Policy group management method, device and system

Abstract

The present application provides a policy group management method, applied to a network function virtualization management and orchestration (NFV-MANO) architecture. The method is executed by a first function entity and comprises: receiving a first request message, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, and the first request message comprises identifier information of a second policy group; and performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group on the basis of the identifier information of the second policy group, wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group comprises one or more member policies. On the basis of the technical solution, when a policy group management operation is performed on a policy group, the policy group management operation can be carried out by taking the member policy group as a unit. Therefore, in the complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, it is possible to flexibly orchestrate policies that need to be executed consistently as a whole, reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

Description

Policy group management method, device and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on January 10, 2024, with application number 202410045242.6 and invention name “Policy Group Management Method, Device and System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a policy group management method, device and system. Background Art

[0003] Network functions virtualization (NFV) is a technology used by telecom network operators to decouple the implementation of some telecom network functions from software and hardware within general-purpose cloud servers, switches, and storage. This allows for rapid and efficient deployment of network services (NS) while simultaneously achieving operational goals of reducing both capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX). This technology requires telecom network functions to be implemented in software and run on general-purpose server hardware. It can be migrated, instantiated, and deployed at different physical locations on the network as needed, without requiring the installation of new equipment.

[0004] NFV-MANO (network functions virtualization management and orchestration) is an architectural framework for managing and coordinating network services (NSs), virtualized network functions (VNFs), and other software components. NFV-MANO's policy management capabilities include managing policy groups, namely, adding, deleting, modifying, and querying one or more policy groups. A policy group is an object structure that contains a set of policies that require an overall action (e.g., activation or deactivation).

[0005] However, the aforementioned policy group information model has some limitations in NFV-MANO policy management scenarios. For example, in complex automated O&M scenarios with a large number of interdependent policies, policy group updates are expensive. On the one hand, each member policy must be independently verified for viability (i.e., its dependencies with other member policies within the group). On the other hand, policy group updates are inefficient because each member policy must be processed individually to be added or removed from the policy group.

[0006] Therefore, how to flexibly orchestrate policies that require consistent overall execution and reduce the cost of policy group update operations has become an urgent problem to be solved in application policy group management. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This application provides a policy group management method that can flexibly orchestrate policies that require overall consistent execution in the face of complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0008] In a first aspect, a policy group management method is provided, which is applied to the network function virtualization management orchestration NFV-MANO architecture, including: receiving a first request message, the first request message being used to request a policy group management operation to be performed on a first policy group, the first request message including identification information of a second policy group; performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group; wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

[0009] According to the technical solution of this application, when performing policy group management operations on a policy group, the policy group management operations can be performed on a member policy group basis. This allows for flexible orchestration of policies that require consistent overall execution in complex NFV-MANO automated operation and maintenance scenarios, reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0010] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the policy group management operation includes any one of the following: policy group creation and policy group update. According to the above technical solution, policies requiring consistent overall execution can be flexibly orchestrated in complex NFV-MANO automated operation and maintenance scenarios, reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0011] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the policy group management operation is performed on the policy group, performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group includes: determining, based on the identification information of the second policy group, to add member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group. According to the above technical solution, policies requiring consistent and integrated execution can be flexibly orchestrated in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first request message also includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the method further includes: configuring the parameter information of the first policy group; wherein the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the type of operation and maintenance scenario to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group. According to the above technical solution, it is possible to flexibly orchestrate policies that require overall consistent execution in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0013] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the policy group management operation is to update the policy group, and the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted from the first policy group, performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group includes: deleting the second policy group from the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group. According to the above technical solution, policies requiring consistent and integrated execution can be flexibly orchestrated in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the policy group management operation is to update the policy group, and the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group includes: adding the second policy group to the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group. According to the above technical solution, policies requiring consistent and integrated execution can be flexibly orchestrated in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0015] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: updating parameter information of the first policy group, where the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the type of operation and maintenance scenario to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the member policy group that has a dependency on the first policy group. According to the above technical solution, it is possible to flexibly orchestrate policies that require consistent overall execution in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0016] In a second aspect, a method for policy group management is provided, which is applied to the network function virtualization management orchestration NFV-MANO architecture, including: sending a first request message, the first request message is used to request to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group, wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

[0017] According to the technical solution of this application, when performing policy group management operations on a policy group, the policy group management operations can be performed on a member policy group basis. This allows for flexible orchestration of policies that require consistent overall execution in complex NFV-MANO automated operation and maintenance scenarios, reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0018] In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the policy group management operation includes any one of the following: policy group creation and policy group update. According to the above technical solution, policies requiring consistent overall execution can be flexibly orchestrated in complex NFV-MANO automated operation and maintenance scenarios, reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0019] In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first request message also includes parameter information for the first policy group, where the parameter information for the first policy group includes at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the type of operation and maintenance scenario to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifiers of policy groups that have dependencies on the first policy group. According to the above technical solution, it is possible to flexibly orchestrate policies that require consistent overall execution in complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0020] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a transceiver unit for receiving a first request message, wherein the first request message is used to request a policy group management operation to be performed on a first policy group, and the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group; a processing unit for performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group; wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

[0021] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the policy group management operation includes any one of the following: policy group creation, policy group update.

[0022] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, when the policy group management operation is to create the policy group, the processing unit is specifically used to: determine to add the member policy of the second policy group to the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group.

[0023] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first request message also includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the processing unit is further used to: configure the parameter information of the first policy group; wherein, the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policy of the first policy group is applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policy of the first policy group is applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependent relationship with the first policy group.

[0024] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, when the policy group management operation is an update of the policy group and the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted of the first policy group, the processing unit is specifically used to: delete the second policy group from the first policy group based on the identification information of the second policy group.

[0025] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, when the policy group management operation is to update the policy group and the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, the processing unit is specifically used to: add the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0026] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is specifically used to: update the parameter information of the first policy group, the parameter information of the first policy group including at least any one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policy of the first policy group is applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policy of the first policy group is applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the member policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

[0027] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a transceiver unit, used to send a first request message, wherein the first request message is used to request to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, and the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group, wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

[0028] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the policy group management operation includes any one of the following: policy group creation, policy group update.

[0029] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first request message also includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependent relationship with the first policy group.

[0030] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, the method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect is executed.

[0031] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, enables the method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect to be executed.

[0032] In the seventh aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program or instruction from a memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip system implements the method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation method of the first aspect or the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation method of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 is the architecture diagram of the NFV-MANO system.

[0034] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a policy group management method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a management method 300 for creating a policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG4 is a schematic flowchart of a management method 400 for an update policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a management method 500 for deleting a policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] FIG7 shows another communication device 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG8 shows a chip system 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0042] Figure 1 shows the architecture of the NFV-MANO (network functions virtualization management and orchestration) system. As shown in Figure 1, NFV-MANO consists of three main functional modules: the NFV orchestrator (NFVO), the VNF manager (VNFM), and the virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM).

[0043] The NFV orchestrator orchestrates services and resources, manages network services, and integrates VNFs into the NFV architecture. It also verifies and authorizes resource requests from the NFV infrastructure (NFVI). The VNF manager manages the VNF lifecycle, and the VIM manages the NFV infrastructure, including compute, storage, and network resources. The operator's operations support system (OSS) and business support system (BSS) interoperate with the NFV-MANO system. It's important to note that the introduction of these management operations is essential for NFV-MANO to support automated operations and maintenance scenarios.

[0044] NFV-MANO policy management capabilities include policy group management, which involves adding, deleting, modifying, and querying one or more policy groups. A policy group is an object structure that includes a set of policies that require an overall action (e.g., activation or deactivation).

[0045] The benefit of introducing policy group management operations lies in identifying policies that require consistent and coordinated execution among the numerous management policies running in the NFV-MANO system. These policies serve the automated operation and maintenance of high-level application management policies, such as NS scaling and NS healing. Within the same policy group, the timing and semantic consistency of the coordinated execution of multiple different policies can be guaranteed, reducing the probability of policy execution conflicts caused by the application of multiple different but related policies due to a lack of consistent policy execution planning.

[0046] Currently, the policy group information model used in policy group management operations is a flat information structure: a policy group consists of multiple individual policies (called member policies of the policy group), which are identified within the policy group by their identification information, as shown below: Policy group A: {Policy 1, Policy 2, Policy 3, ... Policy n}. This policy group information model has some limitations in NFV-MANO policy group management scenarios, such as:

[0047] In complex automated O&M scenarios involving numerous interdependent policies, updating policy groups is expensive. On the one hand, each member policy must be independently verified for viability (i.e., consistent execution with other member policies within the group). On the other hand, updating policy groups is inefficient, requiring individual member policies to be added or removed from the group.

[0048] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a policy group management method that can flexibly orchestrate policies that require overall consistent execution when facing complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios of NFV-MANO, thereby reducing the cost of policy group update operations.

[0049] The following describes in detail the management method of the policy group in the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0050] First, it should be noted that the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the NFV-MANO system described above. Applicable scenarios mainly include complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios in NFV-MANO that require the application of a large number of collaborative management policy groups. The following details several possible complex automated operation and maintenance scenarios applicable to the embodiments of the present application:

[0051] Scenario 1: Policy group A and policy group B share a common policy p. If the scope of the scenario applicable to policy group A (e.g., NS healing) is larger than the scope of the scenario applicable to policy group B (e.g., VNF healing), then policy group B is incorporated into policy group A as a nested substructure.

[0052] Scenario 2: Policy groups A and B do not share common policies, but there is a dependency between policy p1 in policy group A and policy p2 in policy group B. For example, this dependency can be defined using a context item in the policy information model, indicating that the execution of policy p1 depends on the execution of policy p2. In this case, policy group A can be merged into policy group B, or vice versa.

[0053] Scenario 3: Policy group A is successfully applied in a priori automated operation and maintenance scenario. Then, in another related extended priori automated operation and maintenance scenario, a larger policy group B needs to be formed. In this case, policy group A is merged into policy group B.

[0054] It should be noted that the above-mentioned automated operation and maintenance scenarios are only examples. In addition to the above-mentioned automated operation and maintenance scenarios, the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to other automated operation and maintenance scenarios. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0055] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the term "functional entity" refers to the functional component in the NFV architecture. For example, the functional entity can be NFVO, OSS, VNF, VNFM, etc. The "functional entity" can also be called a "functional component", "equipment" or "device", etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0056] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of a policy group management method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The policy group management method 200 can be applied to the NFV-MANO architecture. As shown in Figure 2, the method includes at least the following steps.

[0057] It should be noted that the specific description of the NFV-MANO architecture can be found in the previous article and will not be repeated here.

[0058] S210: The second functional entity sends a first request message to the first functional entity. Correspondingly, the first functional entity receives the first request message.

[0059] Specifically, the first functional entity may be an NFVO, the second functional entity may be an OSS / BSS, the first request message is used to request execution of a policy group management operation for the first policy group, and the first request message includes identification information of the second policy group.

[0060] Among them, the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group. The second policy group includes one or more member policies. It should be understood that the identification information of the second policy group is used to uniquely identify the second policy group as a member joining the policy group to be created (such as the first policy group).

[0061] It should be noted that the identification information of the second policy group can be referred to existing technologies or protocols and will not be described in detail here.

[0062] S220: The first functional entity performs a policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0063] Specifically, after receiving the identification information of the second policy group included in the first request message, the first functional entity performs a policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the policy group.

[0064] In the embodiment of the present application, the policy group management operation may be policy group creation or policy group update.

[0065] Optionally, in a case where the policy group management operation is policy group creation, the first functional entity performs the policy group creation management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0066] Specifically, the first functional entity receives a first request message for requesting policy group creation for the first policy group and determines, based on identification information of the second policy group carried in the first request message, to add all member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group to be created.

[0067] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: the first functional entity sends a first response message to the second functional entity, where the first response message carries identification information of the first policy group.

[0068] Specifically, after creating the first policy group, the first functional entity allocates corresponding identification information to the first policy group and sends a first response message to the second functional entity. The first response message carries the identification information of the first policy group.

[0069] It should be understood that the solution of the first functional entity allocating identification information to the first policy group is not within the scope of protection of this application and will not be described in detail here.

[0070] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner, the first request message may further include parameter information of the first policy group, and the method may further include: the first functional entity configuring the parameter information of the first policy group.

[0071] Specifically, the parameter information of the first policy group may be at least one of the following: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependent relationship with the first policy group.

[0072] For ease of understanding, the parameter information of the first strategy group involved in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below.

[0073] 1. The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group apply: indicates the highest-level object among the NFV objects acted upon by the member policies of the first policy group and / or the member policy groups of the first policy group.

[0074] For example, if the member policies in the first policy group act on NS, VNF, managed container infrastructure object (MCIO), and virtual machine (VM) objects respectively, NS is indicated as the highest-level object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied.

[0075] 2. The operation and maintenance scenario types to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied: for example, these may include operation and maintenance scenarios such as upgrade, scale, and heal.

[0076] 3. Priority of the first policy group: Determine the priority of the first policy group. When a conflict occurs between the member policies of the first policy group and the member policies of policy group B, the lower-priority policy group (for example, the first policy group) is prioritized for policy execution. This means that the member policies of the lower-priority policy group are deactivated.

[0077] For example, a scenario in which two policy groups conflict during execution may be a policy group applied by two member VNF instances of an NS instance.

[0078] 4. Policy group identifier that has a dependent relationship with the first policy group: used to indicate a policy group that has a dependent relationship with the first policy group.

[0079] For example: the policy group applied to a composite NS instance and the policy group applied to the nested NS instance of the composite NS instance, or the policy group applied to two member VNF instances that are connected in the NS topology.

[0080] Optionally, when the policy group management operation is policy group update, the first request message is used to request policy group update for the first policy group. The first functional entity performs the policy group management operation of policy group update on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group carried in the first request message.

[0081] Exemplarily, in a case where the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted of the first policy group, the first functional entity deletes the second policy group from the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0082] Deleting the second policy group from the first policy group can be understood as moving the second policy group out of the first policy group. That is, deletion can be understood as "moving out" or "removing", which is not limited here.

[0083] Exemplarily, when the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, the first functional entity adds the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0084] Adding the second policy group to the first policy group can be understood as adding all member policies in the second policy group to the first policy group. That is, adding can be understood as "joining" or "increasing", which is not limited here.

[0085] Optionally, in one possible implementation, when the policy group management operation is a policy group update, the first request message may also carry identification information of the first member policy, where the first member policy belongs to the second policy group. In other words, the first request message may not directly carry identification information of the second policy group.

[0086] Exemplarily, in the case where the first member policy in the policy group update is a member policy of the policy group to be deleted, the first functional entity determines that the first member policy belongs to the second policy group based on the identification information of the first member policy carried in the first request message, and determines to delete the second policy group from the first policy group.

[0087] Exemplarily, in the case where the first member policy in the policy group update is a member policy of the policy group to be added, the first functional entity determines that the first member policy belongs to the second policy group based on the identification information of the first member policy carried in the first request message, and determines to add all member policies in the second policy group to the first policy group.

[0088] It should be noted that the aforementioned first member policy belongs to the second policy group, which can also be described as the first member policy being associated with the second policy group, or the first member policy being associated with the second policy group. It should be understood that this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0089] Optionally, after the first functional entity performs policy group update on the first policy group, the method may further include: the first functional entity updates parameter information of the first policy group.

[0090] Specifically, the first functional entity further updates parameter information of the first policy group after executing the updated policy group based on changes to the member policies or member policy groups in the first policy group, such as the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group apply, the priority of the first policy group, and / or identifiers of policy groups that have a dependency relationship with the first policy group. A detailed description of the parameter information of the first policy group can be found in the previous section and is not repeated here.

[0091] Optionally, after the first functional entity performs policy group update on the first policy group, the method may further include: the first functional entity sending a second response message to the second functional entity, where the second response message is used to indicate whether the result of the policy group update operation is success or failure.

[0092] For example, the second response message carries indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the result of the policy group update operation is success or failure.

[0093] The specific embodiments involved in this application are described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 .

[0094] For ease of understanding, in the following embodiments, NFVO is uniformly used to replace the first functional entity, and OSS / BSS is uniformly used to replace the second functional entity for description.

[0095] FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a management method 300 for creating a policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the method includes at least the following steps.

[0096] S310: The OSS / BSS sends a first request message to the NFVO. In response, the NFVO receives the first request message.

[0097] Specifically, the first request message is used to request execution of policy group creation for the first policy group, and the first request message includes identification information of the second policy group, wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group and includes one or more member policies.

[0098] Exemplarily, the first request message may be a create policy group request message.

[0099] It should be understood that the identification information of the second policy group is used to uniquely identify the policy group that is added as a member to the policy group to be created (eg, the first policy group).

[0100] Optionally, the first request message may further include basic description information (Group Descriptor) of the first policy group to be created.

[0101] S320: The NFVO creates a policy group for the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0102] Specifically, the NFVO determines to add all member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0103] Optionally, in a possible implementation, the first request message may further include parameter information of the first policy group, and the method may further include: NFVO configuring parameter information of the first policy group, such as: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group and / or the policy group identifier that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

[0104] It should be noted that the specific description of the parameter information of the first strategy group can be found in the above description, and for the sake of simplicity, it will not be repeated here.

[0105] Optionally, in a possible implementation, the method may further include:

[0106] S330: The NFVO sends a first response message to the OSS / BSS. Correspondingly, the OSS / BSS receives the first response message.

[0107] Exemplarily, the first response message may be a create policy group response message.

[0108] Specifically, the first response message carries identification information of the first policy group. After creating the first policy group, the NFVO assigns corresponding identification information to the first policy group and sends a first response message to the OSS / BSS, where the first response message carries identification information of the first policy group.

[0109] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a management method 400 for an update policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the method includes at least the following steps.

[0110] S410: The OSS / BSS sends a first request message to the NFVO. In response, the NFVO receives the first request message.

[0111] Specifically, the first request message is used to request a policy group update for the first policy group, and the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group, wherein the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group and includes one or more member policies.

[0112] Exemplarily, the first request message may be a policy group update request message.

[0113] S420: The NFVO performs a policy group update on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0114] Optionally, in a case where the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted of the first policy group, the NFVO deletes the second policy group from the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0115] Deleting the second policy group from the first policy group can be understood as moving the second policy group out of the first policy group. That is, deletion can be understood as "moving out" or "removing", which is not limited here.

[0116] Optionally, when the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, the NFVO adds the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

[0117] Adding the second policy group to the first policy group can be understood as adding all member policies in the second policy group to the first policy group. That is, adding can be understood as "joining" or "increasing", which is not limited here.

[0118] Optionally, in a possible implementation, the first request message may also carry identification information of the first member policy, wherein the first member policy belongs to the second policy group. In other words, the first request message may not directly carry identification information of the second policy group.

[0119] Exemplarily, in a policy group update, when the first member policy is a member policy of a policy group to be deleted, the NFVO determines that the first member policy belongs to the second policy group based on the identification information of the first member policy carried in the first request message, and determines to delete the second policy group from the first policy group.

[0120] For example, in a policy group update, when the first member policy is a member policy of the policy group to be added, the NFVO determines, based on the identification information of the first member policy carried in the first request message, that the first member policy belongs to the second policy group, and determines to add all member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group.

[0121] It should be noted that the aforementioned first member policy belongs to the second policy group, which can also be described as the first member policy being associated with the second policy group, or the first member policy being associated with the second policy group. It should be understood that this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0122] Optionally, after the NFVO performs a policy group update on the first policy group, the method may further include: the NFVO updates parameter information of the first policy group, such as: the highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group and / or the policy group identifier that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

[0123] Specifically, the NFVO further updates the parameter information of the first policy group after the policy group update according to the member policy or the change of the member policy group in the first policy group.

[0124] Optionally, after the NFVO performs a policy group update on the first policy group, the method may further include:

[0125] S430 , the NFVO sends a second response message to the OSS / BSS, where the second response message is used to indicate whether the result of the policy group update operation is success or failure.

[0126] Exemplarily, the second response message may be an update policy group response message.

[0127] For example, the second response message may carry indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the result of the policy group update operation is success or failure.

[0128] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a management method 500 for deleting a policy group provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the method includes at least the following steps.

[0129] S510: The OSS / BSS sends a first request message to the NFVO. In response, the NFVO receives the first request message.

[0130] Specifically, the first request message includes identification information of the first policy group to be deleted.

[0131] Exemplarily, the first request message may be a policy group deletion request message.

[0132] S520: The NFVO determines to delete the first policy group according to the identification information of the first policy group.

[0133] Specifically, the NFVO determines to delete the first policy group according to the identification information of the first policy group carried in the first request message, but the NFVO still retains the member policy group in the first policy group so that other policy groups can reuse the member policy group.

[0134] S530 , the NFVO sends a third response message to the OSS / BSS, where the third response message is used to indicate whether the result of the operation of deleting the policy group is success or failure.

[0135] Exemplarily, the third response message may be a policy group deletion response message.

[0136] For example, the third response message may carry indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate whether the result of the operation of deleting the policy group is success or failure.

[0137] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner, the first request message may further carry first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to delete all member policy groups of the first policy group.

[0138] For example, when the first instruction information indicates to delete all member policy groups of the first policy group, the NFVO deletes all member policy groups in the first policy group simultaneously with deleting the first policy group. That is, the NFVO no longer retains the member policy groups in the first policy group.

[0139] For example, when the first instruction information indicates not to delete all member policy groups of the first policy group, the NFVO does not delete all member policy groups in the first policy group when deleting the first policy group. In other words, the NFVO retains the member policy groups in the first policy group so that other policy groups can reuse the member policy groups.

[0140] According to the technical solution provided by this application, when performing policy group management operations on a policy group, policy group management operations can be performed on a member policy group basis. This allows for flexible orchestration of policies that require consistent overall execution in complex NFV-MANO automated operation and maintenance scenarios, reducing the cost of policy group updates.

[0141] It should be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in some scenarios, and may also be combined with other features in some scenarios, without limitation.

[0142] It can also be understood that the solutions in the various embodiments of the present application can be reasonably combined and used, and the explanations or descriptions of the various terms appearing in the embodiments can be referenced or explained with each other in the various embodiments, without limitation to this.

[0143] It can also be understood that the sizes of the various numerical serial numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not mean the order of execution, but are only distinguished for the convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0144] It can also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, some message names are involved, such as create policy group request message or first response message, etc. It should be understood that their naming does not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0145] It can also be understood that in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the first functional entity can also be implemented by the components of the first functional entity (such as a chip or circuit); in addition, the methods and operations implemented by the second functional entity can also be implemented by the components of the second functional entity (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation. Corresponding to the methods given in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding communication devices, which include modules for executing the corresponding modules of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The module can be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. It can be understood that the technical features described in the above-mentioned method embodiments are also applicable to the following device embodiments.

[0146] It should be understood that the first functional entity and the second functional entity may perform some or all of the steps in the above embodiments. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the above embodiments, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the above embodiments need to be performed.

[0147] The above describes in detail the policy group management method provided by the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with Figures 2 to 5 . The following describes in detail the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with Figures 6 to 8 . It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents will not be repeated.

[0148] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 600 includes a transceiver unit 610, which can be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 610 can also be called a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0149] Optionally, the device 600 may further include a processing unit 620, which may be configured to perform data processing.

[0150] Optionally, the device 600 also includes a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 620 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the device implements the actions of different terminal devices in the aforementioned method embodiments, for example, the actions of the first functional entity or the second functional entity.

[0151] The device 600 can be used to execute the actions performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above method embodiments. In this case, the device 600 can be the first functional entity or the second functional entity, or a component of the first functional entity or the second functional entity. The transceiver unit 610 is used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 620 is used to execute the processing-related operations of the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above method embodiments.

[0152] Exemplarily, the first functional entity may be an NFVO entity, and the second functional entity may be a policy decision entity (eg, OSS / BSS).

[0153] It should also be understood that the device 600 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a proprietary processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a merging logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 600 can be specifically the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or the device 600 can be specifically the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0154] The apparatus 600 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method, or the apparatus 600 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0155] In addition, the transceiver unit 610 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0156] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG6 may be a network element or device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0157] As shown in Figure 7, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication device 700. The device 700 includes a processor 710, which is coupled to a memory 720. The memory 720 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 710 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 720, or read the data stored in the memory 720, to perform the methods in the above method embodiments.

[0158] Optionally, there are one or more processors 710 .

[0159] Optionally, there are one or more memories 720 .

[0160] Optionally, the memory 720 is integrated with the processor 710 or provided separately.

[0161] Optionally, as shown in Figure 7, the apparatus 700 further includes a transceiver 730, which is configured to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 710 is configured to control the transceiver 730 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0162] As a solution, the device 700 is used to implement the operations performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above various method embodiments.

[0163] For example, the processor 710 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory 720 to implement the relevant operations of the first SMF in each of the above method embodiments. For example, the first functional entity in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5, or the method of the first functional entity in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5.

[0164] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0165] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0166] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0167] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0168] As shown in FIG8 , an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system 800 . The chip system 800 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 810 and an input / output interface 820 .

[0169] The logic circuit 810 may be a processing circuit in the chip system 800. The logic circuit 810 may be coupled to a storage unit and call instructions in the storage unit so that the chip system 800 can implement the methods and functions of the various embodiments of the present application. The input / output interface 820 may be an input / output circuit in the chip system 800, outputting information processed by the chip system 800 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 800 for processing.

[0170] As a solution, the chip system 800 is used to implement the operations performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above various method embodiments.

[0171] For example, the logic circuit 810 is used to implement operations related to processing by the first functional entity in the above method embodiments, such as operations related to processing by the first functional entity in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5; the input / output interface 820 is used to implement operations related to sending and / or receiving by the first functional entity in the above method embodiments, such as operations related to sending and / or receiving performed by the first functional entity in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5.

[0172] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method embodiments are stored.

[0173] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in each embodiment of the above method.

[0174] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the method performed by the first functional entity or the second functional entity in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0175] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0176] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0177] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0178] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0179] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0180] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0181] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0182] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for managing a policy group, characterized in that Applied to the Network Function Virtualization Management and Orchestration NFV-MANO architecture, including: Receiving a first request message for requesting to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, where the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group; Performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group; Wherein, the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The policy group management operation includes any one of the following: Policy group creation, policy group update.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein When the policy group management operation is policy group creation, the performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group includes: Determining to add the member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The first request message further includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the method further includes: Configuring the parameter information of the first policy group; Wherein, the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, the identification of the policy group having a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein When the policy group management operation is policy group update and the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted from the first policy group, The performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group includes: Deleting the second policy group from the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein When the policy group management operation is policy group update and the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, The performing the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group includes: Adding the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identification information of the second policy group.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Updating the parameter information of the first policy group, where the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least any one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, the identification of the member policy group having a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

8. A method for managing a policy group, characterized in that Applied to the Network Function Virtualization Management and Orchestration NFV-MANO architecture, including: Sending a first request message for requesting to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, where the first request message includes identification information of a second policy group, Wherein, the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The policy group management operation includes any one of the following: Policy group creation, policy group update.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The first request message further includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

11. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A transceiver unit, configured to receive a first request message for requesting to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, where the first request message includes identifier information of a second policy group; A processing unit, configured to perform the policy group management operation on the first policy group according to the identifier information of the second policy group; Wherein, the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

12. The communication device according to claim 11, characterized in that, The policy group management operation includes any one of the following: Policy group creation, policy group update.

13. The communication device according to claim 12, wherein When the policy group management operation is policy group creation, the processing unit is specifically configured to: Determine to add the member policies of the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identifier information of the second policy group.

14. The communication device according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first request message further includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the processing unit is further configured to: Configure the parameter information of the first policy group; Wherein, the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

15. The communication device according to claim 12, characterized in that, When the policy group management operation is policy group update, and the second policy group is a member policy group to be deleted from the first policy group, The processing unit is specifically configured to: Delete the second policy group from the first policy group according to the identifier information of the second policy group.

16. The communication device according to claim 12, wherein When the policy group management operation is policy group update, and the second policy group is a member policy group to be added to the first policy group, The processing unit is specifically configured to: Add the second policy group to the first policy group according to the identifier information of the second policy group.

17. The communication device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically configured to: Update the parameter information of the first policy group, where the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least any one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the member policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A transceiver unit, configured to send a first request message for requesting to perform a policy group management operation on a first policy group, where the first request message includes identifier information of a second policy group, Wherein, the second policy group is a member policy group of the first policy group, and the second policy group includes one or more member policies.

19. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein The policy group management operation includes any one of the following: Policy group creation and policy group update.

20. The communication device according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The first request message further includes parameter information of the first policy group, and the parameter information of the first policy group includes at least one of the following: The highest-level NFV object to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the operation and maintenance scenario type to which the member policies of the first policy group are applied, the priority of the first policy group, and the identifier of the policy group that has a dependency relationship with the first policy group.

21. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 10 is executed.

22. A computer program product containing instructions, characterized in that, When it runs on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 10 is executed.

23. A chip system, characterized in that, Including: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program or instruction from a memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip system implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 10.

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