Atomic Configuration Snapshots for 5G Network Function Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems are inadequate in efficiently and accurately managing network function configurations in complex core networks, often leading to network failures due to intermediate dependencies and the need for specific API call orders, and fail to recognize unique configuration requirements for different instances of network functions.
Innovation Solution
A network function configuration system that utilizes configuration snapshots to perform atomic batch updates, applying changes as a self-consistent whole and using a fan-out and filter process to determine unique configuration settings, allowing for incremental and parallel implementation of changes while ensuring consistency and validity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If conventional systems individually update configurations of network functions, then simplicity of update process is maintained, but accuracy and reliability deteriorate due to intermediate dependencies and API call order requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual configuration updates into a single atomic batch update operation. Instead of applying configurations one by one to network functions, the system packages all configuration changes into a single update bundle that is applied simultaneously across all target network functions, eliminating intermediate states and dependency ordering issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary validation and packaging of all configuration changes before applying them to the network. The system prepares the complete set of configuration updates in advance, validates their consistency, and then applies them atomically, preventing partial updates that could cause reliability issues.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional systems use piecemeal configuration updates, then ease of implementation is maintained, but accuracy deteriorates due to inability to detect and resolve network function failures
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges all configuration updates into a single atomic operation that is applied across all network functions simultaneously. This approach maintains ease of implementation through automated batch processing while dramatically improving failure detection accuracy, as the atomic nature of the update ensures that either all changes are applied successfully or none are, making failures immediately detectable and resolvable.
3Device complexity
If conventional systems apply same configuration settings to all network function instances, then simplicity of management is maintained, but adaptability deteriorates due to inability to recognize unique configuration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by enabling different configuration settings to be applied to different instances of network functions based on their specific requirements. The system identifies unique configuration needs for individual network function instances and applies appropriate configurations selectively, rather than uniformly across all instances, thereby maintaining both simplicity of management and high adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the configuration management process into individual network function instances, allowing each instance to receive customized configuration settings based on its specific requirements. This segmentation enables the system to handle both common and unique configuration needs efficiently within a unified batch update framework.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a network function configuration system that efficiently, accurately, and flexibly manages network function configurations in a cloud computing system for a 5G (and beyond) telecommunications network. For example, the network function configuration system utilizes configuration snapshots to perform batches of configuration updates atomically to network functions of a mobile packet core that is implemented in a cloud computing system. To illustrate, in a cloud computing system (such as a core network), network functions run in a current state. To modify the configuration snapshot to a desired state, numerous network function configuration changes must often be applied. Rather than applying each configuration change individually, the network function system generates a configuration snapshot that stages the configuration changes and atomically applies them to the cloud computing system together, which provides several technical advantages and benefits over conventional systems, discussed in this disclosure.