VNF Lifecycle Management via WAN Connectivity Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In NFV environments, managing the lifecycle of multi-site VNF instances is inefficient due to the complexity and overhead of coordinating virtualized resource management between NFVO and VNFM, leading to performance decreases in VNF and associated network services.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for virtualized network function life cycle management that includes a VNFM sending a grant request for WAN connectivity to NFVO, which determines and approves the connectivity, and then allocates resources through a WIM, streamlining the management process across multiple sites.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional coordination methods are used for managing multi-site VNF instances between NFVO and VNFM, then comprehensive resource management is achieved, but system complexity and overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a WAN Connectivity Manager as an intermediary component that mediates between the NFVO and VNFM for WAN connectivity management. This intermediary handles the complexity of coordinating WAN resources across multiple sites, shielding the NFVO and VNFM from direct complex interactions while ensuring reliable resource management coordination.
2Reliability
If traditional coordination methods are used for managing multi-site VNF instances between NFVO and VNFM, then comprehensive resource management is achieved, but management efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the WAN connectivity management function into a separate WAN Connectivity Manager component. This segmentation allows the NFVO to focus on high-level service orchestration while the WAN Connectivity Manager handles specific WAN resource allocation and coordination tasks, improving overall management efficiency by dividing responsibilities into manageable segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The WAN Connectivity Manager performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing WAN connectivity configurations and resource allocations before VNF instances are deployed across multiple sites. This preliminary preparation reduces the coordination overhead during actual VNF deployment and lifecycle management operations.
3Productivity
If VNFM includes WAN connectivity requirement in grant request, then VNF performance is improved, but communication overhead between VNFM and NFVO increases
Solution Approach 1:
The WAN Connectivity Manager acts as an intermediary that receives WAN connectivity requirements from the VNFM and processes them separately. This allows the VNFM to include comprehensive WAN requirements in its grant requests without directly increasing overhead between VNFM and NFVO, as the WAN Connectivity Manager handles the detailed WAN resource coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtualized network function (VNF) life cycle management (LCM) method is disclosed that includes sending, by a virtualized network function manager (VNFM), a grant request for a VNF LCM operation to a network functions virtualization orchestrator (NFVO), wherein the grant request comprises a requested wide area network (WAN) connectivity requirement for connecting multiple sites that virtualized network function components (VNFCs) of the virtualized network function (VNF) instance are placed in, and the VNF comprises at least two VNFCs placed in different sites. In this embodiment the method also includes receiving, by the VNFM, a grant response from the network functions virtualization orchestrator (NFVO), wherein the grant response comprises WAN Infrastructure Manager (WIM) information and a granted WAN connectivity requirement approved by the NFVO.