Microservice-Aware Packet Marking for Adaptive Network Resource Allocation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional service level agreements (SLAs) fail to account for the diverse quality of service (QoS) requirements and importance levels of microservices within applications, leading to overprovisioning and inefficient resource utilization in network communications, particularly in multi-user scenarios like cloud gaming and AR/VR.

Innovation Solution

A microservice-aware framework that assigns importance levels to data packets based on QoS requirements and user experience (QoE), enabling network policies to adapt and prioritize resources efficiently while preserving privacy through lightweight information exchange using an Importance Marker Optimizer (IMO) and network labels.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional service level agreements (SLAs) are used to manage network communications, then network services can be provided to applications, but resource overprovisioning occurs and resource utilization efficiency deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork service provisionVSAvoidresource utilization efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the application into multiple microservices and further segments network resource allocation by introducing importance levels for each microservice. This allows differential resource allocation based on actual needs rather than uniform overprovisioning, resolving the contradiction between reliable service provision and efficient resource utilization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different importance levels to different microservices based on their specific QoS requirements and contribution to user experience. This enables targeted resource allocation where critical microservices receive higher resources while less critical ones receive minimal resources, eliminating the need for blanket overprovisioning.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Device complexity

If conventional SLAs treat all microservices uniformly, then implementation is simple, but diverse QoS requirements of microservices cannot be met

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveSLA implementation complexityVSAvoidQoS requirement fulfillment

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an Importance Marker Optimizer (IMO) as an intermediary component that automatically determines importance levels for microservices. This mediator translates diverse QoS requirements into standardized importance markers, enabling the system to handle microservice diversity without requiring complex manual SLA configurations for each service.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameter representation from detailed QoS requirements to simplified importance levels (markers). This parameter transformation allows the network to adapt to diverse microservice requirements through a unified, manageable framework that balances adaptability with implementation simplicity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If detailed information about microservices is exchanged between network and application, then precise resource allocation is achieved, but information exchange overhead and privacy exposure increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource allocation precisionVSAvoidinformation exchange overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential information needed for resource allocation by converting detailed microservice QoS requirements into compact importance markers. This extraction process achieves precise resource allocation based on critical factors while eliminating unnecessary information exchange, reducing overhead and protecting privacy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of the application exposing detailed microservice information to the network, the patent inverts the approach by having the network receive simplified importance markers from an IMO. This reversal minimizes information exposure while maintaining allocation precision, as the network receives only what it needs without accessing underlying detailed specifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentEP4611333A1Microservice-aware framework for network-application collaboration

Publication Date: 2025.09.03 NOKIA SOLUTIONS & NETWORKS OY

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AI summary

Method comprising receiving, for each of plural microservices, a respective requirement of a quality of service, wherein the plural microservices jointly build an application; receiving a first label, wherein the first label indicates a policy status of a communication system conveying data packets from the microservices for the application; receiving an indication of a first quality of experience of the application; determining, for a first one of the microservices, an importance level based on the requirement of the quality of service of the first one of the microservices, the first label, and the first quality of experience, marking a data packet originated from or designated to the first one of the microservices and to be conveyed by the communication system by the importance level determined for the first one of the microservices; providing the data packet marked by the importance level to the communication system for conveying the data packet.