CN114666222A

CN114666222A - Operation and maintenance method, device and system of network slice and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114666222A
Application number: CN202011443943.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘义亮
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2020-12-08
Filing date: 2020-12-08
Publication date: 2022-06-24
Also published as: WO2022121735A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides an operation and maintenance method, device, system and storage medium for network slices, wherein the method comprises the following steps: selecting a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request; allocating the functions and resources of the network slice based on communication state information and communication process information in a network domain, wherein the network domain comprises at least one network; and collecting the performance indexes of the network slices, and guaranteeing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indexes. According to the embodiment of the application, the network slices are uniformly managed through cross-domain information, and the network slices are adjusted to meet the corresponding service level protocol based on the operation performance indexes of the network slices, so that the service quality of the network slices is monitored in real time, and the operation safety of the network slices is improved.

Description

Operation and maintenance method, device and system of network slice and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to an operation and maintenance method, an apparatus, a system, and a storage medium for network slices.

Background

The 5G network slices can be deployed and divided according to the dimensions of vertical industry, region, virtual operators and the like, however, the arrangement of the network slices relates to a wireless network, a bearer network, a core network and the like, the network slice technology comprises 4 key technologies such as a wireless, bearer and core network domain slice enabling technology, a network slice identification and access technology, a network slice end-to-end management technology and a network slice end-to-end Service Level Agreement (SLA) guaranteeing technology and the like, wherein the wireless, bearer and core network domain slice enabling technology is used as a basic supporting technology to realize network sub-slice examples of the wireless, bearer and core networks; the network slice identification and access technology realizes the mapping between the network slice example and the terminal service type, and registers the terminal to the strived network slice example; the network slice end-to-end management technology realizes the arrangement and management of end-to-end network slices; the network slice end-to-end SLA guarantee technology can carry out acquisition analysis and quasi real-time processing on network performance indexes of each domain, and ensures that the performance of the system meets the SLA requirements of users. The existing 3GPP standard only subscribes to the overall architecture of the network slice, and meets the aspects of resource guarantee, security, reliability, availability and the like to a certain extent. However, specific to specific technical requirements: the air interfaces are unified, the requirements of slice differentiation are supported, flexible segmentation and deployment are realized, and the butt joint of a core network is supported. Flexible networking of slices, fast slice construction based on micro-services, intelligent slice selection, slice capability openness and slice roaming. Based on an SDN framework, multi-level slicing, a technology supporting multiple slicing isolation, a network element node virtualization technology and a safety isolation technology of bearer network sub-slicing are realized, and the existing technologies cannot be well met. The network slice comprises a plurality of networks, and network devices of each network are provided by different device manufacturers, so that the 5G network slice cannot perform safe, reliable and uniform management and operation.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application mainly aims to provide an operation and maintenance method, device, system and storage medium for network slices, and aims to realize unified operation and maintenance of cross-domain network slices, realize real-time monitoring of service quality of the network slices and improve the operation safety of the network slices.

In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present application provides an operation and maintenance method for a network slice, where the method includes:

selecting a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request; allocating the functions and resources of the network slice based on communication state information and communication process information in a network domain, wherein the network domain comprises at least one network; and collecting performance indexes of the network slices, and managing service level agreements of the network slices according to the performance indexes.

In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present application further provides an operation and maintenance device for network slices, where the device includes:

the slice selection module is used for selecting a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request;

the slice management module is used for allocating the functions and resources of the network slices based on communication state information and communication process information in a network domain, wherein the network domain comprises at least one network;

and the quality guarantee module is used for collecting the performance indexes of the network slices and managing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indexes.

In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present application further provides an operation and maintenance system for network slices, where the system includes:

one or more processors;

a memory for storing one or more programs;

when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the operation and maintenance method for the network slice according to any one of the embodiments of the present application.

In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the operation and maintenance method of the network slice as described in any of the embodiments of the present application.

According to the embodiment of the application, the pre-deployed network slices are selected through the communication service request, the communication state information and the communication process information of different network domains are obtained, the functions and resources of the network slices are allocated, the performance indexes in the operation process of the network slices are collected, the service level protocol of the network slices is guaranteed according to the service level of the network slices, the real-time monitoring of the service quality of the network slices is achieved, and the operation safety of the network slices is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of an operation and maintenance method for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a network slice deployment provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is an exemplary diagram of another network slice deployment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram of an end-to-end network slice mapping provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is an exemplary diagram of another end-to-end network slice mapping provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of an operation and maintenance method for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an operation and maintenance device for network slicing according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an operation and maintenance system of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the invention.

In the following description, suffixes such as "module", "part", or "unit" used to denote elements are used only for facilitating the explanation of the present invention, and have no peculiar meaning in itself. Thus, "module", "component" or "unit" may be used mixedly.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of an operation and maintenance method for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application, where this embodiment is applicable to a case of operation and maintenance of a network slice across network domains, and the method may be executed by an operation and maintenance device for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the device may be implemented by a software and/or hardware method, and referring to fig. 1, the method according to an embodiment of the present application may specifically include the following steps:

step 110, select a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request.

The communication service request may be a request of a network slice tenant or an enterprise to subscribe a network slice to an operator, and the communication service request may include a type of the requested network slice, a service level agreement requirement of the network slice, and the like. The network slices may be resource sets for dividing the network into different uses for different application scenarios, and the network slices may include high definition video slices, mobile phone slices, massive internet of things slices, and mission critical internet of things slices.

Specifically, the operation and maintenance system may obtain a communication service request for subscribing a network slice, extract contents such as a network slice type and a service level agreement of the request in the communication service request, and select a network slice according to the contents such as the network slice type and the service level agreement to provide a communication service for the user.

And step 120, allocating the functions and resources of the network slice based on the communication state information and the communication process information in the network domain, wherein the network domain comprises at least one network.

The network domain may be an actual network carrying the network slice, and may include a wireless network, a core network, a bearer network, and the like; the communication state information and the communication process information may be information reflecting an operation state of a network within a network domain, and since the network slice is implemented based on different network domains, for example, a core network, a radio network, and a bearer network, a change in the network state may affect a service quality of the network slice.

In the embodiment of the application, one or more network domains corresponding to the network slice can be selected, the communication state information and the communication process information in different network domains can be collected to determine the state of each network domain, and the functions and resources of the network slice can be allocated according to the state of each network domain, so that the network slice has high operation efficiency.

And step 130, collecting the performance indexes of the network slices, and guaranteeing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indexes.

The performance index may be information reflecting the operation quality of the network slice, and may include information such as a current average user speed, a current time delay, and a current load, and the performance index may be obtained in real time during the operation of the network slice, so as to improve the accuracy of monitoring the network slice. The service level agreement may be service quality requirement agreed by the subscriber and the operator, and may include the number of communication users, communication rate and delay, etc. that the network slice needs to satisfy.

Specifically, the operation state of the network slice may be monitored, the corresponding information such as the current average user speed, the current time delay, the current load, and the like may be collected as the performance index, and the network may be adjusted according to the performance quality, so that the corresponding service level protocol of the network slice in the operation process may be adjusted in a manner of allocating a higher bandwidth or reducing time delay, and the like.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the application, the network slice is deployed according to the application scene.

In the embodiment of the application, the application scenarios may include enhanced mobile broadband eMBB, large-scale machine communication mtc, high-reliability low-latency communication urrllc, and the like. Referring to fig. 2, the central unit DU and the distribution unit CU may be deployed in a unified manner, as shown in fig. 1, and the core network cloud network element may be deployed in a data center, for example, a natural data DC, a Regional DC, or the like. For services with low time delay, the UPF can be deployed in the edge data center to improve the communication response speed and reduce the access amount to the core data center. For the scenario that a centralized unit DU and a distributed unit CU are separately deployed, a network slice of an enhanced mobile bandwidth eMBB and a large-scale machine communication mMTC is deployed on a Local DC in a clouded mode for the CU-C and the CU-U. And the communication uRLLC with low time delay deploys the CU-C at Local DC, and the CU-U and the DU can be deployed by adopting PNF (public data network) together, as shown in figure 3.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the mapping between the network slice and the network device of the network domain at least includes one of physical port mapping, VLAN mapping, DSCP mapping, and VxLAN mapping.

In this embodiment of the present application, a network slice may be implemented by a network device in a network domain, and a mapping relationship may exist between the network slice and the network device, so as to implement utilization of network device resources, where the mapping manner may include at least one of physical port mapping, VLAN mapping, DSCP mapping, and VxLAN mapping. Fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram of end-to-end network slice mapping provided in an embodiment of the present application, and referring to fig. 4, a network slice may be mapped with a bearer network by using a VLAN, and a DSCP and an IP/POPT may be further used inside the network slice to perform service quality control on a traffic flow. Referring to fig. 5, when the networking mode corresponding to the network slice is that the central unit CU/distribution unit DU is deployed according to PNF in combination, each network slice of the central unit CU/distribution unit DU may correspond to one VLAN, and VLAN IDs between different distribution units DU/central units CU cannot be repeated in the same two-layer access ring. If the access ring is a three-layer network, the VLAN IDs between different distribution units DU/concentration units CU may be duplicated. The distribution unit DU/concentration unit CU is an access device directly accessing the bearer network, and the bearer network can directly see the VLAN ID to which the distribution unit DU/concentration unit CU belongs without passing through other switches or routes. Different VLAN IDs are mapped to different VPN tunnels after being received by the PE equipment carried by the VLAN IDs. The inside of the bearer determines whether the VPN is established on a hard slice (such as FlexE) or vNET according to the requirement of isolation degree. Further, for NF specific to a network slice, for example, UPF, VLAN isolation may also be used, and VLAN ID of UPF traffic needs to be configured on protocol stack ROSNG, such as VLAN31 and VLAN 41. The NFVI platform, e.g., the TECS, automatically assigns VLAN IDs, e.g., VLAN 101, VLAN202, when creating the external network plane. This network plane corresponds to the external network plane of the MANO orchestration. When the UPF sends a message, the NFVI platform transmits the VLAN ID in a QinQ mode, namely, the VLAN of the platform is nested on the outer layer of the service VLAN. The VLAN ID assigned by the NFVI and the VLAN ID of the service protocol stack are stripped at the CE, a new VLAN ID needs to be configured at the CE to correspond to the VLAN ID, such as VLAN 102 and VLAN202, and the VLAN ID is mapped to the VPN for bearer according to the newly assigned VLAN ID.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an operation and maintenance method for network slices, which is embodied on the basis of the foregoing application embodiment, and referring to fig. 6, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application specifically includes the following steps:

step 210, obtaining a desired slice type set and a user signed slice type set corresponding to the communication service request.

The desired slice type set may be a type set of a network slice requested to be used when the user subscribes to the network slice, and the user subscription slice type set may be a type set of a network slice appointed to be used when the user subscribes to the network slice.

In the embodiment of the present application, a slice type set Requested-NSSAI that is expected to be registered and carried by a client UE of a user may be obtained, and a slice type set Subscribed NSSAI that is Subscribed by the user is obtained, so that obtaining of an expected slice type set and a slice type set Subscribed by the user is achieved respectively.

Step 220, network slices are selected based on the slice selection policy, the set of desired slice types, and the set of user-signed slice types.

The slice selection policy may be a policy for selecting a network slice for a communication service request, and may include selection based on availability of the network slice, selection according to a current area TA, and the like.

In particular, the network slice serving the communication service request may be selected according to the set of desired slice types, the set of user subscription slice types, and taking into account the availability of the network slice and the current area TA.

And step 230, acquiring communication state information and communication process information respectively corresponding to the wireless network domain, the bearer network domain and the core network domain.

Specifically, the communication state information and the communication process information may be collected for the wireless network domain, the bearer network domain, and the core network domain, respectively, so as to achieve the acquisition of the state information of different network domains.

And 240, searching a corresponding network slice management strategy by using the communication state information and the communication process information, wherein the network slice management strategy at least comprises at least one of a network slice life cycle management strategy, a cross-domain resource allocation management strategy, a network slice whole strategy and a network slice isolation strategy.

The network slice management strategy can be a preset network slice management strategy, can manage the life cycle of the network slice, and can be divided into a network slice life cycle management strategy, a cross-domain resource allocation management strategy, a network slice integral strategy and a network slice isolation strategy according to different functions of managing the network slice. The network slice lifecycle management policies may include policies for functions such as creation, updating, activation, deactivation, and termination of network slices. The cross-domain resource allocation management policies may include resource allocation policies for network slices at different domains. The network slice overall strategy can comprise a control strategy of the network slice overall, and the network slice isolation strategy comprises security of the domain network networking and a networking layering isolation strategy.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication state information and the communication process information of the network domain of each network slice may be used to manage the life cycle of the network slice, manage cross-domain resource allocation, manage the overall control of the network slice, manage the security isolation mechanism of the network slice, and the like.

And step 250, allocating the functions and resources of the network slice according to the network slice management strategy.

Specifically, the functions and resources of the network slice can be adjusted according to the searched network slice management policy to improve the performance of the network slice, for example, the resource occupation ratio of the network slice in a wireless network, a bearer network and a core network can be changed, the life cycle of the network slice can be included, the resource occupation of the network slice is reduced, and the improvement of the communication service quality of the user is realized.

And step 260, acquiring the performance indexes of the network slices corresponding to the users in real time.

Specifically, the performance indexes of the network slices are collected in real time by taking the user as granularity, and the performance indexes can be monitored, counted and reported.

Step 270, obtaining a comparison result of the service quality corresponding to the performance index and the network slice service level agreement, and adjusting the network slice according to the comparison result.

Wherein, the service quality can be the communication quality provided by the network slice, and the service quality can correspond to the service level agreement.

According to the embodiment of the application, the collected performance indexes can be compared with the service quality, if the performance indexes meet the requirement of the service quality, the network slices can not be adjusted, and if the performance indexes do not meet the requirement of the service quality, the network slices can be allocated, so that the operation efficiency of the network slices is improved.

According to the embodiment of the application, the network slices are processed according to the network slice management strategy by acquiring the expected slice type set corresponding to the communication service and the user signed slice type set and selecting the network slices according to the slice selection strategy, the network state information and the network process information are acquired in different network domains, the network slices are searched for according to the network slice management strategy corresponding to the network state information and the network process information, the performance indexes of the network slices are acquired, the network slices are adjusted according to the comparison result of the performance indexes and the service quality, unified management of the network slices is achieved, the network slices are adjusted to meet the corresponding service level protocol based on the operation performance indexes of the network slices, real-time monitoring of the service quality of the network slices is achieved, and the operation safety of the network slices is improved.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the service level agreement at least includes: at least one of the number of online users, the average user rate and the time delay requirement.

In this embodiment of the present application, a service level agreement corresponding to a network slice may agree on the number of online users, an average user rate, and a usage requirement, where the number of online users may be the maximum number of users that can be served when providing a service to a network slice subscriber, the average user rate may be an average rate provided for each communication user when providing a service to a network slice subscriber, and a delay may be a delay of performing a communication service by a network slice.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an operation and maintenance device for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application, which is capable of executing an operation and maintenance method for a network slice according to any embodiment of the present invention, and has corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method. The device can be implemented by software and/or hardware, and specifically comprises: a slice selection module 301, a slice management module 302, and a quality assurance module 303.

A slice selection module 301, configured to select a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request.

A slice management module 302, configured to allocate the function and resource of the network slice based on communication status information and communication process information in a network domain, where the network domain includes at least one network.

And the quality assurance module 303 is configured to collect performance indicators of the network slices, and manage service level agreements of the network slices according to the performance indicators.

According to the embodiment of the application, the pre-deployed network slices are selected through the slice selection module according to the communication service request, the slice management module acquires communication state information and communication process information of different network domains to allocate functions and resources of the network slices, performance indexes in the operation process of the network slices are collected, the quality guarantee module guarantees the service level protocol of the network slices according to the performance quality, real-time monitoring of the service quality of the network slices is achieved, and the operation safety of the network slices is improved.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the slice selecting module 301 includes:

and the type set unit is used for acquiring a desired slice type set and a user signed slice type set corresponding to the communication service request.

A selection execution unit for selecting a network slice based on a slice selection policy, the desired slice type set, and the user contracted slice type set.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the network slice in the device is deployed according to the application scenario.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the service level agreement in the device at least includes: at least one of the number of online users, the average user rate and the time delay requirement.

Further, on the basis of the embodiment of the above application, the mapping between the network slice in the apparatus and the network device of the network domain at least includes one of physical port mapping, VLAN mapping, DSCP mapping, and VxLAN mapping.

Further, on the basis of the above-mentioned application embodiment, the slice management module 302 includes:

and the information acquisition unit is used for acquiring communication state information and communication process information respectively corresponding to the wireless network domain, the bearer network domain and the core network domain.

And the strategy determining unit is used for searching a corresponding network slice management strategy by using the communication state information and the communication process information, wherein the network slice management strategy at least comprises at least one of a network slice life cycle management strategy, a cross-domain resource allocation management strategy, a network slice overall strategy and a network slice isolation strategy.

And the strategy execution unit is used for allocating the functions and resources of the network slice according to the network slice management strategy.

Further, on the basis of the above application embodiment, the quality assurance module 303 includes:

and the index acquisition unit is used for acquiring the performance index of the network slice corresponding to the user in real time.

And the quality guarantee unit is used for acquiring a comparison result of the performance index and the service quality corresponding to the network slice service level agreement and adjusting the network slice according to the comparison result.

In an exemplary real-time manner, a 5G Slice operation and maintenance is introduced into a 3GPP protocol to implement an end-to-end arrangement deployment and Management Function of a Network Slice, and a Management Function entity related to a 5G Slice Management system and a correspondence relationship of a Management object of the 5G Slice Management system include a Communication Service Management Function (CSMF), a Network Slice Management Function (NSMF), a Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF), and other functional entities, and implement end-to-end Slice arrangement and Management by interaction of CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, Management and Arrangement (MANO) and EMS, including Slice design, Slice life cycle Management, Slice configuration and activation, and monitoring and guarantee of SLA.

In the CSMF, a tenant or an enterprise can subscribe to a carrier through the CSMF and submit related SLA requirements (such as the number of online users, average user rate, delay requirements, etc.), and the CSMF converts the communication service requirements of the user into network slice requirements for the NSMF and forwards the network slice requirements to the NSMF. The CSMF manages objects as communication services, each of which is performed by 1 or more network slicing functions. Since the CSMF mainly implements functions such as slice purchase, it is generally deployed in a BSS domain.

NSMF is a network slice management function and is responsible for arranging, deploying and maintaining slices, CSMF and NSSMF are docked in an operation support system OSS, a network slice deployment request issued from CSMF is received, an end-to-end SLA requirement of the network slice is decomposed into an SLA requirement of the network sub-slice, and the network sub-slice deployment request is issued to NSSMF. The NSMF management objects are network slices, each of which may consist of 0 or 1 or more network slice subnets.

NSSMF is a network slice subnet management function and is responsible for arranging, deploying and maintaining the sub-slices, the NSMF is connected in an OSS system, a network slice subnet deployment requirement issued by the NSMF is received, an SLA requirement of the network slice subnet is mapped into a QoS requirement of a network service, a deployment request of the network service is issued to an NFVO system of an ETSI NFV domain, deployment of the sub-slices is achieved, and network element service data configuration is achieved through an EMS. The NSSMF management object is a network slice subnet, and each network slice subnet may be a basic subslice or a subslice combined by a plurality of basic subslices. Each subslice may contain 1 or more network functions.

The NSMF realizes the management of a network slicing template NST, the life cycle management and the FCAPS management of a network slicing instance NSI, and the NSMF is matched with the NSSMF to realize an end-to-end network slicing function. It comprises the following functions: providing a blueprint design function, and realizing design, release and management of the NST template through a visual interface; lifecycle management of NSI instances, such as creation, update, activation, deactivation, termination, and the like; fault, configuration, charging, performance, and secure FCAPS management of NSI, such as resource view, topology presentation, alarm monitoring, and performance analysis management of network slice instances; policy management of the NSI, such as NSI update triggered by operation and maintenance monitoring of the NSI; interface interaction with NSSMF is supported.

NSSMF realizes the management of a network slice subnet template NSST and the life cycle management and FCAPS management of a network slice subnet instance NSSI, and comprises the following functions: providing a blueprint design function, and realizing design, release and management of the NSST template through a visual interface; lifecycle management of NSSI instances, such as creation, update, activation, deactivation, termination, and the like; FCAPS management of NSSI, such as resource viewing, topology presentation, alarm monitoring, and performance management of network slice subnets; policy management of NSSI, such as NSSI update triggered by operation and maintenance monitoring of NSSI.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an operation and maintenance system of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 8, the system includes a processor 40, a memory 41, an input device 42, and an output device 43; the number of processors 40 in the device may be one or more, and one processor 40 is taken as an example in fig. 8; the processor 40, the memory 41, the input device 42 and the output device 43 in the system may be connected by a bus or other means, and fig. 8 illustrates the connection by a bus as an example.

The memory 41 is a computer-readable storage medium, and can be used for storing software programs, computer-executable programs, and modules, such as the modules (the slice selection module 301, the slice management module 302, and the quality assurance module 303) corresponding to the operation and maintenance device of the network slice in the embodiment of the present application. The processor 40 executes various functional applications of the device and data processing by running software programs, instructions and modules stored in the memory 41, that is, implements the operation and maintenance method of the network slice.

The memory 41 may mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function; the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the terminal, and the like. Further, the memory 41 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid state storage device. In some examples, memory 41 may further include memory located remotely from processor 40, which may be connected to the device over a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The input device 42 may be used to receive entered numeric or character information and to generate key signal inputs relating to user settings and function controls of the apparatus. The output device 43 may include a display device such as a display screen.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a storage medium containing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer processor, perform a method for network slice operation and maintenance, the method comprising:

selecting a pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request;

allocating the functions and resources of the network slice based on communication state information and communication process information in a network domain, wherein the network domain comprises at least one network;

and collecting the performance indexes of the network slices, and guaranteeing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indexes.

Of course, the storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application contains computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions are not limited to the method operations described above, and may also perform related operations in the operation and maintenance method of the network slice provided in any embodiment of the present application.

From the above description of the embodiments, it is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented by software and necessary general hardware, and certainly, can also be implemented by hardware, but the former is a better embodiment in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a FLASH Memory (FLASH), a hard disk or an optical disk of a computer, and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present application.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the search apparatus, each included unit and each included module are merely divided according to functional logic, but are not limited to the above division, as long as corresponding functions can be implemented; in addition, specific names of the functional units are only for convenience of distinguishing from each other, and are not used for limiting the protection scope of the present invention.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or some of the steps of the methods, systems, functional modules/units in the devices disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and suitable combinations thereof.

In a hardware implementation, the division between functional modules/units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component may have multiple functions, or one function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all of the physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, digital signal processor, or microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on computer readable media, which may include computer storage media (or non-transitory media) and communication media (or transitory media). The term computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by a computer. In addition, communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media as known to those skilled in the art.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Any modifications, equivalents and improvements which may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention are intended to be within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An operation and maintenance method for network slices, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the pre-deployed network slice according to the communication service request comprises:

acquiring an expected slice type set and a user signed slice type set corresponding to the communication service request;

selecting a network slice based on a slice selection policy, the set of desired slice types, and the set of user-signed slice types.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network slice is deployed according to an application scenario.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the service level agreement comprises at least: at least one of the number of online users, the average user rate and the time delay requirement.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping of the network slice to network devices of a network domain comprises at least one of a physical port mapping, a VLAN mapping, a DSCP mapping, and a VxLAN mapping.

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the deploying the functions and resources of the network slice based on the communication status information and the communication process information within the network domain comprises:

acquiring communication state information and communication process information respectively corresponding to a wireless network domain, a bearer network domain and a core network domain;

searching a corresponding network slice management strategy by using the communication state information and the communication process information, wherein the network slice management strategy at least comprises at least one of a network slice life cycle management strategy, a cross-domain resource allocation management strategy, a network slice integral strategy and a network slice isolation strategy;

and allocating the functions and resources of the network slices according to the network slice management strategy.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein collecting the performance indicators of the network slices and guaranteeing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indicators comprises:

acquiring the performance index of the network slice corresponding to the user in real time;

and obtaining a comparison result of the performance index and the service quality corresponding to the network slice service level agreement, and adjusting the network slice according to the comparison result.

8. An operation and maintenance device for network slicing, the device comprising:

and the quality assurance module is used for collecting the performance indexes of the network slices and managing the service level agreement of the network slices according to the performance indexes.

9. An operation and maintenance system for network slicing, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory for storing one or more programs;

when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of operation and maintenance of a network slice of any of claims 1-7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, implements the operation and maintenance method of a network slice according to any one of claims 1-7.