Network Function Restoration Sequencing for Priority-Critical Services
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless networks face challenges in efficiently restoring network function instances that fail or become unavailable, leading to potential disruptions in services with varying quality of service requirements, especially for high-priority services.
Innovation Solution
A priority-aware restoration mechanism is implemented, where backup network function instances are selected and restored based on predefined priority levels associated with UEs, services, and communication sessions, ensuring higher priority services are restored first to minimize disruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network function instances are restored in a standard sequence without priority differentiation, then the restoration process is simple and fast, but high-priority services experience longer interruption times and reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing priority levels for different network function instances before failures occur. Priority policies are configured in advance based on service importance, enabling the restoration mechanism to immediately identify which instances should be restored first without complex real-time decision-making, thus improving reliability while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The restoration mechanism segments the network function instances into different priority groups (high-priority, medium-priority, low-priority). This segmentation allows the system to handle restorations in organized batches according to priority levels, ensuring critical services are restored first while managing the overall restoration process complexity through structured categorization
2Productivity
If all network function instances are restored simultaneously, then the overall restoration speed is high, but resource contention increases and service quality varies without priority consideration
Solution Approach 1:
The restoration mechanism dynamically adjusts the restoration sequence based on pre-configured priority policies. Instead of a fixed or purely simultaneous restoration approach, the system adaptively determines which instances to restore at each step, balancing restoration speed with service quality requirements by progressively restoring instances according to their priority levels and available resources
3Loss of time
If priority-aware restoration is implemented, then high-priority services are restored first minimizing their interruption time, but the restoration mechanism becomes more complex requiring priority policies and sequencing logic
Solution Approach 1:
Priority policies are established in advance before any failures occur. The system pre-defines which network function instances have high, medium, or low priority based on their service importance, allowing the restoration process to simply follow these pre-determined sequences without complex real-time analysis, thus minimizing interruption time while keeping the control mechanism manageable
Solution Approach 2:
The restoration mechanism automatically determines the restoration sequence by querying the pre-configured priority policies and instance priorities without requiring manual intervention or complex external coordination. The system serves itself by autonomously selecting which instances to restore next based on stored priority information, reducing operational complexity while ensuring high-priority services are restored first
Data Source
AI summary
A system described herein may implement a first instance of a particular Network Function (“NF”) in a wireless network. The first NF instance may receive an instruction to restore functionality of a second instance of the particular NF, including a plurality of services. The first NF instance may identify state information associated with the second NF instance, which may include information identifying the plurality of services associated with the functionality provided by the second NF instance. The first NF instance may identify a priority associated with each service, and identify a sequence in which to restore each service based on such priorities. The first NF instance may restore each service, of the plurality of services indicated in the state information associated with the second NF instance, in the identified sequence. The first and second NF instances may be instances of the same type of NF.