vCPE Service Management via NFV Cloud Virtual Interfaces
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current NFV cloud implementations for vCPE services face challenges in managing and controlling the network after configuration, as the data interface is exclusively used for data networking, making it impossible to control the host process or handle failures remotely, especially when using a single Internet line.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves creating a vCPE service with a LAN virtual interface, a WAN virtual interface, and a management virtual interface, using a single Internet line, where the interface agent controls the connection between the WAN physical and virtual networks, allowing for management functions and enabling remote access and monitoring even after configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single Internet line is used for both management and data networking before vCPE configuration, then cost is reduced and simplicity is improved, but after vCPE configuration the data interface cannot be used for management, making remote control impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network interface functionality by creating separate virtual interfaces: a management virtual interface for remote control and a data virtual interface for network traffic. This segmentation allows the single physical Internet line to be divided into distinct logical channels, enabling both management and data functions to operate simultaneously without conflict.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a management virtual network as an intermediary layer between the physical network interface and the management system. This intermediary enables management traffic to be routed through a dedicated virtual channel, allowing remote access to the host process even when the physical interface is exclusively used for data networking.
2Productivity
If the WAN physical interface is exclusively used for data networking after vCPE configuration, then data transmission efficiency is improved, but management and control of the host process becomes impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments network traffic into separate virtual interfaces: the WAN virtual interface handles data transmission for improved efficiency, while the management virtual interface handles control and management traffic. This segmentation allows full-duplex operation where data and management functions do not interfere with each other.
Solution Approach 2:
The single physical WAN interface maintains multi-functionality by supporting both data networking and management functions through virtualization. The interface agent enables the physical interface to serve multiple purposes by dynamically routing traffic through appropriate virtual interfaces, ensuring both data efficiency and management accessibility.
3Ease of operation
If separate management and data interfaces are implemented in NFV cloud nodes, then management capability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple logical functions into a single physical interface by implementing virtual interfaces (management virtual interface and data virtual interface) that share the underlying physical hardware. This merging approach provides separate management and data channels while avoiding the complexity and cost of additional physical interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The single physical Internet line is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a data networking interface and a management interface through virtualization. The interface agent enables this universal functionality by dynamically managing the allocation and routing of traffic through different virtual interfaces, reducing hardware requirements while maintaining full management capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An NFV cloud for providing a vCPE service by using a single Internet line may comprise: a vCPE service having a virtual LAN interface, a virtual WAN interface, and a virtual management interface; a virtual LAN network, a virtual WAN network, and a virtual management network connected to the virtual LAN interface, the virtual WAN interface, and the virtual management interface, respectively; a physical LAN interface for providing customer traffic to the virtual LAN network; a physical WAN interface for connecting the virtual management network to the outside in order to output, to the outside, traffic which has been output from the virtual WAN network and passed through the vCPE service, or to provide a management function for the vCPE service or the NFV cloud; and an interface agent for controlling a connection between the physical WAN interface and the virtual WAN network or the virtual management network.