WO2017206092A1 - 一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元 - Google Patents

一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元 Download PDF

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WO2017206092A1
WO2017206092A1 PCT/CN2016/084211 CN2016084211W WO2017206092A1 WO 2017206092 A1 WO2017206092 A1 WO 2017206092A1 CN 2016084211 W CN2016084211 W CN 2016084211W WO 2017206092 A1 WO2017206092 A1 WO 2017206092A1
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vnf instance
vnf
information
feature
management unit
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PCT/CN2016/084211
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English (en)
French (fr)
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许瑞岳
周彦
张凯
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华为技术有限公司
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Priority to PCT/CN2016/084211 priority Critical patent/WO2017206092A1/zh
Publication of WO2017206092A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017206092A1/zh

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  • the present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a lifecycle management method and a management unit in the field of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology.
  • NFV Network Function Virtualization
  • NFV technology is based on massive and normalized servers and switches, and implements various network functions (such as virtual operations, virtual wide area networks, and virtual application access routers) through software to reduce costs and accelerate service deployment and resource flexibility. , build an innovative ecological chain.
  • a computer is virtualized into multiple virtual logical computers, namely virtual machines (VMs).
  • VMs virtual machines
  • a virtual machine generally uses a server physical network port, a virtual network card, and a virtual switch connected to the switch in the chassis or the top switch to perform data communication with the outside of the server.
  • NFV technology By borrowing the information technology (Information Technology, IT) virtualization technology, NFV technology enables many types of network devices to be incorporated into industry standards. For example, network devices such as services, switching, and storage can be deployed in data centers or network nodes. . NFV technology implements various network functions in software and can run these network functions on industry-standard servers. It can also migrate, instantiate, redeploy, etc. these network functions as needed, and does not need to install new ones. device of. That is, the virtualized network function (VNF) can be generated by the NFV technology. Network Service (NS) can be implemented between multiple VNFs. In practice, the template used by the vendor to deploy the NS is the Network Service Descriptor (NSD). A specific NS instance can be deployed based on the NSD. The template used by the vendor to deploy the VNF is the virtual network function descriptor (Virtualized Network Function). Descriptor, VNFD).
  • NSD Network Service Descriptor
  • VNFD Virtualized Network Function
  • the NSD provider provides the relevant VNFD in the NSD when designing the NSD. That is, an NSD includes multiple VNFDs. Each VNFD of the multiple VNFDs includes the manufacturer, version, identity, deployment specification, capacity, etc. information.
  • the instantiation of the NS is taken as an example, and multiple VNFs are instantiated according to multiple VNFDs in the NSD to implement instantiation of the NS.
  • this method of directly referring to a specific VNFD in the NSD will result in different deployment scenarios requiring different NSDs, and the nature of the NSD as a template. In other words, the NSD provider needs to design different NSDs for different deployment scenarios. And as the VNFD version is updated, the NSD needs to be re-updated to include the updated VNFD.
  • the embodiment of the invention provides a lifecycle management method and a management unit, which can be applied to different deployment scenarios, and can realize the lifecycle management of the network service intelligently and flexibly.
  • the embodiment of the present invention provides a management method, where the method includes: determining, by the second management unit, a target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and a descriptor identifier of the target network service, where the descriptor identifier of the target network service corresponds to The target network service descriptor corresponds to multiple VNF instance requirement information, and each VNF instance requirement information in the plurality of VNF instance requirement information includes VNF feature information; and the second management unit sends a life management request of the target network service to the first management unit.
  • the lifecycle management request includes a descriptor identifier of the target network service; the first management unit receives the lifecycle management request of the target network service sent by the second management unit, and searches for a description of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service. Corresponding multiple VNF instance requirement information, and performing lifecycle management on the target network service according to the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the VNF feature information based on the VNF instance requirement information is intelligent and flexible to implement the lifecycle management of the network management service by the second management unit.
  • the NSD is not required to be customized for the deployment scenario, and can be applied to different deployment scenarios.
  • the VNF feature information is used to describe attribute information corresponding to at least one feature
  • the attribute information includes at least one of a feature name, a feature weight, a preset feature parameter value, and a feature parameter range.
  • the at least one feature may include a feature of providing vendor, version, capacity information, location information, and the like. Each feature corresponds to one attribute information, for example, the feature weight of the capacity information is 0.2, and the preset feature parameter value is 50W.
  • the foregoing lifecycle management request further includes matching information for deploying the target network service, where the matching information may be determined by the first management unit, or may be determined by the second management unit, so that the matching information is The determination is flexible.
  • the matching information includes a feature matching rule, where the feature matching rule is one of a preset multi-level matching rule, and the preset multi-level matching rule may be multiple levels defined according to the matching degree.
  • Matching rules for example, the preset multi-level matching rule includes a minimum matching rule, a default matching rule, an optimal or maximum matching rule, or a higher level matching including a primary matching rule, a secondary matching rule, and a third matching rule. rule.
  • Multi-level matching rules can meet the requirements of different deployment scenarios in the lifecycle management process.
  • the preset multi-level matching rule is set by the second management unit.
  • the matching information includes a matching result relationship list, where the matching result relationship list includes the VNF instance requirement information determined by the second management unit according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the correspondence relationship between the plurality of VNF instance requirement information and the matching VNFDs wherein the number of VNF instance requirement information in the correspondence is greater than the corresponding target network service descriptors
  • the VNFD that matches the VNF instance requirement information may be a VNFD corresponding to different NSDs.
  • the resources in the network architecture can be fully utilized, and different NSDs are not required to be customized for different NSs, thereby making lifecycle management more flexible.
  • the foregoing matching information includes a matching result relationship list, where the matching result relationship list includes the foregoing second management unit determining, according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information, in the existing VNF instance set.
  • Correspondence between the VNF instance requirement information and the matching VNF instance, and the corresponding relationship includes the correspondence between the plurality of VNF instance requirement information and the respective matching VNF instances, and the VNF instance requirement information in the corresponding relationship
  • the number of the information is greater than the number of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the target network service descriptor. Make full use of existing VNF instances in the network architecture to improve the efficiency of lifecycle management.
  • the second management unit determines the matching result relationship list, and carries the matching result relationship list in the life management request, and sends the result to the first management unit, and the first management unit according to the matching result relationship list.
  • the plurality of VNF instance requirement information in the target network service descriptor performs lifecycle management on the target network service.
  • the first management unit determines, according to the VNF feature information of each VNF instance requirement information and the feature matching rule in the matching information, a VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information, and according to the determined The VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information performs lifecycle management on the target network service.
  • the VNFD that matches the VNF instance requirement information may be a VNFD corresponding to different NSDs.
  • the resources in the network architecture can be fully utilized, and different NSDs are not required to be customized for different NSs, thereby making lifecycle management more flexible.
  • the first management unit determines, according to the VNF feature information of each VNF instance requirement information, a VNF instance that matches each VNF instance requirement information in an existing virtual network function instance set, and according to The determined VNF instance matching the VNF instance requirement information performs lifecycle management on the target network service. Make full use of existing VNF instances in the network architecture to improve the efficiency of lifecycle management.
  • the first management unit determines the requirement of each VNF instance in the existing virtual network function instance set according to the VNF feature information of each VNF instance requirement information and the feature matching rule in the foregoing matching information.
  • the information matches the VNF instance, and performs lifecycle management on the target network service according to the determined VNF instance that matches the VNF instance requirement information. Make full use of existing VNF instances in the network architecture to improve the efficiency of lifecycle management.
  • the first management unit determines the matched VNFD or VNF instance, and performs lifecycle management on the target network service according to the determined matching VNFD or VNF instance.
  • Each VNF instance requirement information is each of a plurality of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the target network service descriptor.
  • the embodiment of the present invention provides a management device, which can implement the functions performed by the first management unit in the foregoing method instance, and the functions can be implemented by using hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware.
  • the hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.
  • the apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver configured to support the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the above methods.
  • the transceiver is used to support communication between the device and other network elements.
  • the apparatus can also include a memory for coupling with the processor that retains the program instructions and data necessary for the apparatus.
  • the embodiment of the present invention provides a management device, which can implement the functions performed by the second management unit in the foregoing method instance, and the functions can be implemented by using hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware.
  • the hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.
  • the apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver configured to support the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the above methods.
  • the transceiver is used to support communication between the device and other network elements.
  • the apparatus can also include a memory for coupling with the processor that retains the program instructions and data necessary for the apparatus.
  • an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication system, where the system includes the apparatus that can implement the functions of the first management unit and the apparatus that can implement the functions of the second management unit.
  • an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions used by the first management unit, which includes a program designed to execute the above aspects.
  • an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing the foregoing Computer software instructions for use by the management unit, comprising programs designed to perform the above aspects.
  • the target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and the descriptor identifier of the target network service are determined by the second management unit, and the target network service is sent to the first management unit.
  • the lifecycle management request includes a descriptor identifier of the target network service, and the target network service descriptor corresponding to the target network service identifier corresponds to multiple VNF instance requirement information, and the plurality of VNF instance requirement information
  • Each VNF instance requirement information includes VNF feature information;
  • the first management unit receives the lifecycle management request, and searches for a plurality of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and according to each The VNF instance needs information to perform lifecycle management on the target network service, so that the lifecycle management of the network service can be implemented intelligently and flexibly, and can be applied to different deployment scenarios to expand the lifecycle management application scenario.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of communication of a lifecycle management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of communication of another lifecycle management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of communication of another life cycle management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a first management unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 5B is a schematic structural diagram of another first management unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a second management unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 6B is a schematic structural diagram of another second management unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present invention are for a clearer description of the present disclosure.
  • the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention.
  • the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are applicable to the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios. Similar technical issues apply equally.
  • the NFV-based network architecture mainly includes: Operation Support System (OSS)/Business Support System (BSS), Element Manager (EM) unit, and virtualized network.
  • Function (VNF) unit NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) unit, NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) unit, Virtual Network Function Management (VNF Manager, VNFM) unit and virtualization infrastructure Management (Virtualised Infrastructure Manager, VIM) unit.
  • VNF Operation Support System
  • BSS Business Support System
  • EM Element Manager
  • VNF Function
  • NFVI NFV Infrastructure
  • NFVO NFV Orchestrator
  • VNF Manager Virtual Network Function Management
  • VIM Virtualised Infrastructure Manager
  • OSS/BSS is a support system for the integration and information resource sharing of telecom operators. It is mainly composed of network management, system management, billing, business, accounting and customer services, while the system passes through a unified information bus. Organically integrated. OSS/BSS can help operators determine the development direction of the system while helping them to develop their own operational support systems. It can also help users to formulate system integration standards and improve and improve users' business levels. The OSS/BSS is used in the NFV-based network architecture to make necessary modifications and adjustments to the lifecycle management (eg, instantiation, etc.) of each network element.
  • the EM unit is used to manage some of the VNF units.
  • the NFVI unit is a collective term for all hardware devices and software components in an environment with the ability to deploy network function virtualization.
  • An NFVI unit can be deployed across several physical sites (eg, data center operations) where the network providing data connections to these physical sites is also considered part of the NFVI unit.
  • the NFVO unit can be used to manage the life cycle of the NS, coordinate the lifecycle management of the NS, coordinate the lifecycle management of the VNF (requires support from the VNFM), and coordinate the management of various resources of the NFVI unit (requires VIM support) to ensure Optimized configuration of all types of resources and connections required.
  • life cycle management refers to the management of instantiation, maintenance and termination of VNF units or NS units.
  • the VNFM unit is responsible for the lifecycle management of the VNF.
  • the VIM unit is responsible for controlling and managing the computing resources, storage resources, and network resources of the NFVI unit.
  • the VIM can be deployed to the infrastructure domain of the underlying network operator (eg, NFVI access point/service offering point).
  • the embodiments of the present invention are Detailed instructions in one step.
  • NSD is a template provided by the manufacturer to deploy NS. Based on NSD, a specific NS instance can be deployed.
  • VNFD is a template provided by vendors to deploy VNF.
  • the NSD provider directly includes the relevant VNFD in the NSD, that is, an NSD includes multiple VNFDs, and each VNFD of the multiple VNFDs includes specific information such as a vendor, a version, an identifier, a deployment specification, and a capacity.
  • the instantiation of the NS is taken as an example, and multiple VNFs are instantiated according to multiple VNFDs in the NSD to implement instantiation of the NS.
  • the VNFs required for different deployment scenarios may be different. Therefore, the method of directly referring to a specific VNFD in the NSD may result in different NSDs in different deployment scenarios.
  • NSD providers need to design different NSD for different deployment scenarios, and with the VNFD version update, need to re-update the NSD to include the updated VNFD.
  • an embodiment of the present invention provides a lifecycle management method, and an apparatus and system based on the method, so as to implement the lifecycle management of the network service intelligently and flexibly, and apply to different deployment scenarios.
  • the second management unit determines a target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and a descriptor identifier of the target network service, where the target network service descriptor corresponding to the descriptor identifier of the target network service corresponds to multiple VNF instance requirement information.
  • Each VNF instance requirement information in the plurality of VNF instance requirement information includes VNF feature information; the second management unit sends a life management request of the target network service to the first management unit, where the lifecycle management request includes a descriptor of the target network service.
  • the first management unit receives the lifecycle management request of the target network service sent by the second management unit, and searches for the plurality of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and according to the Each VNF instance requirement information describes a lifecycle management of the target network service.
  • the target network service may be one of a plurality of network services, or may be one of a plurality of network slices (NS).
  • the embodiment of the present invention uses a network service as an example to describe the life cycle management of the network slice.
  • the process is similar to the embodiment of the invention.
  • the target network service descriptor may correspond to multiple VNF instance requirement information, and may also correspond to multiple network element requirement information, and may also correspond to multiple network function instance requirement information, and the embodiment of the present invention takes multiple VNF instance requirement information as an example. description. If the target network service is one of the multiple network slices, the target network slice descriptor may correspond to multiple VNF instance requirement information, and may also correspond to multiple network element demand signals. Information, can also correspond to multiple network function instance requirements information.
  • the second management unit is a terminal for sending a lifecycle management request, and may be an OSS/BSS or an EM unit in FIG. 1 or a Service Orchestrator (SO) unit or a network orchestrator (NO). Unit, any of Network Manager (NM).
  • the first management unit is a terminal that receives a lifecycle management request and performs lifecycle management, and may be an NFVO unit, a VNFM unit, or a VIM unit in FIG. 1, or an EM unit in FIG. 1, or a NO unit or a NM. Any of the units. It should be noted that the first management unit and the second management unit are not the same unit, that is, when the first management unit is a NO unit, the second management unit is not a NO unit, and is another unit. In the embodiment of the present invention, the second management unit is the OSS/BSS, and the first management unit is the NFVO unit.
  • the solution of the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the NFV-based network architecture shown in FIG. 1, and the lifecycle management of the network service can be implemented intelligently and flexibly through the solution of the embodiment of the present invention.
  • the premise that the embodiment of the present invention is implemented is that the second management unit has sent multiple NSDs to the first management unit, that is, the OSS/BSS has sent multiple NSDs to the NFVO unit, and each of the multiple NSDs
  • the NSF includes a plurality of required VNF instance requirement information, and each VNF instance requirement information includes VNF feature information, and each VNF instance requirement information includes content different from the prior art, and each VNF instance requirement information in the prior art.
  • Including a corresponding VNFD, an identifier of the VNFD, a provider of the VNFD, a version number, and the like, and the VNFD included in a certain NSD in the prior art is a fixed VNFD, and an NSD in the embodiment of the present invention does not include the VNFD.
  • the corresponding VNFD can be determined according to the VNF feature information included therein, so that the lifecycle management process is not limited by a customized NSD template, and the implementation is more flexible.
  • the NFVO unit receives the plurality of NSDs sent by the OSS/BSS and uploads the NSDs to the corresponding directories so that the NFVO unit can extract directly from the directory as needed.
  • FIG. 2 shows a lifecycle management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the method shown in FIG. 2 can be applied to the network architecture shown in FIG. 1, wherein the second management unit can be an OSS/BSS, and the first management unit can be an NFVO unit.
  • the second management unit determines a target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and a descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the second management unit determines the life cycle to be performed according to the NS instance deployment requirement.
  • the target network service of the management, and the descriptor identifier of the target network service, the descriptor of the network service identifies that the user identifies a different NSD, the descriptor identifier of one network service corresponds to an NSD, and an NSD describes multiple required for an NS instance.
  • VNF instance requirement information a VNF instance requirement information includes a VNF feature information.
  • a VNF instance requirement information includes information such as a VNFD, a VNFD identifier, a provider, a version number, and the like, and the first management unit performs lifecycle management according to the VNFD in the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the VNF instance requirement information in the embodiment of the present invention does not directly include the VNFD, but determines the VNFD according to the VNF feature information, so that the VNFD required for customization in the NSD is not required, so that the lifecycle management implementation is more flexible, and the fixed VNFD in the customized NSD is obtained. limits.
  • the VNF feature information is used to describe attribute information corresponding to the at least one feature, and the attribute information includes at least one of a feature name, a feature weight, a preset feature parameter value, and a feature parameter range.
  • the at least one feature may include providing features such as vendor, version, capacity information, location information, connection point information, and the like.
  • Each feature corresponds to one attribute information, for example, the feature weight of the capacity information is 0.2, and the preset feature parameter value is 50W.
  • the preset feature parameter value is a feature parameter value specified by the second management unit system, for example, a minimum reference satisfaction value, an optimal reference satisfaction value, a default reference satisfaction value, etc., and the feature parameter value is not limited to a specific value, and may be two Value or more than two values.
  • the second management unit determines the matching information for deploying the target network service at the same time as or after determining the target network service, and the matching information may be carried in the NSD or may not be carried in the NSD.
  • the matching information is used by the first management unit to determine a plurality of VNFDs or a plurality of VNF instances or a combination of the plurality of VNFDs and the plurality of VNF instances required in the target network service lifecycle management process.
  • the foregoing matching information includes a feature matching rule, where the feature matching rule is one of a preset multi-level matching rule, and the preset multi-level matching rule is set by the second management unit, specifically using the Which of the preset multi-level matching rules is determined by the second management unit.
  • the preset multi-level matching rule may be a matching rule of multiple levels defined according to the matching degree, for example, the preset multi-level matching rule includes a minimum matching rule, a default matching rule, an optimal or maximum matching rule, or includes a level Matching rules, secondary matching rules, and third-level matching rules are higher-level matching rules. Multi-level matching rules can meet the requirements of different deployment scenarios in the lifecycle management process.
  • the foregoing matching information includes a matching result relationship list, where the matching result relationship list includes VNF instance requirement information and phase determined by the second management unit according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the feature matching rule is determined by the second management unit, and the corresponding relationship includes a correspondence between the plurality of VNF instance requirement information and the matching VNFD, and the number of VNF instance requirement information in the corresponding relationship is greater than the target network service description.
  • the VNFD that matches the VNF instance requirement information may be a VNFD corresponding to different NSDs.
  • the resources in the network architecture can be fully utilized, and different NSDs are not required to be customized for different NSs, thereby making lifecycle management more flexible.
  • the foregoing matching information includes a matching result relationship list, where the matching result relationship list includes the VNF feature information of the second management unit according to the feature matching rule and the VNF instance requirement information in the existing VNF instance set. Corresponding relationship between the determined VNF instance requirement information and the matched VNF instance.
  • the feature matching rule is determined by the second management unit, where the correspondence relationship includes multiple VNF instance requirement information and the respective matching VNF instances. Corresponding relationship, the number of VNF instance requirement information in the correspondence relationship is greater than the number of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the target network service descriptor. Make full use of existing VNF instances in the network architecture to improve the efficiency of lifecycle management.
  • the second management unit sends a lifecycle management request of the target network service to the first management unit, the lifecycle management request including a descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the second management unit after determining the target network service, sends a lifecycle management request of the target network service to the first management unit, where the lifecycle management request includes a descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the lifecycle management request further includes the foregoing matching information, and the matching information may be carried in the NSD.
  • the first management unit receives the lifecycle management request sent by the second management unit.
  • the first management unit receives the life management request of the target network service sent by the second management unit, and obtains the descriptor identifier of the target network service of the life management request, and the matching information of the target network service. If the matching information of the target network service is carried in the NSD, the first management unit searches for the target NSD according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and acquires the matching information from the target NSD. If the matching information of the target network service is not carried in the NSD, the first management unit directly obtains the matching information of the target service from the foregoing lifecycle management request.
  • the first management unit searches for the plurality of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, where the VNF instance requirement information includes the VNF feature information.
  • the first management unit searches for multiple VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and one VNF instance requirement information includes one VNF feature information.
  • the first management unit performs lifecycle management on the target network service according to each VNF instance requirement information.
  • Each VNF instance requirement information is each VNF instance requirement information in the plurality of VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the target NSD.
  • the first management unit determines, according to the VNF feature information and the feature matching rule of each VNF instance requirement information, a VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information. And perform lifecycle management on the target network service according to the determined VNFD matching the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the first management unit determines, in the existing virtual network function instance set, each VNF according to the VNF feature information of each VNF instance requirement information.
  • the VNF instance that matches the instance requirement information, or the VNF feature information and the feature matching rule according to each VNF instance requirement information determines a VNF instance that matches each VNF instance requirement information in the existing virtual network function instance set;
  • the lifecycle management of the target network service is performed according to the determined VNF instance that matches the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the matching result relationship list includes VNF instance requirement information determined by the second management unit according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the first management unit searches for the VNFD matching the VNF instance requirement information according to the correspondence between the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information and the matched VNFD in the matching result relationship list. And perform lifecycle management on the target network service according to the VNFD that is found to match the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the matching result relationship list includes VNF instance requirement information determined by the second management unit according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the first management unit searches for the corresponding information of each VNF instance according to the correspondence between the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information and the matched VNFD in the matching result relationship list.
  • the VNFD is configured, and the target network service is lifecycle managed according to the VNFD that is matched with the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and the descriptor identifier of the target network service are determined by the second management unit, and the lifecycle management request of the target network service is sent to the first management unit, and the life cycle is
  • the management request includes a descriptor identifier of the target network service, and the target network service descriptor corresponding to the descriptor identifier of the target network service corresponds to multiple VNF instance requirement information, and each VNF instance requirement information in the plurality of VNF instance requirement information includes a VNF feature.
  • the first management unit receives the lifecycle management request, and searches for multiple VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and performs target network service according to each VNF instance requirement information.
  • the lifecycle management is implemented to implement the lifecycle management of the network service intelligently and flexibly, and can be applied to different deployment scenarios to expand the lifecycle management application scenario.
  • FIG. 3 shows a lifecycle management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the same or similar content as the method shown in FIG. 2 can be referred to the detailed description of FIG. 2, and details are not described herein.
  • the NFVO unit in the first management unit determines the VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information in the NSD.
  • the OSS/BSS determines a target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and a descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the OSS/BSS sends a lifecycle management request for the target network service to the NFVO unit, the lifecycle management request including the descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the NFVO unit receives a lifecycle management request sent by the OSS/BSS.
  • the NFVO unit searches for multiple VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and the VNF instance requirement information includes the VNF feature information.
  • the NFVO unit determines the VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information based on the VNF feature information for each VNF instance requirement information.
  • the NFVO unit matches the VNF feature information for each VNF instance requirement information with a plurality of VNFDs in the network architecture based on feature matching rules in the matching information.
  • the feature matching rule may specify a matching rule of a certain feature in the VNF feature information based on one or a plurality of attribute information, for example, the feature weight optimal matching of the capacity information, and the optimal matching of the preset feature parameter values.
  • the Feature matching rules can also specify matching rules for certain features.
  • Each VNFD of the plurality of VNFDs in the network architecture carries a corresponding provider, capacity information, location information, and the like.
  • the NFVO unit will sequentially match each VNF feature information with a plurality of VNFDs in the network architecture according to the feature matching rule to determine a VNFD that matches each VNF feature information. If there are multiple VNFDs matching a certain VNF feature information during the matching process, the NFVO unit performs matching again in the plurality of VNFDs based on the optimal matching rule to select an optimal VNFD; or the NFVO unit to the OSS /BSS sends a request, and the OSS/BSS determines a VNFD that matches the VNF feature information.
  • the NFVO unit performs matching based on the minimum matching rule to determine the VNFD that matches the VNF feature information; or the NFVO unit sends a request to the OSS/BSS,
  • the VNFD that matches the VNF feature information is determined by the OSS/BSS.
  • the NFVO unit calculates the feature matching value according to the matching degree of each feature in the VNF feature information and the weight value of each feature defined, thereby determining the optimal matching VNFD.
  • the NFVO unit sends a VNF instantiation request to the VNFM unit.
  • the NFVO after determining the VNFD that matches each VNF instance requirement information, the NFVO sends a VNF instantiation request to the VNFM unit, the VNF instantiation request including the determined identification IDs of the plurality of VNFDs.
  • the VNFM unit performs VNF instantiation based on the VNF instantiation request.
  • the VNFM unit performs VNF instantiation based on the identification ID of each VNFD in the identification IDs of the plurality of VNFDs in the VNF instantiation request, instantiating a plurality of VNF instances.
  • the NSD also includes a virtual connection descriptor corresponding to the VNF instance requirement information, and the virtual connection descriptor is used to implement the connection between the VNF instances.
  • the NFVO unit After instantiating a plurality of VNF instances, the NFVO unit requests the VIM unit to connect to the instantiated plurality of VNF instances according to the virtual connection descriptor corresponding to each VNF instance requirement information in the target NSD.
  • the NFVO unit feeds back a matching result to the OSS/BSS, and the matching result includes a correspondence between each VNF instance requirement information and the matched VNFD.
  • the NFVO searches for each VNF according to the correspondence between the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information in the matching result relationship list and the matched VNFD.
  • the VNFD matching the instance requirement information, the matching result relationship list is composed of the OSF/BSS according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information.
  • the NFVO unit directly utilizes the corresponding relationship list by using the corresponding relationship between the VNF instance requirement information and the matched VNFD, thereby saving the process of autonomous matching of the NFVO unit, thereby improving the processing efficiency.
  • the VNFD matching the VNF instance requirement information is determined according to the VNF feature information and the feature matching rule, and the VNF feature information is associated with the VNFD in the network architecture, so that the lifecycle management is more intelligent and flexible.
  • FIG. 4 shows a lifecycle management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the same or similar content as the method shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 can be referred to the detailed description of FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and details are not described herein.
  • the NFVO unit in the first management unit determines the VNF instance that matches each VNF instance requirement information in the NSD.
  • the OSS/BSS determines a target network service to be subjected to lifecycle management and a descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the OSS/BSS sends a lifecycle management request for the target network service to the NFVO unit, the lifecycle management request including the descriptor identifier of the target network service.
  • the NFVO unit receives a lifecycle management request sent by the OSS/BSS.
  • the NFVO unit searches for multiple VNF instance requirement information corresponding to the descriptor of the target network service according to the descriptor identifier of the target network service, and the VNF instance requirement information includes the VNF feature information.
  • the NFVO unit determines a VNF instance that matches each VNF instance requirement information in the existing set of VNF instances based on the VNF feature information for each VNF instance requirement information.
  • the existing VNF instance set includes multiple instantiated VNF instances, which are present in the network architecture shown in FIG. 1.
  • the NFVO unit matches the plurality of VNF instances of the existing VNF instance set based on the VNF feature information for each VNF instance requirement information.
  • the NFVO unit matches the VNF feature information of each VNF instance requirement information with the plurality of VNF instances of the existing VNF instance set according to the feature matching rule in the matching information.
  • the feature matching rule may specify a matching rule of a certain feature in the VNF feature information based on one or a plurality of attribute information, for example, the feature weight optimal matching of the capacity information, and the preset The optimal match of the feature parameter values.
  • the feature matching rule can also specify matching rules for certain features.
  • Each VNF instance of the plurality of VNF instances of the existing VNF instance set carries a corresponding provider, capacity information, location information, and the like.
  • the NFVO unit will sequentially match each VNF feature information with a plurality of VNF instances of the existing VNF instance set according to the feature matching rule to determine a VNF instance that matches each VNF feature information. If there are multiple VNF instances matching a certain VNF feature information in the matching process, the NFVO unit performs matching again in the multiple VNF instances based on the optimal matching rule to select an optimal VNF instance; or NFVO The unit sends a request to the OSS/BSS, and the OSS/BSS determines a VNF instance that matches the VNF feature information.
  • the NFVO unit performs matching based on the minimum matching rule to determine the VNF instance that matches the VNF feature information; or the NFVO unit sends the VNF instance to the OSS/BSS.
  • the request determines, by the OSS/BSS, the VNF instance that matches the VNF feature information.
  • the NFVO unit calculates the feature matching value according to the matching degree of each feature in the VNF feature information and the weight value of each feature defined, thereby determining an optimal matching VNF instance.
  • the NFVO searches and matches each of the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information in the matching result relationship list with the matching VNF instance.
  • the VNF instance needs information matching the VNF instance, and the matching result relationship list is matched by the OSF/BSS according to the feature matching rule and the VNF feature information of the VNF instance requirement information in the existing VNF instance set.
  • the correspondence between the VNF instances, the NFVO unit directly uses the correspondence list, which can save the process of autonomous matching of the NFVO unit, thereby improving the processing efficiency.
  • the VNF feature information is associated with the VNF instance in the existing VNF instance set, and the NFVO unit is not required to send the VNF instantiation request to the VNFM unit, thereby improving processing efficiency and making the lifecycle management more intelligent and flexible.
  • each network element for example, the first management unit, the second management unit, and the like, in order to implement the above functions, includes hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to each function.
  • the present invention can be implemented in a combination of hardware or hardware and computer software in combination with the elements and algorithm steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is executed by hardware or computer software to drive hardware, depending on the specific application of the technical solution And design constraints. A person skilled in the art can use different methods for implementing the described functions for each particular application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the present invention.
  • the embodiment of the present invention may divide the function module by using the first management unit, the second management unit, and the like according to the foregoing method example.
  • each function module may be divided according to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated in the function.
  • a processing module In a processing module.
  • the above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of the module in the embodiment of the present invention is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and the actual implementation may have another division manner.
  • FIG. 5A shows a possible structural diagram of the first management unit involved in the above embodiment.
  • the first management unit 500 includes a processing module 502 and a communication module 503.
  • the processing module 502 is configured to perform control management on the actions of the first management unit.
  • the processing module 502 is configured to support the first management unit to perform the processes 203, 204, and 205 in FIG. 2, and the processes 303, 304, and 305 in FIG. Processes 403, 404, and 405 in FIG. 4 and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.
  • the communication module 503 is for supporting communication between the first management unit and the second management unit or other network entity, such as communication with the OSS/BSS unit or EM unit shown in FIG.
  • the first management unit may further include a storage module 501 for storing program codes and data of the first management unit.
  • the processing module 502 can be a processor or a controller, and can be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and an application-specific integrated circuit (Application-Specific). Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. It is possible to implement or carry out the various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure.
  • the processor may also be a combination of computing functions, for example, including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.
  • the communication module 503 can be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a communication interface, or the like.
  • the storage module 501 can be a memory.
  • the first management unit involved in the embodiment of the present invention may be the first management unit shown in FIG. 5B.
  • the first management unit 510 includes a processor 512, a transceiver 513, and a memory 511.
  • the first management unit 510 may further include a bus 514.
  • the transceiver 513, the processor 512 and the memory 511 can be connected to each other through a bus 514;
  • the bus 514 can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus.
  • PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect
  • EISA Extended Industry Standard Architecture
  • the bus 514 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, only one thick line is shown in Figure 5B, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.
  • FIG. 6A shows a possible structural diagram of the second management unit involved in the above embodiment.
  • the second management unit 600 includes a processing module 602 and a communication module 603.
  • the processing module 602 is configured to perform control management on the actions of the second management unit.
  • the processing module 602 is configured to support the second management unit to perform the process 201 in FIG. 2, the process 301 in FIG. 3, the process 401 in FIG. / or other processes for the techniques described herein.
  • the communication module 603 is configured to support communication between the second management unit and the first management unit or other network entity, such as with the NFVO unit or VNFM unit shown in FIG.
  • the second management unit may further include a storage module 601 for storing program codes and data of the second management unit.
  • the processing module 602 can be a processor or a controller, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and an application-specific integrated circuit (Application-Specific). Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. It is possible to implement or carry out the various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure.
  • the processor may also be a combination of computing functions, for example, including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.
  • the communication module 603 can be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a communication interface, or the like.
  • the storage module 601 can be a memory.
  • the second management unit involved in the embodiment of the present invention may be the second management unit shown in FIG. 6B.
  • the second management unit 610 includes a processor 612, a transceiver 613, and a memory 611.
  • the second management unit 610 may further include a bus 614.
  • the transceiver 613, the processor 612, and the memory 611 may be connected to each other through a bus 614.
  • the bus 614 may be a peripheral component interconnection standard bus or an extended industry standard structure bus or the like.
  • the bus 614 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, only one thick line is shown in Figure 6B, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.
  • the steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure of the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in a hardware manner, or may be implemented by a processor executing software instructions.
  • the software instructions may be composed of corresponding software modules, which may be stored in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read only memory ( Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable hard disk, read-only optical disk (CD-ROM) or any other form of storage medium known in the art.
  • An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor to enable the processor to read information from, and write information to, the storage medium.
  • the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor.
  • the processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC.
  • the ASIC can be located in a core network interface device.
  • the processor and the storage medium may also exist as discrete components in the core network interface device.
  • the functions described in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.
  • the functions may be stored in a computer readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium.
  • Computer readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another.
  • a storage medium may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

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Abstract

一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元，其中方法包括：第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及目标网络业务的描述符标识，并向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命管理请求，该目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，该多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识；第一管理单元接收生命周期管理请求，并根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，并根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。本发明实施例能够应用于不同的部署场景，并且能够智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理。

Description

一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元 技术领域
本发明涉及通信技术领域，尤其涉及网络功能虚拟化(Network Function Virtualization，NFV)技术领域中的一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元。
背景技术
NFV技术基于海量的、归一化的服务器和交换机，通过软件实现多种网络功能(例如：虚拟运营、虚拟广域网、虚拟应用接入路由器等功能)，从而降低成本，加速业务部署、资源弹性伸缩，构建创新生态链。NFV技术中，一台计算机被虚拟为多台虚拟逻辑计算机，即虚拟机(Virtual Machine，VM)。虚拟机一般使用连接机框内交换机或者架顶交换机的服务器物理网口、虚拟网卡以及虚拟交换机，与服务器外部进行数据通信。
NFV技术通过借用信息技术(Information Technology，IT)的虚拟化技术，使得许多类型的网络设备可以合并到工业标准中，例如，使得业务、交换、存储等网络设备可以部署在数据中心或者网络节点中。NFV技术将各种网络功能以软件方式实现，并能在工业标准的服务器上运行这些网络功能，还能根据需要对这些网络功能进行迁移、实例化、以及重新部署等等，并且不需要安装新的设备。即通过NFV技术可以产生虚拟网络功能(Virtualized Network Function，VNF)。多个VNF之间可以实现网络业务(Network Service，NS)。实践中，厂商用来部署NS的模板是网络业务描述符(Network Service Descriptor，NSD)，基于NSD可以部署一个具体的NS实例；厂商用来部署VNF的模板是虚拟网络功能描述符(Virtualized Network Function Descriptor，VNFD)。
目前，NSD提供厂商在设计NSD时，直接在NSD中包含相关的VNFD，即一个NSD中包括多个VNFD，该多个VNFD中的每个VNFD包括厂商、版本、标识、部署规格、容量等具体信息。在部署NS的生命周期管理时，以部署NS的实例化为例，根据NSD下的多个VNFD实例化出多个VNF，从而实现NS的实例化。但是，这种在NSD中直接引用具体的VNFD的方法，会导致不同的部署场景需要提供不同的NSD，脱离NSD作为一个模板的性质，换言之，NSD提供厂商需要针对不同的部署场景设计不同的NSD，并且随着VNFD版本的更新，需要重新更新NSD使其包含更新的VNFD。
由此可见，现有的基于NSD下的VNFD的生命周期管理过程需要定制的 NSD，应用场景有一定的局限性，实现过程不灵活。
发明内容
本发明实施例提供了一种生命周期管理方法及管理单元，能够应用于不同的部署场景，并且能够智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理。
一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种管理方法，该方法包括：第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及目标网络业务的描述符标识，该目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，该多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；第二管理单元向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识；第一管理单元接收第二管理单元发送的目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，并根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，并根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
基于VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息智能、灵活地实现第二管理单元对网络业务的生命周期管理，无需针对部署场景定制NSD，能够适用于不同的部署场景。
在一种可能的设计中，上述VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，该属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。其中，上述至少一种特征可以包括提供厂商、版本、容量信息、位置信息等特征。每个特征对应一个属性信息，例如容量信息的特征权重为0.2，预设特征参数值为50W。
在一种可能的设计中，上述生命周期管理请求还包括用于部署所述目标网络业务的匹配信息，该匹配信息可由上述第一管理单元确定，也可由上述第二管理单元确定，使得匹配信息的确定具有灵活性。
在一种可能的设计中，上述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则，该特征匹配规则为预设多级匹配规则中的一种，该预设多级匹配规则可为根据匹配度定义的多个等级的匹配规则，例如，该预设多级匹配规则包括最小匹配规则、默认匹配规则、最优或最大匹配规则；或包括一级匹配规则、二级匹配规则、三级匹配规则等更高级别的匹配规则。多级匹配规则可以满足生命周期管理过程中不同部署场景的需求。上述预设多级匹配规则由上述第二管理单元设定。
在一种可能的设计中，上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括上述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系，该对应关系包括多个VNF实例需求信息与各自相匹配的VNFD之间的对应关系，该对应关系中的VNF实例需求信息的数量大于上述目标网络业务描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息的数量。与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD可能为不同NSD对应的VNFD，可以充分利用网络架构中的资源，无需针对不同的NS定制不同的NSD，从而使得生命周期管理实现更加灵活。
在一种可能的设计中，上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括上述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系，同理该对应关系包括多个VNF实例需求信息与各自相匹配的VNF实例之间的对应关系，该对应关系中的VNF实例需求信息的数量大于上述目标网络业务描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息的数量。充分利用网络架构中已存在的VNF实例，提高生命周期管理的效率。
上述两种可能的设计，由上述第二管理单元确定匹配结果关系列表，并将匹配结果关系列表携带在生命管理请求中，发送给上述第一管理单元，由第一管理单元根据匹配结果关系列表以及目标网络业务描述符中的多个VNF实例需求信息对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
在一种可能的设计中，上述第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和上述匹配信息中的特征匹配规则确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，并根据确定的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD可能为不同NSD对应的VNFD，可以充分利用网络架构中的资源，无需针对不同的NS定制不同的NSD，从而使得生命周期管理实现更加灵活。
在一种可能的设计中，上述第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，并根据确定的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。充分利用网络架构中已存在的VNF实例，提高生命周期管理的效率。
在一种可能的设计中，上述第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和上述匹配信息中的特征匹配规则在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，并根据确定的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。充分利用网络架构中已存在的VNF实例，提高生命周期管理的效率。
上述三种可能的设计，由上述第一管理单元确定相匹配的VNFD或VNF实例，并根据确定的相匹配的VNFD或VNF实例对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。其中，每个VNF实例需求信息为目标网络业务描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息中的每个。
另一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种管理装置，该装置可以实现上述方法实例中第一管理单元所执行的功能，所述功能可以通过硬件实现，也可以通过硬件执行相应的软件实现。所述硬件或软件包括一个或多个上述功能相应的模块。
在一种可能的设计中，该装置的结构中包括处理器和收发器，该处理器被配置为支持该装置执行上述方法中相应的功能。该收发器用于支持该装置与其他网元之间的通信。该装置还可以包括存储器，该存储器用于与处理器耦合，其保存该装置必要的程序指令和数据。
又一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种管理装置，该装置可以实现上述方法实例中第二管理单元所执行的功能，所述功能可以通过硬件实现，也可以通过硬件执行相应的软件实现。所述硬件或软件包括一个或多个上述功能相应的模块。
在一种可能的设计中，该装置的结构中包括处理器和收发器，该处理器被配置为支持该装置执行上述方法中相应的功能。该收发器用于支持该装置与其他网元之间的通信。该装置还可以包括存储器，该存储器用于与处理器耦合，其保存该装置必要的程序指令和数据。
又一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种通信***，该***包括上述方面所述的可以实现第一管理单元的功能的装置和可以实现第二管理单元的功能的装置。
再一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种计算机存储介质，用于储存为上述第一管理单元所用的计算机软件指令，其包含用于执行上述方面所设计的程序。
再一方面，本发明实施例提供了一种计算机存储介质，用于储存为上述第 二管理单元所用的计算机软件指令，其包含用于执行上述方面所设计的程序。
相较于现有技术，本发明实施例提供的方案中，通过第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及目标网络业务的描述符标识，并向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识，该目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；第一管理单元接收该生命周期管理请求，并根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，并根据每个VNF实例需求信息对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，从而智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理，并且能够应用于不同的部署场景，扩大生命周期管理的应用场景。
附图说明
为了更清楚地说明本发明实施例或现有技术中的技术方案，下面将对实施例中所需要使用的附图作简单地介绍，显而易见地，下面描述中的附图仅仅是本发明的一些实施例，对于本领域普通技术人员来讲，在不付出创造性劳动的前提下，还可以根据这些附图获得其他的附图。
图1为本发明实施例提供的一种可能的网络架构示意图；
图2为本发明实施例提供的一种生命周期管理方法的通信示意图；
图3为本发明实施例提供的另一种生命周期管理方法的通信示意图；
图4为本发明实施例提供的又一种生命周期管理方法的通信示意图；
图5A为本发明实施例提供的一种第一管理单元的结构示意图；
图5B为本发明实施例提供的另一种第一管理单元的结构示意图；
图6A为本发明实施例提供的一种第二管理单元的结构示意图；
图6B为本发明实施例提供的另一种第二管理单元的结构示意图。
具体实施方式
为使本发明实施例的目的、技术方案和优点更加清楚，下面将结合本发明实施例中的附图，对本发明实施例中的技术方案进行描述。
本发明实施例描述的网络架构以及业务场景是为了更加清楚的说明本发 明实施例的技术方案，并不构成对本发明实施例提供的技术方案的限定，本领域普通技术人员可知，随着网络架构的演变和新业务场景的出现，本发明实施例提供的技术方案对于类似的技术问题，同样适用。
如图1所示，基于NFV的网络架构主要包括：运营支撑***(Operation Support System，OSS)/业务支撑***(Business Support System，BSS)、网元管理(Element Manager，EM)单元、虚拟化网络功能(VNF)单元、网络功能虚拟化基础设施(NFV Infrastructure，NFVI)单元、网络功能虚拟化调度(NFV Orchestrator，NFVO)单元、虚拟化网络功能管理(VNF Manager，VNFM)单元和虚拟化基础设施管理(Virtualised Infrastructure Manager，VIM)单元。需要说明的是，在下文中，可以各用单元的英文缩写来描述对应单元，例如网元管理单元可以描述为EM或EM单元。下面对上述单元做简单介绍：
OSS/BSS是电信运营商的一体化、信息资源共享的支持***，其主要由网络管理、***管理、计费、营业、账务和客户业务等部分组成，而***间则通过统一的信息总线有机整合在一起。OSS/BSS能在帮助运营商制订符合自身特点的运营支撑***的同时帮助确定***的发展方向，还能帮助用户制订***的整合标准，改善和提高用户的业务水平。OSS/BSS在基于NFV的网络架构中用于对各个网元的生命周期管理(例如实例化等)进行必要的修改和调整。
EM单元用于对部分VNF单元进行管理。
NFVI单元为具有部署网络功能虚拟化的能力的环境中的所有硬件设备与软件组件的统称。NFVI单元可以跨越若干个物理站点(例如：数据中心运营场所)进行扩展部署，此时，为这些物理站点提供数据连接的网络也认为是NFVI单元的一部分。
NFVO单元可用于管理NS的生命周期，并协调NS的生命周期管理、协调VNF的生命周期管理(需要得到VNFM的支持)、协调NFVI单元各类资源的管理(需要得到VIM的支持)，从而确保所需各类资源与连接的优化配置。其中，生命周期管理，是指对VNF单元或NS单元等的实例化、维护以及终结进行管理。
VNFM单元负责VNF的生命周期管理。
VIM单元负责对NFVI单元的计算资源、存储资源以及网络资源进行控制与管理。VIM可被部署于基础网络运营商的基础设施域(例如：NFVI接入点/服务提供点)。
下面将基于上面所述的本发明实施例涉及的共性方面，对本发明实施例进 一步详细说明。
NSD是厂商提供的用来部署NS的模板，基于NSD可以部署出一个具体的NS实例。VNFD是厂商提供的用来部署VNF的模板。NSD提供厂商在设计NSD时，直接在NSD中包含相关的VNFD，即一个NSD中包括多个VNFD，该多个VNFD中的每个VNFD包括厂商、版本、标识、部署规格、容量等具体信息。在部署NS的生命周期管理时，以部署NS的实例化为例，根据NSD下的多个VNFD实例化出多个VNF，从而实现NS的实例化。但是，对于某类NS的某个节点，不同的部署场景所需的VNF会有所差异，因此，这种在NSD中直接引用具体的VNFD的方法，会导致不同的部署场景需要提供不同的NSD，脱离NSD作为一个模板的性质，换言之，NSD提供厂商需要针对不同的部署场景设计不同的NSD，并且随着VNFD版本的更新，需要重新更新NSD使其包含更新的VNFD。
由此可见，现有的基于NSD下的VNFD的生命周期管理过程需要定制的NSD，应用场景有一定的局限性，实现过程不灵活。
基于此，本发明的一个实施例提供一种生命周期管理方法，和基于这个方法的装置和***，以期智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理，并应用于不同的部署场景。在该方法中，第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及目标网络业务的描述符标识，该目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，该多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；第二管理单元向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识；第一管理单元接收第二管理单元发送的目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，并根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，并根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。其中，目标网络业务可以是多个网络业务中的一个，也可以是多个网络切片(Network Slice，NS)中的一个，本发明实施例以网络业务为例进行描述，网络切片的生命周期管理过程与本发明实施例类似。目标网络业务描述符可对应多个VNF实例需求信息，也可对应多个网元需求信息，还可以对应多个网络功能实例需求信息，本发明实施例以对应多个VNF实例需求信息为例进行描述。若目标网络业务为多个网络切片中的一个，则目标网络切片描述符可对应多个VNF实例需求信息，也可对应多个网元需求信 息，还可以对应多个网络功能实例需求信息。
其中，上述第二管理单元为发送生命周期管理请求的一端，可以为图1中的OSS/BSS或EM单元，也可以为业务调度(Service Orchestrator，SO)单元，网络调度(Network Orchestrator，NO)单元，网络管理(Network Manager，NM)中的任一种。上述第一管理单元为接收生命周期管理请求并执行生命周期管理的一端，可以为图1中NFVO单元、VNFM单元或VIM单元，也可以为图1中的EM单元，还可以为NO单元、NM单元中的任一种。需要说明的是，上述第一管理单元和第二管理单元不同时为同一单元，即当第一管理单元为NO单元时，第二管理单元不为NO单元，为其它的单元。本发明实施例以第二管理单元为OSS/BSS，第一管理单元为NFVO单元进行描述。
本发明实施例的方案可以应用于图1所示的基于NFV的网络架构，通过本发明实施例的方案能够智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理。需要说明的是，本发明实施例实施的前提条件是第二管理单元已将多个NSD发送至第一管理单元，即OSS/BSS已将多个NSD发送至NFVO单元，该多个NSD中每个NSD包括所需的多个VNF实例需求信息，每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息，每个VNF实例需求信息所包括的内容与现有技术不同，现有技术中每个VNF实例需求信息包括对应的VNFD、该VNFD的标识、该VNFD的提供厂商、版本号等，并且现有技术中某个NSD所包括的VNFD为固定的VNFD，而本发明实施例中的某个NSD不包括VNFD，但可以根据其所包括的VNF特征信息确定对应的VNFD，从而使得生命周期管理过程不受某个定制NSD模板的限制，实现更加灵活。NFVO单元接收OSS/BSS发送的多个NSD，并将这些NSD上传至相应的目录，以便NFVO单元需要时直接从目录中提取。
下面结合附图2～图4对本发明实施例提供的方案进行说明。
图2示出了本发明实施例提供的一种生命周期管理方法。图2所示的方法可以应用于图1所示的网络架构，其中，第二管理单元可以为OSS/BSS，第一管理单元可以为NFVO单元。
在201部分，第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及所述目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在一个示例中，第二管理单元根据NS实例部署需求确定待进行生命周期 管理的目标网络业务，以及该目标网络业务的描述符标识，网络业务的描述符标识用户识别不同的NSD，一个网络业务的描述符标识对应一个NSD，一个NSD描述一个NS实例所需的多个VNF实例需求信息，一个VNF实例需求信息包括一个VNF特征信息。现有技术中，一个VNF实例需求信息包括VNFD、VNFD标识、提供厂商、版本号等信息，第一管理单元根据VNF实例需求信息中的VNFD进行生命周期管理。本发明实施例中的一个VNF实例需求信息不直接包括VNFD，而是根据VNF特征信息确定VNFD，从而无需在NSD定制所需的各个VNFD，使得生命周期管理实现更加灵活，摆脱定制NSD中固定VNFD的限制。其中，VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，该属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。其中，至少一种特征可以包括提供厂商、版本、容量信息、位置信息、连接点信息等特征。每个特征对应一个属性信息，例如容量信息的特征权重为0.2，预设特征参数值为50W。预设特征参数值为第二管理单元***指定的特征参数值，例如，最小参考满足值、最优参考满足值、默认参考满足值等，这个特征参数值不限于一个具体数值，可以为两个数值或两个以上的数值。
在一个示例中，第二管理单元在确定上述目标网络业务的同时或之后，确定用于部署目标网络业务的匹配信息，该匹配信息可携带在NSD中，也可不携带在NSD中。该匹配信息用于第一管理单元确定目标网络业务生命周期管理过程中所需的多个VNFD或多个VNF实例或多个VNFD与多个VNF实例的组合。
在一种可能实现的方式中，上述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则，该特征匹配规则为预设多级匹配规则中的一个，该预设多级匹配规则由第二管理单元设定，具体使用该预设多级匹配规则中的哪个匹配规则由第二管理单元确定。该预设多级匹配规则可为根据匹配度定义的多个等级的匹配规则，例如，该预设多级匹配规则包括最小匹配规则、默认匹配规则、最优或最大匹配规则；或包括一级匹配规则、二级匹配规则、三级匹配规则等更高级别的匹配规则。多级匹配规则可以满足生命周期管理过程中不同部署场景的需求。
在另一种可能实现的方式中，上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系， 该特征匹配规则由第二管理单元确定，上述对应关系包括多个VNF实例需求信息与各自相匹配的VNFD之间的对应关系，该对应关系中的VNF实例需求信息的数量大于上述目标网络业务描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息的数量。与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD可能为不同NSD对应的VNFD，可以充分利用网络架构中的资源，无需针对不同的NS定制不同的NSD，从而使得生命周期管理实现更加灵活。
在又一种可能实现的方式中，上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系，同理该特征匹配规则由第二管理单元确定，该对应关系包括多个VNF实例需求信息与各自相匹配的VNF实例之间的对应关系，该对应关系中的VNF实例需求信息的数量大于上述目标网络业务描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息的数量。充分利用网络架构中已存在的VNF实例，提高生命周期管理的效率。
在202部分，第二管理单元向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在一个示例中，第二管理单元在确定目标网络业务之后，向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识。该生命周期管理请求还包括上述匹配信息，该匹配信息可以携带在NSD中。
在203部分，第一管理单元接收第二管理单元发送的生命周期管理请求。
在一个示例中，第一管理单元接收第二管理单元发送的目标网络业务的生命管理请求，并获取该生命管理请求的目标网络业务的描述符标识，以及目标网络业务的匹配信息。若目标网络业务的匹配信息携带在NSD中，则第一管理单元根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标NSD，并从目标NSD中获取该匹配信息。若目标网络业务的匹配信息未携带在NSD中，则第一管理单元直接从上述生命周期管理请求中获取目标业务的匹配信息。
在204部分，第一管理单元根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息。
在一个示例中，第一管理单元根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，一个VNF实例需求信息包括一个VNF特征信息。
在205部分，第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
其中，每个VNF实例需求信息为目标NSD对应的多个VNF实例需求信息中的每个VNF实例需求信息。
在一种可能实现的方式中，当上述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则时，第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和特征匹配规则确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，并根据确定的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
在另一种可能实现的方式中，当上述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则时，第一管理单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，或根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和特征匹配规则在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例；并根据确定的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
在又一种可能实现的方式中，当上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系时，第一管理单元根据匹配结果关系列表中的VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系查找与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，并根据查找的与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
在又一种可能实现的方式中，当上述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，该匹配结果关系列表包括第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系时，第一管理单元根据匹配结果关系列表中的VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系查找与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹 配的VNFD，并根据查找的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
在本发明实施例中，通过第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及目标网络业务的描述符标识，并向第一管理单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识，该目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；第一管理单元接收该生命周期管理请求，并根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，并根据每个VNF实例需求信息对目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，从而智能、灵活地实现网络业务的生命周期管理，并且能够应用于不同的部署场景，扩大生命周期管理的应用场景。
图3示出了本发明实施例提供的一种生命周期管理方法。图3所示的方法中，与图2所示的方法相同或相似的内容可以参考图2有关的详细描述，此处不作赘述。需要说明的是，图3所示的方案中，第一管理单元中的NFVO单元确定与NSD中每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD。
在301部分，OSS/BSS确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及所述目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在302部分，OSS/BSS向NFVO单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在303部分，NFVO单元接收OSS/BSS发送的生命周期管理请求。
在304部分，NFVO单元根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息。
在305部分，NFVO单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD。
在一个示例中，NFVO单元根据匹配信息中的特征匹配规则将每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与网络架构中的多个VNFD进行匹配。该特征匹配规则可指定VNF特征信息中某种特征基于某种或某几种属性信息的匹配规则，例如，容量信息的特征权重最优匹配，预设特征参数值的最优匹配。该 特征匹配规则也可指定某几种特征的匹配规则。网络架构中的多个VNFD中每个VNFD携带对应的提供厂商、容量信息、位置信息等。NFVO单元将根据特征匹配规则依次将每个VNF特征信息与网络架构中的多个VNFD进行匹配，确定与每个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNFD。若在匹配过程中，与某个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNFD有多个，则NFVO单元基于最优匹配规则在这多个VNFD中再次进行匹配，选择最优的一个VNFD；或NFVO单元向OSS/BSS发送请求，由OSS/BSS确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的一个VNFD。若在匹配过程中，不存在与某个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNFD，则NFVO单元基于最小匹配规则进行匹配，确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的VNFD；或NFVO单元向OSS/BSS发送请求，由OSS/BSS确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的VNFD。可选的，NFVO单元根据VNF特征信息中每个特征的匹配度以及定义的每个特征的权值计算特征匹配值，从而确定最优匹配的VNFD。
在306部分，NFVO单元向VNFM单元发送VNF实例化请求。
在一个示例中，NFVO在确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD后，向VNFM单元发送VNF实例化请求，该VNF实例化请求包括确定的多个VNFD的标识ID。
在307部分，VNFM单元根据VNF实例化请求进行VNF实例化。
在一个示例中，VNFM单元根据VNF实例化请求中的多个VNFD的标识ID中每个VNFD的标识ID进行VNF实例化，实例化出多个VNF实例。
NSD还包括VNF实例需求信息对应的虚拟连接描述符，虚拟连接描述符用于实现VNF实例之间的连接。在实例化多个VNF实例后，NFVO单元根据目标NSD中每个VNF实例需求信息对应的虚拟连接描述符请求VIM单元对实例化的多个VNF实例进行连接。
在目标网络业务的实例化结束之后，NFVO单元向OSS/BSS反馈匹配结果，该匹配结果包括每个VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间的对应关系。
基于图3所示的实施例，在另一个实施例中，在305部分，NFVO根据匹配结果关系列表中的VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系查找与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，该匹配结果关系列表由OSS/BSS根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信 息确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间的对应关系，NFVO单元直接利用该对应关系列表，可节省NFVO单元自主匹配的过程，从而提高处理效率。
在本发明实施例中，根据VNF特征信息和特征匹配规则确定与VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，进而将VNF特征信息与网络架构中的VNFD相关联，使得生命周期管理更加智能、灵活。
图4示出了本发明实施例提供的一种生命周期管理方法。图4所示的方法中，与图2或图3所示的方法相同或相似的内容可以参考图2或图3有关的详细描述，此处不作赘述。需要说明的是，图4所示的方案中，第一管理单元中的NFVO单元确定与NSD中每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例。
在401部分，OSS/BSS确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及所述目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在402部分，OSS/BSS向NFVO单元发送目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，该生命周期管理请求包括目标网络业务的描述符标识。
在404部分，NFVO单元接收OSS/BSS发送的生命周期管理请求。
在404部分，NFVO单元根据目标网络业务的描述符标识查找目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个VNF实例需求信息，VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息。
在405部分，NFVO单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例。
其中，已存在的VNF实例集合包括多个已实例化的VNF实例，存在于图1所示的网络架构中。
在一个示例中，在一种可能实现的方式中，NFVO单元根据每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合的多个VNF实例进行匹配。
在另一种可能实现的方式中，NFVO单元根据匹配信息中的特征匹配规则将每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与已存在的VNF实例集合的多个VNF实例进行匹配。该特征匹配规则可指定VNF特征信息中某种特征基于某种或某几种属性信息的匹配规则，例如，容量信息的特征权重最优匹配，预设 特征参数值的最优匹配。该特征匹配规则也可指定某几种特征的匹配规则。已存在的VNF实例集合的多个VNF实例中每个VNF实例携带对应的提供厂商、容量信息、位置信息等。NFVO单元将根据特征匹配规则依次将每个VNF特征信息与已存在的VNF实例集合的多个VNF实例进行匹配，确定与每个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNF实例。若在匹配过程中，与某个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNF实例有多个，则NFVO单元基于最优匹配规则在这多个VNF实例中再次进行匹配，选择最优的一个VNF实例；或NFVO单元向OSS/BSS发送请求，由OSS/BSS确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的一个VNF实例。若在匹配过程中，不存在与某个VNF特征信息相匹配的VNF实例，则NFVO单元基于最小匹配规则进行匹配，确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的VNF实例；或NFVO单元向OSS/BSS发送请求，由OSS/BSS确定与该VNF特征信息相匹配的VNF实例。可选的，NFVO单元根据VNF特征信息中每个特征的匹配度以及定义的每个特征的权值计算特征匹配值，从而确定最优匹配的VNF实例。
基于图4所示的实施例，在另一个实施例中，在405部分，NFVO根据匹配结果关系列表中的VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系查找与每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，该匹配结果关系列表由OSS/BSS根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间的对应关系，NFVO单元直接利用该对应关系列表，可节省NFVO单元自主匹配的过程，从而提高处理效率。
在本发明实施例中，将VNF特征信息与已存在的VNF实例集合中的VNF实例相关联，无需NFVO单元向VNFM单元发送VNF实例化请求，提高处理效率，同时使得生命周期管理更加智能、灵活。
上述主要从各个网元之间交互的角度对本发明实施例的方案进行了介绍。可以理解的是，各个网元，例如第一管理单元，第二管理单元等为了实现上述功能，其包含了执行各个功能相应的硬件结构和/或软件模块。本领域技术人员应该很容易意识到，结合本文中所公开的实施例描述的各示例的单元及算法步骤，本发明能够以硬件或硬件和计算机软件的结合形式来实现。某个功能究竟以硬件还是计算机软件驱动硬件的方式来执行，取决于技术方案的特定应用 和设计约束条件。专业技术人员可以对每个特定的应用来使用不同方法来实现所描述的功能，但是这种实现不应认为超出本发明的范围。
本发明实施例可以根据上述方法示例对第一管理单元，第二管理单元等进行功能模块的划分，例如，可以对应各个功能划分各个功能模块，也可以将两个或两个以上的功能集成在一个处理模块中。上述集成的模块既可以采用硬件的形式实现，也可以采用软件功能模块的形式实现。需要说明的是，本发明实施例中对模块的划分是示意性的，仅仅为一种逻辑功能划分，实际实现时可以有另外的划分方式。
在采用集成的模块的情况下，图5A示出了上述实施例中所涉及的第一管理单元的一种可能的结构示意图。第一管理单元500包括：处理模块502和通信模块503。处理模块502用于对第一管理单元的动作进行控制管理，例如，处理模块502用于支持第一管理单元执行图2中的过程203、204和205，图3中的过程303、304和305，图4中的过程403、404和405和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。通信模块503用于支持第一管理单元与第二管理单元或其他网络实体的通信，例如与图1中示出的OSS/BSS单元或EM单元等之间的通信。第一管理单元还可以包括存储模块501，用于存储第一管理单元的程序代码和数据。
其中，处理模块502可以是处理器或控制器，例如可以是中央处理器(Central Processing Unit，CPU)，通用处理器，数字信号处理器(Digital Signal Processor，DSP)，专用集成电路(Application-Specific Integrated Circuit，ASIC)，现场可编程门阵列(Field Programmable Gate Array，FPGA)或者其他可编程逻辑器件、晶体管逻辑器件、硬件部件或者其任意组合。其可以实现或执行结合本发明公开内容所描述的各种示例性的逻辑方框，模块和电路。所述处理器也可以是实现计算功能的组合，例如包含一个或多个微处理器组合，DSP和微处理器的组合等等。通信模块503可以是收发器、收发电路或通信接口等。存储模块501可以是存储器。
当处理模块502为处理器，通信模块503为收发器，存储模块501为存储器时，本发明实施例所涉及的第一管理单元可以为图5B所示的第一管理单元。
参阅图5B所示，该第一管理单元510包括：处理器512、收发器513、存储器511。可选的，第一管理单元510还可以包括总线514。其中，收发器 513、处理器512以及存储器511可以通过总线514相互连接；总线514可以是外设部件互连标准(Peripheral Component Interconnect，简称PCI)总线或扩展工业标准结构(Extended Industry Standard Architecture，简称EISA)总线等。所述总线514可以分为地址总线、数据总线、控制总线等。为便于表示，图5B中仅用一条粗线表示，但并不表示仅有一根总线或一种类型的总线。
在采用集成的模块的情况下，图6A示出了上述实施例中所涉及的第二管理单元的一种可能的结构示意图。第二管理单元600包括：处理模块602和通信模块603。处理模块602用于对第二管理单元的动作进行控制管理，例如，处理模块602用于支持第二管理单元执行图2中的过程201，图3中的过程301，图4中的过程401和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。通信模块603用于支持第二管理单元与第一管理单元或其他网络实体的通信，例如与图1中示出的NFVO单元或VNFM单元等之间的通信。第二管理单元还可以包括存储模块601，用于存储第二管理单元的程序代码和数据。
其中，处理模块602可以是处理器或控制器，例如可以是中央处理器(Central Processing Unit，CPU)，通用处理器，数字信号处理器(Digital Signal Processor，DSP)，专用集成电路(Application-Specific Integrated Circuit，ASIC)，现场可编程门阵列(Field Programmable Gate Array，FPGA)或者其他可编程逻辑器件、晶体管逻辑器件、硬件部件或者其任意组合。其可以实现或执行结合本发明公开内容所描述的各种示例性的逻辑方框，模块和电路。所述处理器也可以是实现计算功能的组合，例如包含一个或多个微处理器组合，DSP和微处理器的组合等等。通信模块603可以是收发器、收发电路或通信接口等。存储模块601可以是存储器。
当处理模块602为处理器，通信模块603为收发器，存储模块601为存储器时，本发明实施例所涉及的第二管理单元可以为图6B所示的第二管理单元。
参阅图6B所示，该第二管理单元610包括：处理器612、收发器613、存储器611。可选的，第二管理单元610还可以包括总线614。其中，收发器613、处理器612以及存储器611可以通过总线614相互连接；总线614可以是外设部件互连标准总线或扩展工业标准结构总线等。所述总线614可以分为地址总线、数据总线、控制总线等。为便于表示，图6B中仅用一条粗线表示，但并不表示仅有一根总线或一种类型的总线。
结合本发明实施例公开内容所描述的方法或者算法的步骤可以硬件的方式来实现，也可以是由处理器执行软件指令的方式来实现。软件指令可以由相应的软件模块组成，软件模块可以被存放于随机存取存储器(Random Access Memory，RAM)、闪存、只读存储器(Read Only Memory，ROM)、可擦除可编程只读存储器(Erasable Programmable ROM，EPROM)、电可擦可编程只读存储器(Electrically EPROM，EEPROM)、寄存器、硬盘、移动硬盘、只读光盘(CD～ROM)或者本领域熟知的任何其它形式的存储介质中。一种示例性的存储介质耦合至处理器，从而使处理器能够从该存储介质读取信息，且可向该存储介质写入信息。当然，存储介质也可以是处理器的组成部分。处理器和存储介质可以位于ASIC中。另外，该ASIC可以位于核心网接口设备中。当然，处理器和存储介质也可以作为分立组件存在于核心网接口设备中。
本领域技术人员应该可以意识到，在上述一个或多个示例中，本发明实施例所描述的功能可以用硬件、软件、固件或它们的任意组合来实现。当使用软件实现时，可以将这些功能存储在计算机可读介质中或者作为计算机可读介质上的一个或多个指令或代码进行传输。计算机可读介质包括计算机存储介质和通信介质，其中通信介质包括便于从一个地方向另一个地方传送计算机程序的任何介质。存储介质可以是通用或专用计算机能够存取的任何可用介质。
以上所述的具体实施方式，对本发明实施例的目的、技术方案和有益效果进行了进一步详细说明，所应理解的是，以上所述仅为本发明实施例的具体实施方式而已，并不用于限定本发明实施例的保护范围，凡在本发明实施例的技术方案的基础之上，所做的任何修改、等同替换、改进等，均应包括在本发明实施例的保护范围之内。

Claims (33)

  1. 一种生命周期管理方法，其特征在于，包括：
    第一管理单元接收第二管理单元发送的目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，所述生命周期管理请求包括所述目标网络业务的描述符标识；
    所述第一管理单元根据所述目标网络业务的描述符标识查找所述目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个虚拟网络功能VNF实例需求信息，所述多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；
    所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  2. 根据权利要求1所述的方法，其特征在于，所述VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，所述属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。
  3. 根据权利要求1或2所述的方法，其特征在于，所述生命周期管理请求还包括用于部署所述目标网络业务的匹配信息。
  4. 根据权利要求3所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则。
  5. 根据权利要求3所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表；所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的虚拟网络功能描述符VNFD之间对应关系。
  6. 根据权利要求3所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表；所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的 所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系。
  7. 根据权利要求1-4任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，包括：
    所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和所述特征匹配规则确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD；
    所述第一管理单元根据确定的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  8. 根据权利要求1-4任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，包括：
    所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例；
    或，所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和所述特征匹配规则在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例；
    所述第一管理单元根据确定的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  9. 根据权利要求5所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，包括：
    所述第一管理单元根据所述匹配结果关系列表中的所述VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系查找与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD；
    所述第一管理单元根据查找的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  10. 根据权利要求6所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一管理单元根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理，包括：
    所述第一管理单元根据所述匹配结果关系列表中的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系查找与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例；
    所述第一管理单元根据查找的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  11. 一种生命周期管理方法，其特征在于，包括：
    第二管理单元确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及所述目标网络业务的描述符标识，所述目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的所述目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，所述多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；
    所述第二管理单元向第一管理单元发送所述目标网络业务的生命管理请求，所述生命周期管理请求包括所述目标网络业务的描述符标识。
  12. 根据权利要求11所述的方法，其特征在于，所述VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，所述属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。
  13. 根据权利要求11或12所述的方法，其特征在于，所述生命周期管理请求还包括用于部署所述目标网络业务的匹配信息。
  14. 根据权利要求13所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则。
  15. 根据权利要求13所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系。
  16. 根据权利要求13所述的方法，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系。
  17. 一种第一管理单元，其特征在于，包括：处理模块和通信模块，
    所述通信模块用于接收第二管理单元发送的目标网络业务的生命周期管理请求，所述生命周期管理请求包括所述目标网络业务的描述符标识；
    所述处理模块用于根据所述目标网络业务的描述符标识查找所述目标网络业务的描述符对应的多个虚拟网络功能VNF实例需求信息，所述多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；
    所述处理模块还用于根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  18. 根据权利要求17所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，所述属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。
  19. 根据权利要求17或18所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述生命周期管理请求还包括用于部署所述目标网络业务的匹配信息。
  20. 根据权利要求19所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则。
  21. 根据权利要求19所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表；所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的虚拟网络功能描述符VNFD之间对应关系。
  22. 根据权利要求19所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表；所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系。
  23. 根据权利要求17-20任一项所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述处理模块具体用于根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和所述特征匹配规则确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，根据确定的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  24. 根据权利要求17-20任一项所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述处理模块具体用于根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，根据确定的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理；
    或，所述处理模块具体用于根据所述每个VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息和所述特征匹配规则在已存在的虚拟网络功能实例集合中确定与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例，根据确定的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  25. 根据权利要求21所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述处理模块具体用于根据所述匹配结果关系列表中的所述VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系查找与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD，根据查找的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNFD对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  26. 根据权利要求21所述的第一管理单元，其特征在于，所述处理模块具体用于根据所述匹配结果关系列表中的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系查找与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实 例，根据查找的与所述每个VNF实例需求信息相匹配的VNF实例对所述目标网络业务进行生命周期管理。
  27. 一种第二管理单元，其特征在于，包括：处理模块和通信模块，
    所述处理模块用于确定待进行生命周期管理的目标网络业务以及所述目标网络业务的描述符标识，所述目标网络业务的描述符标识对应的所述目标网络业务描述符对应多个VNF实例需求信息，所述多个VNF实例需求信息中每个VNF实例需求信息包括VNF特征信息；
    所述通信模块用于向第一管理单元发送所述目标网络业务的生命管理请求，所述生命周期管理请求包括所述目标网络业务的描述符标识。
  28. 根据权利要求27所述的第二管理单元，其特征在于，所述VNF特征信息用于描述至少一种特征对应的属性信息，所述属性信息包括特征名称、特征权重、预设特征参数值、特征参数范围中的至少一种。
  29. 根据权利要求27或28所述的第二管理单元，其特征在于，所述生命周期管理请求还包括用于部署所述目标网络业务的匹配信息。
  30. 根据权利要求29所述的第二管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括特征匹配规则。
  31. 根据权利要求29所述的第二管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNFD之间对应关系。
  32. 根据权利要求29所述的第二管理单元，其特征在于，所述匹配信息包括匹配结果关系列表，所述匹配结果关系列表包括所述第二管理单元根据特征匹配规则以及VNF实例需求信息的VNF特征信息在已存在的VNF实例集合中确定的所述VNF实例需求信息与相匹配的VNF实例之间对应关系。
  33. 一种管理***，其特征在于，包括：如权利要求17至26中任一项所述的第一管理单元以及如权利要求27至32中任一项所述的第二管理单元。
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