., network nodes such as DU42 and CU44) under the control of the gNB. In this way, performance index value data indicating communication performance in the area covered by the gNB is generated. Here, for example, performance index value data indicating multiple types of communication performance such as traffic volume (throughput) and latency may be generated for each gNB. Note that the communication performance indicated by the performance index value data is not limited to traffic volume and latency.

[0100] Then, the monitoring function unit 72 outputs the performance index value data generated by the above-mentioned enrichment to the data bus unit 68.

[0101] In this embodiment, for example, the data bus unit 68 receives performance index value data output from the monitoring function unit 72. Then, based on the received one or more pieces of performance index value data, the data bus unit 68 generates a performance index value file including the one or more pieces of performance index value data. Then, the data bus unit 68 outputs the generated performance index value file to the big data platform unit 66.

[0102] In addition, elements such as network slices, NS, NF, CNFC, etc. included in the communication system 1, and hardware such as servers, notify the monitoring function unit 72 of various alerts (for example, notification of an alert triggered by the occurrence of a failure).

[0103] Then, for example, when the monitoring function unit 72 receives the above-mentioned alert notification, it outputs alert message data indicating the notification to the data bus unit 68. Then, the data bus unit 68 generates an alert file in which alert message data indicating one or more notifications are compiled into a single file, and outputs the alert file to the big data platform unit 66.

[0104] In this embodiment, the big data platform unit 66 accumulates, for example, performance index value files and alert files output from the data bus unit 68 .

[0105] In this embodiment, for example, a plurality of trained machine learning models are stored in advance in the AI ​​unit 70. The AI ​​unit 70 uses the various machine learning models stored in the AI ​​unit 70 to perform estimation processing such as future prediction processing of the usage status and service quality of the communication system 1. The AI ​​unit 70 may generate estimation result data indicating the results of the estimation processing.

[0106] The AI ​​unit 70 may perform estimation processing based on the files stored in the big data platform unit 66 and the above-mentioned machine learning model. This estimation processing is suitable for low-frequency prediction of long-term trends.

[0107] The AI ​​unit 70 is also capable of acquiring performance index value data stored in the data bus unit 68. The AI ​​unit 70 may perform estimation processing based on the performance index value data stored in the data bus unit 68 and the above-described machine learning model. This estimation processing is suitable for performing short-term predictions frequently.

[0108] In this embodiment, for example, the performance management unit 88 calculates a performance index value (e.g., KPI) based on metrics indicated by multiple metric data. The performance management unit 88 may calculate a performance index value that is an overall evaluation of multiple types of metrics (e.g., a performance index value related to an end-to-end network slice) that cannot be calculated from a single metric data. The performance management unit 88 may generate overall performance index value data that indicates the performance index value that is the overall evaluation.

[0109] The performance management unit 88 may acquire the above-mentioned performance index value file from the big data platform unit 66. The performance management unit 88 may also acquire estimation result data from the AI ​​unit 70. Then, performance index values ​​such as KPIs may be calculated based on at least one of the performance index value file and the estimation result data. The performance management unit 88 may also directly acquire metric data from the monitoring function unit 72. Then, performance index values ​​such as KPIs may be calculated based on the metric data.

[0110] In this embodiment, the fault management unit 86 detects the occurrence of a fault in the communication system 1 based on, for example, at least one of the above-mentioned metric data, the above-mentioned alert notification, the above-mentioned estimation result data, and the above-mentioned overall performance index value data. The fault management unit 86 may detect the occurrence of a fault that cannot be detected from a single piece of metric data or a single alert notification, for example, based on a predetermined logic. The fault management unit 86 may generate detected fault data that indicates the detected fault.

[0111] The fault management unit 86 may obtain metric data and alert notifications directly from the monitoring function unit 72. The fault management unit 86 may also obtain performance index value files and alert files from the big data platform unit 66. The fault management unit 86 may also obtain alert message data from the data bus unit 68.

[0112] In this embodiment, the policy manager unit 90 executes a predetermined judgment process based on, for example, at least one of the above-mentioned metric data, the above-mentioned performance index value data, the above-mentioned alert message data, the above-mentioned performance index value file, the above-mentioned alert file, the above-mentioned estimation result data, the above-mentioned overall performance index value data, and the above-mentioned detected fault data.

[0113] The policy manager unit 90 may then execute an action according to the result of the determination process. For example, the policy manager unit 90 may output an instruction to construct a network slice to the slice manager unit 92. The policy manager unit 90 may also output an instruction to scale or replace an element to the life cycle management unit 94 according to the result of the determination process.

[0114] The policy manager unit 90 according to this embodiment is capable of acquiring performance index value data stored in the data bus unit 68. The policy manager unit 90 may then execute a predetermined determination process based on the performance index value data acquired from the data bus unit 68. The policy manager unit 90 may also execute a predetermined determination process based on alert message data stored in the data bus unit 68.

[0115] In this embodiment, for example, the ticket management unit 84 generates a ticket indicating the content to be notified to the administrator of the communication system 1. The ticket management unit 84 may generate a ticket indicating the content of the occurred fault data. The ticket management unit 84 may also generate a ticket indicating the value of performance index data or metric data. The ticket management unit 84 may also generate a ticket indicating the determination result by the policy manager unit 90.

[0116] Then, the ticket management unit 84 notifies the administrator of the communication system 1 of the generated ticket. For example, the ticket management unit 84 may send an email with the generated ticket attached to the email address of the administrator of the communication system 1.

[0117] In this embodiment, the bare metal management unit 96 performs setup such as setting up the BIOS (Basic Input Output System), setting up single root I / O virtualization (SR-IOV), and installing or replacing system software.

[0118] In this embodiment, the configuration management unit 76 may also perform hardware or software configuration for hardware resources, such as setting a cluster ID, an IP address, a host name, or a label.

[0119] Furthermore, the bare metal management unit 96 may execute setup for hardware resources according to a predetermined type of application.

[0120] For example, a script (e.g., an Ansible script) for setting up a predetermined type of application may be stored in the configuration management unit 76 or the bare metal management unit 96. The script may describe, for example, an installation procedure for a specific type or version of a host OS that is the foundation of the container execution environment. The script may also describe, for example, a kernel setting procedure for the host OS, a BIOS setting procedure, an SR-IOV setting procedure, and the like.

[0121] The bare metal management unit 96 may then execute the script to set up the hardware resource according to the type of application running on the hardware resource. For example, the bare metal management unit 96 may set up the host OS and BIOS of the container execution environment on the hardware resource.

[0122] The bare metal management unit 96 may also replace system software, such as an OS, installed on a hardware resource. That is, the bare metal management unit 96 may uninstall system software installed on a hardware resource and install different system software on the hardware resource.

[0123] Hereinafter, the management of the hardware resources included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be further described.

[0124] FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of allocation of hardware resources included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0125] For example, assume that two purchasers (purchaser A and purchaser B) have purchased a network service. Fig. 7 shows a first hardware resource group 100a and a second hardware resource group 100b in which the UPF 50 included in the network service purchased by purchaser A operates. Thus, in this embodiment, one type of NF included in the network service purchased by one purchaser may be deployed in multiple hardware resource groups 100. Here, the hardware resource group 100 may include a server group.

[0126] FIG. 7 also shows a third hardware resource group 100c in which the AMF 46 included in the network service purchased by the purchaser A operates.

[0127] Figure 7 also shows a fourth hardware resource group 100d in which UPF 50 included in the network service purchased by purchaser B operates, and a fifth hardware resource group 100e in which AMF 46 included in the network service purchased by purchaser B operates.

[0128] Note that the network service purchased by purchaser A or purchaser B also includes NFs (e.g., DU42, CU44, SMF48, etc.) not shown in Figure 7, but these NFs are omitted.

[0129] 7, the hardware resources included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment are managed by dividing them into a plurality of hardware resource groups 100. For example, a plurality of servers included in the communication system 1 are managed by dividing them into a plurality of server groups.

[0130] 7, the type of application that runs on each of the multiple hardware resource groups 100 may be predetermined. In the example of Fig. 7, it is predetermined that the UPF 50 runs on the first hardware resource group 100a, the second hardware resource group 100b, and the fourth hardware resource group 100d. It is predetermined that the AMF 46 runs on the third hardware resource group 100c and the fifth hardware resource group 100e.

[0131] 7, an application purchased by a purchaser other than the purchaser of an application running in one of the multiple hardware resource groups 100 may be running in another hardware resource group 100. In the example of FIG. 7, an application purchased by purchaser A runs in the first hardware resource group 100a, the second hardware resource group 100b, and the third hardware resource group 100c. An application purchased by purchaser B runs in the fourth hardware resource group 100d and the fifth hardware resource group 100e.

[0132] The hardware resources described above are not limited to servers. The location of the hardware resources shown in Fig. 7 is not particularly important. In the following description, the hardware resources shown in Fig. 7 are assumed to be located in the central data center 10, but the hardware resources may also be located in the regional data center 12 or the edge data center 14.

[0133] In the following description, one hardware resource group 100 (e.g., a server group) corresponds to one cluster (e.g., one Kubernetes cluster) managed by a container management tool. Note that one hardware resource group 100 does not necessarily correspond to one cluster managed by a container management tool. For example, one cluster managed by a container management tool may include multiple hardware resource groups 100. In this case, for example, one hardware resource group 100 may correspond to one namespace.

[0134] In this embodiment, for example, the monitoring function unit 72 monitors the usage status of each of the multiple hardware resource groups 100 included in the communication system 1. Here, for example, the monitoring function unit 72 may monitor the usage status of each of the multiple server groups included in the communication system 1.

[0135] Here, the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 refers to, for example, CPU usage, memory usage, storage usage, network usage, etc. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation value calculated based on some or all of these indicators monitored for the hardware resource group may be monitored as a value indicating the usage status of the hardware resource group 100.

[0136] In this embodiment, for example, as described above, scaling (scale-out or scale-in) of applications such as NF is performed based on performance index values ​​such as traffic volume and latency. Therefore, as a result of scaling, the number of applications running on one hardware resource group 100 changes as appropriate.

[0137] Furthermore, in this embodiment, for example, the maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for running applications in one hardware resource group 100 can be determined based on the number of applications running in the hardware resource group 100. For example, data indicating the maximum amount of hardware resources per application for each type of application may be stored in the configuration management unit 76. Then, based on the data, the configuration management unit 76 may determine the maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for running applications for each of multiple hardware resource groups 100 (e.g., multiple server groups). In this way, the maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for running applications may be proportional to the number of applications running in the hardware resource group 100.

[0138] 7 schematically shows the amount of hardware resources allocated to each hardware resource group 100. Also shown in FIG. 7 are an actual usage resource amount 102, an expected maximum usage resource amount 104, and a standby resource amount 106, which are each part of the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100.

[0139] Here, the actually used resource amount 102 corresponds to the amount of hardware resources actually used by the applications running on the hardware resource group 100 .

[0140] The estimated maximum resource usage amount 104 corresponds to the maximum hardware resource amount estimated to be used for running applications. In this embodiment, even if the number of applications running on the hardware resource group 100 remains unchanged, the actual usage amount of the hardware resources fluctuates as needed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7 , the actual usage amount 102 of the resources is less than the estimated maximum resource usage amount 104.

[0141] The standby resource amount 106 corresponds to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 minus the estimated maximum resource usage amount 104 .

[0142] In this embodiment, when a scale-out of an application running on the hardware resource group 100 is performed, the expected maximum resource usage amount 104 increases, and the standby resource amount 106 decreases by the amount of increase in the expected maximum resource usage amount 104.

[0143] The amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 (i.e., the sum of the expected maximum usage resource amount 104 and the standby resource amount 106) may be specified by the purchaser when purchasing the network service. For example, the more the purchase amount of the network service by the purchaser, the more hardware resources may be allocated to the hardware resource group 100. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the purchaser may be able to add or delete hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 as appropriate.

[0144] Furthermore, the communication system 1 according to this embodiment manages a common backup resource group 108 (e.g., a common server group) that is different from any of the above-described hardware resource groups 100. That is, in this embodiment, a hardware resource group that is different from the above-described plurality of hardware resource groups 100 (e.g., the first hardware resource group 100a to the fifth hardware resource group 100e) is managed as the common backup resource group 108.

[0145] 7, the common backup resource group 108 includes a plurality of backup resources 110 (110a, 110b, 110c, ...). One backup resource 110 corresponds to, for example, one or more servers.

[0146] 7, the common backup resource group 108 includes a general-purpose backup resource group 112 and one or more special backup resource groups (a UPF backup resource group 114 in the example of FIG. 7). That is, the general-purpose backup resource group 112 is part of the common backup resource group 108. The special backup resource group is also part of the common backup resource group 108.

[0147] The special backup resource group according to the present embodiment is associated with the type of application. For example, the UPF backup resource group 114 is associated with the UPF 50.

[0148] The hardware resources included in the special backup resource group are hardware resources for which setup has been executed according to the type of application associated with the special backup resource group. For example, the hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 are hardware resources for which setup has been executed according to the UPF 50.

[0149] Depending on the type of application, it may not be possible to run the application on general-purpose hardware resources (for example, a general-purpose server), and the application may need to be set up according to the type. The hardware resources included in the special spare resource group can be said to have been set up in this way.

[0150] On the other hand, the hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112 are hardware resources that do not require additional setup according to the type of application in order to run an application different from the type of application associated with the specific backup resource group. The hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112 are, for example, general-purpose servers.

[0151] In this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 , in the initial state, the general-purpose backup resource group 112 includes the backup resource 110, but the UPF backup resource group 114 does not include the backup resource 110 and is empty.

[0152] Then, in this embodiment, for example, when the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups 100 satisfies a first condition (hereinafter referred to as a resource addition condition) associated with that hardware resource group 100, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the common standby resource group 108 from the common standby resource group 108 to that hardware resource group 100. In this way, a hardware resource is added to that hardware resource group 100, and the amount of hardware resources allocated to that hardware resource group 100 increases.

[0153] Here, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a server included in a common spare server group that is different from any of the server groups from the common spare server group to the server group in question, in response to the usage status of any of the server groups satisfying the conditions for associating that server group with that server group.

[0154] Here, the configuration management unit 76 may determine whether the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource addition condition is a predetermined type. For example, the configuration management unit 76 may determine whether the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource addition condition is a type associated with a special spare resource group (e.g., UPF 50).

[0155] If the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource addition condition is a predetermined type, the configuration management unit 76 determines whether the margin of the hardware resources included in the special spare resource group associated with that type satisfies the predetermined margin condition.

[0156] Here, the margin of the hardware resources corresponds to, for example, the amount of hardware resources included in the special backup resource group, or whether or not the special backup resource group includes a hardware resource, etc. The margin condition corresponds to, for example, a condition that the amount of hardware resources included in the special backup resource group is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, or that a hardware resource exists in the special backup resource group, etc.

[0157] If the margin condition is satisfied, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group 100 .

[0158] On the other hand, if the margin condition is not satisfied, the bare metal management unit 96 may execute setup according to the type of application for the hardware resources included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0159] In the above case, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup for a hardware resource included in the common standby resource group 108 (e.g., the selected hardware resource described above) according to the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100, when the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups 100 satisfies the resource addition condition associated with that hardware resource group 100.

[0160] For example, when the margin of the hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 satisfies a predetermined margin condition, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 from the UPF backup resource group 114 to the hardware resource group 100 in which the UPF 50 is running, in response to the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0161] Furthermore, for example, when the margin of the hardware resources included in the UPF spare resource group 114 does not satisfy a predetermined margin condition, the bare metal management unit 96 may execute setup according to the UPF 50 for the hardware resources included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112 in response to the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups 100 in which the UPF 50 operates satisfying a resource addition condition associated with that hardware resource group 100. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group 112 to that hardware resource group 100.

[0162] On the other hand, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource addition condition is a type other than the above-mentioned specified type, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112 from the general-purpose spare resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0163] For example, in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups 100 on which AMF 46 is running satisfying the resource addition conditions associated with that hardware resource group 100, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the general-purpose standby resource group 112 from the general-purpose standby resource group 112 to that hardware resource group 100.

[0164] Furthermore, in this embodiment, for example, when the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups 100 satisfies a second condition (hereinafter referred to as a resource deletion condition) associated with the hardware resource group 100, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the common standby resource group 108. In this way, the hardware resource is deleted from the hardware resource group 100, and the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 is reduced.

[0165] In this embodiment, if the hardware resources assigned to the hardware resource group 100 do not include a backup resource 110, the hardware resources may not be deleted from the hardware resource group 100 even if the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource deletion condition associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0166] In this embodiment, for example, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of a hardware resource by setting a cluster ID, an IP address, a host name, or a label.

[0167] Here, the configuration management unit 76 may identify a backup resource group associated with the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource deletion condition. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the identified backup resource group.

[0168] For example, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource deletion condition is the specified type described above, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to a special backup resource group that corresponds to that type.

[0169] For example, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that meets the resource deletion conditions is UPF 50, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the UPF spare resource group 114.

[0170] In addition, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource deletion condition is a type other than the above-mentioned specified type, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the general-purpose spare resource group 112.

[0171] For example, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that meets the resource deletion conditions is AMF46, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource that is part of the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the general-purpose standby resource group 112.

[0172] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the ratio of the amount of actually used resources 102 to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the first hardware resource group 100a exceeds a predetermined ratio p1.

[0173] Here, the type of application running on the first hardware resource group 100a is UPF50.

[0174] Therefore, the configuration management unit 76 determines whether the margin of the hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 satisfies a predetermined margin condition.

[0175] For example, if the margin condition is that a hardware resource included in the special backup resource group exists, the UPF backup resource group 114 is empty, and therefore the margin condition is not satisfied.

[0176] Therefore, the bare metal management unit 96 executes setup according to the UPF 50 for, for example, one backup resource 110 (hereinafter referred to as the selected hardware resource) selected from the general-purpose backup resource group 112. In this case, for example, the backup resource 110a corresponds to the selected hardware resource. Then, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the first hardware resource group 100a.

[0177] 9, it is assumed that the ratio of the amount of actually used resources 102 to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the first hardware resource group 100a falls below a predetermined ratio p2, where the value of p2 may be smaller than p1.

[0178] Here, the type of application running on the first hardware resource group 100a is UPF50.

[0179] Therefore, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the first hardware resource group 100 a to the UPF backup resource group 114 , for example.

[0180] 10, it is assumed that the ratio of the amount of actually used resources 102 to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the fourth hardware resource group 100d exceeds a predetermined ratio p3. Here, the value of p3 may be the same as or different from the value of p1.

[0181] Here, the type of application running on the fourth hardware resource group 100d is UPF50.

[0182] Therefore, the configuration management unit 76 determines whether the margin of the hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 satisfies a predetermined margin condition.

[0183] In the situation shown in FIG. 9, the UPF backup resource group 114 is not empty, so the margin condition is met.

[0184] Therefore, the bare metal management unit 96 changes the affiliation of, for example, one standby resource 110 (which may be the selected hardware resource described above) selected from the standby resource group 114 for UPF from the standby resource group 114 for UPF to the fourth hardware resource group 100d.

[0185] In this way, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource whose affiliation has been changed from the first hardware resource group 100a to the common standby resource group 108 from the common standby resource group 108 to the fourth hardware resource group 100d in response to the usage status of the fourth hardware resource group 100d satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the fourth hardware resource group 100d.

[0186] In this way, the spare resource 110 used in one hardware resource group 100 can be used in another hardware resource group 100.

[0187] Furthermore, as described above, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a selected hardware resource selected from the common standby resource group 108 from the common standby resource group 108 to the first hardware resource group 100a in response to the usage status of the first hardware resource group 100a satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the first hardware resource group 100a.

[0188] Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the first hardware resource group 100a to the common standby resource group 108 in response to the usage status of the first hardware resource group 100a satisfying the resource deletion condition associated with the first hardware resource group 100a.

[0189] Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource whose affiliation has been changed from the first hardware resource group 100a to the common standby resource group 108 from the common standby resource group 108 to the fourth hardware resource group 100d in response to the usage status of the fourth hardware resource group 100d satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the fourth hardware resource group 100d.

[0190] In this way, a specific spare resource 110 (selected hardware resource) is rotated among a plurality of hardware resource groups 100 for use.

[0191] The resource addition condition or resource deletion condition may be a condition related to the actual usage amount of the hardware resource or the actual usage rate of the hardware resource. For example, the resource addition condition or resource deletion condition may be a threshold related to the actual usage resource amount 102.

[0192] The resource addition condition and the resource deletion condition may be conditions related to the actual amount of hardware resources available or the actual amount of hardware resources available. Here, the actual amount of hardware resources available corresponds to, for example, the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 minus the amount of actually used resources 102. The actual amount of hardware resources available corresponds to, for example, the ratio of the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100 minus the amount of actually used resources 102 to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100. Note that when calculating the amount of available hardware resources and the amount of available hardware resources available, weighting may be performed, or additional calculations such as applying further weights to the calculated values ​​may be performed. Furthermore, for example, the resource addition condition and the resource deletion condition may be conditions related to the value obtained by subtracting the amount of actually used resources 102 from the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100.

[0193] Furthermore, the resource addition condition or the resource deletion condition may be a condition related to the maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for running an application in the hardware resource group 100, or a condition related to the maximum hardware resource rate expected to be used for running an application in the hardware resource group 100. In other words, the resource addition condition or the resource deletion condition may be a condition related to the expected maximum resource usage amount 104. For example, when the expected maximum resource usage amount 104 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the belonging of a hardware resource included in the common spare resource group 108 may be changed from the common spare resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0194] Furthermore, the resource addition condition and the resource deletion condition may be conditions associated with the number of applications running in the hardware resource group 100. For example, when the number of applications running in the hardware resource group 100 becomes three due to scale-out, the belonging of the hardware resources included in the common backup resource group 108 may be changed from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100. When the number of applications running in the hardware resource group 100 becomes one due to scale-in, the belonging of the hardware resources included in the hardware resource group 100 may be changed from the hardware resource group 100 to the common backup resource group 108.

[0195] When the hardware resources included in the communication system 1 are divided into multiple hardware resource groups 100 and managed, if a large number of hardware resources are reserved in advance in each of the multiple hardware resource groups 100 in anticipation of application scale-out, hardware resources will be wasted.

[0196] In this embodiment, as described above, when the usage status of a hardware resource group 100 satisfies the conditions for being associated with the hardware resource group 100, the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the common standby resource group 108 is changed from the common standby resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0197] In this way, according to this embodiment, the hardware resources included in the communication system 1 can be used efficiently.

[0198] Furthermore, the time required to deploy an application to a hardware resource already assigned to the hardware resource group 100 following a scale-out is longer than the time required to deploy an application to the hardware resource 110 after changing the assignment of the backup resource 110 from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100. Therefore, in order to ensure smooth scale-out, it is desirable to always ensure as many hardware resources as possible in the hardware resource group 100.

[0199] However, in a situation where the more hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100, the more money the purchaser has to pay, it is desirable to keep the amount of hardware resources always secured in the hardware resource group 100 as small as possible.

[0200] On the other hand, if the load suddenly increases due to an unforeseen event or if an event attracting many people is planned, the hardware resources secured in the hardware resource group 100 may not be enough to provide sufficient services.

[0201] In this embodiment, as described above, by temporarily adding a backup resource 110 to the hardware resource group 100, the hardware resources secured in the hardware resource group 100 can be flexibly adjusted, so that sufficient services can be provided even in the above-mentioned cases.

[0202] In addition, when the hardware resource group 100 corresponds to a cluster managed by a container management tool, this embodiment makes it possible to change the affiliation of the backup resource 110 across clusters, which cannot be done with a container management tool.

[0203] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, when the margin of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group satisfies a predetermined margin condition, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group 100 in response to the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups 100 on which an application of a type associated with the special backup resource group is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0204] Then, when the margin of the hardware resources included in the specialized backup resource group does not satisfy the margin condition described above, if the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups 100 on which an application of the type associated with the specialized backup resource group is running satisfies the resource addition condition associated with that hardware resource group 100, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup according to the type of hardware resource included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112, and the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been performed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to that hardware resource group 100.

[0205] By doing this, when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 on which the above-mentioned specified type of application is running satisfies the resource addition condition, if there is a surplus of hardware resources for which setup according to that type has been performed, it is possible to smoothly add a spare resource 110 to that hardware resource group 100 without performing the setup on hardware resources for which that setup has not been performed.

[0206] Furthermore, even if setup corresponding to the above-mentioned type of specified application has not been performed in advance on the spare resource 110 in the initial state, it is possible to add the spare resource 110 to the hardware resource group 100 on which the application of that type is running.

[0207] Furthermore, as described above, when the margin of the hardware resources included in the specialized backup resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, the configuration management unit 76 may, in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups 100 on which an application of the type associated with the specialized backup resource group is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group 100, cause the bare metal management unit 96 to perform setup according to the type of selected hardware resource selected from the general-purpose backup resource group 112, and the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been performed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0208] Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the above-mentioned setup was performed from the hardware resource group 100 to the special sub-backup resource group in response to the fact that the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource deletion condition associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0209] In this way, the hardware resource for which the above-mentioned setup has been executed and whose affiliation has been changed from the general-purpose standby resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100 is changed to the special standby resource group instead of the general-purpose standby resource group 112 without returning the hardware resource to the state before the setup was executed, thereby making it possible to improve the durability of the hardware resource by reducing the number of times the storage is read and written.

[0210] The present invention is also applicable to the hardware resource group 100 on which other applications (such as the SMF 48) included in the core network system 34 run.

[0211] The present invention is also applicable to a hardware resource group 100 on which applications (DU 42, CU-CP 44a, CU-UP 44b, etc.) included in the RAN 32 run.

[0212] Furthermore, the resource addition condition and the resource deletion condition may be conditions associated with the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100. For example, if the resource addition condition is a threshold related to the ratio of the actual usage resource amount 102 to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100, the resource addition condition may be set so that the threshold becomes smaller for an application that has a larger expected maximum usage resource amount 104 that increases due to scale-out.

[0213] Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the common standby resource group 108 from the common standby resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100 in response to the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfying a resource addition condition associated with the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100.

[0214] In addition, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the hardware resource group 100 from the hardware resource group 100 to the common standby resource group 108 when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies a resource deletion condition associated with the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100.

[0215] For example, at least one of the resource addition conditions and the resource deletion conditions may be the same for the first hardware resource group 100a, the second hardware resource group 100b, and the fourth hardware resource group 100d in which the UPF 50 is running, and at least one of the resource addition conditions and the resource deletion conditions may be the same for the third hardware resource group 100c and the fifth hardware resource group 100e in which the AMF 46 is running.

[0216] By associating resource addition conditions and resource deletion conditions with application types in this way, it becomes possible to add or delete hardware resources at a timing appropriate for each of multiple application types.

[0217] Furthermore, the purchaser of the application may be able to set resource addition conditions and resource deletion conditions.

[0218] Furthermore, for example, the resource addition condition or resource deletion condition may be a condition selected by the purchaser of the application from within a range associated with the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100, or a condition selected by the purchaser of the application from among a plurality of options associated with the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100. In this way, it is possible to allow the purchaser of the application to set the resource addition condition or resource deletion condition, while also setting restrictions on the setting that are associated with the type of application.

[0219] In this embodiment, the amount of hardware resources of the backup resources 110 that are changed from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100 may correspond to the amount of hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100. For example, the more hardware resources allocated to the hardware resource group 100, the more backup resources 110 are changed to belong to the hardware resource group 100.

[0220] Furthermore, the addition of a backup resource 110 to the hardware resource group 100 (changing the affiliation of the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100) may be executed multiple times. That is, after one backup resource 110 is added to the hardware resource group 100, one more backup resource 110 may be added to the hardware resource group 100 in response to the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfying a resource addition condition. In this case, the resource addition condition may be a condition according to the number of backup resources 110 added to the hardware resource group 100.

[0221] In this embodiment, the common backup resource group 108 may include multiple specialized backup resource groups. Each of these multiple specialized backup resource groups may be associated with a different application type. Each of these multiple specialized backup resource groups may include hardware resources that have been set up in accordance with the type of application associated with the specific backup resource group.

[0222] Then, when the margin of a hardware resource included in any of the special backup resource groups satisfies the margin condition associated with that special backup resource group, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resource included in that special backup resource group from that special backup resource group to that hardware resource group 100 in response to the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 on which the application associated with that special backup resource group is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with that hardware resource group 100.

[0223] A situation in which the common backup resource group 108 includes a plurality of special backup resource groups will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0224] In the following explanation, as shown in Figure 11, it is assumed that the UPF 50 purchased by purchaser C is operating in the sixth hardware resource group 100f, the AMF 46 purchased by purchaser C is operating in the seventh hardware resource group 100g, and the DU 42 purchased by purchaser C is operating in the eighth hardware resource group 100h.

[0225] The network service purchased by purchaser C also includes NFs (for example, CU 44, SMF 48, etc.) not shown in FIG. 11, but these NFs are omitted.

[0226] The common backup resource group 108 includes a general-purpose backup resource group 112 and two special backup resource groups (a UPF backup resource group 114 and a DU backup resource group 116).

[0227] The hardware resources included in the UPF backup resource group 114 are assumed to be hardware resources for which setup according to the UPF 50 has been executed.

[0228] Furthermore, the hardware resources included in the DU backup resource group 116 are assumed to be hardware resources for which setup has been executed according to the DU 42 .

[0229] As described above, the hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112 are hardware resources that do not require additional setup according to the type of application in order to run an application different from the type of application associated with the specific backup resource group. The hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112 are, for example, general-purpose servers.

[0230] As shown in FIG. 11, in the initial state, the general-purpose backup resource group 112 includes backup resources 110 (110a, 110b, 110c, ...), but the UPF backup resource group 114 and the DU backup resource group 116 do not include any backup resources 110 and are empty.

[0231] In the situation shown in FIG. 11, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, it is assumed that the usage status of the seventh hardware resource group 100g in which the AMF 46 is running satisfies the resource addition condition.

[0232] In this case, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource, which is the backup resource 110 selected from the general-purpose backup resource group 112, from the common backup resource group 108 to the seventh hardware resource group 100g without performing any special setup for the selected hardware resource. In this case, for example, the backup resource 110a corresponds to the selected hardware resource.

[0233] 12, it is assumed that the usage status of the seventh hardware resource group 100g in which the AMF 46 is running satisfies the resource deletion condition as shown in FIG. 13.

[0234] In this case, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the seventh hardware resource group 100 g to the general-purpose spare resource group 112 .

[0235] 11, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, it is assumed that the usage status of the sixth hardware resource group 100f in which the UPF 50 is running satisfies the resource addition condition.

[0236] In this case, the bare metal management unit 96 may execute setup according to the UPF 50 for the selected hardware resource, which is the backup resource 110 whose assignment is changed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the sixth hardware resource group 100f. In this case, for example, the backup resource 110a corresponds to the selected hardware resource. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the assignment of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the common backup resource group 108 to the sixth hardware resource group 100f.

[0237] In addition, in the above case, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup for the hardware resources included in the common standby resource group 108 (e.g., the selected hardware resources mentioned above) in accordance with the type of application running in the sixth hardware resource group 100f, when the usage status of the sixth hardware resource group 100f satisfies the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0238] 14, for example, it is assumed that the usage status of the sixth hardware resource group 100f in which the UPF 50 is running satisfies the resource deletion condition as shown in FIG. 15.

[0239] In this case, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the sixth hardware resource group 100f to the UPF spare resource group 114. Thereafter, when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 in which the UPF 50 is running satisfies the resource addition condition, the affiliation of the selected hardware resource may be changed to the hardware resource group 100.

[0240] 15, it is assumed that the usage status of the eighth hardware resource group 100h in which the DU 42 is running satisfies the resource addition condition, as shown in FIG. 16, for example.

[0241] In this case, the bare metal management unit 96 may execute setup according to DU 42 for the selected hardware resource whose assignment is to be changed from the general-purpose standby resource group 112 to the eighth hardware resource group 100h. In this example, the standby resource 110b corresponds to the selected hardware resource. Then, the configuration management unit 76 may change the assignment of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the common standby resource group 108 to the eighth hardware resource group 100h.

[0242] In addition, in the above case, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup for the hardware resources (e.g., selected hardware resources) included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112 in accordance with the type of application running in the eighth hardware resource group 100h, in response to the usage status of the eighth hardware resource group 100h satisfying the resource addition conditions associated with the hardware resource group 100.

[0243] 16, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, it is assumed that the usage status of the eighth hardware resource group 100h in which the DU 42 is running satisfies the resource deletion condition.

[0244] In this case, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the eighth hardware resource group 100h to the DU spare resource group 116. Thereafter, when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 in which the DU 42 is running satisfies the resource addition condition, the affiliation of the selected hardware resource may be changed to the hardware resource group 100.

[0245] By doing as described above, when there are multiple predetermined types as described above, if the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 on which an application of that type is running satisfies the resource addition condition for each type, and there is a surplus of hardware resources for which setup corresponding to that type has been executed, it is possible to smoothly add a spare resource 110 to that hardware resource group 100 without executing the setup on hardware resources for which that setup has not been executed.

[0246] Furthermore, by doing the above, if there are multiple types of specified applications in the initial state, it is possible to add a spare resource 110 to the group of hardware resources 100 on which an application of that type is running, even if setup corresponding to each application type has not been performed in advance on the spare resource 110.

[0247] In addition, in the above cases, it is possible to improve the durability of hardware resources by reducing the number of times the storage is read and written.

[0248] In this embodiment, the special backup resource group may initially include the backup resources 110 for which setup has been executed according to the type of application associated with the special backup resource group.

[0249] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the ratio between the amount of hardware resources included in the specialized backup resource group and the amount of hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group 112 does not satisfy a predetermined ratio condition, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in either the specialized backup resource group or the general-purpose backup resource group 112 from one to the other so that the ratio condition is satisfied.

[0250] Here, for a hardware resource whose affiliation is changed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the special backup resource group, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup according to the type of application associated with the special backup resource group.

[0251] Furthermore, for a hardware resource whose belonging is changed from the specialized spare resource group to the general spare resource group 112, the bare metal management unit 96 may return the hardware resource for which setup has been executed to the state before the execution of the setup. Hereinafter, the process of returning the hardware resource for which setup has been executed to the state before the execution of the setup will be referred to as unsetup.

[0252] Here, for example, the configuration management unit 76 may determine the ratio based on the usage history of the hardware resources. For example, the ratio between the amount of the backup resources 110 included in the special backup resource group and the amount of the backup resources 110 included in the general backup resource group 112 may be determined based on the ratio between the actual usage rate of the hardware resources in the hardware resource group 100 on which a predetermined type of application runs and the actual usage rate of the hardware resources in the hardware resource group 100 on which an application other than the predetermined type runs, during a predetermined past period.

[0253] The above-mentioned ratio conditions may also be determined for each period type. For example, ratio conditions may be determined for weekdays and holidays, or for daytime and nighttime. Then, based on the ratio conditions determined for the period type to which the current time belongs, the assignment of a hardware resource included in either the special backup resource group or the general backup resource group 112 may be changed from one to the other.

[0254] In this way, the hardware resources for which setup has been executed can be secured in the common backup resource group 108 .

[0255] In this embodiment, when the margin of a hardware resource included in the specialized backup resource group satisfies a predetermined supplementary condition, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the specialized backup resource group 112 from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the specialized backup resource group. This supplementary condition may be the same as or different from the marginal condition described above.

[0256] For example, if the special backup resource group does not include the backup resource 110 and is empty, the configuration management unit 76 may change the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the general backup resource group 112 from the general backup resource group 112 to the special backup resource group.

[0257] Here, the bare metal management unit 96 may perform setup for the hardware resources whose affiliation is changed from the general-purpose backup resource group 112 to the specialized backup resource group, according to the type of application associated with the specialized backup resource group.

[0258] The above processing may be executed as a batch process, for example, at night or on holidays.

[0259] In this case as well, it is possible to reserve the hardware resources for which setup has been executed in the common backup resource group 108 .

[0260] In this embodiment, in response to a request from a purchaser of a network service, the affiliation of the backup resource 110 may be changed from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100 on which the application purchased by the purchaser runs.

[0261] Furthermore, the purchaser of the network service may be able to set whether or not the affiliation of the backup resource 110 is to be changed when the preset resource addition condition as described above is satisfied.

[0262] Furthermore, when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource addition condition, the purchaser of the network service may be notified of an inquiry about whether or not additional hardware resources are required. Then, when the purchaser approves the resource addition, the belonging of the backup resource 110 may be changed from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100 on which the application purchased by the purchaser runs.

[0263] Similarly, when the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource deletion condition, the purchaser of the network service may be notified of an inquiry as to whether the hardware resource should be deleted. Then, when the purchaser approves the resource deletion, the belonging of the spare resource 110 may be changed from the hardware resource group 100 on which the application purchased by the purchaser runs to the common spare resource group 108.

[0264] Furthermore, the resource addition condition or resource deletion condition may be a condition related to the number of servers on which an application is running or the number of available servers. For example, when the number of available servers included in the hardware resource group 100 falls below a predetermined number, the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the common spare resource group 108 may be changed from the common spare resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0265] Furthermore, the resource addition condition or resource deletion condition may be a condition related to the number of virtual machines (VMs) on which applications are running or the number of available VMs. For example, when the number of available VMs included in the hardware resource group 100 falls below a predetermined number, the belonging of the hardware resources included in the common backup resource group 108 may be changed from the common backup resource group 108 to the hardware resource group 100.

[0266] Here, an example of the flow of processing related to adding a hardware resource to the hardware resource group 100, which is performed in the platform system 30 according to this embodiment, will be described with reference to the flow diagram shown in FIG.

[0267] The process illustrated in FIG. 18 is executed in all hardware resource groups 100 included in the communication system 1 and on which applications of the above-described predetermined type (for example, UPF 50 or DU 42) are running.

[0268] In this processing example, the policy manager unit 90 monitors whether the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource addition condition (S101).

[0269] Here, when the policy manager unit 90 determines that the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource addition condition (S101: Y), the configuration management unit 76 determines whether the margin of the hardware resources included in the special spare resource group associated with the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the specified margin condition (S102).

[0270] If the margin condition is satisfied (S102: Y), the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource included in the special spare resource group from the special spare resource group to the hardware resource group 100 (S103), and returns to the processing shown in S101.

[0271] If the margin condition is not met (S102: N), the bare metal management unit 96 performs setup for the selected hardware resources included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112 according to the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100 (S104).

[0272] Then, the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource that was set up in the process shown in S104 from the general-purpose spare resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100 (S105), and returns to the process shown in S101.

[0273] The processes shown in S102 to S105 are not executed in any hardware resource group 100 in which an application other than the above-mentioned predetermined type of application (for example, UPF 50 or DU 42) is running. Instead, when the policy manager unit 90 determines that the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource addition condition (S101: Y), the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource included in the general-purpose spare resource group 112 from the general-purpose spare resource group 112 to the hardware resource group 100, and the process returns to the process shown in S101.

[0274] Next, an example of the flow of processing related to deleting a hardware resource from the hardware resource group 100, which is performed in the platform system 30 according to this embodiment, will be described with reference to the flow diagram shown in FIG.

[0275] The process illustrated in FIG. 19 is executed in all of the hardware resource groups 100 included in the communication system 1.

[0276] In this processing example, the policy manager unit 90 monitors whether the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource deletion condition (S201).

[0277] Here, if the policy manager unit 90 determines that the usage status of the hardware resource group 100 satisfies the resource deletion condition (S201: Y), the configuration management unit 76 changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource from the hardware resource group 100 to a backup resource group that corresponds to the type of application running on the hardware resource group 100 (S202), and returns to the processing shown in S201.

[0278] In the process shown in S202, for example, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource deletion condition is the above-mentioned specified type, the affiliation of the selected hardware resource is changed from the hardware resource group 100 to a special spare resource group that corresponds to the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100.

[0279] In addition, in the process shown in S203, for example, if the type of application running in the hardware resource group 100 that satisfies the resource deletion condition is a type other than the above-mentioned specified type, the affiliation of the selected hardware resource is changed from the hardware resource group 100 to the general-purpose spare resource group 112.

[0280] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0281] For example, the examples described above that are executed by the bare metal management unit 96 may be executed by, for example, the configuration management unit 76. Conversely, the processes described above that are executed by the configuration management unit 76 may be executed by, for example, the bare metal management unit 96.

[0282] Furthermore, the functional units according to this embodiment are not limited to those shown in FIG.

[0283] Furthermore, the functional unit according to this embodiment does not need to be a NF in 5G. For example, the functional unit according to this embodiment may be a network node in 4G, such as an eNodeB, a vDU, a vCU, a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), a Mobility Management Entity (MME), or a Home Subscriber Server (HSS).

[0284] Furthermore, the functional units according to the present embodiment may be realized using hypervisor-type or host-type virtualization technology instead of container-type virtualization technology. Furthermore, the functional units according to the present embodiment do not need to be implemented by software, but may be implemented by hardware such as electronic circuits. Furthermore, the functional units according to the present embodiment may be implemented by a combination of electronic circuits and software.

[0285] The technology described in the present disclosure can also be expressed as follows: [1] A communication system including: a usage status monitoring means for monitoring the usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resource groups included in the system; a resource adding means for, in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups satisfying a resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, changing the affiliation of a hardware resource included in a common backup resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups from the common backup resource group to the hardware resource group; and a setup executing means for executing a setup according to a predetermined application type, wherein, when the margin of a hardware resource included in a special backup resource group that is part of the common backup resource group and in which a hardware resource has been set up according to the type satisfies a predetermined margin condition, the resource adding means changes the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which an application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group; a resource management system comprising: when the margin of a hardware resource included in the special spare resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, in response to a usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, the setup execution means executes setup according to the type of application on hardware resources included in a general-purpose spare resource group that is part of the common spare resource group and includes hardware resources for which the setup has not been executed, and the resource addition means changes the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the hardware resource group.[2] The resource management system according to [1], characterized in that the common spare resource group includes a plurality of special spare resource groups each associated with an application type and including hardware resources for which setup according to the application type has been executed, and when the margin of the hardware resource included in any of the special spare resource groups satisfies the margin condition associated with the special spare resource group, the resource adding means changes the affiliation of the hardware resource included in the special spare resource group from the special spare resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of the hardware resource group on which the application associated with the special spare resource group is running satisfying the resource adding condition associated with the hardware resource group. [3] The resource management system according to [1] or [2], further comprising: when the margin of the hardware resources included in the specialized spare resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, the setup execution means executes setup according to the type of application on a selected hardware resource selected from the general-purpose spare resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with that hardware resource group; and the resource addition means changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from that general-purpose spare resource group to that hardware resource group; and resource deletion means changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from that hardware resource group to that specialized spare resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups satisfying the resource deletion condition associated with that hardware resource group.[4] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [3], further comprising: a resource adjusting unit that, when a ratio between the amount of hardware resources included in the specialized backup resource group and the amount of hardware resources included in the general-purpose backup resource group does not satisfy a predetermined ratio condition, changes the assignment of hardware resources included in either the specialized backup resource group or the general-purpose backup resource group to the other so as to satisfy the ratio condition, wherein the setup execution unit executes setup according to the type of application for the hardware resources whose assignment is changed from the general-purpose backup resource group to the specialized backup resource group, and wherein the unsetup execution unit returns the hardware resources whose assignment is changed from the specialized backup resource group to the general-purpose backup resource group to the state before the setup was executed. [5] The resource management system according to [4], further comprising: a ratio determining unit that determines the ratio based on the usage history of the hardware resources. [6] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [3], further comprising: a resource adjusting unit that changes the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the general-purpose backup resource group from the general-purpose backup resource group to the specialized backup resource group when the surplus of the hardware resource included in the specialized backup resource group satisfies a predetermined replenishment condition, wherein the setup execution unit executes setup according to the type of the application for the hardware resource whose affiliation is changed from the general-purpose backup resource group to the specialized backup resource group. [7] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [6], further comprising: a resource adjusting unit that changes the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the general-purpose backup resource group from the general-purpose backup resource group to the specialized backup resource group when the surplus of the hardware resource included in the specialized backup resource group satisfies a predetermined replenishment condition, wherein the setup execution unit executes setup according to the type of the application for the hardware resource.[8] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the resource addition condition is a condition related to a maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for running an application on the group of hardware resources, or a maximum hardware resource rate expected to be used for running an application on the group of hardware resources. [9] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [8], wherein the resource addition condition is a condition associated with the number of applications running on the group of hardware resources.

[10] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to [9], wherein the resource addition condition is a condition selected by a purchaser of an application from within a range associated with the type of application running on the group of hardware resources, or a condition selected by the purchaser of the application from among a plurality of options associated with the type of application running on the group of hardware resources.

[11] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to

[10] , wherein an application purchased by a purchaser different from the purchaser of an application running on one of the plurality of groups of hardware resources is running on another group of hardware resources.

[12] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to

[11] , characterized in that the usage status monitoring means monitors the usage status of each of a plurality of server groups included in the communication system, and the resource adding means changes the affiliation of a server included in a common spare server group different from any of the server groups from the common spare server group to the server group when the usage status of any of the server groups satisfies a server addition condition associated with that server group.

[13] The resource management system according to any one of [1] to

[12] , characterized in that the hardware resource group corresponds to a cluster managed by a container management tool.

[14] A resource management method comprising: monitoring a usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resource groups included in a communication system; and when a margin of a hardware resource included in a special backup resource group that is part of a common backup resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups and includes hardware resources for which setup according to a predetermined application type has been executed satisfies a predetermined margin condition, changing the affiliation of the hardware resource included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying a resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group; and when the margin of the hardware resource included in the special backup resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, performing setup according to the type of application on hardware resources included in a general backup resource group that is part of the common backup resource group and includes hardware resources for which setup according to the application type has not been executed, and changing the affiliation of the hardware resource for which setup has been executed from the general backup resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group.

Claims

1. A usage status monitoring means for monitoring the usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resource groups included in a communication system; a resource adding means for changing the affiliation of a hardware resource included in a common spare resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups from the common spare resource group to the hardware resource group in response to a usage state of any of the hardware resource groups satisfying a resource adding condition associated with the hardware resource group; A setup execution means for executing a setup according to a type of a predetermined application, when the margin of a hardware resource included in a special backup resource group, which is a part of the common backup resource group and includes a hardware resource for which setup according to the type has been executed, satisfies a predetermined margin condition, in response to a usage state of any one of the hardware resource groups in which an application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, the resource adding means changes the affiliation of the hardware resource included in the special backup resource group from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group; When the margin of the hardware resource included in the specific spare resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, in response to the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, the setup execution means executes a setup according to the type of the application for a hardware resource included in a general-purpose spare resource group which is a part of the common spare resource group and includes a hardware resource on which the setup has not been executed, and the resource addition means changes the affiliation of the hardware resource on which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the hardware resource group. Resource management system.

2. the common backup resource group includes a plurality of specific backup resource groups each corresponding to a type of application, the specific backup resource groups including hardware resources that are set up according to the type of application; When the margin of a hardware resource included in any of the special spare resource groups satisfies the margin condition associated with the special spare resource group, the resource adding means changes the affiliation of the hardware resource included in the special spare resource group from the special spare resource group to the hardware resource group in response to the usage state of the hardware resource group on which an application associated with the special spare resource group is running satisfying the resource adding condition associated with the hardware resource group. The resource management system of claim 1 .

3. When the margin of the hardware resource included in the specific spare resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, in response to the usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, the setup execution means executes a setup corresponding to the type of the application for a selected hardware resource selected from the general-purpose spare resource group, and the resource addition means changes the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the hardware resource group of the selected hardware resource, a resource deletion means for changing the affiliation of the selected hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the hardware resource group to the special spare resource group in response to a usage status of any one of the hardware resource groups satisfying a resource deletion condition associated with the hardware resource group, The resource management system of claim 1 .

4. The present invention further includes a resource adjustment means for changing the affiliation of a hardware resource included in either the special spare resource group or the general spare resource group from one to the other when a ratio between an amount of hardware resources included in the special spare resource group and an amount of hardware resources included in the general spare resource group does not satisfy a predetermined ratio condition, so as to satisfy the ratio condition; the setup execution means executes a setup corresponding to a type of the application for the hardware resource whose belonging is changed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the special spare resource group; and an unsetup execution means for returning the hardware resource, for which the setup has been executed, to a state before the setup was executed, for a hardware resource whose belonging is changed from the specific spare resource group to the general-purpose spare resource group. The resource management system of claim 1 .

5. The present invention further includes a ratio determination means for determining the ratio based on a usage record of the hardware resource. The resource management system according to claim 4.

6. The present invention further includes a resource adjustment means for changing the affiliation of a hardware resource included in the general-purpose spare resource group from the general-purpose spare resource group to the special spare resource group when a margin of a hardware resource included in the special spare resource group satisfies a predetermined replenishment condition, the setup execution means executes a setup corresponding to the type of the application for the hardware resource whose belonging is changed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the special spare resource group. The resource management system of claim 1 .

7. The resource addition condition is a condition related to an actual usage amount of a hardware resource, an actual usage rate of a hardware resource, an actual surplus amount of a hardware resource, or an actual surplus rate of a hardware resource. The resource management system of claim 1 .

8. The resource addition condition is a condition related to a maximum amount of hardware resources expected to be used for the operation of an application in the hardware resource group, or a maximum hardware resource rate expected to be used for the operation of an application in the hardware resource group. The resource management system of claim 1 .

9. the resource addition condition is a condition associated with the number of applications running on the group of hardware resources; The resource management system of claim 1 .

10. The resource addition condition is a condition selected by a purchaser of the application from within a range associated with the type of the application running on the group of hardware resources, or a condition selected by a purchaser of the application from among a plurality of options associated with the type of the application running on the group of hardware resources. The resource management system of claim 1 .

11. an application purchased by a purchaser different from a purchaser of an application running on one of the plurality of hardware resource groups is running on another of the plurality of hardware resource groups; The resource management system of claim 1 .

12. The usage status monitoring means monitors the usage status of each of a plurality of server groups included in the communication system, said resource adding means, when the usage status of any one of said server groups satisfies a server addition condition associated with said server group, changes the affiliation of a server included in a common spare server group different from any one of said server groups from said common spare server group to said server group. The resource management system of claim 1 .

13. The group of hardware resources corresponds to a cluster managed by a container management tool. The resource management system of claim 1 .

14. Monitoring the usage status of each of a plurality of hardware resources included in a communication system; a special backup resource group is a part of a common backup resource group different from any of the hardware resource groups, and the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group are hardware resources for which setup according to a predetermined application type has been executed, and when the margin of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group satisfies a predetermined margin condition, when the usage status of any of the hardware resource groups in which the application of the type is running satisfies a resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, the affiliation of the hardware resources included in the special backup resource group is changed from the special backup resource group to the hardware resource group in question; when the margin of the hardware resources included in the specific spare resource group does not satisfy the margin condition, in response to a usage state of any of the hardware resource groups on which the application of the type is running satisfying the resource addition condition associated with the hardware resource group, execute a setup according to the type of the application for a hardware resource included in a general-purpose spare resource group which is a part of the common spare resource group and includes a hardware resource for which the setup has not been executed, and change the affiliation of the hardware resource for which the setup has been executed from the general-purpose spare resource group to the hardware resource group of the general-purpose spare resource group; A resource management method including: