System and method for load balancing of requests

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for load balancing of requests The method comprises facilitating, by a facilitation unit [302], a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances based on configuring of an operation and management (OAM) server details. The method further comprises receiving, via a communication unit [304], one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Furthermore, the method comprises distributing, by a distribution unit [306] via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOAD BALANCING OF REQUESTSFIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] Embodiment of the present disclosure generally relates to the field of network performance management. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for load balancing of requests.BACKGROUND

[0002] The following description of 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 be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as an admission of prior art.

[0003] A scheduler service is a system that manages the execution of jobs, typically based on a schedule or some other trigger. A scheduler service with event-driven architecture, makes the jobs highly available, compatible with distributed environments, extendable and monitorable. With the right technology stack and design, one can develop a custom scheduler service that meets specific needs. The scheduling systems are integrated with microservices architecture to optimize computational resources and enhance the performance of applications. Schedulers play an essential role in the management of computational resources. They are responsible for allocating resources to various tasks, ensuring that each task receives the resources it requires to execute efficiently. In a microservices environment, a scheduler can be used to manage the distribution of tasks among the various services, ensuring that the overall system operates efficiently. Schedulers are particularly important in a microservices environment because they help to manage the complexity of dealing with multiple, independent services. They can help to ensure that each service is given the resources it needs to function effectively and can also help to manage the interdependencies between services, ensuring that they work together effectively. However, the current network systems face a critical challenge in efficiently managing and scheduling job s / tasks within various network components such as microservice(s). The scheduler services for task creation and scheduling are struggling to effectively coordinate with the network functions.

[0004] Moreover, the network component(s) such as a capacity and performance monitoring manager / capacity monitoring manager (CP) primary function revolves around monitoring resource usages, including CPU, RAM, storage, bandwidth, and various parameters. The CP primarily interacts with a centralised platform such as platform scheduler & cron job (PSC) service by continuously sending queries and receiving event acknowledgments for breached events, wherein the resource usage may end up surpassing predefined threshold values. Further, the core services of the PSC service are struggling to effectively coordinate with the CP. Therefore, this process has proven to be inefficient and prone to delays, leading to suboptimal task scheduling in the network systems.

[0005] Hence, in view of these and other existing limitations, there arises an imperative need to provide an efficient solution to overcome the above-mentioned and other limitations and to provide a method and a system for load balancing of requests.SUMMARY

[0006] 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.

[0007] An aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a method for load balancing of requests. The method comprises facilitating, by a facilitation unit, a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances based on configuring an operation and management (0AM) server details. The method further comprises receiving, via a communication unit, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Furthermore, the method comprises distributing, by a distribution unit via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

[0008] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests are distributed among the plurality of PS instances based on a routing policy configured at the at least one LB instance.

[0009] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance facilitates scalability of PS service.

[0010] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more incoming requests comprise creating and scheduling task requests.

[0011] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more outgoing requests comprise notifications associated with the creating and scheduling task requests.

[0012] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the request context associated with each of the one or more incoming requests comprises at least an Application Protocol Interface (API) creation, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an event creation and a query.

[0013] In an exemplary disclosure of the present disclosure, the request context associated with each of the one or more outgoing requests comprises at least a response code.

[0014] In an exemplary disclosure of the present disclosure, the PS and LB are communicatively coupled using the PS LB interface.

[0015] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a system for load balancing of requests. The system comprises a facilitation unit, configured to facilitate, a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation and management (0AM) server details. Further, the system comprises a communication unit connected at least with the facilitation unit, the communication unit is configured to receive, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Furthermore, a distribution unit connected at least with the communication unit, wherein the distribution unit is configured to distribute, via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

[0016] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for load balancing of requests, the instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes a facilitation unit of the system to facilitate a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation andmanagement (OAM) server details. Further, the executable code when executed causes a communication unit of the system to receive, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Furthermore, the executable code when executed causes a distribution unit to distribute, via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.OBJECT OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0017] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment disclosed herein satisfies are listed herein below.

[0018] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for load balancing of requests.

[0019] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution to improve the scalability for PS service to handle the request.

[0020] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a solution to distribute incoming request load to provide high scalability of PS microservice instances.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] 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.

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture, in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure.

[0023] 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.

[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system for load balancing of requests, in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method flow diagram for load balancing of requests, in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system architecture of a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC / PS) microservice, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0027] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] 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 can 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. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein. Example embodiments of the present disclosure are described below, as illustrated in various drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings.

[0029] 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 forimplementing 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.

[0030] It should be noted that the terms "mobile device", "user equipment", "user device", “communication device”, “device” and similar terms are used interchangeably for the purpose of describing the disclosure. These terms are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure or imply any specific functionality or limitations on the described embodiments. The use of these terms is solely for convenience and clarity of description. The disclosure is not limited to any particular type of device or equipment, and it should be understood that other equivalent terms or variations thereof may be used interchangeably without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined herein.

[0031] 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 skills in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0032] 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 can 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] As used herein, an “electronic device”, or “portable electronic device”, or “user device” or “communication device” or “user equipment” or “device” refers to any electrical, electronic, electromechanical, and computing device. The user device is capable of receiving and / or transmitting one or parameters, performing function / s, communicating with other user devices, and transmitting data to the other user devices. The user equipment may have a processor, a display, a memory, a battery, and an input-means such as a hard keypad and / or a soft keypad. The user equipment may be capable of operating on any radio access technology including but not limited to IP-enabled communication, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Near Field Communication, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, etc. For instance, the user equipment may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, smartphone, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, mainframe computer, or any other device as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art for implementation of the features of the present disclosure.

[0035] Further, the user device and / or a system as described herein to implement technical features as disclosed in the present disclosure may also comprise a “processor” or “processing unit”, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. The 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 Processor (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 is a hardware processor.

[0036] 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 ofimplementing the features of the present disclosure. Also, the user device may contain at least one input means configured to receive an input from at least one of a transceiver unit, a processing unit, a storage unit, a detection unit and any other such unit(s) which are required to implement the features of the present disclosure.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] As used herein, the transceiver unit includes 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.

[0041] 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 a method and system for load balancing of requests. More particularly, the present disclosure provides a solution to improve the scalabilityfor PS service to handle the request. Further, the present disclosure provides a solution to distribute incoming request load to provide high scalability of PS microservice instances.

[0042] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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

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

[0100] is used to auto-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.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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 determining 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] stores the 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 chainingmanager

[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.

[0046] The platforms foundation services module

[0106] further comprises a microservices edge 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 edge 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 require changes during the run time. The central logging manager

[1068] is responsible for keeping the logs of every service. The logs are generated by the MANO architecture

[0100] , The 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.

[0047] 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 (CP)

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

[1092] ; a configuration manager & (Golden Configuration Template (GCT))

[1094] ; an NFV platform decision analytics

[1096] ; a platform NoSQL DB

[1098] ; a platform schedulers and cron jobs (PSC) service

[1100] ; a VNF backup & upgrade manager

[1102] ; a microservice 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

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

[1090] is responsible for sending the request to the policy execution engine

[1088] , The capacity monitoring manager (CP)

[1090] is capable of monitoring usage of network resources such as but not limited to CPU utilization, RAM utilization and storage utilization across all the instances of the virtual infrastructure manager (VIM) or simply the NFV infrastructure monitoring manager

[1082] , The capacity monitoring manager (CP)

[1090] is also capable of monitoring said network resources for each instance of the VNF. The capacity monitoring manager (CP)

[1090] is responsible for constantlytracking the network resource utilization. The release management (mgmt.) repository

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

[1094] manages the configuration and GCT of all the vendors. The NFV platform decision analytics

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

[1088] , the configuration manager & (GCT)

[1094] and the NFV platform decision analytics

[1096] work together. The platform NoSQL DB

[1098] is a database for storing all the inventory (both physical and logical) as well as the metadata of the VNFs and CNF. The platform schedulers and cron jobs (PSC) service

[1100] schedules the task such as but not limited to triggering of an event, traversing 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 microservice auditor

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

[0100] and using the network resources then the microservice 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 architecture

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

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

[0048] 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 service 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 architecture

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

[1124] directly gets the data of the vendor system in the XML, CSV, JSON format. The docker service 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 service going to / incoming from the MANO architecture

[0100] ,

[0049] Referring to FIG. 2 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 is illustrated. In an implementation, the computing device

[0200] may implement a method for handling an overload condition in a network by utilising a system

[0200] , In another implementation, the computing device

[0200] itself implements the methodfor handling an overload condition in a network using 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.

[0050] The computing device

[0200] may include a bus

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

[0204] coupled with bus

[0202] for processing information. The 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] ,

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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] , a host

[0224] , the local network

[0222] 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.

[0055] Referring to FIG. 3 exemplary block diagram of a system for load balancing of requests, in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure is illustrated. The system comprises at least one facilitation unit

[0302] , at least one communication unit

[0304] , and at least one distribution unit

[0306] , 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 the 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 reside in a serveror the network entity or the system

[0300] may be in communication with the network entity to implement the features as disclosed in the present disclosure.

[0056] The system

[0300] is configured for load balancing of requests with the help of the interconnection between the components / units of the system

[0300] ,

[0057] In operation, the facilitation unit

[0302] , may facilitate registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation and management (0AM) server details.

[0058] As would be understood, the PS instance may be a centralised platform which helps to create and schedule jobs on behalf of other microservices. Also, the microservice is a small, loosely coupled distributed service and each microservice is designed to perform a specific function. Further, each microservice may be developed and deployed independently. Further, the microservice breaks a service into small and manageable components of services. Further, as would be understood, LB instance may be a platform that may distribute the traffic among the plurality of the microservices to maintain the optimal load balance on each of the microservices from the plurality of the microservices in the network environment, based on the details of each microservice. Furthermore, the 0AM server may oversee, control, and maintain the operations of the plurality of microservices in the network environment. The 0AM may further keep track of the health of the plurality of microservice registered at the 0AM. Moreover, the 0AM server details may include the information related to the 0AM such as, but not limited to, server name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, port address, etc. associated with the 0AM server.

[0059] Continuing further, the PS instance and the LB instance may register themselves on the 0AM server for centralized monitoring, management and proper functioning of the PS instance and the LB instance registered at the 0AM server. Also, the registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance facilitates scalability of PS service.

[0060] Further, in an exemplary implementation, the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance to register, at the 0AM server, may send a request in the form of, say, http request to the 0AM server for the registration. The request may include details such as, but not limited to, hostname, IP address, port number, health check information, etc. associated with the plurality of PS instance and the at least one LB instance. Furthermore, the 0AM server may process the request and after processing the request send a response in the form, say, 2000K for successful registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance.

[0061] Continuing further, after successful registration, the communication unit

[0304] may receive one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming requests and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Further, the one or more incoming requests comprise creating and scheduling task requests. Furthermore, the request context associated with each of the one or more incoming requests comprises at least an Application Protocol Interface (API) creation, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an event creation and a query.

[0062] In an implementation, the create task request comprises a task schedule for the task. Further, the create task request comprises parameters such as Task type, Task frequency, Task periodicity, Task counter and Task information. The Task type may be for example, an API creation, an FTP, an EVENT creation, or a QUERY. The Task frequency can be periodic such as done daily, weekly, monthly, or one-time execution as per the requirement of the operations team. The Task periodicity may define the time period when the task is to be scheduled. The Task counter defines the number of task notifications. The Task information defines details related to resources such as name, identifier, address, and threshold value of usage. An example of tasks may be such as, creating an event to clear cache weekly. The PSC service

[1100] may include a network component that works as a task manager for managing the sequence of network tasks. The PSC service

[1100] may also employ a fixed queueing algorithm for governing the scheduling of the task. The create task request is responsible for defining the initial stages or actions for the task execution.

[0063] In another implementation, the scheduling task may include assigning or prioritizing network resources to a core network component (such as network node / function) for carrying out the execution of the intended objectives of the network component. The network resources may include processors, network links, memories etc. The scheduling of tasks in the communication network helps in minimizing network problems such as delays and allows to automate recurring tasks, such as backups, data synchronization and maintenance jobs.

[0064] Further, the one or more outgoing requests comprise notifications associated with the creating and scheduling task requests. The notification associated with the one or more outgoing requests may be triggered to keep the users or the operation team informed about the status of the task such as, but not limited to, task created, task scheduled, task executed, etc. Also, the request context associated with each of the one or more outgoing requests comprises at least a response code and the identity of the PS to which the response code is to be delivered. Furthermore, theresponse code may include responses such as, but not limited to, 2000k for successful requests, 201 created for successful creation of tasks, etc. The system thus is able to determine which requesting microservice a particular response code belongs to, as the response code provides notification-type information (for example, 200 OK) but does not identify the associated microservice.

[0065] Thereafter, the distribution unit

[0306] may distribute, via the at least one LB instance, the data traffic one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request. Also, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests are distributed among the plurality of PS instances based on a routing policy configured at the at least one LB instance. Further, the at least one LB instance may distribute the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances based on the routing table.

[0066] As would be understood, the routing table of the at least one LB instance is a set of rules that may define how the incoming traffic, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests may be distributed among the plurality of PS instances. Moreover, the routing table may provide information to route a particular request to an appropriate PS instance based on various factors such as, but not limited to, health of the PS instance, load on the PS instance etc.

[0067] The PS and LB are communicatively coupled using the PS LB interface. The PS LB interface is established after registration of OS instances with the LB instance. The PS LB interface can comprise at least one of http and web-socket based connections. In an embodiment, the PS LB interface is configured to facilitate exchange of information using hypertext transfer protocol (http) rest application programming interface (API). In an embodiment, the http rest API is used in conjunction with JSON and / or XML communication media. In another embodiment, the PS LB interface is configured to facilitate exchange of information by establishing a web-socket connection between the PS, and the LB. A web-socket connection may involve establishing a persistent connectivity between the PS, and the LB. An example of the web-socket based communication includes, without limitation, a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection. In such a connection, information, such as operational status, health, etc. of different components may be exchanged through the interface using a ping-pong based communication.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 4 an exemplary flow diagram of a method

[0400] for load balancing of requests, in accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure is illustrated. Inan implementation the method

[0400] is performed by the system

[0300] , Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the method

[0400] initiates at step

[0402] ,

[0069] At step

[0404] , the method

[0400] comprises, facilitating, by a facilitation unit

[0302] , a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances based on configuring of an operation and management (0AM) server details.

[0070] As would be understood, the PS instance may be a centralised platform which helps to create and schedule jobs on behalf of other microservices. Also, the microservice is a small, loosely coupled distributed service and each microservice is designed to perform a specific function. Further, each microservice may be developed and deployed independently. Further, the microservice breaks a service into small and manageable components of services. Further, as would be understood, LB instance may be a platform that may distribute the traffic among the plurality of the microservices to maintain the optimal load balance on each of the microservices from the plurality of the microservices in the network environment, based on the details of each microservice. Furthermore, the 0AM server may oversee, control, and maintain the operations of the plurality of microservices in the network environment. The 0AM may further keep track of the health of the plurality of microservice registered at the 0AM. Moreover, the 0AM server details may include the information related to the 0AM such as, but not limited to, server name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, port address, etc. associated with the 0AM server.

[0071] Continuing further, the PS instance and the LB instance may register themselves on the 0AM server for centralized monitoring, management and proper functioning of the PS instance and the LB instance registered at the 0AM server. Also, the registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance facilitates scalability of PS service.

[0072] Further, in an exemplary implementation, the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance to register, at the 0AM server, may send a request in the form of, say, http request to the 0AM server for the registration. The request may include details such as, but not limited to, hostname, IP address, port number, health check information, etc. associated with the plurality of PS instance and the at least one LB instance. Furthermore, the 0AM server may process the request and after processing the request send a response in the form, say, 2000K for successful registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance.

[0073] Next, at step

[0406] , the method

[0400] comprises receiving, via a communication unit

[0304] , at least one or more of an incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Further, the one or more incoming requests comprise creating and scheduling task requests. Furthermore, the request context associated with each of the one or more incoming requests comprises at least an Application Protocol Interface (API) creation, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an event creation and a query.

[0074] Continuing further, in an implementation, the create task request comprises a task schedule for the task. Further, the create task request comprises parameters such as Task type, Task frequency, Task periodicity, Task counter and Task information. The Task type may be for example, an API creation, an FTP, an EVENT creation, or a QUERY. The Task frequency can be periodic such as done daily, weekly, monthly, or one-time execution as per the requirement of the operations team. The Task periodicity may define the time period when the task is to be scheduled. The Task counter defines the number of task notifications. The Task information defines details related to resources such as name, identifier, address, and threshold value of usage. An example of a task may be such as, creating an event to clear cache weekly. The PSC service

[1100] may include a network component that works as a task manager for managing the sequence of network tasks. The PSC service

[1100] may also employ a fixed queueing algorithm for governing the scheduling of the task. The create task request is responsible for defining the initial stages or actions for the task execution.

[0075] Continuing further, in another implementation, the scheduling of a task may involve assigning or prioritizing network resources to a core network component (such as network node / function) for carrying out the execution of the intended objectives of the network component. The network resources may include processors, network links, memories etc. The scheduling of tasks in the communication network helps in minimizing network problems such as delays and allows to automate recurring tasks, such as backups, data synchronization and maintenance jobs.

[0076] Further, the one or more outgoing requests comprise notifications associated with the creating and scheduling task requests. The notification associated with the one or more outgoing requests may be triggered to keep the users or the operation team informed about the status of the task such as, but not limited to, task created, task scheduled, task executed, etc. Also, the request context associated with each of the one or more outgoing requests comprises at least a response code and the identity of the PS to which the response code is to be delivered. Furthermore, theresponse code may include responses such as, but not limited to, 2000k for successful requests, 201 created for successful creation of tasks, etc. The system thus enables to determine which requesting microservice a particular response code belongs to, as the response code provides notification-type information (for example, 200 OK) but does not identify the associated microservice.

[0077] Furthermore, at step

[0408] , the method

[0400] , comprises distributing, by a distribution unit

[0306] via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request. Also, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests are distributed among the plurality of PS instances based on a routing policy configured at the at least one LB instance. Further, the at least one LB instance may distribute the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances based on the routing table.

[0078] As would be understood, the routing table of the at least one LB instance is a set of rules that may define how the incoming traffic, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests may be distributed among the plurality of PS instances. Moreover, the routing table may provide information to route a particular request to an appropriate PS instance based on various factors such as, but not limited to, health of the PS instance, load on the PS instance etc.

[0079] Thereafter, at step

[0410] , the method

[0400] terminates.

[0080] Referring to FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system architecture

[0500] of a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC / PS) microservice, in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the system architecture

[0500] of PSC microservice comprises a CRON & Schedulers Management

[0502] , a Cron Management

[0504] , a Task Management

[0506] , a FCAP management

[0508] , an Event Handling

[0510] , a HA and Fault Tolerance

[0512] , a Data Modelling Framework

[0514] , a ES-DB Client

[0516] , a ERM

[0518] , a ES

[0520] , an ELB

[0522] , a VNF manager

[0524] , VM

[0526] (VM1 [526a],.. VMn [526n]), a GUI Interface

[0528] , a CLI interface

[0530] and EDGE-LB

[0532] ,

[0081] CRON & Schedulers Management

[0502] is used for scheduling of the cron jobs.

[0082] Cron Management

[0504] is used to manage all the active and inactive crons created at PSC end.

[0083] Task Management

[0506] is used to manage all the active and inactive tasks created at PSC end.

[0084] FCAP management

[0508] manages all the counters and alarms created at PSC.

[0085] Event Handling

[0510] manages all the events between microservices.

[0086] HA and Fault Tolerance

[0512] handles all the requests if one running instance goes down, then another active instance will complete that request.

[0087] Data Modelling Framework

[0514] is used to manage and check incoming and outgoing format data at PSC end.

[0088] ERM

[0518] is Event Routing Manager which is used to send the requests between publisher microservice to subscriber microservice.

[0089] ELB

[0522] is Edge Load balancer which is used to send the requests between the active instances of one microservice to another microservice.

[0090] ES-DB Client

[0516] and ES

[0520] manage task related data for the microservices at PSC end.

[0091] VNF manager

[0524] manages the one or more VM

[0526] in a virtual environment in a network functions virtualization (NFV) architecture or virtualized infrastructure.

[0092] GUI Interface

[0528] is used to communicate with ERM

[0518] for sending the request to the microservices.

[0093] CLI interface

[0530] is used to communicate or trigger the EDGE-LB

[0532] for managing the load of the microservices.

[0094] The present disclosure may further relate to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for load balancing of requests, the instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system

[0300] , causes a facilitationunit

[0302] of the system

[0300] to facilitate a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation and management (0AM) server details. Further, the executable code when executed causes a communication unit

[0304] of the system

[0300] to receive one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context. Furthermore, the executable code when executed causes a distribution unit

[0306] of the system

[0300] to distribute, via the at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

[0095] As is evident from the above, the present disclosure provides a technically advanced solution for load balancing of requests. More particularly, the present solution improves the scalability for PS service to handle the request. Further, the present solution distributes the incoming request load to provide high scalability of PS microservice instances.

[0096] 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 in the art, whereby it is to be understood that the foregoing descriptive matter to be implemented is illustrative and non-limiting.

[0097] 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 system for load balancing of requests, the system comprising:- a facilitation unit, configured to facilitate, a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation and management (OAM) server details;- a communication unit connected at least with the facilitation unit, wherein the communication unit is configured to receive, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context; and- a distribution unit connected at least with the communication unit, wherein the distribution unit is configured to distribute, via at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests are distributed among the plurality of PS instances based on a routing policy configured at the at least one LB instance.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance facilitates scalability of PS service.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more incoming requests comprise creating and scheduling task requests.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the one or more outgoing requests comprise notifications associated with the creating and scheduling task requests.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request context associated with each of the one or more incoming requests comprises at least an Application Protocol Interface (API) creation, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an event creation and a query.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request context associated with each of the one or more outgoing requests comprises at least a response code.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PS and LB are communicatively coupled using PS LB interface.

9. A method for load balancing of requests, the method comprising:- facilitating, by a facilitation unit, a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances based on configuring an operation and management (OAM) server details;- receiving, via a communication unit, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context;- distributing, by a distribution unit via at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests are distributed among the plurality of PS instances based on a routing policy configured at the at least one LB instance.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the registration of the plurality of PS instances and the at least one LB instance facilitates scalability of PS service.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more incoming requests comprise creating and scheduling task requests.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the one or more outgoing requests comprise notifications associated with the creating and scheduling task requests.

14. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the request context associated with each of the one or more incoming requests comprises at least an Application Protocol Interface (API) creation, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an event creation and a query.

15. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the request context associated with each of the one or more outgoing requests comprises at least a response code.

16. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the PS and LB are communicatively coupled using PS LB interface.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more instructions for load balancing of requests, the instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system [300], causes:- a facilitation unit [302] of the system [300] to facilitate a registration of a plurality of platform scheduler (PS) instances and a plurality of load balancer (LB) instances by configuring an operation and management (0AM) server details;- a communication unit [304] of the system [300] to receive, one or more incoming requests and one or more outgoing requests, wherein each of the incoming request and the outgoing request is associated with a request context; and- a distribution unit [306] of the system [300] to distribute, via at least one LB instance, the one or more incoming requests and the one or more outgoing requests among the plurality of PS instances, wherein the distribution is based on the request context associated with each of the incoming request and the outgoing request.

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