Patent ID: 9384028
Filing Date: 2016-07-05
CPC Classification: G06F,H04L,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method, comprising: identifying a first virtual network function (VNF) instance associated with a first VNF in a first hardware unit in a Network Function Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication network, the first VNF instance including a process executing a first VNF program by a virtual machine; initiating a second VNF instance on a second hardware unit, the second VNF instance having functionality matching the first VNF instance; and verifying a compatibility between the first VNF instance and the second VNF instance by comparing an output of the second VNF instance to an output of the first VNF instance, the output including data, transmission, and timing parameters; conditionally diverting communications directed to the first VNF instance to the second VNF instance on the second hardware unit, in response to initiating the second VNF instance on the second hardware unit and verifying the compatibility between the first VNF instance and the second VNF instance.