CN112152855A

CN112152855A - Method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources

Info

Publication number: CN112152855A
Application number: CN202011023029.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邱权冠; 苏国章
Original assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-25
Filing date: 2020-09-25
Publication date: 2020-12-29

Abstract

The application discloses a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources, which comprises the following steps: a network slice management function NSMF receives state information of a network slice instance NSI reported by a network slice subnet management function NSSMF, wherein the state information of the NSI comprises fault information and performance information of a network function NF in a network slice subnet instance NSSI forming the NSI in operation; a network slice management function NSMF analyzes whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance according to the state information of the NSI; the network slice management function NSMF calculates the quantity of network resources required to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example according to the analysis result; and the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result. By the method, when the NSI of the network slice example has faults and performance problems, corresponding network resources can be found and dynamically adjusted in time, and therefore the current network resources can meet the NSI operation requirements.

Description

Method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources.

Background

In the fifth generation mobile communication (5)^thGeneration, 5G), the industry proposes the concept of Network Slice (NS). One network slice meets the requirement of a certain type or a certain use case for connecting communication services, and the whole 5G system meets different connection capabilitiesA large number of network slices. The network slice is end-to-end and may be composed of parts such as a radio access network, a core network, and a transport network. A series of network function instances and corresponding resources (such as computing resources, storage resources, and network resources, etc.) required to form a deployed network slice may be referred to as Network Slice Instances (NSIs). A network slice may be composed of one or more Network Slice Subnets (NSS). A Network Slice Subnet Instance (NSSI) comprises a series of network function instances and corresponding resources required to form a deployed network slice subnet. An NSSI may include a Network Function (NF) or multiple NFs, and may also include another NSSI or multiple other NSSIs.

The network slice is created and managed by a network slice management system. A network slice management system may create multiple network slices and manage them simultaneously, such as monitoring network performance of the network slices during operation, fault management, modifying configuration parameters, and the like. The third generation partnership project (3 GPP) organization defines the management functions of network slices in the technical standards TS28801-f 10. The method mainly comprises the following steps: a Communication Service Management Function (CSMF), a Network Slice Management Function (NSMF), and a Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF). The CSMF is mainly used for converting the related requirements of communication services of operators and/or third-party customers into parameter information of network slices and the like; the NSMF is mainly used for managing the life cycle, performance, fault and the like of the network slice; NSSMF is mainly used to manage the life cycle, performance, failure, etc. of a network slice subnet.

In the operation process of the network slice instance, NF in the NSI inevitably has fault errors and performance problems, and further normal operation of the entire NSI is affected, so a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources is needed, so that when the NF in the NSI has fault errors and performance problems, corresponding network resources can be timely discovered and dynamically adjusted, and thus the current network resources can meet the operation requirements of the network slice instance NSI.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources. Specifically, a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources includes:

a network slice management function NSMF receives state information of a network slice instance NSI reported by a network slice subnet management function NSSMF, wherein the state information of the NSI comprises fault information and performance information of a network function NF in a network slice subnet instance NSSI forming the NSI in operation;

a network slice management function NSMF analyzes whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance according to the state information of the NSI;

if the current network resources cannot meet the operation requirements of the network slice example, the network slice management function NSMF calculates the quantity of the network resources required to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirements of the network slice example according to the analysis result;

and the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result.

Further, the receiving, by the network slice management function NSMF, network slice instance NSI state information reported by the network slice subnet management function NSSMF specifically includes:

a network slice management function NSMF receives state information of a network slice subnet instance NSSI forming the network slice instance NSI at regular time through a network slice subnet management function NSSMF, wherein the state information of the NSSI is sent to the NSSMF at regular time by a network function NF in the NSSI, and the state information of the NSSI comprises fault information and performance information of the network function NF in the NSSI during operation;

if the network function NF in the NSSI does not send state information to the NSSMF after overtime, determining the NF communication fault in the NSSI, and the NSMF receiving the fault information reported by the NSSMF.

Further, the analyzing, by the network slice management function NSMF, whether the current network resource can meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance NSI according to the state information of the NSI specifically includes:

and comparing a total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user according to the state information of the NSI, analyzing whether the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example can be met, recording the resource quantity corresponding to each NF in the NSI purchased by the user by the total resource table, and determining that the current network resource can not meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example if the current NF resource quantity of the NSI is less than the quantity of a certain resource in the total resource table.

Further, if the current network resource cannot meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance, the network slice management function NSMF calculates, according to the analysis result, the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance NSI, which specifically includes:

according to the NSI state information, comparing with a total resource table of NSI purchased by a user, and calculating the number of network resources required to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance, wherein the specific algorithm is as follows:

n (resource to be added) ═ N (resource purchased by user) -N (current NSI resource)

Where N represents the number of a certain resource in a certain NF.

Further, the analyzing, by the network slice management function NSMF, whether the current network resource can meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance NSI according to the state information of the NSI further includes:

and comparing the NSI performance index table purchased by the user according to the state information of the NSI, analyzing whether the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example can be met, wherein the performance index table records the performance index correspondingly required by each NF in the NSI purchased by the user, and if the performance of the NF of the NSI is inferior to the index value of a certain performance in the performance index table, determining that the current network resource cannot meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example.

according to the NSI state information, comparing with an NSI performance index table purchased by a user, and calculating the number of network resources required to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance, wherein the specific algorithm is as follows:

n (resource to be added) ═ N (current NSI resource) × (S/P-1)

Wherein, N represents the number of a certain resource in a certain NF, S represents a performance index for ensuring the service quality of the network slice instance NSI, and P represents the performance of the current network slice instance NSI.

Further, the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result, and specifically includes:

and the network slice management function NSMF sends an NSI resource adjustment message to the standby idle NF through the network slice subnet management function NSSMF according to the calculation result, wherein the resource adjustment message comprises instruction information for instructing the idle NF to add into the NSSI to provide service.

and the network slice management function NSMF issues NSI resource adjustment information to the network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO through the network slice subnet management function NSSMF according to the calculation result, wherein the resource adjustment information comprises instruction information for increasing the corresponding number of network virtual resources for the NF specified in the NSSI with the fault or performance problem by the NFVO.

According to the method for dynamically adjusting the network slice instance resources, the state information of the network slice instance NSI is received at regular time through the network slice management function NSMF, and when the NF in the NSI has fault and performance problems, corresponding network resources can be found and dynamically adjusted in time, so that the current network resources can meet the operation requirements of the network slice instance NSI.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure. The exemplary embodiments and descriptions thereof are provided to explain the present application and do not constitute an undue limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a method for dynamically adjusting network slice resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a network slice management function NSMF receiving state information of a network slice instance NSI reported by a network slice subnet management function NSSMF according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of dynamically adjusting spare idle resources of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of dynamically adjusting network slice virtual resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the present application may be applied to, but not limited to, a 5G system, an LTE system, a long term evolution-advanced (LTE-a) system, an enhanced long term evolution-advanced (LTE) communication system, and the like, and may also be extended to a cellular system related to wireless fidelity (WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (wimax), and third generation partnership project (3 GPP).

Hereinafter, some terms in the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

Network Slice (NS): on top of the physical or virtual network infrastructure, different logical networks are customized according to different service requirements. The network slice may be a complete end-to-end network including a terminal, AN Access Network (AN), a transport network, a Core Network (CN) and AN application server, and may provide a telecommunication service and have a certain network capability; the network slice may also be any other combination of the above terminal, access network, transport network, core network and application server, e.g. a network slice only contains access networks and core networks. A network slice may have one or more of the following characteristics: the access network may or may not be sliced. The access network may be common to multiple network slices. The characteristics of different network slices and the network functions that make up them may be different.

Network slice example (NSI): a series of network function instances and corresponding resources, such as computing resources, storage resources, or network resources, required to form a deployed network slice. One NSI contains all the functions and resources that support a particular set of communication services.

A network slice may be composed of one or more Network Slice Subnets (NSS). A Network Slice Subnet Instance (NSSI) includes a series of network function instances and corresponding resources, such as computing resources, storage resources, or network resources, required to form a deployed network slice subnet. An NSSI may include a Network Function (NF) or multiple NFs, and may also include another NSSI or multiple other NSSIs. One NSSI may be shared by two or more NSIs, such an NSSI is referred to as a shared NSSI for an NSI. One NF may be shared by two or more NSSIs, such NFs being referred to as the shared NF for NSSI. One NSSI may be shared by two or more NSSIs, and such an NSSI is referred to as a shared part of the NSSI. An NSSI dedicated to only one NSI is an unshared NSSI. AN NSSI may contain either CN functionality or AN functionality, or both. In the case of a virtualized implementation, one NSSI may include virtual network functions or be supported by network services (network services), etc. One NSI may include one NSSI or a plurality of NSSIs, and each NSSI is created based on a Network Slice Subnet Template (NSST) and a parameter corresponding to the NSSI.

Network Function (NF): the NF is a processing function in the network, defines functional behaviors and interfaces, can be realized as special hardware, can be realized by running software on the special hardware, and can be realized in a virtual function mode on a general hardware platform, so that the NF can comprise a physical network function and/or a virtual network function. The network functions may be divided into dedicated network functions and shared network functions, and specifically, for a plurality of network slice (subnet) instances, different network functions may be independently used, such network functions are referred to as dedicated network functions, or the same network function may be shared, such network functions are referred to as shared network functions.

In addition, the 3GPP standard also defines 3 system nodes of CSMF, NSMF and NSSMF related to the network slice management system. Among them, Communication Service Management Function (CSMF): the method is mainly used for completing the requirement ordering and processing of the user business communication service and converting the communication service requirement into the network slicing requirement for NSMF. Network Slice Management Function (NSMF): and docking the CSMF and the NSSMF, receiving a network slice deployment request issued from the CSMF, decomposing the SLA requirement of the network slice into the SLA requirement of the network sub-slice, and issuing the network sub-slice deployment request to the NSSMF. Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF): and docking the NSMF, receiving a network slice subnet deployment requirement issued from the NSMF, mapping an SLA requirement of the network slice subnet into a QoS requirement of the network service, and issuing a deployment request of the network service to the NFVO system of the NFV domain. If multiple NFs are interconnected, the network slice management system contains information about the connection NFs, such as the topology of the connection, the requirements (e.g., QoS attributes) of a single connection (link), etc. For the TN section encompassed by the connections between the plurality NFs, the network slice management system provides connection requirements (e.g., topology, QoS attributes) to the transport network management system responsible for the TN, thereby supporting connectivity between the plurality NFs.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail and completely with reference to the following specific embodiments of the present application and the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application relates to a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources. Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a method for dynamically adjusting network slice resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 1, there are two NSIs in the 5G network, one NSI representing a sliced network with complete peer-to-peer communication capability, where the two NSIs are each composed of one or more NSSIs, where one NSSI can fulfill a complete functional requirement in the NSI network communication, and the base station and the 5G core network (5GC) in the NSI are divided into two NSSIs. The NSSI in the slice network is managed by NSSMF of a network center management platform, and the NSI of the NSSI is managed by NSMF of the upper stage of the NSSMF. Each NSSI, which includes a set of NFs and resources for the set of NFs that can support one or more functions in the NSI, is a component of the NSI that provides the full-slice network service.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, the method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources according to the embodiment of the present application includes:

step S100: the network slice management function NSMF receives the state information of the network slice instance NSI reported by the network slice subnet management function NSSMF.

The state information of the NSI includes fault information and performance information of network functions NF occurring in operation in a network slice subnet instance NSSI constituting the NSI.

The step is used for timely finding various errors, faults and performance degradation conditions occurring in the operation of the network slice, normally, the network function NF timely reports the state information of the network slice, the network slice subnet management function NSSMF receives the state information reported by the network function NF and reports the state information to the network slice management function NSMF, and then basis is provided for analyzing and judging whether the current network slice example resource meets the operation requirement of the network slice example NSI. The following will describe the flow of receiving the status information of the network slice instance NSI in detail, which is not described herein again.

Step S200: and analyzing whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance by using a network slice management function NSMF according to the state information of the NSI.

After receiving the fault information or the performance information of the NSI, the NSMF analyzes and evaluates whether the current network resource condition can meet the normal operation requirement of the NSI and ensure the service quality by comparing the current network resource with the total resource table of the NSI and/or the performance index table of the NSI. For example, whether the current network resource can meet the basic requirement is evaluated according to the number of physical and virtual resources preset by the network slice, or whether the network service quality can meet the service standard is evaluated according to the comparison between the current performance index and the standard met by the network slice operation requirement. And the user can also define relevant standards by himself according to the resource condition and the service scene requirement purchased or configured in advance during installation and deployment, and compare the relevant standards to judge whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance.

Step S300: and if the current network resources cannot meet the operation requirements of the network slice example, calculating the quantity of the network resources required to be adjusted to meet the operation requirements of the NSI of the network slice example by the network slice management function NSMF according to the analysis result.

If the current network resource can not meet the requirement of NSI normal operation or the network performance can not ensure the service quality, the quantity of the network resource required to be allocated and adjusted needs to be calculated. It is generally necessary to ensure that the network resources currently in use reach the amount purchased by the user, or the amount of resources required for meeting the normal operation of the NSI is preset as required when the user is installed and deployed. Besides the matching of the resource quantity, the corresponding resources can be calculated and matched according to the difference between the current performance index and the standard performance index by comparing the current network performance with the standard performance required to be met by the normal operation of the NSI, and the service quality is ensured.

Step S400: and the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result.

The network slice management function NSMF issues resource adjustment messages to the relevant network function NFs step by step through the network slice management system according to the calculation result, and dynamically adjusts the resource allocation.

Step S100 will be described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 3, the network function NF in the network slice subnet instance NSSI reports the running status message to the network slice subnet management function NSSMF at regular time. Including but not limited to, performance indexes such as fault information and network packet loss rate, time delay, load, network congestion degree in the NF operation process, system resource occupation condition, service response condition, and the like. It should be noted that, here, the network function NF reports its own status, and may continue to use the message format and content in the existing standard, and may also extend and define a new message format and content on the basis, and may also perform customized setting according to the user's needs. After receiving the state information reported by the NF, the NSSMF determines whether the NSSI to which the NF belongs has a fault or a performance problem according to the association between each NF and the NSSI to which the NF belongs, and if it determines that the NSSI has the fault or the performance problem, reports the NSSI to a network slice management function NSMF.

And if the network function NF is overtime and does not send state information to the NSSMF, determining that the NF communication fails. The NSSMF can also detect the running state of the NF in real time, and if the NF does not report the state of the NF or cannot detect the state of the NF after overtime, the NSSMF judges that the NF fails.

The NSSMF can set the performance index of each NF according to the operation requirement of the NSSI to which the NSSMF belongs, if the performance of the current NF cannot meet the operation requirement, the NSSI is judged to generate a performance problem, and the performance problem is reported to a network slice management function NSMF. The NSSMF can also directly report the state information reported by the NF to a network slice management function NSMF, and the NSMF comprehensively judges whether the performance of the current NF can meet the operation requirement according to the operation requirement of the NSI to which the NSMF belongs.

Step S200 will be described in detail below. The embodiment of the invention can compare and analyze whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example or not by comparing the current network resource with the total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user and/or the NSI performance index table purchased by the user.

The first table is a total resource table (denoted as tbl (n)) of the NSI purchased by the user, and the table records the resource quantity corresponding to each NF in the NSI purchased by the user, including but not limited to memory, bandwidth, SSD, and the like.

	AMF	NSSF	SMF	UPF	…
						Memory device	N1	N2	N3	N4
Bandwidth of	N5	N6	N7	N8
						SSD	N9	N10	N11	N12
…

TABLE-Total resources Table for NSI purchased by user (Tbl (N))

When a message that a corresponding NF generates a fault or a performance problem is received, the NF resources are compared with the resource conditions in the tbl (N) item by item, and if the numerical value of one or more resource is reduced, the current resource can be determined not to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance. It should be noted that, the total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user is used as the comparison reference, so that sufficient resources can be provided for the user all the time, and the user can also set the comparison reference of the resource allocation according to the need in the specific deployment process. The method described herein is only a specific embodiment of the method of the present invention, and on this basis, the number of other hardware resources or virtual resources configurations adopted as required is taken as a reference, and all of them belong to the protection scope of the present application.

The network slice management function NSMF analyzes whether the current network resource can meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance NSI according to the state information of the NSI, and further includes:

Table two is an NSI performance index table (denoted as tbl (p)) purchased by the user, and in order to ensure the service quality of the NSI purchased by the user, the NSI must be ensured to meet a certain performance index. The table records performance indexes that need to be provided by the NSI purchased by the user, including but not limited to load, congestion degree, network rate, and the like.

	AMF	NSSF	SMF	UPF	…
						Load(s)	S1	S2	S3	S4
Degree of congestion	S5	S6	S7	S8
						Network rate	S9	S10	S11	S12
…

Performance indicator Table (Tbl (P)) for NSI purchased by two users

When a message that a corresponding NF generates a fault or a performance problem is received, comparing the performance of the NF with the performance indexes of each NF in the Tbl (P) item by item, and if one or more indexes are found to be not capable of meeting the requirement, determining that the current resource can not meet the operation requirement of the NSI. It should be noted that, here, the performance index of the NSI purchased by the user is used as the comparison reference to ensure that the current NF can always satisfy the specific performance, but in the specific deployment process, the user can also set the comparison reference of the performance index by himself as required. The method of the present invention is only one specific embodiment, and other performance indexes or ranges adopted according to needs are within the scope of protection of the present application.

It should be noted that the above two methods for analyzing whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance may be performed separately or simultaneously. The amount of the resources and the performance index purchased by the user may be a specific amount, or may be a certain range, the amount of the resources used as the criterion may be matched according to the total amount of the resources purchased by the user or the performance index requirement, or may be customized by the user according to different usage scenarios. No further description of all possible embodiments is given here.

Step S300 will be described in detail below. Based on the foregoing step S200, in the embodiment of the present invention, the amount of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance may be calculated by comparing the current network resources with the total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user and/or the NSI performance index table purchased by the user.

Where N represents the number of a certain resource in a certain NF.

Referring to table one, taking the access and mobility management function AMF as an example, the number of resources of the AMF purchased by the user is N1, N5 for bandwidth, and N9 for SSD, if the actual number of resources of the AMF in the current NSI is N1', N5' for bandwidth, and N9' for SSD, the corresponding resources currently required to be added for the access and mobility management function AMF are calculated according to the algorithm as:

memory: N1-N1'; bandwidth: N5-N5'; SSD: N9-N9'.

Referring to fig. 4, after the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the NSI operation of the network slice instance is calculated, the adjustment is implemented by calling a standby idle resource to add the NSSI, and then the following algorithms are respectively provided:

if the total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user is compared, the corresponding resources which are required to be added for the access and mobility management function AMF currently are calculated as follows:

memory: N1-N1'; bandwidth: N5-N5'; SSD: N9-N9'.

A standby AMF with peer-to-peer resources needs to be called to join the NSSI, thereby ensuring that the total resources of the NSI purchased by the user are unchanged. And comparing the sum of the number of the resources of all the AMFs after the call with the three difference values to ensure that each resource of the AMFs can reach the number in the total resource table.

Referring to fig. 5, after the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the NSI operation of the network slice instance is calculated, the network slice instance is implemented by adding corresponding virtual resources to corresponding network functions NF, and then the following are respectively corresponding to the above algorithms:

memory: N1-N1'; bandwidth: N5-N5'; SSD: N9-N9'.

Corresponding memory, bandwidth and SSD resources need to be allocated to the corresponding network function NF.

n (resource to be added) ═ N (current NSI resource) × (S/P-1)

Referring to table two, taking the session management function SMF as an example, the performance standard required by the SMF purchased by the user is load S1, congestion degree S5, and network rate S9, if the actual AMF resource in the current NSI is load S1', congestion degree S5', network rate S9', and the current number of resources is N, then the corresponding resources currently required to be added to the session management function SMF are calculated according to the algorithm as:

the added resources calculated from the load performance criteria are: nf (S1/S1' -1);

the added resources calculated from the congestion degree performance criteria are: ny (S5/S5' -1);

the added resources calculated from the network rate performance criteria are: nw (S9/S9' -1).

The calculation of the number of network resources required to be adjusted to meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice instance may be implemented by calling a spare idle resource in the system, or by adding a corresponding virtual resource to a corresponding network function NF.

if the performance standard required by the SMF purchased by the user is compared, the corresponding resources which are required to be added to the SMF currently are calculated as follows:

Then the standby SMF with peer resources needs to be called to join the NSSI, so as to ensure that the performance index that the NSI purchased by the user should meet is unchanged. The number of standby SMFs that need to be called is subject to the performance criteria that can be achieved after all SMFs are added to the NSSI.

The corresponding memory, bandwidth and SSD need to be added for the corresponding network function NF. The number of resources to be called is determined based on the performance standard after all the resources are increased.

It should be noted that, in the above two ways of calculating the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the network slice instance NSI operation, the number of resources and the performance index purchased by the user may be a specific number, or a certain range, and may be matched according to the total amount of resources purchased by the user or the performance index requirements, or may be customized by the user according to different usage scenarios. And (4) increasing the resources by taking the calculation result as a reference, and adjusting in a gradual increase mode until the NSI operation requirement of the current network slice instance is met. The increase of resources can also have certain redundancy on the basis of the calculation result, thereby being capable of quickly adjusting in place. No further description of all possible embodiments is given here.

Step S400 will be described in detail below. On the basis of the foregoing step S300, the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by calling a spare idle resource in the system, or by adding a corresponding virtual resource to a corresponding network function NF.

Referring to fig. 4, after calculating the spare idle NF that needs to be adjusted to join in the NSSI according to step S300, the network slice management function NSMF issues network slice resource dynamic adjustment information to the network slice subnet management function NSSMF, and the NSSMF issues slice subnet resource dynamic adjustment information to the spare idle NF, and notifies the spare idle NF of registering the NSSI with the identifier of the NSSI that has a problem in the NRF in the slice network, that is, adding the NSSI to provide a service, so as to ensure normal operation of the slice network and ensure network service quality.

Referring to fig. 5, after calculating the spare idle NF that needs to be adjusted to join the NSSI according to step S300, the NSMF issues network slice resource dynamic adjustment information to the NSSMF, and the NSSMF issues slice subnet resource dynamic adjustment information to the NFVO, and notifies the NFVO to add a certain amount of virtual resources, such as bandwidth, memory, SDD, and the like, to the NF specified in the NSSI with performance problems.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and reference may be made to the related descriptions of other embodiments for parts that are not described or illustrated in a certain embodiment.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described system embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical division, and in actual implementation, there may be other divisions, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of communication units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

The integrated system/module/unit, if implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, all or part of the flow of the methods of the various embodiments described above can be realized by a computer program, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium and can realize the steps of the various method embodiments described above when the computer program is executed by a processor. Wherein the computer program comprises computer program code, which may be in the form of source code, object code, an executable file or some intermediate form, etc. The computer-readable medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording medium, usb disk, removable hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer Memory, Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), electrical carrier wave signals, telecommunications signals, software distribution medium, and the like. It should be noted that the computer readable medium may contain content that is subject to appropriate increase or decrease as required by legislation and patent practice in jurisdictions, for example, in some jurisdictions, computer readable media does not include electrical carrier signals and telecommunications signals as is required by legislation and patent practice.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; such modifications and substitutions do not substantially depart from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application and are intended to be included within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically adjusting network slice instance resources is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a network slice management function NSMF receives state information of a network slice instance NSI reported by a network slice subnet management function NSSMF;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the network slice management function NSMF, the network slice instance NSI state information reported by the network slice subnet management function NSSMF specifically includes:

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing, by the network slice management function NSMF, whether the current network resource can meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance NSI according to the state information of the NSI specifically includes:

and comparing a total resource table of the NSI purchased by the user according to the state information of the NSI, analyzing whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example, wherein the total resource table records the resource quantity corresponding to each NF in the NSI purchased by the user, and if the NF resource quantity of the current NSI is less than the quantity of a certain resource in the total resource table, determining that the current network resource can not meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein if the current network resource cannot meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance, the network slice management function NSMF calculates, according to the analysis result, the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the operation requirement of the NSI, specifically including:

Where N represents the number of a certain resource in a certain NF.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a network slice management function NSMF analyzes whether current network resources can meet the NSI operation requirements of the network slice instance according to the NSI state information, and further comprising:

and comparing the NSI performance index table purchased by the user according to the state information of the NSI, analyzing whether the current network resource can meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example, wherein the performance index table records the performance index correspondingly required by each NF in the NSI purchased by the user, and if the performance of the NF of the current NSI is inferior to the index value of a certain performance in the performance index table, determining that the current network resource can not meet the NSI operation requirement of the network slice example.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein if the current network resource cannot meet the operation requirement of the network slice instance, the network slice management function NSMF calculates, according to the analysis result, the number of network resources that need to be adjusted to meet the operation requirement of the NSI, specifically including:

n (resource to be added) ═ N (current NSI resource) × (S/P-1)

7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result, specifically comprising:

8. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network slice management function NSMF adjusts network resources according to the calculation result, specifically comprising: