Virtualized Networking Services Configuration via Business Requirements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network configurations are expensive, time-consuming, and require technical expertise, making them impractical for efficient expansion and validation, especially in larger networks, and fail to provide user-friendly solutions for non-technical users.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of virtualized networking devices and a Web-based management system that uses inference-based configuration methods and business requirement-driven interfaces, allowing for cost-effective, flexible, and secure network management without the need for dedicated hardware or technical knowledge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If purpose-driven networking devices are built to solve particular problems, then network functionality is achieved, but cost and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by replacing multiple purpose-driven networking devices with a single virtualized network function that can perform multiple roles. The virtualized network function emulates various networking operations (routing, switching, firewall, load balancing) on a single hardware platform, eliminating the need to build separate dedicated devices for each function and thereby reducing both cost and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating virtual instances of networking functions that replicate the behavior of physical devices. Instead of building actual networking hardware for each function, the system copies the functional behavior through software emulation, allowing multiple network functions to coexist on shared physical infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If actual networks are built to validate network performance, then validation accuracy is achieved, but cost and time consumption become impractical for larger networks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating virtualized network topologies that replicate actual network structures in a simulated environment. These virtual networks can be instantiated quickly without physical hardware, enabling extensive validation and testing of network configurations, protocols, and performance scenarios that would be impractical to execute on real networks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses segmentation by dividing the validation process into modular virtual network components that can be independently configured and tested. This allows systematic validation of network functions in isolation before integration, improving measurement precision while reducing overall validation time through parallel testing of independent modules.
3Manufacturing precision
If network management solutions use technical networking terminology, then configuration accuracy is maintained, but user accessibility decreases for non-technical users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the intermediary principle by introducing a user interface layer that translates business-level requirements into technical networking configurations. The system accepts high-level business objectives from users and automatically generates the necessary network configurations, acting as an intermediary between non-technical users and complex networking infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by enabling users to configure networks through intuitive interfaces without requiring manual technical expertise. The system automatically handles the technical translation, validation, and application of configurations, allowing users to serve their own networking needs through simplified interactions rather than requiring expert intervention.
4Adaptability or versatility
If network configurations are built manually based on personal knowledge and experience, then configuration flexibility is achieved, but reliability and trustworthiness decrease due to varying levels of expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by implementing automated validation mechanisms that continuously verify configuration correctness against predefined best practices and network policies. The system provides real-time feedback on configuration errors, potential conflicts, and optimization opportunities, ensuring that manually created configurations meet reliability standards while maintaining flexibility in design choices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses preliminary action by pre-validating and pre-optimizing network configurations before deployment. The system includes built-in checks and verification processes that detect and correct potential issues in advance, ensuring that configurations are both flexible in their design and reliable in their execution before they are applied to the actual network.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of configuring a virtual network comprises: running a user-interactive business requirements wizard from a server, the wizard collecting business requirements from a user; translating the business requirements into technical requirements for a network configuration using the server; selecting a network configuration from a network configuration database using the server, the selecting utilizing the technical requirements; testing the network configuration using a processor; monitoring the testing and generating new facts regarding performance of the network configuration, using the processor; feeding back the new facts to the server for use by the server in the selecting; and repeating the selecting, testing, monitoring and generating, and feeding back, until the server determines a criterion for network stability has been reached. The method may include automatically discovering local network characteristics using a networking device, prior to the selecting, sending the characteristics to the server for use by the server in the selecting.