Method and system for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event In one example, a Network Function Virtualization Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module receives an error event; retrieves a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event and data related to historical instances of error events for the NF; evaluates a hysteresis for the error event; upon positive evaluation of the hysteresis, transmits a request for corrective action to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE). In another example, the PEE receives the request comprising the error event data from the NPDA module; creates corrective actions based on the error event; and transmits the corrective actions to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM). The VLM implements the corrective actions. Thereafter, the NPDA modules receives an indication of an implementation of the corrective actions from the PEE.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING ONE OR MORE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS DURING AN ERROR EVENTFIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to management of operations within a network. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods and systems for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event.BACKGROUND

[0002] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section is used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of the prior art.

[0003] Wireless communication technology has rapidly evolved over the past few decades, with each generation bringing significant improvements and advancements. The first generation of wireless communication technology was based on analog technology and offered only voice services. However, with the advent of the second generation (2G) technology, digital communication and data services became possible, and text messaging was introduced. The third generation (3G) technology marked the introduction of high-speed internet access, mobile video calling, and location-based services. The fourth generation (4G) technology revolutionized wireless communication with faster data speeds, better network coverage, and improved security. Currently, the fifth generation (5G) technology is being deployed, promising even faster data speeds, low latency, and the ability to connect multiple devices simultaneously. With each generation, wireless communication technology has become more advanced, sophisticated, and capable of delivering more services to its users.

[0004] Generally, there may be multiple network functions (NFs) in telecommunication networks, which may use network resources respectively allocated to each of them. Based on the allocated network resources, the NF may perform an operation in the network that may be within the resource capacity of said NF.

[0005] In cases where the allocated network resources get exhausted due to overutilization and the NF may need to perform an additional operation, the network function may be unable to do so and may generate an error. Further, in cases where an operation that may entail an amount of resources more than what has been allocated to the NF is assigned to the NF, the NF may be unable to do so. The NF may also raise an alarm indicating that the capacity of the NF has been exhausted.

[0006] In traditional solutions, human intervention is required for making decisions related to scaling operations (in / out) or healing operations of the NF or the resources used for running the NF such as compute, storage, network, slice instances, etc. Further, the scaling decision is not automatic in terms of notifying to its closed loop systems. Further in traditional solutions, there is no way to apply the suggested scale-in / scale-out or healing operations against microservice servers in real-time.

[0007] For example, conventionally, to resolve such problem, a network administrator or operator may assess the NF, resources allocated to the NF, resources required for performing the operation, available resources in the network, etc. Based on the assessment, the network operator may optimize the network resource allocation by manually modifying the allocated resources on the NF, or assigning another NF, or performing a healing operation on said NF.

[0008] This problem may be further aggravated in cases where the network operator has performed the network optimization, and an error again comes up. As a result of this, the network operator may need to repeatedly perform the network resource optimization, thereby leading to an inefficient, cumbersome, and computationally expensive task.

[0009] Thus, there exists an imperative need in the art to develop methods and systems which addresses the need to provide an efficient solution for notifying automatic scale in / out request, for making intelligent decisions in real-time, and for transmitting automatic scaling or automatichealing request to microservices server, which the present disclosure aims to address.SUMMARY

[0010] This section is provided to introduce certain aspects of the present disclosure in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0011] An aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event. The method comprises receiving, by a first transceiver unit at a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module, an error event. The method further comprises retrieving, by a retrieval unit at the NPDA module, a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF. The method further comprises based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluating, by an evaluation unit, a hysteresis for the error event. The method further comprises in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmitting by the first transceiver unit to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request for corrective action. The method further comprises receiving, by the first transceiver unit from the PEE, an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0012] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event from a Capacity Monitoring Manager Platform (CMP), for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

[0013] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit, the alarm enrichment request, the method further comprises retrieving, by the retrieval unit, an alarm restoration policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of alarms for the NF. Further, based on the retrieved alarm restoration policy and the set of data, the method comprises evaluating, by an evaluation unit, a hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request. Also, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request, transmitting, by the first transceiver unit, to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request. Furthermore, the method comprises receiving, by the first transceiver unit from the PPE, the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0014] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more corrective actions are selected from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

[0015] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit, the resource threshold event, the method further comprises retrieving, by the retrieval unit, a resource threshold policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of resource threshold events for the NF. Further, based on the retrieved resource thresholdpolicy and the set of data, the method further comprises evaluating, by the evaluation unit, a hysteresis for the resource threshold event. Then in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the resource threshold event, transmitting, by the first transceiver unit to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request. Then the method further comprises receiving, by the first transceiver unit from the PEE, the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0016] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more corrective actions comprises automatic scaling the NF.

[0017] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the Network Function (NF) is selected from a group of NFs comprising virtual network function (VNF), container network function components (CNF), and combinations thereof, wherein the VNF further comprises one or more VNF components, and the CNF further comprises one or more CNF components.

[0018] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the error event is received by the first transceiver unit from an event routing manager (ERM) module.

[0019] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the NPDA module and PEE are in communication through a NA PE interface.

[0020] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a system for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event. The system comprises a Network Function Virtualization (NF V) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module. The NPDA module comprises a first transceiver unit, a retrieval unit, and an evaluation unit connected with each other. The first transceiver unit is configured to receive an error event. The retrieval unit is configured to retrieve a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF. The evaluation unit is configured to, based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluate a hysteresis for the error event. The first transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmit, to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request for corrective action to negate the error event. The first transceiver unit is further configured to receive, from the PEE, an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0021] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to another method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event. The method comprises receiving, by a second transceiver unit at a Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event. The method further comprises based on the error event received in the request, creating, by a creation unit at the PEE, one or more corrective actions. The method further comprises transmitting, by the second transceiver unit to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM), the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

[0022] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

[0023] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, for the alarm enrichment request, the method further comprises creating, by the creation unit at the PEE, the one or more corrective actions from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

[0024] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, for the resource threshold event, the method further comprises creating, by the creation unit at the PEE, the one or more corrective actions comprising automatic scaling the NF.

[0025] In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the NPDA module and PEE are in communication through a NA PE interface.

[0026] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a system for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event. The system comprises a Policy Execution Engine (PEE), and the PEE comprises a second transceiver unit and a creation unit connected with each other. The second transceiver unit is configured to receive, from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module, a request, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event. The creation unit is configured to, based on the error event received in the request, create the one or more corrective actions. Then the second transceiver unit is further configured totransmit, to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM), the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

[0027] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the one or more instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes the one or more units to perform certain functions. The one or more instructions when executed causes a first transceiver unit of the system to receive an error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes a retrieval unit of the system to retrieve a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF. The one or more instructions when executed further causes an evaluation unit of the system to, based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluate a hysteresis for the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the first transceiver unit of the system to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmit, to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE), a request for corrective action to negate the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the first transceiver unit of the system to receive, from the PEE, an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0028] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to another non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the one or more instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes the one or more units to perform certain functions. The one or more instructions when executed causes a second transceiver unit of the system to receive, from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module, a request, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes a creation unit of the system to, based on the error event received in the request, create the one or more corrective actions. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the second transceiver unit of the system to transmit, to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM), the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM is to implement the one or more corrective actions.OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0029] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment disclosed herein satisfies are listed herein below.

[0030] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event.

[0031] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for automatic detection of scaling (In / Out) / healing operations.

[0032] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution that makes intelligent decisions in real-time through event-driven operation based on the provisioned policies.

[0033] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide valuable solution for addressing network issues, improving the overall stability and performance of the network infrastructure, and facilitating efficient scaling / healing processes and enables swift and informed actions.

[0034] An object of the invention is to provide a solution that for notifying automatic scale in / out request based on NPDA hysteresis threshold policies.

[0035] Another object of the invention is to provide a solution for generating and storing a set of threshold-based policies associated from one or more network functions of the network, wherein each threshold-based policy from the set of threshold-based policies is associated with at least one network function from the one or more network functions.

[0036] Another object of the invention is to provide a solution that receives least a resource detail, and a resource threshold exceed event request tiggered by a microservice and fetch a thresholdbased policy from the set of threshold-based policies based on at least the resource detail.

[0037] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a solution that performs a hysteresis evaluation based on at least the resource detail and the threshold-based policy associated with the resource detail and notify, an automatic-scale In / Out request for the one or more network functions of the network based on the hysteresis evaluation.

[0038] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for transmitting automatic scaling or automatic-healing request to microservice servers by NPDA server.

[0039] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution that informs scale- in / scale-out / healing of a microservice server in the event the gating criteria is true, which usually happens when there is a breach in the reported load at NPDA server.

[0040] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution that acts as a closed loop automation point which in real time take informed decisions related to scaling or healing of a microservice server based on an evaluated threshold-based policy breach.

[0041] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution that enables tracking of a microservice server load and informing a threshold-based policy breach decision (scaling or healing) by NPDA server in real-time, thereby mitigating any network resource failures.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Also, the embodiments shown in the figures are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure, but the possible variants of the method and system according to the disclosure are illustrated herein to highlight the advantages of the disclosure. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.

[0043] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture.

[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a computing device upon which the features of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0047] FIG. 5 illustrates another method flow diagram for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG. 6 illustrate an exemplary method flow diagram showing exemplary implementations for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0049] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter may each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above.

[0051] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth.

[0052] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems,processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail.

[0053] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", "primary", "secondary", "target" and the like, herein do not denote any order, ranking, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

[0054] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure.

[0055] The word “exemplary” and / or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and / or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive — in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word — without precluding any additional or other elements.

[0056] As used herein, a “processing unit” or “processor” or “operating processor” includes one or more processors, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A processor may be a general-purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the processor or processing unit is a hardware processor.

[0057] As used herein, “a user equipment”, “a user device”, “a smart-user-device”, “a smartdevice”, “an electronic device”, “a mobile device”, “a handheld device”, “a wireless communication device”, “a mobile communication device”, “a communication device” may be any electrical, electronic and / or computing device or equipment, capable of implementing the features of the present disclosure. The user equipment / device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, smart phone, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, wearable device or any other computing device which is capable of implementing the features of the present disclosure. Also, the user device may contain at least one input means configured to receive an input from unit(s) which are required to implement the features of the present disclosure.

[0058] As used herein, “storage unit” or “memory unit” refers to a machine or computer-readable medium including any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable medium includes read-only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other types of machine-accessible storage media. The storage unit stores at least the data that may be required by one or more units of the system to perform their respective functions.

[0059] As used herein “interface” or “user interface refers to a shared boundary across which two or more separate components of a system exchange information or data. The interface may also be referred to a set of rules or protocols that define communication or interaction of one or more modules or one or more units with each other, which also includes the methods, functions, or procedures that may be called.

[0060] All modules, units, components used herein, unless explicitly excluded herein, may be software modules or hardware processors, the processors being a general-purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array circuits (FPGA), any other type of integrated circuits, etc.

[0061] As used herein the transceiver unit include at least one receiver and at least one transmitter configured respectively for receiving and transmitting data, signals, information or a combination thereof between units / components within the system and / or connected with the system.

[0062] As discussed in the background section, the current known solutions have several shortcomings. The present disclosure aims to overcome the above-mentioned and other existing problems in this field of technology by providing method and system of implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event.

[0063] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture

[0100] , in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. The MANO architecture

[0100] is developed for managing telecom cloud infrastructure automatically, managing design or deployment design, managing instantiation of a network node(s) etc. The MANO architecture

[0100] deploys the network node(s) in the form of Virtual Network Function (VNF) and Cloud-native / Container Network Function (CNF). The system may comprise one or more components of the MANO architecture. The MANO architecture

[0100] is used to automatic-instantiate the VNFs into the corresponding environment of the present disclosure so that it could help in onboarding other vendor(s) CNFs and VNFs to the platform. In an implementation, the system comprises a NFV Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA)

[1096] component.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 1, the MANO architecture

[0100] comprises a user interface layer, a network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined network (SDN) design function module

[0104] ; a platforms foundation services module

[0106] , a platform core services module

[0108] and a platform resource adapters and utilities module

[0112] , wherein all the components are assumed to be connected to each other in a manner as obvious to the person skilled in the art for implementing features of the present disclosure.

[0065] The NFV and SDN design function module

[0104] further comprises a VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

[1042] ; a VNF catalogue

[1044] ; a network services catalogue

[1046] ; a network slicing and service chaining manager

[1048] ; a physical and virtual resource manager

[1050] and a CNF lifecycle manager

[1052] , The VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

[1042] is responsible for on which server of the communication network the microservice will be instantiated. The VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

[1042] will manage the overall flow of incoming / outgoing requests during interaction with the user. The VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

[1042] is responsible for determining which sequence to be followed for executing the process. For e.g. in an AMF network function of the communication network (such as a 5G network), sequence for execution of processes Pl and P2 etc. The VNF catalogue

[1044] storesthe metadata of all the VNFs (also CNFs in some cases). The network services catalogue

[1046] stores the information of the services that need to be run. The network slicing and service chaining manager

[1048] manages the slicing (an ordered and connected sequence of network service / network functions (NFs)) that must be applied to a specific networked data packet. The physical and virtual resource manager

[1050] stores the logical and physical inventory of the VNFs. Just like the VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

[1042] , the CNF lifecycle manager

[1052] is similarly used for the CNFs lifecycle management.

[0066] The platforms foundation services module

[0106] further comprises a microservices elastic load balancer

[1062] ; an identify & access manager

[1064] ; a command line interface (CLI)

[1066] ; a central logging manager

[1068] ; and an event routing manager

[1070] , The microservices elastic load balancer

[1062] is used for maintaining the load balancing of the request for the services. The identify & access manager

[1064] is used for logging purposes. The command line interface (CLI)

[1066] is used to provide commands to execute certain processes which requires changes during the run time. The central logging manager

[1068] is responsible for keeping the logs of every services. Theses logs are generated by the MANO platform

[0100] , These logs are used for debugging purposes. The event routing manager

[1070] is responsible for routing the events i.e., the application programming interface (API) hits to the corresponding services.

[0067] The platforms core services module

[0108] further comprises NFV infrastructure monitoring manager

[1082] ; an assure manager

[1084] ; a performance manager

[1086] ; a policy execution engine

[1088] ; a capacity monitoring manager

[1090] ; a release management (mgmt.) repository

[1092] ; a configuration manager & (GCT)

[1094] ; an NFV platform decision analytics

[1096] ; a platform NoSQL DB

[1098] ; a platform schedulers and cron jobs

[1100] ; a VNF backup & upgrade manager

[1102] ; a micro service auditor

[1104] ; and a platform operations, administration and maintenance manager

[1106] , The NFV infrastructure monitoring manager

[1082] monitors the infrastructure part of the NFs. For e.g., any metrics such as CPU utilization by the VNF. The assure manager

[1084] is responsible for supervising the alarms the vendor is generating. The performance manager

[1086] is responsible for manging the performance counters. The policy execution engine (PEGN)

[1088] is responsible for all the managing the policies. The capacity monitoring manager (CPM)

[1090] is responsible for sending the request to the PEGN

[1090] , The release management (mgmt.) repository (RMR)

[1092] is responsible for managing the releases and the images of all the vendor network node. The configuration manager & (GCT)

[1094] manages the configuration and GCT of all the vendors. The NFVplatform decision analytics (NPDA)

[1096] helps in deciding the priority of using the network resources. It is further noted that the policy execution engine (PEGN)

[1088] , the configuration manager & (GCT)

[1094] and the (NPDA)

[1096] work together. The platform NoSQL DB

[1098] is a platform database for storing all the inventory (both physical and logical) as well as the metadata of the VNFs and CNF. It may be noted that the platform NoSQL DB

[1098] may be just a narrow implementation of the present disclosure, and any other kind of structure for the database may be implemented for the platform database such as relational or non-relational database. The platform schedulers and cron jobs

[1100] schedules the task such as but not limited to triggering of an event, traverse the network graph etc. The VNF backup & upgrade manager

[1102] takes backup of the images, binaries of the VNFs and the CNFs and produces those backups on demand in case of server failure. The micro service auditor

[1104] audits the microservices. For e.g., in a hypothetical case, instances not being instantiated by the MANO architecture

[0100] using the network resources then the micro service auditor

[1104] audits and informs the same so that resources can be released for services running in the MANO architecture

[0100] , thereby assuring the services only run on the MANO platform

[0100] , The platform operations, administration and maintenance manager

[1106] is used for newer instances that are spawning.

[0068] The platform resource adapters and utilities module

[0112] further comprises a platform external API adaptor and gateway

[1122] ; a generic decoder and indexer (XML, CSV, JSON)

[1124] ; a docker swarm adaptor

[1126] ; an OpenStack API adapter

[1128] ; and a NFV gateway

[1130] , The platform external API adaptor and gateway

[1122] is responsible for handling the external services (to the MANO platform

[0100] ) that requires the network resources. The generic decoder and indexer (XML, CSV, JSON)

[1124] gets directly the data of the vendor system in the XML, CSV, JSON format. The docker swarm adaptor

[1126] is the interface provided between the telecom cloud and the MANO architecture

[0100] for communication. The OpenStack API adapter

[1128] ; is used to connect with the virtual machines (VMs). The NFV gateway

[1130] is responsible for providing the path to each services going to / incoming from the MANO architecture

[0100] ,

[0069] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a computing device

[0200] upon which the features of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the computing device

[0200] may also implement a method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event utilising the system

[0300] , In another implementation, the computing device

[0200] itself implements the method for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error eventusing one or more units configured within the computing device

[0200] , wherein said one or more units are capable of implementing the features as disclosed in the present disclosure.

[0070] The computing device

[0200] may include a bus

[0202] or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a hardware processor

[0204] coupled with bus

[0202] for processing information. The hardware processor

[0204] may be, for example, a general-purpose microprocessor. The computing device

[0200] may also include a main memory

[0206] , such as a random-access memory (RAM), or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the bus

[0202] for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processor

[0204] , The main memory

[0206] also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of the instructions to be executed by the processor

[0204] , Such instructions, when stored in non-transitory storage media accessible to the processor

[0204] , render the computing device

[0200] into a special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions. The computing device

[0200] further includes a read only memory (ROM)

[0208] or other static storage device coupled to the bus

[0202] for storing static information and instructions for the processor

[0204] ,

[0071] A storage device

[0210] , such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or solid-state drive is provided and coupled to the bus

[0202] for storing information and instructions. The computing device

[0200] may be coupled via the bus

[0202] to a display

[0212] , such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), Liquid crystal Display (LCD), Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, Organic LED (OLED) display, etc. for displaying information to a computer user. An input device

[0214] , including alphanumeric and other keys, touch screen input means, etc. may be coupled to the bus

[0202] for communicating information and command selections to the processor

[0204] , Another type of user input device may be a cursor controller

[0216] , such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor

[0204] , and for controlling cursor movement on the display

[0212] , The input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allow the device to specify positions in a plane.

[0072] The computing device

[0200] may implement the techniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and / or program logic which in combination with the computing device

[0200] causes or programs the computing device

[0200] to be a special-purpose machine. According to one implementation, the techniques herein are performed by the computing device

[0200] in response to the processor

[0204] executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in the main memory

[0206] , Such instructions may be read into the main memory

[0206] from another storage medium, such as the storage device

[0210] , Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the main memory

[0206] causes the processor

[0204] to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative implementations of the present disclosure, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.

[0073] The computing device

[0200] also may include a communication interface

[0218] coupled to the bus

[0202] , The communication interface

[0218] provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link

[0220] that is connected to a local network

[0222] , For example, the communication interface

[0218] may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellite modem, or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, the communication interface

[0218] may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation, the communication interface

[0218] sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

[0074] The computing device

[0200] can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), the network link

[0220] and the communication interface

[0218] , In the Internet example, a server

[0230] might transmit a requested code for an application program through the Internet

[0228] , the ISP

[0226] , the local network

[0222] , a host

[0224] and the communication interface

[0218] , The received code may be executed by the processor

[0204] as it is received, and / or stored in the storage device

[0210] , or other non-volatile storage for later execution.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary block diagram of a system

[0300] for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, is shown, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. In one example, the system

[0300] may be in communication with a plurality of network entities / components, known to a person skilled in the art. Such network entities / components have not been depicted in FIG. 3 and not explained in the foregoing description for the sake of brevity.

[0076] As depicted in FIG. 3, the system

[0300] may include a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0302] and a Policy Execution Engine

[1088] , In one example, as depicted in FIG. 3, the NPDA module

[0302] and the PEE

[1088] may be incommunication through a NA PE interface. The NA PE interface may refer to an interface used for exchanging data between the NPDA module

[0302] and the PEE

[1088] for facilitating the communication.

[0077] Although, as depicted in FIG. 3, the system

[0300] may include the NPDA module

[0302] and the PEE

[1088] , it may be noted that the same is only exemplary and not to be construed to limit the scope of the present subject matter in any manner. Other variations and examples would also be possible and would lie within the scope of the present subject matter.

[0078] For example, it may be the case that the system

[0300] may be implemented as the NPDA module

[0302] , In another example, it may be the case that the system

[0300] may be implemented as the PEE

[1088] , In yet another example, it may also be possible that the NPDA module

[0302] and the PEE

[1088] may not necessarily reside within the system

[0300] and may also be present outside the system

[0300] and may be connected with the system

[0300] for implementation of the present disclosure.

[0079] Continuing further, as depicted in FIG. 3, the NPDA module

[0302] may include at least one first transceiver unit

[0304] , at least one retrieval unit

[0306] , and at least one evaluation unit

[0308] , The PEE

[1088] may include at least one second transceiver unit

[0310] and at least one creation unit

[0312] ,

[0080] Also, all of the components / units of the system

[0300] are assumed to be connected to each other unless otherwise indicated below. As shown in FIG.3, all units shown within the system

[0300] should also be assumed to be connected to each other. Also, in FIG. 3, only a few units are shown, however, the system

[0300] may comprise multiple such units or the system

[0300] may comprise any such numbers of said units, as required to implement the features of the present disclosure. Further, in an implementation, the system

[0300] may be present in a user device / user equipment to implement the features of the present disclosure. The system

[0300] may be a part of the user device / or may be independent of but in communication with the user device (may also referred herein as a UE). In another implementation, the system

[0300] may reside in a server or a network entity. In yet another implementation, the system

[0300] may reside partly in the server / network entity and partly in the user device.

[0081] The system

[0300] is configured for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error event, with the help of the interconnection between the components / units of the system

[0300] ,

[0082] As would be understood, the one or more corrective actions may refer to the measures or service operations that may be used for correcting one or more problems / issues, such as error event, in order to correctively apply scaling or healing operations. Further, the error event may refer to a scenario where there exists an error associated with reaching a performance capacity of a particular network function, or an error associated with disruption of a network function due to issues such as crash, hardware failure, power outage, etc.

[0083] In operation, for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, initially, the process may be initiated at the NPDA module

[0302] ,

[0084] In one example, the first transceiver unit

[0304] , at the NPDA module

[0302] , may receive an error event. In certain implementations of the present disclosure, the error event may be received by the first transceiver unit

[0304] from an event routing manager (ERM) module.

[0085] It may be noted that in an implementation of the present disclosure, the error event may comprise at least one of a resource threshold event, from a Capacity Monitoring Management Platform (CMP), for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM) module, for the NF.

[0086] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the Network Function (NF) is selected from a group of NFs comprising virtual network function (VNF), container network function (CNF), and combinations thereof, wherein the VNF further comprises one or more VNF components, and the CNF further comprises one or more CNF components. As used herein, the VNF may refer to software applications that deliver network functions such as directory services, routers, firewalls, load balancers, etc. The CNF may be a component or a software service that fulfils certain network functionalities while adhering to cloud-native design principles without requiring any hardware or appliance to house it.

[0087] The resource threshold event for the NF may refer to a scenario where the NF or its instance (or a processing component) reaches its limits in terms of resources such as performance capabilities, storage capabilities, etc. The alarm enrichment request may refer to a requestassociated with the troubleshooting or gathering additional information about an error or fault for confirmation and better management of alarms. The CMP may refer to the capacity monitoring manger (CMM)

[1090] , The PVIM may be similar to the physical & virtual resource manager

[1050] used for storing the logical and physical inventory of the VNFs.

[0088] After, the error event is retrieved, then the retrieval unit

[0306] retrieves a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF. The policy may refer to the set of rules that are made, for example, to manage the resources and allocation of the resources, and may be generated by the PEE

[1088] or a policy control function, or any other entity known to a person skilled in the art. The set of data related to the historical instances of the error events may be stored by certain components within the system architecture

[0100] and other network entities such as the network data analytics function, etc. The set of data provides the information associated with the occurrence of the error event in the past.

[0089] Once the policy is retrieved, the evaluation unit

[0308] may then evaluate a hysteresis for the error event, based on the retrieved policy and the set of data. The hysteresis for the error event may refer to the probability of occurrence and the actions and policies that were formed in case of the error events occurred in the past. The hysteresis may indicate a pattern in the occurrence of the error event and may be used for making decisions based on the past data present in the set of data.

[0090] After the evaluation of the hysteresis, the first transceiver unit

[0304] transmits to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request for corrective action to negate the error event. The request for corrective action may be transmitted in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event. As would be understood to a person skilled in the art, the request for corrective action may refer to a request for performing the corrective actions and may be in form of a command or a message. It may be noted that the request for corrective action may be sent over the NA_PE interface.

[0091] For example, after the evaluation of the hysteresis suggests repeated occurrences of the resource threshold event, then in such case, the corrective actions, to negate the error event, may be performed, for example, by scaling the instance of the network function, increasing the resource allocation in order to meet the requirements, since due to low resources, such error event may be happening repeatedly.

[0092] Considering an example, in case the error event is alarm enrichment request, then in such case, the retrieval unit

[0306] retrieves an alarm restoration policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of alarms for the NF. Then the evaluation unit

[0308] , based on the retrieved alarm restoration policy and the set of data, evaluates a hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request. After evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request, then the first transceiver unit

[0304] is further configured to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request, transmit, to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request.

[0093] As provided above, the set of data related to historical instances of alarms for the NF may refer to the occurrences of the alarms for the particular NF in the past. The alarm restoration policy may refer to the set of rules which may be made for correcting the alarms raised for the particular NF. Accordingly, the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request may refer to a pattern in the past occurrences of the alarm enrichment request for analysis of the frequency of the alarm enrichment request. As would be understood, the positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request may refer to an indication of repeated alarm enrichment requests for the particular NF indicating that the particular NF instance is not able to perform optimally, and requires a corrective action to be performed.

[0094] Also, in case the error event is alarm enrichment request, in further implementations of the present disclosure (as would be described later in the foregoing description), the one or more corrective actions may be selected from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof. The restarting of the NF may refer to the physical restart or switching the power ON state and the power OFF state of the instance running the NF. The migration of the NF to the new host may refer to a change in the instance running / performing the NF and accordingly shift the NF to another instance which is healthy and without any errors. The one or more corrective actions in case of the alarm enrichment request enables healing of the network function.

[0095] Considering another example, in case the error event is the resource threshold event, then in such case, the retrieval unit

[0306] may retrieve a resource threshold policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of resource threshold events for the NF. Then the evaluation unit

[0308] may evaluate a hysteresis for the resource threshold event based on the retrieved threshold policy and the set of data. Ater, the evaluation, the first transceiver unit

[0304] , in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the resource threshold event, may transmit,to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request. It may be noted that the request for corrective action may be sent over the NA_PE interface.

[0096] As provided above, the set of data related to historical instances of resource threshold events for the NF may refer to the occurrences of reaching the resource threshold events for the particular NF in the past. The resource threshold policy may refer to the set of rules which may be made for correcting the alarms raised for the particular NF. Accordingly, the hysteresis for the resource threshold event may refer to a pattern in the past occurrences of the resource threshold events for analysis of the frequency of the resource threshold events. As would be understood, the positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the resource threshold events may refer to an indication of repeated occurrence of resource threshold events for the particular NF indicating that the particular NF instance is not able to perform optimally, and requires a corrective action to be performed.

[0097] Also, in case the error event is resource threshold event, in further implementations of the present disclosure (as would be described later in foregoing description), the one or more corrective actions may comprise automatic scaling the NF. In such cases, based on the resource threshold events, the instance running the NF is automatically scaled based on the error event data which may indicate that the NF needs a specific quantity of resources. Accordingly, for example, the corrective action may be to increase the quantity of resources for that particular NF. Further, it may be noted that in a scenario where the NF is not fully utilizing the allocated resources, then in such case, the quantity of the resources allocated to the NF may also be reduced for efficient utilization of resources. The one or more corrective actions in case of the resource threshold event enables automatic scaling of the network functions.

[0098] It may be noted that aforementioned error events are only exemplary, and not to be construed to limit the scope of the present subject matter in any manner. Any other examples of error events may be received by the first transceiver unit

[0304] , All such examples would lie within the scope of the present subject matter.

[0099] Continuing further, after the transmission of the request for corrective action, from the NPDA module

[0302] to the PEE

[1088] , the PEE

[1088] may receive said request and may initiate the process of creation of policies associated with the one or more corrective actions. It may be noted that the said request may be received over the NA PE interface.

[0100] In an example, at the PEE

[1088] , for creating the policies associated with the one or more corrective actions, in operation, the second transceiver unit

[0310] may receive, from the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0302] , a request, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking the one or more corrective actions to negate the error event. It may be noted that as provided above the request may be received over the NA_PE interface.

[0101] As described previously, the error event data may refer to the data associated with the occurrence of the error event. For example, in case the error event may be the resource threshold event then in such case, the error event data may indicate the performance levels and the threshold levels, similarly, in case of alarm enrichment, the error event data may be associated with alarms, faults, etc. Also, it may be noted that request for seeking the one or more corrective actions may be in form of a command or a request message, etc.

[0102] After receiving the request, the creation unit

[0312] , based on the error event received in the request, creates the one or more corrective actions. The creation unit

[0312] may check the error event data present in the request and accordingly determine the corrective actions that are needed for each error event.

[0103] In case the error event is the alarm enrichment request, then in such cases, the creation unit

[0312] creates the one or more corrective actions from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

[0104] In case the error event is the resource threshold event, then in such cases, the creation unit

[0312] is further configured to create the one or more corrective actions comprising automatic scaling the NF. It may be understood to a person skilled in the art, that the automatic scaling the NF may refer to scaling in or scaling out of the resources allocated to a particular instance of the NF. As would be understood, the scaling in and scaling out may refer to decrease or increase in the resource allocation of a particular NF instance, in order to manage the performance requirements of the network function.

[0105] Once the one or more corrective actions are created, then the second transceiver unit

[0310] transmits to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM)

[1042] , the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM

[1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.The VLM

[1042] implements the one or more corrective actions that are received from the PEE

[1088] ,

[0106] Once the one or more corrective actions have been implemented in the network, the VLM

[1042] may transmit an indication or acknowledgement to the PEE

[1088] that said one or more corrective actions have been implemented. The PEE

[1088] may transmit such indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions to the NPDA module

[0302] ,

[0107] The first transceiver unit

[0304] may receive from the PEE

[1088] , the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions. The indication may be for providing the information that the corrective actions have been performed by the respective entities.

[0108] Referring to FIG. 4, an exemplary method flow diagram

[0400] for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure is shown. In an implementation the method

[0400] is performed by the NPDA module

[0302] , Further, in an implementation, the NPDA module

[0302] may be present in a server device to implement the features of the present disclosure. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the method

[0400] starts at step

[0402] ,

[0109] As would be understood, the one or more corrective actions may refer to the measures or service operations that may be used for correcting one or more problems / issues, such as error event, in order to correctively apply scaling or healing operations. Further, the error event may refer to a scenario where there exists an error associated with reaching a performance capacity of a particular network function, or an error associated with disruption of a network function due to issues such as crash, hardware failure, power outage, etc.

[0110] In operation, for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the method

[0400] , at step

[0404] , involves receiving, by a first transceiver unit

[0304] at a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0302] , an error event.[OHl] In certain implementations of the present disclosure, the error event may be received by the first transceiver unit

[0304] from an event routing manager (ERM) module.

[0112] It may be noted that in an implementation of the present disclosure, the error event may comprise at least one of a resource threshold event from a Capacity Monitoring Manager Platform(CMP), for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

[0113] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the Network Function (NF) is selected from a group of NFs comprising virtual network function (VNF), container network function (CNF), and combinations thereof, wherein the VNF further comprises one or more VNF components, and the CNF further comprises one or more CNF components. As used herein, the VNF may refer to software applications that deliver network functions such as directory services, routers, firewalls, load balancers, etc. The CNF may be a component or a software service that fulfils certain network functionalities while adhering to cloud-native design principles without requiring any hardware or appliance to house it.

[0114] The resource threshold event for the NF may refer to a scenario where the NF or its instance (or a processing component) reaches its limits in terms of resources such as performance capabilities, storage capabilities, etc. The alarm enrichment request may refer to a request associated with the troubleshooting or gathering additional information about an error or fault for confirmation and better management of alarms. The CMP may refer to the capacity monitoring manger (CMM)

[1090] , The PVIM may be similar to the physical & virtual resource manager

[1050] used for storing the logical and physical inventory of the VNFs.

[0115] After, the error event is retrieved, then at step

[0406] , the method

[0400] comprises retrieving, by a retrieval unit

[0306] at the NPDA module

[0302] , a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF.

[0116] The policy may refer to the set of rules that are made for example to manage the resources and allocation of the resources, and may be generated by the PEE

[1088] or a policy control function, or any other entity known to a person skilled in the art. The set of data related to the historical instances of the error events may be stored by certain components within the system architecture

[0100] and other network entities such as the network data analytics function, etc. The set of data provides the information associated with the occurrence of the error event in the past.

[0117] Once, the policy is retrieved, then at step

[0408] , the method

[0400] comprises based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluating, by an evaluation unit

[0308] , a hysteresis for the error event.

[0118] The hysteresis for the error event may refer to the probability of occurrence and the actions and policies that were formed in case of the error events occurred in the past. The hysteresis may indicate a pattern in the occurrence of the error event, and may be used for making decisions based on the past data present in the set of data.

[0119] After the evaluation of the hysteresis, then at step

[0410] , the method

[0400] comprises in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmitting by the first transceiver unit

[0304] to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request for corrective action.

[0120] The request for corrective action may be transmitted in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event. As would be understood to a person skilled in the art, the request for corrective action may refer to a request for performing the corrective actions and may be in form of a command or a message.

[0121] For example, after the evaluation of the hysteresis suggests repeated occurrences of the resource threshold event, then in such case, the corrective actions to negate the error event may be performed, for example, by scaling the instance of the network function, increasing the resource allocation in order to meet the requirements, since due to low resources, such error event may be happening repeatedly.

[0122] After the transmission of the request for corrective action, then at step

[0412] , the method

[0400] comprises receiving, by the first transceiver unit

[0304] from the PEE

[1088] , an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0123] For example, once the request for corrective action has been transmitted to the PEE

[1088] , the PEE

[1088] may perform a series of steps for creating the policies associated with the one or more corrective actions and implementing such one or more corrective actions. This has been explained in detail in method

[0500] in FIG. 5. Once the corrective actions have been implemented in the network, the first transceiver unit

[0304] , at the NPDA module

[0302] , may receive an indication from the PEE

[1088] that the one or more corrective actions have been implemented in the network.

[0124] Thereafter, at step

[0414] , the method

[0400] is terminated.

[0125] Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary method flow diagram

[0500] for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure is shown. In an implementation the method

[0500] is performed by the PEE

[1088] , Further, in an implementation, the PEE

[1088] may be present in a server device to implement the features of the present disclosure. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the method

[0500] starts at step

[0502] .

[0126] As described previously in method

[0400] , the NPDA module

[0302] may transmit a request for corrective actions to the PEE

[1088] , The PEE

[1088] , on receiving said request, may initiate the process of creation of policies associated with the one or more corrective actions and implementing such corrective actions.

[0127] In an example, for creating the policies associated with the one or more corrective actions and for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the method

[0500] at step

[0504] , comprises receiving, by a second transceiver unit

[0310] at a Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0302] , wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event.

[0128] In an implementation of the present disclosure, the error event may comprise at least one of a resource threshold event for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

[0129] It may be noted that the error event data may refer to the data associated with the occurrence of the error event. For example, in case the error event may be the resource threshold event then in such case, the error event data may indicate the performance levels and the threshold levels, similarly, in case of alarm enrichment, the error event data may be associated with alarms, faults, etc. Also, it may be noted that request for seeking the one or more corrective actions may be in form of a command or a request message, etc.

[0130] Then, at step

[0506] , based on the error event received in the request, the method

[0500] comprises creating, by a creation unit

[0312] at the PEE

[1088] , one or more corrective actions.

[0131] The creation unit

[0312] may check the error event data present in the request and accordingly determine the corrective actions that are needed for each error event.

[0132] In case the error event is the alarm enrichment request, then in such cases, the method may further comprise creating, by the creation unit

[0312] at the PEE

[1088] , the one or more corrective actions from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

[0133] In case the error event is the resource threshold event, then in such cases, the method may further comprise creating, by the creation unit

[0312] at the PEE

[1088] , the one or more corrective actions comprising automatic scaling the NF.

[0134] Accordingly, after the one or more corrective actions are created, then at step

[0508] , the method

[0500] comprises transmitting, by the second transceiver unit

[0310] to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM)

[1042] , the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM

[1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

[0135] Once the one or more corrective actions have been implemented in the network, the VLM

[1042] may transmit an indication or acknowledgement to the PEE

[1088] that said one or more corrective actions have been implemented. The PEE

[1088] may transmit such indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions to the NPDA module

[0302] ,

[0136] The first transceiver unit

[0304] may receive from the PEE

[1088] , the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions. The indication may be for providing the information that the corrective actions have been performed by the respective entities.

[0137] Thereafter, the method

[0500] terminates at step

[0510] ,

[0138] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method

[0600] flow diagram showing exemplary implementations for implementing the one or more corrective actions during the error event, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in the FIG. 6, the method

[0600] starts at step

[0602] .

[0139] It may be noted that the method

[0600] starts by receiving an error event.

[0140] In one example, as depicted by step

[0604] , the error event is the resource threshold event received after the event is triggered by the CMP as provided above. In another example, as depictedby step

[0606] , the error event is the alarm enrichment request, and is received after the event is triggered by the PVIM. It may be noted that the CMP and the PVIM may be CMP microservice or PVIM microservice in case these belongs to a microservices-based architecture.

[0141] Then, at step

[0608] , the ERM

[1070] provides the error event data associated with the error event based on the error event raised by either the CMP or the PVIM. The error event data helps in determination of the policies to be used for making corrective actions.

[0142] After, the error event data is received, then at step

[0610] , the NPDA module

[0302] may evaluate a policy relating to the error event. It may be noted that the policy and the set of data related to historical instances of error event of the NF may be retrieved by the NPDA module

[0302] , Based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, the NPDA module

[0302] evaluates a hysteresis for the error event. After the evaluation is complete, it may result in a positive evaluation and a negative evaluation. In such cases, the positive evaluation indicates repeated occurrences, and negative evaluation indicates non-repetitive nature of the error event.

[0143] Then, at step

[0612] , the method

[0600] involves making an evaluation of the positive evaluation and negative evaluation for making a decision. In case of the positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, the step

[0612] moves to step

[0614] , However, in case of the negative evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, the step

[0612] moves to step

[0614] for termination of the method

[0600] and the closed loop automation process.

[0144] Further, at step

[0614] , in case of the positive evaluation of the hysteresis of the error event, then a request for corrective action is transmitted to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] for implementing the one or more corrective actions. For implementing the corrective actions, certain decisions associated with the implementation of the healing decisions, or the scaling decisions may be taken. The decisions may indicate implementation of healing decisions such as restarting or migrating and scaling decisions such as scaling in or scaling out of the allocated resources. Accordingly, this decision may be taken based on closed loop automation and then the same decision may be reported to the NPDAmodule

[0302] by way of an indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0145] Then, at step

[0616] , the method

[0600] may be terminated causing the closed loop automation process to end.

[0146] The present disclosure further discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the one or more instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system

[0300] , causes the one or more units to perform certain functions. The one or more instructions when executed causes a first transceiver unit

[0304] of the system

[0300] to receive an error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes a retrieval unit

[0306] of the system

[0300] to retrieve a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF. The one or more instructions when executed further causes an evaluation unit

[0308] of the system

[0300] to, based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluate a hysteresis for the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the first transceiver unit

[0304] of the system

[0300] to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmit, to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE)

[1088] , a request for corrective action to negate the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the first transceiver unit

[0304] of the system

[0300] to receive, from the PEE

[1088] an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

[0147] The present disclosure further discloses another non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the one or more instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system

[0300] , causes the one or more units to perform certain functions. The one or more instructions when executed causes a second transceiver unit

[0310] of the system

[0300] to receive, from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0302] , a request, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event. The one or more instructions when executed further causes a creation unit

[0312] of the system

[0300] to, based on the error event received in the request, create the one or more corrective actions. The one or more instructions when executed further causes the second transceiver unit

[0310] of the system

[0300] to transmit, to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM)

[1042] , the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM

[1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

[0148] As is evident from the above, the present disclosure provides a technically advanced solution for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event. The present solution provides a technically advanced solution for automatic detection of scaling (In / Out) / healing operations. The present disclosure enables making intelligent decisions in real-timethrough event-driven operation based on the provisioned policies. Further, it may be noted that the present disclosure provides monitoring of the error events, analyses the error event data and policies required for taking corrective actions, and also provides implementation of the corrective actions to be taken. Thus, the present disclosure provides a solution which is able to performs all of the steps, thereby resulting in a closed loop automation. The present disclosure utilises closed loop automation and enables addressing network issues, improving the overall stability and performance of the network infrastructure, and facilitating efficient scaling / healing processes and also enables swift and informed actions.

[0149] Further, the present solution provides a technically advanced solution for notifying automatic scale in / out request based on NPDA hysteresis threshold policies. The present solution offers a notable technical advantage of manifesting in its capacity to execute intelligent, real-time decisions driven by meticulously provisioned policies and hysteresis evaluation. This attribute sets it apart as a formidable solution for tackling network challenges, ultimately bolstering the stability and performance of the network infrastructure. The present disclosure provides the ability to facilitate efficient scaling operations (In / Out) empowers swift, well-informed actions, ensuring that network resources are optimally allocated. By seamlessly integrating event-driven operations with predefined policies, this innovation demonstrates its value in the realm of network management, offering a dynamic and responsive approach to network optimization. This, in turn, leads to a marked improvement in overall network resilience and efficiency.

[0150] Also, the present disclosure provides a solution that informs scale-in / scale-out / healing of a microservice server in the event the gating criteria is true, which usually happens when there is a breach in the reported load. The present disclosure provides a solution that acts as a closed loop automation point which in real time take informed decisions related to scaling or healing of a microservice server based on an evaluated threshold-based policy breach decision. The present disclosure provides a solution that enables tracking of a microservice server load and informing a threshold-based policy breach decision (scaling or healing) by NPDA server in real-time, thereby mitigating any network resource failures.

[0151] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the disclosed implementations, it will be appreciated that many implementations can be made and that many changes can be made to the implementations without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. These and other changes in the implementations of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled inthe art, whereby it is to be understood that the foregoing descriptive matter to be implemented is illustrative and non-limiting.

[0152] Further, in accordance with the present disclosure, it is to be acknowledged that the functionality described for the various components / units can be implemented interchangeably.While specific embodiments may disclose a particular functionality of these units for clarity, it is recognized that various configurations and combinations thereof are within the scope of the disclosure. The functionality of specific units as disclosed in the disclosure should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Consequently, alternative arrangements and substitutions of units, provided they achieve the intended functionality described herein, are considered to be encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the method comprising:- receiving, by a first transceiver unit [304] at a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], an error event;- retrieving, by a retrieval unit [306] at the NPDA module [302], a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF;- based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluating, by an evaluation unit [308], a hysteresis for the error event;- in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmitting by the first transceiver unit [304] to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action; and- receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304] from the PEE [1088], an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event from a Capacity Monitoring Manager Platform (CMP), for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304], the alarm enrichment request, the method further comprises:- retrieving, by the retrieval unit [306], an alarm restoration policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of alarms for the NF;- based on the retrieved alarm restoration policy and the set of data, evaluating, by an evaluation unit [308], a hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request;- in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request, transmitting, by the first transceiver unit [304], to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request; and- receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304] from the PPE, the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the one or more corrective actions are selected from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304], the resource threshold event, the method further comprises:- retrieving, by the retrieval unit [306], a resource threshold policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of resource threshold events for the NF;- based on the retrieved resource threshold policy and the set of data, evaluating, by the evaluation unit [308], a hysteresis for the resource threshold event; and- in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the resource threshold event, transmitting, by the first transceiver unit [304] to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request; and- receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304] from the PEE [1088], the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the one or more corrective actions comprises automatic scaling the NF.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Network Function (NF) is selected from a group of NFs comprising virtual network function (VNF), container network function components (CNF), and combinations thereof, wherein the VNF further comprises one or more VNF components, and the CNF further comprises one or more CNF components.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the error event is received by the first transceiver unit [304] from an event routing manager (ERM) module.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the NPDA module [302] and the PEE [1088] are in communication through a NA PE interface.

10. A system [300] for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the system [300] comprising a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], the NPDA module [302] comprising:- a first transceiver unit [304], wherein the first transceiver [304] unit is configured to receive an error event;- a retrieval unit [306] connected at least to the first transceiver unit [304], wherein the retrieval unit [306] is configured to retrieve a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF;- an evaluation unit [308] connected at least to the retrieval unit [306], wherein the evaluation unit [308] is configured to, based on the retrieved policy and the set of data, evaluate a hysteresis for the error event; and- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event, transmit, to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action to negate the error event;- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to receive, from the PPE [1088], an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

11. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event, from a Capacity Monitoring Manager Platform (CMP), for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM) module, for the NF.

12. The system [300] as claimed in claim 11, wherein, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304], the alarm enrichment request,- the retrieval unit [306] is further configured to retrieve an alarm restoration policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of alarms for the NF;- the evaluation unit [308] is further configured to, based on the retrieved alarm restoration policy and the set of data, evaluate a hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request;- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the alarm enrichment request, transmit, to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request; and- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to receive, from the PPE, the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

13. The system [300] as claimed in claim 12, wherein the one or more corrective actions are selected from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

14. The system [300] as claimed in claim 11, wherein, in response to receiving, by the first transceiver unit [304], the resource threshold event,- the retrieval unit [306] is further configured to retrieve a resource threshold policy defined for the NF, and a set of data related to historical instances of resource threshold events for the NF;- the evaluation unit [308] is further configured to evaluate a hysteresis for the resource threshold event based on the retrieved threshold policy and the set of data;- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to, in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the resource threshold event, transmit, to the Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action to negate the alarm enrichment request; and- the first transceiver unit [304] is further configured to receive, from the PEE [1088], the indication of the implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

15. The system [300] as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more corrective actions comprises automatic scaling the NF.

16. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the Network Function (NF) is selected from a group of NFs comprising virtual network function (VNF), container network function (CNF), and combinations thereof, wherein the VNF further comprises one or more VNF components, and the CNF further comprises one or more CNF components.

17. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the error event is received by the first transceiver unit [304] from an event routing manager (ERM) module.

18. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the NPDA module [302] and the PEE [1088] are in communication through a NA PE interface.

19. A method for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the method comprising:- receiving, by a second transceiver unit [310] at a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event;- based on the error event received in the request, creating, by a creation unit [312] at the PEE [1088], one or more corrective actions; and- transmitting, by the second transceiver unit [310] to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM) [1042], the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM [1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein, for the alarm enrichment request, the method further comprises: creating, by the creation unit [312] at the PEE [1088], the one or more corrective actions from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

22. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein, for the resource threshold event, the method further comprises: creating, by the creation unit [312] at the PEE [1088], the one or more corrective actions comprising automatic scaling the NF.

23. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the NPDA module [302] and PEE [1088] are in communication through a NA PE interface.

24. A system [300] for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the system [300] comprising a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], the PEE [1088] comprising:- a second transceiver unit [310], wherein the second transceiver unit [310] is configured to receive, from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], a request, wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event;- a creation unit [312] connected at least to the second transceiver unit [310], wherein the creation unit [312] is configured to, based on the error event received in the request, create the one or more corrective actions; and- the second transceiver unit [310] is further configured to transmit to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM) [1042], the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM [1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

25. The system [300] as claimed in claim 24, wherein the error event comprises at least one of a resource threshold event for the NF, and an alarm enrichment request from a physical virtual inventory manager (PVIM), for the NF.

26. The system [300] as claimed in claim 25, wherein, for the alarm enrichment request, the creation unit [312]i s further configured to create the one or more corrective actions from a group of corrective actions comprising of restarting the NF, migrating the NF to a new host, and a combination thereof.

27. The system [300] as claimed in claim 25, wherein, for the resource threshold event, the creation unit [312] is further configured to create the one or more corrective actions comprising automatic scaling the NF.

28. The system [300] as claimed in claim 24, wherein the NPDA module [302] and PEE [1088] are in communication through a NA PE interface.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the instructions comprising executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system [300], causes:- a first transceiver unit [304], at a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], to receive an error event;- a retrieval unit [306], at the NPDA module [302], to retrieve a policy defined for a Network Function (NF) relating to the error event, and a set of data related to historical instances of error events for the NF;- an evaluation unit [308] to evaluate a hysteresis for the error event based on the retrieved policy and the set of data;- the first transceiver unit [304] to transmit, to a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], a request for corrective action in response to a positive evaluation of the hysteresis for the error event; and- the first transceiver unit [304] to receive, from the PEE [1088], an indication of an implementation of the one or more corrective actions.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for implementing one or more corrective actions during an error event, the instructions comprising executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system [300], causes:- a second transceiver unit [310], at a Policy Execution Engine (PEE) [1088], to receive a request from a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module [302], wherein the request comprises an error event data, and wherein the request is for seeking one or more corrective actions to negate the error event;- a creation unit [312], at the PEE [1088], to create one or more corrective actions based on the error event received in the request; and- the second transceiver unit [310] to transmit, to a Virtual Network Function Lifecycle Manager (VLM) [1042], the one or more corrective actions, wherein the VLM [1042] is to implement the one or more corrective actions.

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