Multi-Cloud Container Orchestration for Network Function Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cloud-based networks lack scalable and efficient tools for automating the deployment and management of containerized infrastructure, leading to unwieldy components and complexity that impede innovation and expansion.
Innovation Solution
A multi-cloud platform with a global controller orchestrates container clusters across different cloud environments, using templates and recursive workflows to implement network functions, ensuring consistent and efficient deployment and management of network infrastructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hardware radio units and antennas are deployed to expand network coverage, then network capacity and bandwidth are improved, but device complexity and physical infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtual copies of network functions through containerization and virtualization. Instead of deploying physical hardware radio units for every network function, virtual instances are created and deployed across existing infrastructure, allowing network capacity expansion without proportional increases in physical hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a multi-cloud platform where a single physical infrastructure can host multiple network functions and services simultaneously. The containerized architecture allows the same hardware resources to be shared across different network functions, reducing the need for dedicated physical infrastructure for each service.
2Productivity
If cloud-based hardware infrastructure is expanded to support more services, then network performance is improved, but device complexity and data center requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent deploys virtual copies of network functions across multiple cloud environments and data centers. Containerized network functions can be replicated and distributed across existing hardware infrastructure, improving network performance without requiring proportional expansion of physical data center capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation and orchestration of containerized network functions across the multi-cloud platform. Resources can be dynamically assigned, scaled, and reconfigured based on demand, allowing network performance optimization without fixed infrastructure commitments.
3Ease of operation
If structured scaling tools are implemented in current cloud-based networks, then deployment organization is improved, but system complexity and innovation impediments increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service automation through the multi-cloud platform's orchestration capabilities. The system automatically manages container deployment, scaling, and configuration across cloud environments without requiring complex manual intervention or unwieldy scaling tools, reducing operational complexity while maintaining organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a hierarchical orchestration architecture where the global controller manages macro-level deployments, macro controllers manage cloud environment-level deployments, and micro controllers manage container-level deployments. This nested structure organizes complexity across multiple levels, making the system manageable while maintaining sophisticated scaling capabilities.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cloud environments are used for network function deployment, then adaptability and redundancy are improved, but system complexity and orchestration requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a hierarchical controller architecture where a global controller orchestrates across multiple cloud environments, macro controllers manage individual cloud environments, and micro controllers manage specific container clusters. This nested orchestration structure handles multi-cloud complexity in a systematic way, maintaining adaptability while managing system complexity through layered abstraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal orchestration platform that can manage network functions across different cloud environments through standardized interfaces and containerized deployments. The multi-cloud platform provides unified management capabilities that work across various cloud providers, reducing the complexity of managing multi-environment deployments.
Data Source
AI summary
An example process includes writing, by a global controller in a first computing environment, a first job and a second job to a global database to implement a template of a network function in a first cloud environment and a second cloud environment. The global controller orchestrates a first container cluster. A first macro controller in the first cloud environment executes the first job from the global database to instantiate the network function in the first cloud environment. The first macro controller orchestrates a second container cluster that is a member of the first container cluster. A second macro controller in the second cloud environment executes the second job from the global database to instantiate the network function in the first cloud environment. The second macro controller orchestrates a third container cluster that is a member of the first container cluster.