Method and system for performing corrective actions on one or more network functions

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method [400] and system [300] for performing corrective actions on Network Functions (NFs) The disclosure encompasses: receiving, an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; sending, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the NFs from NF components; storing, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; analysing, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; determining, corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and triggering, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the corrective actions at the NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the corrective actions.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING CORRECTIVE ACTIONS ON ONE OR MORE NETWORK FUNCTIONSFIELD OF DISCLOSURE

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of wireless communication systems. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method and a system for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs).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 admissions of prior art.

[0003] In communication networks such as 5G communication networks, different microservices perform different services, jobs and tasks in the network. Different microservices have to perform their jobs in such a way based on operational parameters and policies, that it does not affect microservices’ own operations and service network operations. However, during service operations, for fulfilling the requirements of policies and operational parameters, it is not possible to manage the virtual network functions (VNF / VNFC) and / or containerized functions (CNF / CNFC) component instances to handle bulk service requests coming in the network to manage the network service load. Further, this condition becomes more challenging, when any virtual network functions and / or containerized functions component instances’ health status is not in operational condition. The existing available solutions are not efficient for handling service requests load and managing health alarm conditions of virtual network functions and / or containerized functions component instances.

[0004] Thus, there exists an imperative need in the art to provide an efficient system and method for auto scaling and healing of virtual and containerized network function component instances.SUMMARY

[0005] 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.

[0006] An aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a method for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs). The method includes receiving, by a transceiver unit at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module. Next, the method includes sending, by the transceiver unit at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components. Next, the method includes storing, by a storing unit at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database. Next, the method includes analysing, by a processing unit at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual infrastructure manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response. Next, the method includes determining, by a determination unit at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability. Thereafter, the method includes triggering, by the processing unit at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

[0007] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more corrective actions comprises one of at least a scaling action and a healing action.

[0008] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the invoke policy request is associated with at least one of the one or more NF components is received at least one of the PEEGN and the NPDA module.

[0009] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more NFs is at least one of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs), and the one ormore NF components is at least one of virtual network function components (VNFCs) and containerized network function components (CNFCs).

[0010] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the network function lifecycle manager is at least one of a VNF lifecycle manager (VLM) and a CNF lifecycle manager (CNFLM).

[0011] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further comprises triggering the one or more corrective actions associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC comprises: automatic monitoring, at a capacity manager platform (CMP), performance metrics associated with at least one of one or more VNF instances and one or more VNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a hysteresis analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event; triggering, by the NPDA module at the PEEGN, an action for executing the one or more predefined corrective policies; checking, by the PEEGN, from the PVIM available resources and one or more resource quota associated with the available resources; reserving one or more resources from the available resources based on the one or more resource quota; receiving, by the PEEGN, a response associated with reserving the one or more resources from the PVIM; instructing, by the PEEGN, to a VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) to trigger the corrective action based on the received response from the PVIM; and sending, by the PEEGN, a corrective action response associated with least one of the VNF and the VNFC to the NPDA module.

[0012] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the NPDA module is configured for instructing the PEEGN to execute the one or more predefined corrective policies for the VNF, the one or more corrective actions using the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter.

[0013] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further comprises instructing, by the PEEGN, based on the one or more predefined corrective policies to the VLM to perform the one or more corrective actions to execute at least one of a restart action and a migrate action associated with the VNFC instance to a healthy host; and forwarding a healing response to the NPDA MODULE after receiving a response associated with the executed action from the VLM.

[0014] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further comprises triggering the one or more corrective actions associated with the CNFC comprises: automatic monitoring, by a capacity manager platform (CMP), a performance metrics associated with one or more CNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a container analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event; triggering, by the NPDA module at the PEEGN, an action for executing at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies; checking, by the PEEGN, from the PVIM, a set of available resources and a resource quota and instructing for reserving at least one available resource from the set of available resources based on the resource quota; receiving, by the PEEGN, a response associated with reserving the at least one available resource from the PVIM; instructing, by the PEEGN, to a CNF Lifecycle Manager (CNFLM) to perform the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC based on the received response; and sending, by the PEEGN, a CNFC corrective action response to the NPDA module based on performing the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC.

[0015] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a system for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs). The system comprising: a transceiver unit configured to: receive, at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; and send, at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; a storing unit configured to store, at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; a processing unit configured to analyse, at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; a determination unit configured to determine, at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and the processing unit configured to trigger, at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

[0016] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), the instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes: a transceiver unit of the system to: receive, at a PolicyExecution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; and send, at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; a storing unit of the system to store, at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; a processing unit of the system to analyse, at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; a determination unit of the system to determine, at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and the processing unit of the system to trigger, at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.OBJECTS 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 scaling and healing of virtual and containerized functions component instances.

[0019] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for auto scaling / healing of VNF / VNFC and scaling of CNF / CNFC via PE_NA interface based on scaling / healing policies of VNF / VNFC and CNF / CNFC defined / created at PEEGN.

[0020] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for enabling PEEGN to calculate required resources for any VNF / VNFC, do quota check and assign virtual inventory manager (VIM) based on affinity / anti-affinity and other policies which are defined at PEEGN.

[0021] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for enabling PEEGN to calculate required resources for any CNF / CNFC, do quota check, and assign nodes based on affinity / anti-affinity and other policies which are defined at PEEGN.DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] 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.

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture.

[0024] 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.

[0025] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system architecture for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an auto scaling of VNF / VNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a healing of VNF / VNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an auto scaling of CNF / CNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.

[0031] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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 refer 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] As used herein, Physical and Virtual Inventory Manager (PVIM) module maintains the inventory and its resources. After getting a request to reserve resources from PEEGN, PVIMadds up the resources consumed by particular network function as used resources and removes them from free resources. Further, the PVIM updates this in the NoSQL database.

[0044] As used herein, Container Network Function (CNF) Life Cycle Manager (CNF-LM) may capture the details of vendors, CNFs, and Container Network Function Components (CNFCs) via create, read, and update APIs exposed by the service itself. The captured details are stored in a database and can be further used by DSA service. CNF-LM may create CNF or individual CNFC instances. CNFLM may scale-out the CNFs or individual CNFCs.

[0045] As used herein, Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN) module provides a network function virtualisation (NFV) software defined network (SDN) platform functionality to support dynamic requirements of resource management and network service orchestration in the virtualized network. Further, the PEEGN is involved during CNF instantiation flow to check for CNF policy and to reserve resources required to instantiate CNF at PVIM. PEEGN supports scaling policy for CNFC.

[0046] As used herein, Capacity Manager Platform (CMP) creates a task to monitor the performance metrics data received for that VNF, VNFC and CNFC. Wherever there is a threshold breach, CMP sends a trigger to NFV Platform and Decision Analytics (NPDA module).

[0047] 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 a system for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs).

[0048] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.

[0049] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture / platform

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

[0100] may be developed formanaging telecom cloud infrastructure automatically, managing design or deployment design, managing instantiation of network node(s) / service(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 as provided by the present disclosure may comprise one or more components of the MANO architecture

[0100] , The MANO architecture

[0100] may be 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.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 1, the MANO architecture

[0100] comprises a user interface layer

[0102] , a network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined network (SDN) design function module

[0104] , a platform foundation services module

[0106] , a Platform Schedulers & Cron Jobs module

[0108] and a platform resource adapters and utilities module

[0112] , 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.

[0052] The NFV and SDN design function module

[0104] 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] may be responsible for deciding on which server of the communication network, and the microservice will be instantiated. The VNF lifecycle manager (compute)

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

[1042] may be 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 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] may be used for the CNFs lifecycle management.

[0053] The platforms foundation services module

[0106] comprises a microservices elastic load balancer

[1062] , an identity & 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] may be used for maintaining the load balancing of the request for the services. The identity and access manager

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

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

[1068] may be responsible for keeping the logs of every service. These logs are generated by the MANO platform

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

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

[0054] The platforms core services module

[0108] 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 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] may be responsible for supervising the alarms the vendor may be generating. The performance manager

[1086] may be responsible for managing the performance counters. The policy execution engine (PEEGN)

[1088] may be responsible for managing all of the policies. The capacity monitoring manager (CMM)

[1090] may be responsible for sending the request to the PEEGN

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

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

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

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

[1088] , the configuration manager & GCT

[1094] and the NPDA MODULE

[1096] work together. The platform NoSQL DB

[1098] may be 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

[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. Themicroservice auditor

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

[0100] may be using the network resources. In such cases, the microservice auditor

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

[0100] , The audit assures that the services only run on the MANO platform

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

[1106] may be used for newer instances that are spawning.

[0055] The platform resource adapters and utilities module

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

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

[1124] , a docker service adapter

[1126] , an API adapter

[1128] , and a NFV gateway

[1130] , The platform external API adapter and gateway

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

[0100] ) that require 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 service adapter

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

[0100] for communication. The API adapter

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

[1130] may be responsible for providing the path to each service going to / incoming from the MANO architecture

[0100] ,

[0056] The docker service adapter (DSA)

[1126] is a microservices-based system designed to deploy and manage Container Network Functions (CNFs) and their components (CNFCs) across Docker nodes. The DSA

[1126] offers REST endpoints for key operations, including uploading container images to a Docker registry, terminating CNFC instances, and creating Docker volumes and networks. CNFs, which are network functions packaged as containers, may consist of multiple CNFCs. The DSA

[1126] facilitates the deployment, configuration, and management of these components by interacting with Docker's API, ensuring proper setup and scalability within a containerized environment. This approach provides a modular and flexible framework for handling network functions in a virtualized network setup.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary block diagram of a computing device

[0200] (also referred herein as a computer system

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

[0200] may also implement a method for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs) utilising the system. In another implementation, the computing device

[0200] itself implements the method for performingone or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs) 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.

[0058] The computing device

[0200] may include a bus

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

[0204] coupled with the 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] ,

[0059] 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.

[0060] 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 more sequences 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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] , the 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.

[0063] Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary block diagram of a system

[0300] performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs) is shown, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. The system

[0300] comprises at least one transceiver unit

[0302] , at least one storing unit

[0304] , at least one processing unit

[0306] and at least one determination unit

[0308] , Also, all of the components / units of the system

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

[0300] may comprise multiple such units or the system

[0300] maycomprise any such numbers of said units, as required to implement the features of the present disclosure. In an 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.

[0064] The system

[0300] is configured for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), with the help of the interconnection between the components / units of the system

[0300] ,

[0065] In an exemplary implementation, the system

[0300] is configured to perform the one or more corrective actions such as, but not limited to, a scaling action and a healing action.

[0066] The system

[0300] comprises a transceiver unit

[0302] , The transceiver unit

[0302] is configured to receive, at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module. In an implementation, the invoke policy request is associated with at least one of the one or more NF components, and is received by at least one of the PEEGN and the NPDA module. The one or more NFs is at least one of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs). The one or more NF components is at least one of virtual network function components (VNFCs) and containerized network function components (CNFCs).

[0067] The transceiver unit

[0302] of the system

[0300] is further configured to send, by at the PEEGN, a request. In response to the invoking policy request, the transceiver unit

[0302] at the PEEGN is configured to send the request for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components. In an exemplary implementation, the details of the one or more NFs may be such as, but not limited to, performance status, workload, capacity and resource consumption.

[0068] The system

[0300] comprises a storing unit

[0304] , The storing unit

[0304] is configured to store at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database. After receiving the response for the request of details associated with the one or more NFs, the storing unit

[0304] is configured to store at the PEEGN, the response into the database. The response may comprise information relating to the status, workload, capacity and resource consumption associated with the NFs.

[0069] The system

[0300] comprises a processing unit

[0306] , The processing unit

[0306] is configured to analyse at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response. In an exemplary implementation, the one or more NF components may be such as, but not limited to VNFCs and CNFCs. The processing unit

[0306] is configured to analyse the availability of resources through the PVIM for the VNFCs and CNFCs based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response. The availability of resources may represent the amount of available, allotted, and reserved resources in the network for the NF components.

[0070] The system

[0300] comprises a determination unit

[0308] , The processing unit

[0306] is communicatively coupled with the determination unit

[0308] , After receiving the analysis from the processing unit

[0306] , the determination unit

[0308] is configured to determine, at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability. In an exemplary implementation, the analysed resource availability may be associated with such as allotted resources and reserve resources for the NF components. The determination unit

[0308] is configured to determine the one or more corrective actions based on the at least one of the invoke policy request and analysed resource availability in the network for the NF components, such as, scaling or healing of the NF components (e.g., VNFCs and CNFCs). For example, in an implementation, if the allotted resources of an NF component have been exhausted and the NF shoots an error, the system

[0330] is configured to determine and take the corrective action of allocating more resources for managing the services associated with the NF in the network. The allocation of resources would be pulled out from the reserve resources.

[0071] After determining the one or more corrective actions, the processing unit

[0306] of the system

[0300] is further configured to trigger at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions. The network function lifecycle manager is at least one of a VNF lifecycle manager (VLM) and a CNF lifecycle manager (CNFLM). In an implementation, the predefined corrective policies may be defined by such as, but not limited to, a network administrator, a service provider and an authorised person.

[0072] In an implementation, the processing unit

[0306] may trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC. The trigger may comprise automaticmonitoring, at a capacity manager platform (CMP), performance metrics associated with at least one of one or more VNF instances and one or more VNFC instances and send a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a hysteresis analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event. In an implementation, the performance metrics may be such as, but not limited to, request or load handling capacity, uptime, resource utilization and throughput. Further, the predefined corrective policies and threshold event may be defined by such as, authorised person for the scaling or healing associated with the NF components. In an implementation, the threshold event may be such as exhausted usage of the reserve resources and larger throughput.

[0073] After receiving the trigger, the NPDA module is configured to trigger at the PEEGN an action for executing the one or more predefined corrective policies. In an implementation, the NPDA module is configured for instructing the PEEGN to execute the one or more predefined corrective policies for the VNF, the one or more corrective actions using the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter. The policy action parameter may be such as, but not limited to, one or more thresholds associated with time, resources, etc.

[0074] Further, the PEEGN is configured to check from the PVIM available resources and one or more resource quota associated with the available resources. In an implementation, the resource quota associated with the available resources may be predefined for the NF components based on the reserve resource, type of service, workload, and time. In response to this, the PVIM is configured to reserve the one or more resources from the available resources based on the one or more resource quota. For example, the PVIM may reserve such as, the number of resources and servers for the NF components. Thereafter, the PEEGN is configured to receive a response associated with reserving the one or more resources from the PVIM. In an exemplary implementation, the response may comprise an acknowledgement. In an implementation, the response may comprise information associated with reserved resources.

[0075] After receiving the response, the PEEGN is configured to instruct a VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) to trigger the corrective action based on the received response from the PVIM. The corrective action may be such as, scaling action and healing action. After performing the corrective action, the VLM is configured to send the PEEGN the corrective action response. Thereafter, the PEEGN is configured to send the corrective action response associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC to the NPDA module.

[0076] In an implementation, the PEEGN is configured to instruct based on the one or more predefined corrective policies to the VLM to perform the one or more corrective actions to execute at least one of a restart action and a migrate action associated with the VNFC instance to a healthy host. Thereafter, the PEEGN is configured to forward a healing or scaling response to the NPDA module after receiving a response associated with the executed action from the VLM.

[0077] In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit

[0306] may trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with the CNFC. The trigger may comprise automatic monitoring, by a capacity manager platform (CMP), of performance metrics associated with one or more CNFC instances and send a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a container analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event. In an implementation, the performance metrics may be such as, but not limited to, request or load handling capacity, uptime, resource utilization and throughput. Further, the predefined corrective policies and threshold event may be defined by such as, authorised person for the scaling or healing associated with the NF components. In an implementation, the threshold event may be such as exhausted usage of the reserve resources and larger throughput.

[0078] Further, the NPDA module is configured to trigger at the PEEGN, an action for executing at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies. In an implementation, the NPDA module is configured for instructing the PEEGN to execute the at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies for the CNFC. In an implementation, the one or more corrective actions may be based on the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter. The policy action parameter may be such as, but not limited to, one or more thresholds associated with time, resources, etc.

[0079] Further, the PEEGN is configured to check from the PVIM a set of available resources and a resource quota. In an implementation, the resource quota associated with the available resources may be predefined for the NF components based on the reserve resource, type of service, workload, and time. Further, the PEEGN is configured to instruct the PVIM for reserving at least one available resource from the set of available resources based on the resource quota. For example, the PVIM may reserve such as, the number of resources and servers for the NF components. Thereafter, the PEEGN is configured to receive a response associated with reserving the at least one available resource from the PVIM. In an exemplary implementation, the responsemay comprise an acknowledgement. In an implementation, the response may comprise information associated with reserved resources.

[0080] Further, after receiving the response the PEEGN is configured to instruct a CNF Lifecycle Manager (CNFLM) to perform the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC based on the received response from the PVIM. The one or more corrective response may be such as scaling action and healing action. After performing the corrective action, the CNFLM is configured to send the PEEGN the corrective action response. Thereafter, the PEEGN is configured to send a CNFC corrective action response to the NPDA module based on performing the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC such as, but not limited to scaling, healing, restart and migration.

[0081] 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.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 4 an exemplary method flow diagram

[0400] , for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure is shown. In an implementation the method

[0400] is performed by the system

[0300] , As shown in FIG. 4, the method

[0400] starts at step

[0402] ,

[0083] At step

[0404] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises receiving, by a transceiver unit

[0302] at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module. In an implementation, the invoke policy request is associated with at least one of the one or more NF components, and is received by at least one of the PEEGN and the NPDA module. The one or more NFs is at least one of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs). The one or more NF components is at least one of virtual network function components (VNFCs) and containerized network function components (CNFCs).

[0084] Next, at step

[0406] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises sending, by the transceiver unit

[0302] at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components. In an exemplary implementation, the details of the one or more NFs may be such as, but not limited to, performance status, workload, capacity and resource consumption.

[0085] Next, at step

[0408] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises storing, by a storing unit

[0304] at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database. After receiving the response for the request of details associated with the one or more NFs, the storing unit

[0304] may store at the PEEGN, the response into the database. The response may comprise information relating to the status, workload, capacity and resource consumption associated with the NFs.

[0086] Next, at step

[0410] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises analysing, by a processing unit

[0306] at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response. In an exemplary implementation, the one or more NF components may be such as, but not limited to VNFCs and CNFCs. The processing unit

[0306] may analyse the availability of resources through the PVIM for the VNFCs and CNFCs based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response. The availability of resources may represent the amount of available, allotted and reserved resources in the network for the NF components.

[0087] Next, at step

[0412] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises determining, by a determination unit

[0308] at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability. In an exemplary implementation, the analysed resource availability may be associated with such as allotted resources and reserve resources for the NF components. The determination unit

[0308] may determine the one or more corrective actions based on the at least one of the invoke policy request and analysed resource availability in the network for the NF components, such as, scaling or healing of the NF components (e.g., VNFCs and CNFCs). For example, in an implementation, if the allotted resources of an NF component have been exhausted and the NF shoots an error, the system

[0330] may determine to take the corrective action of allocating more resources formanaging the services associated with the NF in the network. The allocation of resources would be pulled out from the reserve resources.

[0088] Next, at step

[0414] , the method

[0400] as disclosed by the present disclosure comprises triggering, by the processing unit

[0306] at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions. The network function lifecycle manager is at least one of a VNF lifecycle manager (VLM) and a CNF lifecycle manager (CNFLM). In an implementation, the predefined corrective policies may be defined by such as, but not limited to, a network administrator, a service provider and an authorised person.

[0089] In an implementation, the processing unit

[0306] may trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC. The trigger may comprise automatic monitoring, at a capacity manager platform (CMP), performance metrics associated with at least one of one or more VNF instances and one or more VNFC instances and send a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a hysteresis analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event. In an implementation, the performance metrics may be such as, but not limited to, request or load handling capacity, uptime, resource utilization and throughput. Further, the predefined corrective policies and threshold event may be defined by such as, authorised person for the scaling or healing associated with the NF components. In an implementation, the threshold event may be such as exhausted usage of the reserve resources and larger throughput.

[0090] After receiving the trigger, the NPDA module may trigger at the PEEGN an action for executing the one or more predefined corrective policies. In an implementation, the NPDA module may instruct the PEEGN to execute the one or more predefined corrective policies for the VNF, the one or more corrective actions using the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter. The policy action parameter may be such as, but not limited to, one or more thresholds associated with time, resources, etc.

[0091] Further, the PEEGN may check from the PVIM available resources, and one or more resource quota associated with the available resources. In an implementation, the resource quota associated with the available resources may be predefined for the NF components based on thereserve resource, type of service, workload, and time. In response to this, the PVIM may reserve the one or more resources from the available resources based on the one or more resource quota. For example, the PVIM may reserve such as, the number of resources and servers for the NF components. Thereafter, the PEEGN may receive a response associated with reserving the one or more resources from the PVIM. In an exemplary implementation, the response may comprise an acknowledgement. In an implementation, the response may comprise information associated with reserved resources.

[0092] After receiving the response, the PEEGN may instruct a VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) to trigger the corrective action based on the received response from the PVIM. The corrective action may be such as, scaling action and healing action. After performing the corrective action, the VLM may send the PEEGN the corrective action response. Thereafter, the PEEGN may send the corrective action response associated with least one of the VNF and the VNFC to the NPDA module.

[0093] In an implementation, the PEEGN may instruct based on the one or more predefined corrective policies to the VLM to perform the one or more corrective actions to execute at least one of a restart action and a migrate action associated with the VNFC instance to a healthy host. Thereafter, the PEEGN may forward a healing or scaling response to the NPDA module after receiving a response associated with the executed action from the VLM.

[0094] In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit

[0306] may trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with the CNFC. The trigger may comprise automatic monitoring, by a capacity manager platform (CMP), of performance metrics associated with one or more CNFC instances and send a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a container analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event. In an implementation, the performance metrics may be such as, but not limited to, request or load handling capacity, uptime, resource utilization and throughput. Further, the predefined corrective policies and threshold event may be defined by such as, authorised person for the scaling or healing associated with the NF components. In an implementation, the threshold event may be such as exhausted usage of the reserve resources and larger throughput.

[0095] Further, the NPDA module may trigger at the PEEGN, an action for executing at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies. In an implementation, the NPDA modulemay instruct the PEEGN to execute the at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies for the CNFC. In an implementation, the one or more corrective actions may be based on the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter. The policy action parameter may be such as, but not limited to, one or more thresholds associated with time, resources, etc.

[0096] Further, the PEEGN may check from the PVIM a set of available resources and a resource quota. In an implementation, the resource quota associated with the available resources may be predefined for the NF components based on the reserve resource, type of service, workload, and time. Further, the PEEGN may instruct the PVIM for reserving at least one available resource from the set of available resources based on the resource quota. For example, the PVIM may reserve such as, the number of resources and servers for the NF components. Thereafter, the PEEGN may receive a response associated with reserving the at least one available resource from the PVIM. In an exemplary implementation, the response may comprise an acknowledgement. In an implementation, the response may comprise information associated with reserved resources.

[0097] Further, after receiving the response the PEEGN may instruct a CNF Lifecycle Manager (CNFLM) to perform the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC based on the received response from the PVIM. The one or more corrective response may be such as scaling action and healing action. After performing the corrective action, the CNFLM may send the PEEGN the corrective action response. Thereafter, the PEEGN may send a CNFC corrective action response to the NPDA module based on performing the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC such as, but not limited to scaling, healing, restart and migration.

[0098] Thereafter, the method

[0400] terminates at step

[0016] ,

[0099] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system architecture

[0500] for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the system

[0500] is configured for auto scaling and healing of virtual and containerized functions via PE NA interface. Referring to FIG. 5, the system

[0500] comprises various sub-systems / units such as: at least one NFV Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module

[0502] , at least one processing unit

[0504] , at least one Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN)

[0506] , at least one database (DB)

[0508] , at least one VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) / CNF Life Cycle Manager (CNFLM)

[0510] , at least one Physical and Virtual Inventory Manager (PVIM)

[0512] and at least one storage unit [508a],

[0100] The PE NA interface may connect PEEGN

[0506] and NPDA module

[0502] , The PE NA interface allows for bidirectional communication between the PEEGN

[0506] , and the NPDA module

[0502] , In an embodiment, the PE NA 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 PE NA interface is configured to facilitate exchange of information by establishing a web-socket connection between the PEEGN

[0506] , and the NPDA module

[0502] , A web-socket connection may involve establishing a persistent connectivity between the PEEGN

[0506] , and the NPDA module

[0502] , An example of the websocket 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.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 5, the Invoke Policy request for VNF / VNFC and CNFC both come at the PE NA interface between PEEGN

[0506] and NPDA module

[0502] , The policies, such as affinity / anti affinity / scaling / healing are defined initially at design time. The NPDA module

[0502] sends / instructs async request for policy engine PEEGN

[0506] to execute the policy for scaling / healing using INVOKE_POLICY event to VNF / VNFC and scaling using INVOKE CNF POLICY event to CNF / CNFC. The PEEGN

[0506] sends response to the NPDA module

[0502] based on operation and stores related data on the database (DB)

[0508] , In another embodiment, the policies may also define on the fly at run time before instantiation / scaling. The modification of policies may be visible from next or upcoming instantiation / scaling event. The processing unit

[0504] may perform processing and analysing actions in the system

[0500] and storage unit [508a] may store operational information and data in the system

[0500] , The PVIM

[0512] maintains inventory information for the VNF, VNFC and CNFC.

[0102] Referring to FIG. 6 an exemplary block diagram

[0600] of an auto scaling of VNF / VNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. NPDA module

[0502] based on the scaling policy of the VNF / VNFC for which the threshold breach event is received, executes a hysteresis. If the hysteresis meets the criteria. The following process flows, but not limited to, are performed during auto scaling of VNF / VNFC:• NPDA module

[0502] instructs the PEEGN

[0506] to execute the policy for scaling using INVOKE POLICY event.• PEEGN

[0506] sends GET VNF DETAIL event to VNFC

[0602] for fetching VNF and its components information.• After receiving response of GET VNF DETAIL, PEEGN

[0506] saves the response at their end for further processing.• The PEEGN

[0506] may consult PVIM

[0512] to check the current used resources against the total allocated quota. For this PEEGN

[0506] sends PROVIDE VIM AZ HA DETAIL to PVIM

[0512] to provide available resources at particular VIM against each Availability Zone (AZ) and Host Aggregate (HA) and used resources of VNF.• After receiving response from PVIM

[0512] and analysing that there are enough resources for VNF / VNFC based on scaling / dependent VNF C / affinity / anti -affinity policies and deployment to scale, PEEGN

[0506] may trigger PVIM

[0512] to reserve the resources in its inventory using RESER VE RESOURCES IN VIM AZ HA event.• On receiving acknowledgement from PVIM

[0512] , the PEEGN

[0506] may trigger VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM)

[0604] to scale VNF / VNFC using TRIGGER VNF SCALING / TRIGGER VNFC SCALING event.• After receiving a response from the VLM

[0604] , the PEEGN

[0506] sends a response to the NPDA module

[0502] ,

[0103] Referring to FIG. 7 an exemplary block diagram

[0700] of a healing of VNF / VNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. The following process flows, but not limited to, are performed during healing of VNF / VNFC:• NPDA module

[0502] instructs the policy execution engine (PEEGN)

[0506] to execute the policy for VNF healing using INVOKE POLICY event with policy Action parameter with value “healing”.• PEEGN

[0506] based on the Healing policy may suggest the VLM

[0604] to either RESTART / Migrate the VNFC instance to a healthy host by sending UPDATE VNF INSTANCE STATUS event to VLM

[0604] ,• VLM

[0604] performs required action and sends a response to PEEGN

[0506] ,• PEEGN

[0506] sends this response to the NPDA module

[0502] ,

[0104] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary block diagram

[0800] of an auto scaling of CNF / CNFC, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. The following process flows, but not limited to, are performed during auto scaling of CNF / CNFC:• NPDA module

[0502] may validate the condition (trigger relations) which may be provided during CNFC policy creation in design time. Once the trigger condition matches, NPDA module

[0502] instructs policy execution engine (PEEGN)

[0506] to execute the policy for scaling using INVOKE CNF POLICY event.• PEEGN

[0506] sends GET CNF DETAIL request to CNFLM

[0802] to get CNF information which was stored at CNFLM

[0802] ,• After getting a response from the CNFLM

[0802] , the PEEGN

[0506] checks for resource quota at both CNF and CNFC level and stores this information in its database.• PEEGN

[0506] sends PROVIDE CNF RESOURCES request to the PVIM

[0512] to fetch available resources at a particular site.• After receiving response from the PVIM

[0512] , the PEEGN

[0506] calculates resource for CNFC based on policies (Scaling / affinity / anti-affinity policies) defined at the PEEGN

[0506] and sends RES AND PROVIDE CNFC TOKEN to the PVIM

[0512] to reserve resource for particular CNFC.• After receiving a successful response from the PVIM

[0512] , the PEEGN

[0506] sends TRIGGER CNFC SCALING to CNFLM

[0802] ,• CNFLM

[0802] initiates to spawn the new CNFC, after spawning the new CNFC, PVIM

[0512] updates the inventory.• After receiving Ack from CNFLM

[0802] , the PEEGN

[0506] sends a response to the NPDA module

[0502] ,

[0105] In an embodiment, there may be another microservices, such as, but not limited to, Capacity Manager Platform (CMP), Platform Scheduler and Cron Job (PSC) and Assurance Manager, may communicate with NPDA module, PEEGN and PVIM during / before in any manner for scaling / healing of virtual and containerized functions.

[0106] The present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), the instructions include executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes: a transceiver unit

[0302] of the system to receive at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; the transceiver unit

[0302] of the system to send at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; a storing unit

[0304] of the system at the PEEGN to store, a response receivedfor the request comprising the details into a database; a processing unit

[0306] of the system at the PEEGN, to analyse an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; a determination unit

[0308] of the system at the PEEGN, to determine one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and the processing unit

[0306] of the system at the PEEGN, to trigger a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

[0107] As is evident from the above, the present disclosure provides a technically advanced solution of efficient system and method for auto scaling and healing of virtual and containerized functions component instances. The present method and system provide a solution, which enables Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN) and NFV Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) module microservices to support dynamic requirements of resource management and network service orchestration in the virtualized and containerized network. The PEEGN stores and provides policies for resource, security, availability, and scalability of VNFs. It executes automatic scaling and healing functionality of VNF and automatic scaling of CNF. The present method and system provide a solution, which uses interface PE NA between PEEGN and NPDA module for dealing with resource allocation during VNF / VNFC scaling / healing for a VNF and CNFC scaling for CNFC, if certain conditions are meet during runtime. The present method and system provide a solution, which enables the PEEGN to suggest to the VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM), based on the healing policy, to either RESTART / Migrate the VNFC instance to a healthy host. NPDA module microservice fetches the data from elastic server and evaluates the scale out / in conditions. If the conditions pass, an event is sent to PEEGN microservice. The present method and system provide async event-based implementation to utilize the interface efficiently. The present method and system enable fault tolerance for any event failure, this interface works in a high availability mode and if one PEEGN instance went down during request processing then the next available instance may take care of this request. PEEGN also supports a zero data loss policy.

[0108] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the disclosed embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. These and other changes in the embodiments 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.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method [400] for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), the method [400] comprising: receiving, by a transceiver unit [302] at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; sending, by the transceiver unit [302] at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; storing, by a storing unit [304] at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; analysing, by a processing unit [306] at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; determining, by a determination unit [308] at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and- triggering, by the processing unit [306] at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

2. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more corrective actions comprises one of at least a scaling action and a healing action.

3. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the invoke policy request is associated with at least one of the one or more NF components is received at least one of the PEEGN and the NPDA module.

4. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more NFs is at least one of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs), and wherein the one or more NF components is at least one of virtual network function components (VNFCs) and containerized network function components (CNFCs).

5. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network function lifecycle manager is at least one of a VNF lifecycle manager (VLM) and a CNF lifecycle manager (CNFLM).

6. The method [400] as claimed in claim 4, wherein triggering the one or more corrective actions associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC comprises: automatic monitoring, at a capacity manager platform (CMP), performance metrics associated with at least one of one or more VNF instances and one or more VNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a hysteresis analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event;- triggering, by the NPDA module at the PEEGN, an action for executing the one or more predefined corrective policies; checking, by the PEEGN, from the PVIM available resources and one or more resource quota associated with the available resources; reserving one or more resources from the available resources based on the one or more resource quota; receiving, by the PEEGN, a response associated with reserving the one or more resources from the PVIM; instructing, by the PEEGN, to a VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) to trigger the corrective action based on the received response from the PVIM; and sending, by the PEEGN, a corrective action response associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC to the NPDA module.

7. The method [400] as claimed in claim 6, wherein the NPDA module is configured for instructing the PEEGN to execute the one or more predefined corrective policies for the VNF, the one or more corrective actions using the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter.

8. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein instructing, by the PEEGN, based on the one or more predefined corrective policies to the VLM to perform the one or more corrective actions to execute at least one of a restart action and a migrate action associated with the VNFC instance to a healthy host; and forwarding a healing response to the NPDA module after receiving a response associated with the executed action from the VLM.

9. The method [400] as claimed in claim 4, wherein triggering the one or more corrective actions associated with the CNFC comprises: automatic monitoring, by a capacity manager platform (CMP), a performance metrics associated with one or more CNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a container analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event; triggering, by the NPDA module at the PEEGN, an action for executing at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies; checking, by the PEEGN, from the PVIM, a set of available resources and a resource quota and instructing for reserving at least one available resource from the set of available resources based on the resource quota; receiving, by the PEEGN, a response associated with reserving the at least one available resource from the PVIM; instructing, by the PEEGN, to a CNF Lifecycle Manager (CNFLM) to perform the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC based on the received response; and sending, by the PEEGN, a CNFC corrective action response to the NPDA module based on performing the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC.

10. A system [300] for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more Network Functions (NFs), the system [300] comprising: a transceiver unit [302] configured to: receive, at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; and send, at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; a storing unit [304] configured to store, at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; a processing unit [306] configured to analyse, at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response;a determination unit [308] configured to determine, at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and- the processing unit [306] configured to trigger, at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

11. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the one or more corrective actions comprises one of at least a scaling action and a healing action.

12. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the invoke policy request is associated with at least one of the one or more NF components is received by at least one of the PEEGN and the NPDA module.

13. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the one or more NFs is at least one of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs), and wherein the one or more NF components is at least one of virtual network function components (VNFCs) and containerized network function components (CNFCs).

14. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein the network function lifecycle manager is at least one of a VNF lifecycle manager (VLM) and a CNF lifecycle manager (CNFLM).

15. The system [300] as claimed in claim 13, wherein, to trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC: a capacity manager platform (CMP) is configured to automatically monitor performance metrics associated with at least one of one or more VNF instances and one or more VNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a hysteresis analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event;- the NPDA module is configured to trigger, at the PEEGN, an action for executing the one or more predefined corrective policies; and- the PEEGN is configured to:check, from the PVIM available resources and one or more resource quota associated with the available resources; reserve one or more resources from the available resources based on the one or more resource quota; receive a response associated with reserving the one or more resources from the PVIM; instruct, to a VNF Lifecycle Manager (VLM) to trigger the corrective action based on the received response from the PVIM; and send a corrective action response associated with at least one of the VNF and the VNFC to the NPDA module.

16. The system [300] as claimed in claim 15, wherein the NPDA module is configured for instructing the PEEGN to execute the one or more predefined corrective policies for the VNF, the one or more corrective actions using the invoke policy request with a policy action parameter.

17. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, wherein instructing, by the PEEGN, based on the one or more predefined corrective policies to the VLM to perform the one or more corrective actions to execute at least one of a restart action and a migrate action associated with the VNFC instance to a healthy host; and forwarding a healing response to the NPDA module after receiving a response associated with the executed action from the VLM.

18. The system [300] as claimed in claim 13, wherein, to trigger the one or more corrective actions associated with the CNFC: a capacity manager platform (CMP) is configured to automatically monitor a performance metrics associated with one or more CNFC instances and sending a trigger to the NPDA module for executing a container analysis based on the one or more predefined corrective policies for a threshold breach event;- the NPDA module is configured to trigger, at the PEEGN, an action for executing at least one of the one or more predefined corrective policies; and- the PEEGN is configured to: check, from the PVIM, a set of available resources and a resource quota and instructing for reserving at least one available resource from the set of available resources based on the resource quota;receive a response associated with reserving the at least one available resource from the PVIM; instruct to a CNF Lifecycle Manager (CNFLM) to perform the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC based on the received response; and send a CNFC corrective action response to the NPDA module based on performing the one or more corrective actions at the CNFC.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, storing instructions for performing one or more corrective actions on one or more network functions (NFs), the instructions comprising executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes: a transceiver unit [302] to: receive, at a Policy Execution Engine (PEEGN), an invoke policy request from a network functions virtualization platform decision analytics (NPDA) module; and send, at the PEEGN, a request, wherein the request is for fetching details of the one or more NFs from one or more NF components; a storing unit [304] to store, at the PEEGN, a response received for the request comprising the details into a database; a processing unit [306] to analyse, at the PEEGN, an availability of resources through a physical and virtual inventory manager (PVIM) for the one or more NF components based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the response; a determination unit [308] to determine, at the PEEGN, one or more corrective actions based on at least one of the invoke policy request and the analysed resource availability; and- the processing unit [306] to trigger, at the PEEGN, a network function lifecycle manager to perform the one or more corrective actions at the one or more NF components based on the analysed resource availability and one or more predefined corrective policies associated with the one or more corrective actions.

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