Separating Transport Service VNFC from Data-Plane Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional deployments of data-plane VNFCs in cloud RANs face limitations in scalability and resilience, leading to inefficiencies in resource utilization and potential business service breaks due to the bundling of transport service components with data-plane applications, which restricts flexibility and causes wasteful usage of CPU and hardware resources.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves separating the transport service component from the data-plane application and deploying it as a distinct VNFC, with a virtual switch for packet dispatching and load balancing, allowing the data-plane application to focus on business logic processing and using layer 2 connections, thereby improving resource allocation and scalability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If transport service components are bundled with data-plane applications in a single VNFC, then processing efficiency is improved, but scalability and resilience are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the VNFC into separate transport service components and data-plane applications. The transport service VNFC handles packet routing and forwarding, while data-plane VNFCs handle specific business logic. This segmentation enables independent scaling of each component, improving overall system scalability while maintaining processing efficiency through specialized functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual switch acts as an intermediary between the transport service VNFC and data-plane VNFCs. It receives packets from the transport service VNFC, determines destination based on mapping information, and forwards packets to appropriate data-plane VNFCs. This intermediary enables decoupled architecture while maintaining efficient packet delivery.
2Device complexity
If transport service components are bundled with data-plane applications, then resource allocation is simplified, but resource wastage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation where the virtual switch maintains mapping information between terminal devices and data-plane VNFCs. When a data-plane VNFC fails or needs scaling, the system can dynamically redirect traffic to other healthy VNFCs without affecting the transport service. This dynamic architecture optimizes resource utilization and reduces wastage while managing complexity through automated mapping management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the architectural parameters by separating transport and data-plane functions into different VNFCs. This allows independent resource allocation and scaling for each function type. The virtual switch manages packet routing based on mapping parameters, enabling flexible resource distribution that reduces wastage while maintaining manageable complexity through parameter-based control.
3Ease of manufacture
If data-plane VNFCs are deployed with fixed architecture, then implementation is straightforward, but resilience and flexibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The transport service VNFC serves multiple data-plane VNFCs through the virtual switch, creating a universal routing component. The data-plane VNFCs can be dynamically added, removed, or replaced without affecting the transport service. This multi-functional architecture improves resilience by allowing failover to other VNFCs while maintaining deployment simplicity through standardized interfaces and mapping mechanisms.
4Adaptability or versatility
If separate VNFCs are deployed with virtual switch, then scalability is improved, but packet delivery complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual switch pre-establishes mapping information between terminal devices and data-plane VNFCs before packet delivery. This preliminary configuration allows the virtual switch to quickly determine packet routing without complex real-time decisions. The mapping is set up in advance through control-plane signaling, simplifying the data-plane packet delivery process while maintaining scalability through the separated architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, device and computer readable medium for delivering packets. The method comprises in response to receipt of, at a first VNFC, a data-plane packet for a terminal device, performing a predetermined transport processing of the packet to obtain a processed packet (610); the packet including a network address of the first VNFC as a destination address; forwarding the processed packet from the first VNFC to a virtual switch (620); and delivering the processed packet from the virtual switch to a second VNFC based on a first mapping between an identity of the terminal device and an identity of the second VNFC (630); the second VNFC separated from the first VNFC, the second VNFC serving the terminal device and including at least one first data-plane application.