PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10965564-B2
Application Number: US-201916408234-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Devices and methods of using network function virtualization and virtualized resources performance data to improve performance

Abstract:
Devices and methods of providing performance measurements (PMs) for Network Function Virtualization are generally described. A Virtual Network Function (VNF) PM job is scheduled at a VNF and VNF PM data received in response. From the VNF PM data, it is determined that virtualized resource (VR) management may be a cause of poor VNF performance. A VR PM job is scheduled and results in VR PM data. The VR PM and VNF PM data are analyzed to determine whether to increase the VR at the VNF. If an increase is determined, a request for the increase is transmitted from an element manager to a VNF manager or the VNF PM and/or VR PM data are provided to a Network Manager (NM) for the NM to request the increase by a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO).

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus of an element manager (EM), the apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors arranged to:
 obtain, from a network manager (NM) through an interface (Itf-N), a NM creation request to create a measurement job to collect NF performance management (PM) data related to a virtual resource (VR); 
 in response to the NM creation request, generate a VNF creation request to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) through a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM create a PM job to collect the PM data from at least one VNF, wherein the VNF request comprises resources to he measured, types of measurements to be taken, recording periods and collection times; 
 after transmission of the VNF creation request, determine that the PM job has been created from a VNF creation response from the VNFM to the VNF request, the VNF response comprising an identifier of the PM job; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF creation response, generate for transmission to the NM an NM creation response to indicate a result of the measurement job creation. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 obtain, from the NM through the Itf-N, a NM deletion request to stop the measurement job; 
 
       in response to the NM deletion request, generate a VNF deletion request to the VNFM through the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM stop the PM job, the VNF deletion comprising the identifier;
 after transmission of the VNF deletion request, determine that the PM job has been deletion from a VNF deletion response from the VNFM to the VNF request; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF deletion response, generate for transmission to the NM an NM deletion response to indicate a result of the measurement job deletion. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 determine that NF PM data for a particular VNF is available at the EM; and 
 in response to a determination that the NF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the EM, generate for transmission to the NM an NM notification to indicate that the NF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the EM. 
 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 determine that VNF PM data for a particular VNF is available at the VNFM; and 
 in response to a determination that the VNF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the VNFM, generate for transmission to the NM an NM notification to indicate that the VNF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the VNFM, the NM notification comprising an identification of the particular VNF. 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to request, based on at least one of NF PM data or VR PM data of the PM data, adjustment to a VR for the VNF. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 analyze the at least one of the NF PM data or the VR PM data, and 
 generate an adjustment request to the VNFM to adjust the VR in response to a determination that the VR is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 analyze the at least one of the NF PM data or the VR PM data, and 
 generate an adjustment request to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to adjust the VR in response to a determination that the VR is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 determine that the VR is overloaded and the overload of the VR is a cause of inadequate performance, and 
 in response to the determination, request an increase of the VR for the VNF from the VNFM. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein: the PM data comprises at least one of NF PM data or VR PM data, and the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 determine that the VR is overloaded and the overload of the VR is a cause of inadequate performance, and 
 in response to the determination, generate an increase request to the NM to request an increase of the VR for the VNF the increase request comprising the at least one of NF PM data or VR PM data. 
 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the PM data comprises at least one of NE PM data or VR PM data, 
 the PM job comprises a plurality of information elements to schedule VR data collection and the plurality of information elements comprise:
 the resource type that indicates a resource where the VR PM data is to be collected, 
 the collection period that indicates when the VR PM data is to be generated, and 
 the reporting period that indicates when the VR PM is to be reported. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further arranged to:
 generate a VNF creation request if the measurement job cannot be supported by the existing PM jobs of the VNFM. 
 
     
     
       12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an element manager (EM), the one or more processors to configure the EM to:
 receive, from a network manager (NM) through an interface (Itf-N), a NM creation request to create a measurement job to collect Network Function (NF) performance management (PM) data related to a virtual resource (VR); 
 in response to the NM creation request, send a Virtual Network Function (VNF) creation request to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) through a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM create a PM job to collect the PM data from at least one VNF, wherein the VNF request comprises resources to be measured, types of measurements to be taken, recording periods and collection times; 
 after transmission of the VNF creation request, determine that the PM job has been created from a VNF creation response from the VNFM to the VNF request, the VNF response comprising an identifier of the PM job; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF creation response, send to the NM an NM creation response to indicate a result of the measurement job creation. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to:
 receive, from the NM through the Itf-N, a NM deletion request to stop the measurement job; 
 in response to the NM deletion request, send a VNF deletion request to the VNFM through the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM stop the PM job, the VNF deletion comprising the identifier; 
 after transmission of the VNF deletion request, determine that the PM job has been deletion from a VNF deletion response from the VNFM to the VNF request; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF deletion response, send to the NM an NM deletion response to indicate a result of the measurement job deletion. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to:
 determine that NF PM data for a particular VNF is available at the EM; and 
 in response to a determination that the NF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the EM, send to the NM an NM notification to indicate that the NF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the EM. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to:
 determine that VNF PM data for a particular VNF is available at the VNFM; and 
 in response to a determination that the VNF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the VNFM, send to the NM an NM notification to indicate that the VNF PM data for the particular VNF is available at the VNFM, the NM notification comprising an identification of the particular VNF. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to request, based on at least one of NF PM data or VR PM data of the PM data, adjustment to a VR for the VNF. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to:
 analyze the at least one of the NF PM data or the VR PM data, and 
 generate an adjustment request to the VNFM to adjust the VR in response to a determination that the VR is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors, when the instructions are executed, further configure the EM to:
 analyze the at least one of the NF PM data or the VR PM data, and 
 generate an adjustment request to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to adjust the VR in response to a determination that the VR is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
 
     
     
       19. A method for operating an element manager (EM), comprising:
 at the EM:
 receiving, from a network manager (NM) through an interface (Itf-N), a NM creation request to create a measurement job to collect Network Function (NF) performance management (PM) data related to a virtual resource (VR); 
 in response to the NM creation request, sending a Virtual Network Function (VNF) creation request to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) through a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM create a PM job to collect the PM data from at least one VNF, wherein the VNF request comprises resources to be measured, types of measurements to be taken, recording periods and collection times; 
 after transmission of the VNF creation request, determine that the PM job has been created from a VNF creation response from the VNFM to the VNF request, the VNF response comprising an identifier of the PM job; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF creation response, send to the NM an NM creation response to indicate a result of the measurement job creation. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising;
 receiving, from the NM through the Itf-N, a NM deletion request to stop the measurement job; 
 in response to the NM deletion request, sending a VNF deletion request to the VNFM through the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point to request that the VNFM stop the PM job, the VNF deletion comprising the identifier; 
 after transmission of the VNF deletion request, determining that the PM job has been deletion from a VNF deletion response from the VNFM to the VNF request; and 
 in response to reception of the VNF deletion response, sending to the NM an NM deletion response to indicate a result of the measurement job deletion.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/764,469, filed Mar. 29, 2018, which is a U.S. National Stage Filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 from International Application No. PCT/US2015/067280, filed Dec. 22, 2015 and published in English as WO 2017/058274 on Apr. 6, 2017, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/235,372, filed Sep. 30, 2015, and entitled “USING VNF AND VR PERFORMANCE DATA TO IMPROVE BNF PERFORMANCE,” each of which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments pertain to radio access networks. Some embodiments relate to Network Function Virtualization (NFV) in cellular networks, including Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) networks and LTE advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as 4 th  generation (4G) networks and 5 th  generation (5G) networks. Some embodiments relate to NFV performance measurements. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the vast increase in number and diversity of communication devices, the corresponding network environment, including routers, switches, bridges, gateways, firewalls, and load balancers, has become increasingly complicated. To add complexity to the variety of services provided by the network devices, many physical implementations of the network devices are propriety and may be unable to incorporate new or adjusted physical components to compensate for different network conditions. This has led to the development of Network Function Virtualization (NFV), which may provide a virtualized environment able to provide any network function or service able to be delivered on proprietary, application specific hardware as software applications called Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). 
     The use of NFV may provide flexibility in configuring network elements, enabling dynamic network optimization and quicker adaptation of new technologies. It would be desirable to provide virtualized resource performance measurements to optimize the VNF performance and NFV infrastructure (NFVI). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document. 
         FIG. 1  is a functional diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates components of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a NFV entity in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a flow diagram of VNF and virtualized resource performance management in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims. 
       FIG. 1  shows an example of a portion of an end-to-end network architecture of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the network devices with which the UEs  102  are connected and that provide network functionality, such as the gateways and other servers, may be provided as part of a NFVI rather than using physical hardware components, as described herein. In some embodiments, a NFV entity  110  may separately control or be in communication with at least some of the physical components. As used herein, an LTE network refers to both LTE and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as other versions of LTE networks to be developed. The network  100  may comprise a radio access network (RAN) (e.g., as depicted, the E-UTRAN or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network)  101  and core network  120  (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an S 1  interface  115 . For convenience and brevity, only a portion of the core network  120 , as well as the RAN  101 , is shown in the example. 
     The core network  120  may include a mobility management entity (MME)  122 , serving gateway (serving GW)  124 , and packet data network gateway (PDN GW)  126 . The RAN  101  may include evolved node Bs (eNBs)  104  (which may operate as base stations) for communicating with user equipment (UE)  102 . The eNBs  104  may include macro eNBs  104   a  and low power (LP) eNBs  104   b.  The eNBs  104  and UEs  102  may employ the synchronization techniques as described herein. 
     The MME  122  may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME  122  may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW  124  may terminate the interface toward the RAN  101 , and route data packets between the RAN  101  and the core network  120 . In addition, the serving GW  124  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The serving GW  124  and the MME  122  may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. 
     The PDN GW  126  may terminate a SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW  126  may route data packets between the EPC  120  and the external PDN, and may perform policy enforcement and charging data collection. The PDN GW  126  may also provide an anchor point for mobility devices with non-LTE access. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW  126  and the serving GW  124  may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes. 
     The eNBs  104  (macro and micro) may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE  102 . In some embodiments, an eNB  104  may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  101  including, but not limited to, RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In accordance with embodiments, UEs  102  may be configured to communicate orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB  104  over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an OFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. 
     The S 1  interface  115  may be the interface that separates the RAN  101  and the EPC  120 . It may be split into two parts: the S1-U, which may carry traffic data between the eNBs  104  and the serving GW  124 , and the S1-MME, which may be a signaling interface between the eNBs  104  and the MME  122 . The X2 interface may be the interface between eNBs  104 . The X2 interface may comprise two parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C may be the control plane interface between the eNBs  104 , while the X2-U may be the user plane interface between the eNBs  104 . 
     With cellular networks, LP cells  104   b  may be typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with dense usage. In particular, it may be desirable to enhance the coverage of a wireless communication system using cells of different sizes, macrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells, to boost system performance. The cells of different sizes may operate on the same frequency band, or may operate on different frequency bands with each cell operating in a different frequency band or only cells of different sizes operating on different frequency bands. As used herein, the term LP eNB refers to any suitable relatively LP eNB for implementing a smaller cell (smaller than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Femtocell eNBs may be typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell may be typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connect to a broadband line. The femtocell may connect to the mobile operator&#39;s mobile network and provide extra coverage in a range of typically 30 to 50 meters. Thus, a LP eNB  104   b  might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW  126 . Similarly, a picocell may be a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB may generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNB may be implemented with a picocell eNB since it may be coupled to a macro eNB  104   a  via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs LP eNB  104   b  may incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB LP eNB  104   a.  In some cases, this may be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell. 
     Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.  FIG. 2  illustrates components of a UE in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the components shown may be used in an eNB or NFV entity, for example, as shown in  FIG. 1 . The UE  200  may be one of the UEs  102  shown in  FIG. 1  and may be a stationary, non-mobile device or may be a mobile device. In some embodiments, the UE  200  may include application circuitry  202 , baseband circuitry  204 , Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry  206 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  208  and one or more antennas  210 , coupled together at least as shown. At least some of the baseband circuitry  204 , RF circuitry  206 , and FEM circuitry  208  may form a transceiver. In some embodiments, other network elements, such as the eNB may contain some or all of the components shown in  FIG. 2 . Other of the network elements, such as the MME, may contain an interface, such as the Si interface, to communicate with the eNB over a wired connection regarding the UE. 
     Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.  FIG. 2  illustrates components of a UE in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the components shown may be used in an eNB or MME, for example, such as the UE  102  or eNB  104  shown in  FIG. 1 . The UE  200  and other components may be configured to use the synchronization signals as described herein. The UE  200  may be one of the UEs  102  shown in  FIG. 1  and may be a stationary, non-mobile device or may be a mobile device. In some embodiments, the UE  200  may include application circuitry  202 , baseband circuitry  204 , Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry  206 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  208  and one or more antennas  210 , coupled together at least as shown. At least some of the baseband circuitry  204 , RF circuitry  206 , and FEM circuitry  208  may form a transceiver. In some embodiments, other network elements, such as the eNB may contain some or all of the components shown in  FIG. 2 . Other of the network elements, such as the MME, may contain an interface, such as the S1 interface, to communicate with the eNB over a wired connection regarding the UE. 
     The application or processing circuitry  202  may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry  202  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system. 
     The baseband circuitry  204  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry  204  may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry  206  and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  206 . Baseband processing circuitry  204  may interface with the application circuitry  202  for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry  206 . For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  204  may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor  204   a,  third generation (3G) baseband processor  204   b,  fourth generation (4G) baseband processor  204   c,  and/or other baseband processor(s)  204   d  for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry  204  (e.g., one or more of baseband processors  204   a - d ) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry  206 . The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry  204  may include FFT, precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry  204  may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. 
     In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  204  may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU)  204   e  of the baseband circuitry  204  may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP)  204   f.  The audio DSP(s)  204   f  may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry  204  and the application circuitry  202  may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  204  may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  204  may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry  204  is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. In some embodiments, the device can be configured to operate in accordance with communication standards or other protocols or standards, including Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 wireless technology (WiMax), IEEE 802.11 wireless technology (WiFi) including IEEE 802 ad, which operates in the 60 GHz millimeter wave spectrum, various other wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), or other 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed. 
     RF circuitry  206  may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry  206  may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry  206  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  208  and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry  204 . RF circuitry  206  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry  204  and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry  208  for transmission. 
     In some embodiments, the RF circuitry  206  may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry  206  may include mixer circuitry  206   a,  amplifier circuitry  206   b  and filter circuitry  206   c.  The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  206  may include filter circuitry  206   c  and mixer circuitry  206   a.  RF circuitry  206  may also include synthesizer circuitry  206   d  for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  208  based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  206   d.  The amplifier circuitry  206   b  may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry  206   c  may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry  204  for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry  206   d  to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry  208 . The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry  204  and may be filtered by filter circuitry  206   c.  The filter circuitry  206   c  may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  206   a  may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. 
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation. 
     In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry  206  may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry  204  may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry  206 . 
     In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry  206   d  may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry  206   d  may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. 
     The synthesizer circuitry  206   d  may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  206   a  of the RF circuitry  206  based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry  206   d  may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer. 
     In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry  204  or the applications processor  202  depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor  202 . 
     Synthesizer circuitry  206   d  of the RF circuitry  206  may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle. 
     In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry  206   d  may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLo). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry  206  may include an IQ/polar converter. 
     FEM circuitry  208  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas  210 , amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry  206  for further processing. FEM circuitry  208  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry  206  for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas  210 . 
     In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry  208  may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry  206 ). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry  208  may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry  206 ), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas  210 . 
     In some embodiments, the UE  200  may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface as described in more detail below. In some embodiments, the UE  200  described herein may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE  200  may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. For example, the UE  200  may include one or more of a keyboard, a keypad, a touchpad, a display, a sensor, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supply interface, one or more antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, a microphone, and other I/O components. The display may be an LCD or LED screen including a touch screen. The sensor may include a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite. 
     The antennas  210  may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas  210  may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. 
     Although the UE  200  is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. 
     Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. The device may be a UE or eNB or NFV entity, for example, such as the UE  102  or eNB  104  shown in  FIG. 1  that may be configured to track the UE as described herein. The physical layer circuitry  302  may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. The communication device  300  may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry  304  for controlling access to the wireless medium. The communication device  300  may also include processing circuitry  306 , such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors, and memory  308  arranged to perform the operations described herein. The physical layer circuitry  302 , MAC circuitry  304  and processing circuitry  306  may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks compatible with one or more radio technologies. The radio control functions may include signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. For example, similar to the device shown in  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, communication may be enabled with one or more of a WMAN, a WLAN, and a WPAN. In some embodiments, the communication device  300  can be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards or other protocols or standards, including WiMax, WiFi, GSM, EDGE, GERAN, UMTS, UTRAN, or other 3G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed. The communication device  300  may include transceiver circuitry  312  to enable communication with other external devices wirelessly and interfaces  314  to enable wired communication with other external devices. As another example, the transceiver circuitry  312  may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range. 
     The antennas  301  may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO embodiments, the antennas  301  may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. 
     Although the communication device  300  is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including DSPs, and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, RFICs and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. In alternative embodiments, the communication device  400  may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device  400  may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the communication device  400  may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The communication device  400  may be a NFV entity, a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term “communication device” shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations. 
     Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations. 
     Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time. 
     Communication device (e.g., computer system)  400  may include a hardware processor  402  (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory  404  and a static memory  406 , some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus)  408 . The communication device  400  may further include a display unit  410 , an alphanumeric input device  412  (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device  414  (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit  410 , input device  412  and UI navigation device  414  may be a touch screen display. The communication device  400  may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit)  416 , a signal generation device  418  (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device  420 , and one or more sensors  421 , such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The communication device  400  may include an output controller  428 , such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). 
     The storage device  416  may include a communication device readable medium  422  on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions  424  (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions  424  may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory  404 , within static memory  406 , or within the hardware processor  402  during execution thereof by the communication device  400 . In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor  402 , the main memory  404 , the static memory  406 , or the storage device  416  may constitute communication device readable media. 
     While the communication device readable medium  422  is illustrated as a single medium, the term “communication device readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions  424 . 
     The term “communication device readable medium” may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device  400  and that cause the communication device  400  to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device readable media may include non-transitory communication device readable media. In some examples, communication device readable media may include communication device readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal. 
     The instructions  424  may further be transmitted or received over a communications network  426  using a transmission medium via the network interface device  420  utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the 
     Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device  420  may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network  426 . In an example, the network interface device  420  may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device  420  may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device  400 , and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. 
     The network and components shown in  FIGS. 1-4  may be implemented in hardware or software or a combination thereof. In particular, as discussed above, the network may be wholly or partially implemented using network virtualization. Network virtualization has started to be used extensively, particularly in server deployments and data centers. Virtual Network Functions are software implementations of network functions that can be deployed on a NFVI, which may include both hardware and software components of the network environment. Network Function Virtualization may thus virtualize separate network node functions into connected blocks that create communication services and exhibit public land mobile network (PLMN)-system behavior. Unlike conventional network hardware layouts in which a server may run a single instance of an operating system on physical hardware resources (e.g., CPU, RAM), the network operator may deploy VNFs on the NFVI to provide enhanced flexibility for network resource utilization, among others. In some embodiments, as described in more detail below, actual resources may be dynamically allocated, updated, and deallocated based on the functionality desired. To this end, the hardware may support virtual machines (VMs) having multiple operating systems and individualized amounts and types of virtualized resources. 
     To further enhance VNF and NFVI performance, virtualized resource performance measurements related to network services, VNF applications, and virtualized resources that are measured in VNF and NFVI may be used. Such performance measurements may help to ensure that the VNFs deployed on the NFV infrastructure is able to deliver a consistent and acceptable service quality to end users (UEs) as well as providing timely isolation and correction of failure conditions. The performance measurements may be used to reflect the impact of services offered by the NFVI on the VNFs, as well as the inherent nature of the services being offered by the NFVI, for example, CPU, virtual machines, memory, and Virtual Networks. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a NFV entity in accordance with some embodiments. As illustrated, the NFV entity  500  may include a number of elements (each of which may contain physical and/or virtualized components), including the NVFI  510 , one or more VNFs  520 , a Network Element Manager (EM)  530 , a Network Manager (NM)  540 , a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM)  540 , a VNF Manager (VNFM)  550 , and a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO)  560 . For example, a data center comprising one or more servers in the network may comprise the NFV entity  500 . The NFV entity  500 , in some embodiments, may include one or more physical devices and/or one or more applications hosted on a distributed computing platform, a cloud computing platform, a centralized hardware system, a server, a computing device, and/or an external network-to-network interface device, among others. In some cases, the virtualized resource performance measurement may include, for example, latency, jitter, bandwidth, packet loss, nodal connectivity, compute and/or storage resources, accounting, fault and/or security measurements. The elements of the NFV entity  500  may thus be contained in one or more of the devices shown in  FIGS. 1-4  or other devices. 
     The NFV Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO)  570  may manage the NFVI  510  and orchestrate the instantiation of network services, and the allocation of resources used by the VNFs  520 . The NFV-MANO  580  may integrate with an Operations Support System/Business Support System (OSS/BSS) (not shown), using interfaces offered by the OSS/BSS and the NFV-MANO  580  interfaces to be used by external entities to deliver various NFV business benefits. The OSS/BSS may include the collection of systems and management applications that a service provider (such as a telephone operator or telecommunications company) use to operate their business: management of customers, ordering, products and revenues—for example, payment or account transactions, as well as telecommunications network components and supporting processes including network component configuration, network service provisioning and fault handling. The NFV-MANO  580  may create or terminate a VNF, increase or decrease the VNF capacity, or update or upgrade software and/or configuration of a VNF. The NFV-MANO  580  may include a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM)  540 , a VNF Manager (VNFM)  550  and a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO)  560 . The NFV-MANO may have access to various data repositories including network services, VNFs available, NFV instances and NFVI resources with which to determine resource allocation. 
     The NFVO  560  may orchestrate NFVI resources via multiple VIMs  540  and manage the lifecycle of different network services. The former may involve discovering available services, managing virtualized resource availability/allocation/release and providing virtualized resource fault/performance management (PM). Lifecycle management may include registering a network service and ensuring that the templates describing the network service are catalogued, instantiating a network service from the template, scaling and updating the network service and terminating the network service, releasing the NFVI resources for the service to the NFVI resource pool to be used by other services. The NFVO may coordinate VNFs as network services that jointly realize a more complex function, including joint instantiation and configuration, configuring required connections between different VNFs, and managing dynamic changes of the configuration. 
     The VNFM  550  may be responsible for the lifecycle management of the VNFs  520 . The VNFM  550  may be assigned the management of a single VNF  520 , or the management of multiple VNFs  520  of the same type or of different types. Thus, although only one VNFM  550  is shown in  FIG. 5 , different VNFMs  550  may be associated with the different VNFs  520  for the performance measurement job  518  described in more detail below. The VNFM  550  may provide a number of VNF functionalities, including instantiation (and configuration if required by the VNF deployment template), software update/upgrade, modification, scaling out/in and up/down, collection of NFVI performance measurement results and faults/events information and correlation to VNF instance-related events/faults, healing, termination, lifecycle management change notification, integrity management, and event reporting. 
     The VIM  570  may be responsible for controlling and managing the NFVI compute, storage and network resources, usually within one operator&#39;s Infrastructure Domain. The VIM  570  may be specialized in handling a certain type of NFVI resource (e.g. compute-only, storage-only, networking-only), or may be capable of managing multiple types of NFVI resources. The VIM  570  may, among others, orchestrate the allocation/upgrade/release/reclamation of NFVI resources (including the optimization of such resources usage) and manage the association of the virtualized resources to the physical compute, storage, networking resources, and manage repository inventory-related information of NFVI hardware resources (compute, storage, networking) and software resources (e.g. hypervisors), and discovery of the capabilities and features (e.g. related to usage optimization) of such resources. 
     The NVFI  510  may itself contain various virtualized and non-virtualized resources. These may include a plurality of virtual machines (VMs)  512  that may provide computational abilities (CPU), one or more memories  514  that may provide storage at either block or file-system level and one or more networking elements  516  that may include networks, subnets, ports, addresses, links and forwarding rules to ensure intra- and inter-VNF connectivity. Each VM  512  may be associated with one of the memories  514  and one of the networking elements  516 . In some embodiments, multiple VMs  512  may serve the same memory  514  and the same networking element  516 . As shown, in some embodiments, one memory  514  and networking element  516  may serve one set of VMs  512  and another memory  514  and networking element  516  may serve another set of VMs  512 , with the number of VMs  512  in each set different. 
     Each set of VMs  512  may serve a different VNF  520 , dependent on the resources desired by the VNF  520 . Each VNF  520  may provide a network function that is decoupled from infrastructure resources (computational resources, networking resources, memory) used to provide the network function. Although not shown, the VNFs  520  can be chained with other VNFs  520  and/or other physical network function to realize a network service. The virtualized resources may provide the VNFs  520  with desired resources. Resource allocation in the NFVI  510  may simultaneously meet numerous requirements and constraints, such as low latency or high bandwidth links to other communication endpoints. 
     The VNFs  520  may be managed by one or more EMs  530 . Although only one EM  530  is shown in  FIG. 5 , one or more of the VNFs  520  may be managed by different EMs  530 . The EM  530  may provide end-user functions for management of a set of network elements. The EM  530  may manage individual network elements and network elements of a sub-network, which may include relations between the network elements. In particular, the EM  530  may be responsible for configuration for the network functions provided by a VNF  520 , fault management for the network functions provided by the VNF  520 , accounting for the usage of VNF functions, collecting performance measurement results for the functions provided by the VNF  520 , and security management for the VNF functions. 
     The EM  530  may be managed by a NM  540 . The NM  540  may provide end-user functions with the responsibility for the management of a network, mainly as supported by the EM  530  but may also involve direct access to the network elements. The NM  540  may be connected to the EM  530  through an Itf-N interface. The NM  540  may connect and disconnect VNF external interfaces to physical network function interfaces at the request of the NFVO  560 . 
     The various components of the system may be connected through different reference points. These references points between the NFV-MANO and the functional blocks of the system may include Os-Ma-Nfvo between the NM  540  and NFVO  560 , Ve-Vnfm-Em between the EM  530  and the VNFM  550 , Ve-Vnfm-Vnf between a VNF  520  and the VNFM  550 , Nf-Vi between the NFVI  510  and the VIM  570 , Or-Vnfm between the NFVO  560  and the VNFM  550 , Or-Vi between the NFVO  560  and the VIM  570 , and Vi-Vnfm, a reference point between the VIM  570  and the VNFM  550 . An Or-Vi interface may implement the VNF software image management interface and interfaces for the management of virtualized resources, their catalogue, performance and failure on the Or-Vi reference point. An Or-Vnfm interface may implement a virtualized resource management interface on the Or-Vnfm reference point. A Ve-Vnfm interface may implement a virtualized resource performance/fault management on the Ve-Vnfm reference point. 
     To better provide network services, evaluation of the system behavior exhibited by the NFVI  510  may be desirable. This evaluation may be determined using performance data collected and recorded by the VNF(s)  520  according to a schedule established by the EM  530 . The range of performance measurements may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 32.426. However, not all of the measurements in TS 32.426 may be constantly used, or from every VNF 520. Therefore, it is desirable to administer the measurements to determine which measurement types, on which measured resources, and at which times, are to be executed per TS 32.410. 
     As above, Network Function Virtualization permits migration of the execution of network functions from vertically integrated hardware to industry standard commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers in a NFV entity  500 . Certain performance measurements may be independent of the migration and thus may not be impacted. Examples of such performance measurements may include network functions such as handover or tracking area update (TAU)-related measurements. Therefore, the hardware-independent performance measurements can be reused as VNF performance measurements. Other performance measurements may be used to measure specific hardware usage or are tightly coupled to the specific hardware performance. The hardware-specific performance measurements may be significantly impacted by changes to the network resources allocated by the NFVI  510  to the VNFs  520 . Examples of these performance measurements include specific processor usage, such as MME processor usage, and data volume and GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP)-related measurements. As a result, virtualized resource performance measurements may be desirable for at least this latter class of performance measurements. 
       FIG. 5 , in addition to the virtualized components described above, also shows the collection of VNF and virtualized resource performance measurements. The existing mechanisms where measurement jobs are created by the EM  530  may be reused to collect VNF performance measurement data from the VNF  520 . To collect the virtualized resource performance measurement, the EM  530  may start by requesting creation of a performance measurement job by the VNFM  550  through the Ve-Vnfm-Em interface. The performance measurement job may contain information elements used in the collection of the virtualized resource performance measurement data. These information elements may include parameters such as resource type and collection and reporting period used in measuring the performance of the NFV entity  500  during the scheduled performance measurement job. 
     Having received the performance measurement job request from the EM  530 , the VNFM  550  may subsequently request creation of the performance measurement job  518  from the VIM  570  through the Vi-Vnfm interface to collect the desired virtualized resource performance measurement data. The request from the VNFM  550  may contain some or all of the information elements received from the EM  530 . 
     The VIM  570 , having received the performance measurement job request from the VNFM  550 , may create the desired performance measurement job  518  and pass the performance measurement job  518  to the NFVI  510  via the Nf-Vi interface to collect virtualized resource performance measurement data from the NFVI  510 . The performance measurement job  518  may contain the information elements received from VNFM  550 . 
     The NFVI  510  may generate a measurement according to the schedule specified in the performance measurement job  518 . The measurement may be sent at the time indicated by the information elements from the NFVI  510  to the VIM  570  via the Nf-Vi interface. 
     In response to receiving the virtualized resource performance measurement data, the VIM  570  may forward the data to the VNFM  550  via the Vi-Vnfm interface. In embodiments in which multiple VNFMs  550  are present and manage different VNFs  520 , the VIM  570  may forward the appropriate performance measurement data to the VNFM  550  managing the subject VNF  520  or Virtual Network Function Component (VNFC) associated with the performance measurement job  518 . 
     The VNFM  550 , in response to receiving the performance measurement data, may identify the VNF  520 /VNFC in which the virtualized resource is used. Having determined the resource and identified associated VNF  520 /VNFC, the VNFM  550  may subsequently forward the data to the EM  530  managing the VNF  520 /VNFC via the Ve-Vnfm-Em interface. 
     The EM  530  may also receive the performance measurement data from the VNFs  520 /VNFCs. The EM  530  may use existing mechanisms to send the performance measurement data obtained from the associated VNFM  550  to the NM  540 . The EM  530  may transmit the performance measurement data to the NM  540  via the Itf-N. The EM  530  or NM  540  may make a determination to adjust resource allocation for one or more of the VNFs  520  in response to the virtualized resource performance measurement data. 
     The virtualized resource performance measurement data may contain the performance data of the virtualized resource used by the VNF  520 . For example, the virtualized resource performance measurement data may include the usage data of the CPU/VM  512 , memory  514  and networking capabilities  516 . The VNF  520  and virtualized resource performance measurement data can be used together to optimize the VNF performance. For example, if it is detected that the number of outgoing/incoming GTP data packets on the S1-U interface between the eNB and the Serving Gateway is unexpected low during peak hours (say, 8 am-5 pm), then the EM  530  may create a measurement job at the VNFM  550  to measure the virtualized resource usage during this time period. If the EM  530  determines that the virtualized resource performance measurement data (e.g. vCPU/VM usage, memory usage) are loaded, then the EM  530  or NM  540  may conclude that the usage of vCPU/VM  512  and/or memory  514  for the VNF  520  may be saturated, and should be expanded. The EM  530  may subsequently indicate to the VIM  570  via the VNFM  550  to allocate an increased amount of virtualized resources to the affected VNF  520  from the resources available in the resource pool of the NFVI  510  (and/or re-allocate underutilized resources from a VNF  520  whose virtualized resource performance measurement data indicates that fewer virtualized resources may be a viable option for that VNF  520 ). 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a flow diagram of VNF and virtualized resource performance management in accordance with some embodiments. The flow diagram may be performed by one or more of the network entities shown in  FIGS. 1-4  and may involve both virtualized and physical network resources and may constitute means for providing the various operations and functionality described in reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . At operation  1 , the EM  630  may schedule a VNF performance management job, containing information elements, such as resource type and collection and reporting periods, at VNF  620  to collect the VNF performance management data. The EM  630  may schedule VNF performance management jobs individually or may batch several VNF performance management jobs for different VNFs  620  managed by the EM  630  together. The EM  630  may similarly schedule the performance management jobs with the VNF(s)  620  immediately or may wait for until a predetermined event, such as several VNF performance management jobs are desired, a particular time of day has arrived or network resource use has reached a predetermined level. 
     At operation  2 , VNF performance measurement data may be generated at the VNF  620  according to the schedule specified in the VNF performance management job. The VNF performance management job may be, for example, to measure the number of outgoing GTP data packets on the S5/S8 interface from the serving gateway to the PDN-GW. In different embodiment, EM  640  may collect the VNF performance management data from VNF  620  at the time determined in the VNF performance management job. 
     At operation  3 , the EM  640  may process the VNF performance management data to determine the characteristics of the VNF performance management data. The EM  640  may determine whether the VNF performance management data meets or is inadequate (i.e., exceeds or falls short) of one or more predetermined performance levels. For example, during the performance management data processing, the EM  640  may detect that the number of outgoing GTP data packets is lower than expected/desired. Thus, the VNF performance may be inadequate through the use of too many or too few virtualized resources. 
     Based on the analysis undertaken on the VNF performance management data, the EM  630  may decide to examine the cause of any performance-related issue. For example, the EM  630  may attempt to determine whether virtualized resources at NFVI  610  used for the performance management job undertaken by the VNF(s)  620  are overloaded. The EM  630  may determine that further investigation is warranted when determining that poor VNF performance as indicated in the PM data may have to do with the VR performance at the NFVI  610 . 
     To proceed with such an examination, the EM  630  may first request the VNFM  650  to create a performance management job at operation  4 . The performance management job may contain information elements, such as resource type and collection and reporting periods, used to collect virtualized resource performance management data related to the performance management job. The range of measurements may be defined in 3GPP TS 32.426 and the measurement types and measured resources and times to be executed may be defined in 3GPP TS 32.410. Thus, as one of its functions, REQ-MAMO-PM-FUN-1, the EM  630  may be able to administer the performance management job at the VNFM  650  to schedule the virtualized resource performance management data collection. 
     The VNFM  650  may then request, at operation  5 , that the VIM  670  create a performance management job in line with the performance measurement data desired. The performance management job request also may contain the information elements received from the EM  640 , as indicated by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Global Specification (GS) NFV-IFA 006. 
     The VIM  670  may create the desired performance management job containing the information elements received from the VNFM  650 . The performance management job may be sent, at operation  6 , to the NFVI  610  to collect virtualized resource performance management data from the NFVI  610 . 
     The NFVI  610  may generate one or more measurements using the VNF(s) indicated by the performance management job. The timing of each measurement may be generated based on the schedule specified in the performance management job. In different embodiment, VIM  670  may collect the virtualized resource performance management data at the NFVI  610  at the time determined by the PM job at operation  7 . 
     The VIM  670  may receive and coordinate the virtualized resource performance management data of the NFVI  610 . At operation  8 , the VIM  670  may examine the virtualized resource performance management data to identify the VNFM  650  managing the subject VNF/VNFC from which the virtualized resource performance management data was obtained. 
     In response to identifying the VNFM  650  managing the subject VNF/VNFC, the VIM  670  may forward the virtualized resource performance management data to the identified VNFM  650  at operation  9 . If multiple VNFMs  650  are identified at operation  8 , the VIM  670  may report the appropriate virtualized resource performance management data for each VNFM  650  to the VNFMs  650  at the same time or may report the appropriate virtualized resource performance management data individually to the VNFMs  650  at different times. 
     Similar to the above, at operation  10 , the VNFM  650  may examine the virtualized resource performance management data received from the VIM  670  to identify the VNF/VNFC  620  where the virtualized resource was used. The VIM  670  may also identify the EM  630  managing the VNF/VNFC  620 . Thus, as one of its functions, REQ-MAMO-PM-FUN-2, the VNFM  650  may be able to identify the VNF/VNFC  620  that consumes the virtualized resource from which the virtualized resource performance management data is collected and forward the virtualized resource performance management data to the EM  630  managing the subject VNF/VNFC  620 . 
     In response to identifying the EM  630  managing the VNF/VNFC  620 , the VNFM  650  may report over the Ve-Vnfm-Em reference point the virtualized resource performance management data to the identified EM  630  managing the subject VNF/VNFC  620  at operation  11 . If multiple EMs  630  are identified at operation  10 , the VNFM  650  may report the appropriate virtualized resource performance management data for each EM  630  to the EM  630  at the same time or may report the appropriate virtualized resource performance management data individually to the EMs  630  at different times. 
     At operation  12 , the EM  630  may analyze the virtualized resource performance management data and the performance of the VNF/VNFC  620 . During the data analysis, the EM  630  may coordinate the performance of the VNF/VNFC  620  with the expected performance and results. The EM  630  may decide that the VNF/VNFC  620  performance is adequate, and thus virtualized resources for the VNF/VNFC  620  may be maintained, inadequate, and thus virtualized resources for the VNF/VNFC  620  should be increased or excessive, and thus virtualized resources for the VNF/VNFC  620  should be decreased. In addition to determining whether or not virtualized resource allocation is sufficient for a particular VNF/VNFC  620 , the EM  630  may determine which virtualized resources should be adjusted for the VNF/VNFC  620 . The EM  630  may make these determinations for all VNFs/VNFCs  620  managed by the EM  630  that have provided virtualized resource performance management data as part of the performance management job. 
     In response to the EM  630  determining that the VNF/VNFC  620  performance is adequate, the EM  630  may decide that no change is warranted for the virtualized resources of the VNF/VNFC  620 . On the other hand, in response to the EM  630  determining that the VNF/VNFC  620  performance is inadequate, the EM  630  may decide that virtualized resources for the VNF/VNFC  620  may be increased. In this case, additional virtualized resources should be allocated from the pool of available resources of the VNFM  650 . In response to the EM  630  determining that the VNF/VNFC  620  performance is excessive, the EM  630  may decide that virtualized resources for the VNF/VNFC  620  may be decreased. In this case, the EM  630  may decide that some virtualized resources of the VNF/VNFC  620  should be reallocated to the pool of available resources of the VNFM  650 . 
     For example, the EM  630  may determine that the VNF performance management data (e.g. GTP data packet throughput) is low, but the virtualized resource performance management Data of vCPU/VM and memory are loaded. In this case, the EM  630  may in different embodiments either report the virtualized resource performance management data (and/or the VNF performance management data) to the NM  640  at operation  12   a.   1  or request the VNFM  650  to expand the vCPU/VM resources at operation  12   b.   1 . In the former case, the NM  640  at operation  12   a.   2  may transmit a request to the NFVO  660  to expand the vCPU/VM resources. In response, the NFVO  660 , VNFM  650 , VIM  670 , and NFVI  610  may perform the VNF expansion at operation  12   a.   3 . In the latter case, at operation  12   b.   1  the EM  630  may request the VNFM  650  to expand the vCPU/VM resources. Again, in response, the NFVO  660 , VNFM  650 , VIM  670 , and NFVI  610  may perform the VNF expansion at operation  12   b.   2 . 
     If different sets of performance management data for different VNFs/VNFCs  620  indicate that the same virtualized resource (e.g., CPU) is excessive for a first VNF/VNFC  620  and insufficient for a second VNF/VNFC  620 , the virtualized resource may, in some embodiments, first be reallocated from the first VNF/VNFC  620  to the available resource pool before being allocated to the second VNF/VNFC  620 . This may permit the NM  640  or EM  620  to determine, for example, to which VNF/VNFC  620  to assign a virtualized resource if multiple requests for the virtualized resource exist and the available resource pool contains insufficient virtualized resources to fulfill all requests. As the NM  640  may manage the EMs  620  and thus may be able to determine the overall virtualized resource requests for all VNFs/VNFCs  620 , the EM  620  may be limited to the virtualized resource requests for only those VNFs/VNFCs  620  managed by the EM  620 . In some embodiments, the EM  630  may both report the virtualized resource performance management data to the NM  640  and transmit to the VNFM  650  a request the virtualized resource changes. In this case, the NFVO  660 , VNFM  650 , VIM  670 , and NFVI  610  may wait for requests from both the EM  630  and the NM  640  to confirm that a change to the virtualized resource is desired prior to undertaking the virtualized resource reallocation. 
     Example 1 is an apparatus of a network entity comprising: a plurality of reference points connecting to different network components; and processing circuitry arranged to: schedule a virtualized resource performance measurement job in response to a determination, from Virtual Network Function (VNF) performance measurement data, of inadequate performance of a VNF; receive virtualized resource virtualized resource data from a VNF Manager (VNFM) in response to transmission of the resource performance measurement job to the VNFM; and request, based on the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, adjustment to a virtualized resource for the VNF. 
     In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes that the apparatus comprises an element manager (EM) configured to manage the VNF and in communication with the VNFM through a Ve-Vnfm-Em reference point and with a Network Manager (NM) through an Itf-N reference point. 
     In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 optionally includes that in response to receipt of the virtualized resource performance measurement job from the EM, the VNFM is configured to request a VNFM virtualized resource performance measurement job from a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM) using a Vi-Vnfm reference point, and in response to receipt of the VNFM virtualized resource performance measurement job, the VIM is configured to request a VIM virtualized resource performance measurement job at a NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) using a Nf-Vi reference point. 
     In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 optionally includes that the NFVI is configured to generate the virtualized resource performance measurement data, at a request from the VIM virtualized resource performance measurement job, and transmit the virtualized resource performance measurement data to the VIM, and the VIM is configured to identify that the VNFM manages the VNF, and forward the virtualized resource performance measurement data to the VNFM, and the VNFM is configured to identify the VNF where the virtualized resource is used, and that the EM manages the VNF, and forward the virtualized resource performance measurement data to the EM. 
     In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 optionally includes that in response to receipt of the virtualized resource performance measurement data, the EM is configured to analyze the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, and send a request to the VNFM to adjust the virtualized resource in response to a determination that the virtualized resource is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
     In Example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 2-5 optionally include that the EM is configured to forward the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data to the NM. 
     In Example 7, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 2-6 optionally include that in response to receipt of the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, the NM is configured to analyze the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, and transmit a request from an Os-Ma-Nfvo reference point to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to adjust the virtualized resource in response to a determination that the virtualized resource is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
     In Example 8, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-7 optionally include that the virtualized resource comprises one of a virtualized central processing unit (vCPU), a virtual machine, memory and networking. 
     In Example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-8 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: schedule a VNF performance measurement job that the VNF performance measurement data is received in response to transmission of the VNF performance measurement job to the VNF. 
     In Example 10, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-9 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: determine that the virtual resource is overloaded and the overload of the virtual resource is a cause of the inadequate performance, and in response to the determination, request an increase of the virtualized resource for the VNF from the VNFM. 
     In Example 11, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-10 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: determine that the virtual resource is overloaded and the overload of the virtual resource is a cause of the inadequate performance, and in response to the determination, transmit at least one of the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data to a Network Manager (NM) for the NM to request an increase of the virtualized resource for the VNF from the VNFM. 
     In Example 12, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-11 optionally include that the virtualized resource performance measurement job comprises a plurality of information elements to schedule virtual performance data collection, and the plurality of information elements comprise: a resource type that indicates a resource where the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be collected, a collection period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be generated, and a reporting period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be reported. 
     In Example 13, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-12 optionally include, further comprising: an interface configured to communicate with one or more physical components external to the apparatus. 
     Example 14 is an element manager (EM) comprising: means for scheduling a virtualized resource performance measurement job in response to a determination, from Virtual Network Function (VNF) performance measurement data, of inadequate performance of a VNF; means for receiving virtualized resource virtualized resource data from a VNF Manager (VNFM) in response to transmission of the resource performance measurement job to the VNFM; and one of: means for requesting, based on the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, adjustment to a virtualized resource for the VNF by the VNFM, and means for providing at least one of the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data to a Network Manager (NM) for the NM to request adjustment to the virtualized resource by a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO). 
     In Example 15, the subject matter of Example 14 optionally includes, further comprising: in response to receipt of the virtualized resource performance measurement data, means for analyzing the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data that a request to the VNFM to adjust the virtualized resource is in response to a determination that the virtualized resource is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
     In Example 16, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 14-15 optionally include that the virtualized resource comprises one of a virtualized central processing unit (vCPU), a virtual machine, memory and networking. 
     In Example 17, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 14-16 optionally include further comprising: means for scheduling a VNF performance measurement job that the VNF performance measurement data is received in response to transmission of the VNF performance measurement job to the VNF. 
     In Example 18, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 14-17 optionally include further comprising: means for determining that the virtual resource is overloaded and the overload of the virtual resource is a cause of the inadequate performance, and in response to the determination, means for requesting an increase of the virtualized resource for the VNF from the VNFM. 
     In Example 19, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 14-18 optionally include further comprising: means for determining that the virtual resource is overloaded and the overload of the virtual resource is a cause of the inadequate performance, and in response to the determination, means for transmitting the at least one of the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data to the NM for the NM to request an increase of the virtualized resource for the VNF from the VNFM. 
     In Example 20, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 14-19 optionally include that the virtualized resource performance measurement job comprises a plurality of information elements to schedule virtual performance data collection, and the plurality of information elements comprise: a resource type that indicates a resource where the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be collected, a collection period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be generated, and a reporting period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be reported. 
     Example 21 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an element manager (EM), the one or more processors to configure the EM to: schedule a Virtual Network Function (VNF) performance measurement job at a VNF; receive VNF performance measurement data in response to the VNF performance measurement job; schedule a virtualized resource performance measurement job in response to a determination, from VNF performance measurement data, of inadequate performance of a VNF; receive virtualized resource virtualized resource data from a VNF Manager (VNFM) in response to the resource performance measurement job to the VNFM; and one of: request expansion of a virtualized resource for the VNF by the VNFM based on the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, and provide at least one of the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data to a Network Manager (NM) for the NM to request expansion of the virtualized resource by a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO). 
     In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes that the one or more processors further configure the EM to: analyze the VNF performance measurement data and the virtualized resource performance measurement data, and determine that the virtualized resource is loaded and impacts the VNF performance. 
     In Example 23, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 21-22 optionally include that the virtualized resource comprises one of a virtualized central processing unit (vCPU), a virtual machine, memory and networking. 
     In Example 24, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 21-23 optionally include that the virtualized resource performance measurement job comprises a plurality of information elements to schedule virtual performance data collection, and the plurality of information elements comprise: a resource type that indicates a resource where the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be collected, a collection period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be generated, and a reporting period that indicates when the virtualized resource performance measurement data is to be reported. 
     Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. 
     Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. 
     In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, UE, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. 
     The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190509
Publication Date: 20210330
Grant Date: 20210330
Priority Date: 20150930
Inventors: CHOU, JOEY
PARKER, VALERIE
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L43/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/342", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/08", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0896", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/342", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/5009", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L49/501", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F2009/45595", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/044", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F9/45558", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F9/5077", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/5009", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/08", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/044", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0896", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F9/5077", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0896", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/5009", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F2009/45595", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L49/501", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/044", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/08", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F9/45558", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 58424061