Service Instance Set Management for 5G Network Restoration

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Solution Overview

Problem

In the context of 5G communication networks, there is a challenge in managing service instances that share common data, as existing solutions struggle to provide independent management while ensuring access to shared storage resources, especially when services have internal data dependencies.

Innovation Solution

The introduction of a service producer controller that acts as a front-end for multiple service producer instances, allowing registration of service instance sets rather than individual instances, and utilizing a storage resource group to manage shared data access, enabling efficient access to fresh updated data across service instance sets.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If individual service instances are registered and managed separately, then independent management of each service instance is achieved, but access to shared storage resources and common data becomes complex and inefficient

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveIndependent management of service instancesVSAvoidComplexity of accessing shared storage resources

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple service instances into a service instance set that shares common storage resources. The service instance set acts as a unified entity that manages access to shared data, eliminating the complexity of individual instance management while maintaining independent operational control through the set structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The service instance set provides universal access to shared storage resources for all member instances. A single storage resource node serves multiple service instances within the set, enabling common data to be accessed efficiently by any instance without requiring separate storage management for each instance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Speed

If service instances access shared storage resources directly, then access efficiency and data freshness are improved, but management control and coordination become difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAccess speed to shared dataVSAvoidDifficulty of management control

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The service instance set acts as an intermediary between service instances and shared storage resources. It provides controlled access to the storage resource node, managing data consistency and coordination while allowing instances to access fresh data efficiently. The set structure mediates between direct access needs and management control requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If all context data is transferred during service instance migration, then complete service restoration is achieved, but transfer time and network load increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveCompleteness of service restorationVSAvoidData transfer time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the necessary context data subset from the complete context data during service instance migration. Instead of transferring all data, the system identifies and transfers only the relevant portion needed for service restoration, significantly reducing transfer time and network load while maintaining adequate service continuity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Adaptability or versatility

If services are designed as stateless with external data storage, then cloud infrastructure features like auto-scaling are enabled, but data access consistency across instances becomes challenging

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveCloud infrastructure compatibilityVSAvoidData access consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments data management by creating service instance sets with dedicated shared storage resources. Each set has its own storage resource node that maintains consistent data for all member instances. This segmentation approach enables stateless service design for cloud scalability while ensuring data consistency within each segmented set through dedicated storage management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS12197780B2Methods providing network service restoration context and related service instance sets and storage resource nodes

Publication Date: 2025.01.14 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)

AI summary

A method to operate a first service instance set associated with a first storage resource node. The first service instance set may be for a service, and the first storage resource node may store context data for the service. An access context request may be transmitted to the first storage resource node, and the access context request may include an identification for a subgroup of context data being requested from the first storage resource node. An access context response may be received from the first storage resource node. The access context response may correspond to the access context request, and the access context response may include the subgroup of context data corresponding to the identification.