VNF Scale-Out Association Method for NFV Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In NFV systems, scale-out operations can lead to service impact and call losses for VNFs directly associated with the scaled-out VNF, as they may not have sufficient resources to handle increased data traffic, resulting in network congestion and service request failures.
Innovation Solution
A scale-out association method where a second VNF receives a notification of a first VNF's scale-out, determines its own resource needs based on the scale-out magnitude parameter, and sends a request to the VNFM to scale out if its service processing capability is insufficient, ensuring it can handle the increased traffic and prevent service impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a VNF is scaled out to handle increased load, then the service processing capability of the VNF is enhanced, but the service processing capability of directly associated VNFs becomes insufficient, causing service impact and call losses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the first VNF send a scale-out notification message to directly associated second VNFs before the actual scale-out is complete. This allows the second VNFs to proactively determine their own scale-out needs and initiate their scale-out operations in advance, ensuring they are ready to handle the increased traffic load generated by the first VNF's scale-out.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through the scale-out notification mechanism where the first VNF informs directly associated second VNFs about its scale-out operation. The second VNFs use this feedback information (scale-out notification message) to assess their own resource needs and determine whether they need to scale out as well, creating a closed-loop response system that maintains service quality during VNF scaling.
2Speed
If a VNF scales out without notifying associated VNFs, then the scale-out operation is simple and fast, but service impact and call losses occur due to insufficient processing capability in associated VNFs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the first VNF send a scale-out notification message to directly associated second VNFs before the actual scale-out is complete. This allows the second VNFs to proactively determine their own scale-out needs and initiate their scale-out operations in advance, ensuring they are ready to handle the increased traffic load generated by the first VNF's scale-out.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the scale-out notification message as an intermediary carrier that transmits information from the first VNF to directly associated second VNFs. This intermediary mechanism enables coordinated scale-out operations without requiring direct complex interactions between VNFs, maintaining speed while preventing service impact.
3Reliability
If associated VNFs scale out in sync with the initial VNF, then service quality is maintained and call losses are reduced, but the complexity of coordinating multiple VNF scale-out operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the scale-out coordination process into distinct segments: (1) the first VNF sends a scale-out notification message to directly associated second VNFs, (2) each second VNF independently determines its own scale-out needs based on the notification, and (3) each second VNF initiates its own scale-out operation. This segmentation reduces overall coordination complexity by allowing independent decision-making at each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by allowing each second VNF to independently determine its own scale-out needs based on the scale-out notification message from the first VNF. Each second VNF autonomously assesses its resource requirements and initiates its own scale-out operation without requiring centralized coordination or complex inter-VNF negotiation, thereby maintaining service quality while minimizing coordination complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of communications technologies and provide a scale-out association method and apparatus, and a system, so as to implement a scale-out association operation between VNFs. The method includes: receiving, by a second VNF, a scale-out notification message of a first VNF, where the scale-out notification message of the first VNF carries a scale-out magnitude parameter of the first VNF; determining, by the second VNF according to the scale-out magnitude parameter of the first VNF and a service processing capability of the second VNF, whether the second VNF needs to be scaled out; and sending, by the second VNF, a scale-out request message to a VNFM if the second VNF determines that the second VNF needs to be scaled out, where the scale-out request message is used to request to scale out the second VNF, and the first VNF is directly associated with the second VNF. The method is applied to an NFV system.