PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11082299-B2
Application Number: US-201916357959-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Managing virtual links in a network service instance

Abstract:
An apparatus of a Network Manager (NM) comprises one or more processors to send a Network Service (NS) update request to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to add external connectivity to a Physical Network Function (PNF) instance or a Virtual Network Function (VNF) instance in an NS instance, to receive an operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier from the NFVO, to receive a lifecycle change notification from the NFVO indicating a start of an NS update, and to receive an NS Lifecycle Change notification from the NFVO indicating a result of the NS update. A memory is to store the result of the NS update.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus of a Network Manager (NM), comprising:
 one or more processors to send a Network Service (NS) update request to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to add external connectivity to a Physical Network Function (PNF) instance or a Virtual Network Function (VNF) instance in an NS instance, wherein the NS update request comprises an attribute identifying an external connection point or an external link port for the PNF instance or the VNF instance, the one or more processors to receive an operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier from the NFVO, to receive a lifecycle change notification from the NFVO indicating a start of an NS update, and to receive an NS Lifecycle Change notification from the NFVO indicating a result of the NS update; and 
 a memory to store the result of the NS update. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to send an NS update request to the NFVO to add a virtual link to the NS instance, to receive from the NFVO an operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier, to receive from NFVO an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a start of NS update, and to receive from the NFVO an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a result of the NS update. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to send an NS update request to the NFVO to remove a virtual link from the NS instance, to receive from NFVO an operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier, to receive from the NFVO an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating the start of NS update, and to receive from the NFVO a NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a result of the NS update. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to send an NS update request to the NFVO to change the external connectivity to the PNF instance, the NS update request containing the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“ChangeExtPnfConnectivity” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 changeExtPnfConnectivityData: new external connectivity data of the PNF to be changed; 
 wherein changeExtPnfConnectivityData contains the following attributes
 pnfId: the identifier of the PNF; and 
 pnfConnectivityData: Information about the PNF connectivity; and 
 
 wherein pnfConnectivityData contains the following attributes
 extVirtualLinkId: Identifier of an external VL instance; 
 extCp: External CPs of the VNF to be connected to the external VL instance; and 
 extLinkPorts: link ports to be used to connect external connection points to the external VL instance. 
 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the NS update request to add the virtual link to the NS instance contains the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“AddVirtualLink” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 add VirtualLinkData: the information of the virtual link to be added to a NS instance; 
 wherein add VirtualLinkData contains virtualLinkProfileId that is the identifier of VirtualLinkProfile. 
 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the NS update request to add the external connectivity to the PNF instance or the VNF instance contains the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“AddExtConnectivity” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 addExtConnectivityData: the information of the external connectivity; 
 wherein addExtConnectivityData contains the following attributes:
 vnfInstanceId: the identifier of the existing VNF instance; 
 extVirtualLinkData: information about the external VL to be added to the VNF instance; 
 pnfId: the identifier of the PNF; and 
 pnfConnectivityData: Information about the PNF connectivity; 
 
 wherein pnfConnectivityData contains the following attributes:
 extVirtualLinkId: Identifier of an external VL instance; 
 extCp: External CPs of the VNF to be connected to the external VL instance; and 
 extLinkPorts: link ports to be used to connect external connection points to the external VL instance. 
 
 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to send an NS update request to add a VNF instance with external connectivity to the NS instance, the NS update request containing the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“AddVnf” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 VnfInstanceData: the information of the VNF instance to be added to the NS; 
 wherein VnfInstanceData contains the following attributes:
 vnfInstanceId: the identifier of the existing VNF instance; 
 vnfProfileId: the identifier of the vnfProfile defined in the NSD for an existing VNF instance; and 
 extVirtualLinkData: information about the external VL to be added to the VNF instance. 
 
 
     
     
       8. An apparatus of a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), comprising:
 one or more processors to receive a request from a Network Manager (NM) to update a Network Service (NS) to add external connectivity to a physical network function (PNF) instance or a virtual network function (VNF) instance, wherein the request comprises an attribute identifying an external connection point or an external link port for the PNF instance or the VNF instance, the one or more processors to send to the NM an NS update operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier, to send to the NM an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a start of the NS update, to connect the PNF instance or the VNF instance to an NS virtual link per the request, and to send to the NM a NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a result of the NS update; and 
 a memory to store the request from the NM. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are to receive a request from the NM to update the NS to add a virtual link to an NS instance, to send to the NM an NS update operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier, to send to the NM an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating the start of an NS update, to add the virtual link to the NS instance as per the request, and to send to the NM an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a result of the NS update. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are to receive a request from the NM to update the NS to remove a virtual link from an NS instance, to send to the NM an NS update operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier, to send to the NM an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating the start of an NS update, to remove the virtual link from the NS instance per the request, and to send to the NM an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating the result of the NS update. 
     
     
       11. One or more non-transitory storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a Network Manger (NM), result in:
 sending a Network Service (NS) update request to a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) to initiate an NS update operation, wherein the NS update request comprises an attribute identifying an external connection point or an external link port for a PNF instance or a VNF instance, the one or more processors; 
 receiving from the NFVO an operation result containing a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier; 
 receiving from the NFVO an NS Lifecycle Change notification indicating a start of an NS update; and 
 receiving from the NFVO an NS Lifecycle Change notification to indicating a result of the NS update. 
 
     
     
       12. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 11 , wherein the NS update operation is to add a Virtual Network Function Forwarding Graph (VNFFG) instance containing one or more Network Forwarding Paths (NFPs) to an NS instance with the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=”AddVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 addVnffgData: the information of the VNFFG to be added. 
 
     
     
       13. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the NS update operation is to add one or more NFPs to the VNFFG instance in an NS instance via an VNFFG update action. 
     
     
       14. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the NS update operation is to delete one or more NFPs from the VNFFG instance in an NS instance via an VNFFG update action. 
     
     
       15. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the NS update operation is to delete the NFPs from the VNFFG instance in an NS instance with the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“UpdateVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 updateVnffgData: the information of VNFFG to be updated. 
 
     
     
       16. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the updateVnffgData contains the following attributes:
 vnffgId: Identifier of the VNFFG instance to be updated; and 
 nfpId: identifier of the NFP instances to be deleted. 
 
     
     
       17. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the NS update operation is to modify one or more NFPs in the VNFFG instance in a NS instance via an VNFFG update action. 
     
     
       18. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the NS update operation is to modify the NFPs in the VNFFG instance in an NS instance with the following attributes:
 nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated; 
 updateType=“UpdateVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation; and 
 updateVnffgData: the information of VNFFG to be updated. 
 
     
     
       19. The one or more non-transitory storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the updateVnffgData contains the following attributes:
 vnffgId: Identifier of the VNFFG instance to be updated; 
 nfp: Indicate the desired new NFP(s) for a given VNFFG, and may contain one or more of the following attributes; and 
 nfpId: Indicate the identifier of the NFP to be modified.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/648,131 (AB0013-Z) filed Mar. 26, 2018 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/665,924 (AB1122-Z) filed May 5, 2018. Said Application No. 62/648,131 and said Application No. 62/665,924 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The architecture of Fifth Generation (5G) network architecture consists of 5G core Network Functions (NFs) such as User Plane Function (UPF), Session Management Function (SMF), Network Slice Select Function (NSSF), and Network Exposure Function (NEF). The architecture also consists of a Next Generation (NG) Radio Access Network (RAN) where the functional split feature splits a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) into a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB) that implements the upper layer gNB function and a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) that implements the lower layer gNB function. The gNB-CU can be implemented as a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), and the gNB-DU can be implemented as a Physical Network Function (PNF). A network operator can create a virtualized 5G network by using European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Network Function Virtualization (NFV) lifecycle management function to instantiate a Network Service (NS) in the cloud that contains Virtual Network Functions (VFNs) such as 5G core NFs and the gNB-CU, and PNFs such as the gNB-DU. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a network service run-time view in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) management and a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Management and Orchestration (MANO) architecture in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of a network service with two Virtual Network Function Forwarding Graphs (VNFFGs) with different Network Forwarding Paths (NFPs) in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of a VNFFG update procedure to add, delete, or modify an NFP to a VNFFG instance in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of an NS update to add a VNFFG to an NS instance in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an architecture of a system of a network in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates example components of a device in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It will, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail. 
     In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in the following description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. It should be noted, however, that “over” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over” may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean “or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some, but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and “include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a network service run-time view in accordance with one or more embodiments. The core network functions of Fifth Generation (5G) networks and the 5G NodeB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) can be implemented as Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs), and the gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) can be implemented as a PNF (Physical Network Function). Network operators can create virtualized 5G networks by using European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Network Function Virtualization (NFV) lifecycle management function to instantiate a NS (Network Service) in the cloud that contains Virtual Network Functions (VFNs) such as 5G core NFs and the gNB-CU, and PNFs such as the gNB-DU.  FIG. 1  shows the connectivity between VNF and PNF that is implemented by a Network Service (NS) virtual link. For example, NS run-time view  100  includes VNF/PNF run-time view  110  and NS Virtual Link run-time view  112 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , virtual network function (VNF #1)  114  is connected to NS virtual link (NsVirtualLink #3)  118  via VNF external connection point (VnfExtCP #1)  120 , and physical network function (PNF #2)  116  is connected to NS virtual link (NsVirtualLink #3)  118  via PNF external connection point (PnfExtCp #2). External link ports (ExtLinkPort #1)  124  and (ExtLinkPort #2)  126  of VNF/PNF run-time view  110  couple to NS link ports (NsLinkPort #1)  128  and (NsLinkPort #2)  130  of NS Virtual Link run-time view  112 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) management and a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Management and Orchestration (MANO) architecture in accordance with one or more embodiments. The 3GPP management system network management architecture  200  is based on Fourth Generation (4G) networks which may be subject to change in Fight Generation (5G) networks. As used herein, the term “Network Management Function (NM)” for 5G plays a similar role as the NM in 4G, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , network management architecture  200  can include an Operations Support System and/or Business Support System (OSS/BSS)  210 , Network Manager (NM)  212 , Domain Manager (DM)  214 , and Element Manager (EM)  216 . Where the NFV environment comprises a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network, the NM  212 , DM  214 , and EM 216 can comprise a 3GPP Management System  222 . Such a 3GPP Management System can control one or more network elements (NEs) that operate as a Physical Network Function (PNF) (gNB-DU)  218 , and further can control one or more Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), for example VNF (gNB-CU)  224  and/or VNF (5G NF)  226 . An NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)  228  comprises hardware and/or software to realize the VNF blocks. In accordance with one or more embodiments, network architecture  200  can operate in compliance with a 3GPP standard, for example 3GPP Technical Standard 28.500 V14.1.0 (2017 March) or in compliance with European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Group Specification (GS) NFV 002 V1.1.1 (2013 March), although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. 
     In one or more embodiments, NFV Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO)  230  comprises and architectural framework to manage and orchestrate the VNF blocks of NFV management architecture  200 , for example to implement one or more VNF blocks as one or more virtual machines running on NFVI  228 . The NFV-MANO  230  can include NFV Orchestrator (NFVO)  232 , VNF Manager (VNFM)  234 , and/or Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM)  236 . Furthermore, NVF-MANO  230  can include one or more interfaces to couple with OSS/BSS  210 , EM 216, one or more VNF blocks, and NFVI  228 . 
     In one or more embodiments, NM  212  can add external connectivity to a PNF  218  or VNF instance in a NS. Such external connectivity may be added when a VNF instance that has been instantiated or added in a NS may not have enough external connectivity, for example due the lack of an ExtVirtualLink  118  in the action of instantiating new VNF instances in the NS instance, when some NsVirtualLinkConnectivity is not ready for a VNFProfile in the NSD when instantiating the NS. Such external connectivity also can be added when some connectivity for a PNF instance in a NS may have not been established yet. In addition. When the NS is updated to have more PNF or VNF instances, new connectivity may be needed between the existing PNF or VNF instances and the new PNF or VNF instances. For instance, when some new eNBs are added to a NS, some new connectivity may be needed for Mobility Management Entity (MME) VNFs. The following use cases can be added to 3GPP TS 28.525 to enable operators to add external connectivity to a PNF or VNF instance, for example section 6.4.3.18 of 3GPP TS 28.525 V15.0.0 (2018 June). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Use Cases for adding external connectivity 
               
               
                 to PNF or VNF instance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Use Case 
                 Evolution/Specification 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Goal 
                 Add external connectivity to a PNF or VNF instance. 
               
               
                 Actors and 
                 NM 
               
               
                 Roles 
               
               
                 Telecom 
                 NFVO 
               
               
                 resources 
               
               
                 Assumptions 
                 NM is subscribed to receive the NS LCM notifications. 
               
               
                 Pre- 
                 A PNF or VNF instance has been added or instantiated in 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 an NS instance without the external connectivity, or a 
               
               
                   
                 new external connectivity is needed due to PNF or VNF 
               
               
                   
                 upgrade. 
               
               
                 Begins when 
                 NM determines (e.g. by operator&#39;s request) that it is 
               
               
                   
                 necessary to add the external connectivity to an existing 
               
               
                   
                 PNF or VNF instance. 
               
               
                 Step 1 (M) 
                 NM sends a request to the NFVO to update the NS instance 
               
               
                   
                 by adding the external connectivity to an existing PNF or 
               
               
                   
                 VNF instance. 
               
               
                 Step 2 (M) 
                 NFVO returns to the NM lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
               
               
                   
                 and processes the request 
               
               
                 Step 3 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating start of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 4 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notifications 
               
               
                   
                 indicating progress of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 5 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating result of the operation. 
               
               
                 Ends when 
                 All the steps identified above are successfully completed. 
               
               
                 Exceptions 
                 One of the steps identified above fails. 
               
               
                 Post- 
                 The external connectivity has been added to the PNF or 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 VNF instance according to the operator&#39;s needs. 
               
               
                 Traceability 
                 REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     For REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x, the Os-Ma-nfvo reference point shall support a capability allowing NM to request the addition of the external connectivity to a PNF or VNF instance as part of NS update. The NM  212  can add a new virtual link instance to a NS instance, for example when no virtual link is available for use, or when a new virtual link is needed due to the update of NS. The NM  212  also can remove a virtual link from a NS instance when it is no longer needed. 
     The following lists use cases and requirements to be added to 3GPP TS 28.525 to enable operators to add a virtual link to a NS instance, and remove a virtual link from a NS instance. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 6.4.3.x Add a virtual link to a NS instance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Use Case 
                 Evolution/Specification 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Goal 
                 Add a virtual link to a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Actors and 
                 NM 
               
               
                 Roles 
               
               
                 Telecom 
                 NFVO 
               
               
                 resources 
               
               
                 Assumptions 
                 NM is subscribed to receive the NS LCM notifications. 
               
               
                 Pre- 
                 The NS where the virtual link is to be added has been 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 instantiated. The virtual link descriptor and virtual 
               
               
                   
                 link profile for the virtual link to be added are available 
               
               
                   
                 in the NSD either on-boarded originally or updated. 
               
               
                 Begins when 
                 NM determines (e.g. by operator&#39;s request) that it is 
               
               
                   
                 necessary to add a virtual link to an existing NS instance. 
               
               
                 Step 1 (M) 
                 NM sends a request to the NFVO to update the NS instance 
               
               
                   
                 to add a virtual link. 
               
               
                 Step 2 (M) 
                 NFVO returns to the NM lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
               
               
                   
                 and processes the request 
               
               
                 Step 3 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating start of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 4 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notifications 
               
               
                   
                 indicating progress of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 5 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating result of the operation. 
               
               
                 Ends when 
                 All the steps identified above are successfully completed. 
               
               
                 Exceptions 
                 One of the steps identified above fails. 
               
               
                 Post- 
                 A virtual link has been added to the NS instance according 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 to the operator&#39;s needs. 
               
               
                 Traceability 
                 REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 6.4.3.y Remove a virtual link from a NS instance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Use Case 
                 Evolution/Specification 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Goal 
                 Remove a virtual link from a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Actors and 
                 NM 
               
               
                 Roles 
               
               
                 Telecom 
                 NFVO 
               
               
                 resources 
               
               
                 Assumptions 
                 NM is subscribed to receive the NS LCM notifications. 
               
               
                 Pre- 
                 A virtual link in a NS instance is not used by 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 any PNF or VNF instance, and is no longer needed. 
               
               
                 Begins when 
                 NM determines (e.g. by operator&#39;s request) that it 
               
               
                   
                 is necessary to remove the virtual link from an 
               
               
                   
                 existing NS instance. 
               
               
                 Step 1 (M) 
                 NM sends a request to the NFVO to update the NS 
               
               
                   
                 instance to remove a virtual link. 
               
               
                 Step 2 (M) 
                 NFVO returns to the NM lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
               
               
                   
                 and processes the request 
               
               
                 Step 3 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating start of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 4 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notifications 
               
               
                   
                 indicating progress of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 5 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating result of the operation. 
               
               
                 Ends when 
                 All the steps identified above are successfully completed. 
               
               
                 Exceptions 
                 One of the steps identified above fails. 
               
               
                 Post- 
                 The virtual link has been removed from the NS instance 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 according to the operator&#39;s needs. 
               
               
                 Traceability 
                 REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-y 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     For REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x, the Os-Ma-nfvo reference point shall support a capability allowing NM  212  to request the addition of virtual link to a NS instance as part of NS update. For REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-y, the Os-Ma-nfvo reference point shall support a capability allowing NM to request the removal of virtual link from a NS instance as part of NS update. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a diagram of a network service with two Virtual Network Function Forwarding Graphs (VNFFGs) with different Network Forwarding Paths (NFPs) in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed.  FIG. 3  shows a Network Service (NS)  300  containing three Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), (VNF 1 )  310 , (VNF 2 )  312 , and (VNF 3 )  314  with two VNF Forwarding Graphs (VNFFGs), (VNFFG 1 )  316  and (VNFFG 2 )  318  where each VNFFG can contain one or more Network Forwarding Paths (NFPs). 
     The VNFFG is used to connect VNF instances in a NS via Service Access Point (SAP) such as Connection Points (CPs) such as (CP 01 )  320  and (CP 02 )  322  that are the entry point and exit point of a NS. In the example of  FIG. 3 , VNFFG 2 :NFP 1  traverses through CP 1 , CP 11 , CP 12 , CP 32 , CP 33 , and CP 02 , VNFFG 1 :NFP 1  traverses through CP 1 , CP 11 , CP 13 , CP 21 , CP 32 , CP 33 , and CP 02 , and VNFFG 1 :NFP 2  traverses through CP 1 , CP 11 , CP 13 , CP 32 , CP 33 , and CP 02 . 
     The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Group Specification (GS) NFV-IFA 013 defines Update NS operation (see clause 7.3.5) to allow operators to create a VNFFG in a NS, or update a VNFFG instance in a NS. The following two actions, however in the Update NS operation are missing important information that prevents VNFFG addition and update from working. In one or more embodiments, the following information may be added to ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013. One embodiment is to add VNFFG action to add a VNFFG with NFP to a NS wherein the following parameters can be added. Added input parameters include NFP data information that characterizes the NFP, and added output parameters including NFP identifier indicating the NFP instance being added to a VNFFG, and VNFFG identifier indicating the VNFFG instance in which the NFP instance is contained. Another embodiment is to update VNFFG action to add an NFP to a given VNFFG wherein the following parameters can be added. Added output parameter—NFP identifier, indicating the NFP instance being added to the VNFFG. 
     The following shows the Update NS operation from ETSI GS NFV-IFA013, with selected actions being impacted. Furthermore, the subject matter discussed herein may added to 3GPP TS 28.525, for example section 6.4.3.19 of 3GPP TS 28.525 V.15.0.0 (2018 June) and section 6.4.3.20 of 3GPP TS 28.525 V15.0.0 (2018 June). 
     7.3.5 Update NS Operation 
     7.3.5.1 Introduction 
     This operation updates an NS instance. This operation is also used to embed VNF LCM operations in support of fine grained NS LCM approach. See the informative message flows in annex C. Actions that can be performed with an update include:
         Adding existing VNF instances to the NS instance.   Removing VNF instances from the NS instance.   Instantiating new VNF instances and adding them to the NS instance.   Changing the DF of VNF instances belonging to the NS instance.   Changing the operational state of a VNF instance belonging to the NS instance.   Modifying information data and/or the configurable properties of a VNF instance belonging to the NS instance.   Changing the external connectivity of a VNF instance belonging to the NS instance.   Adding SAPs to the NS instance.   Removing SAPs from the NS instance.   Adding existing NS instances to the NS instance.   Removing nested NS instances from the NS instance.   Associate a new NSD version to the NS instance.   Moving VNF instances from one NS instance to another NS instance.   Adding VNFFGs to the NS instance.   Removing VNFFGs from the NS instance.   Update VNFFGs of the NS instance.   Changing the DF of the NS instance.   Adding PNFs to the NS instance.   Modifying PNFs in the NS instance.   Removing PNFs from the NS instance.       

     In the above list, adding VNFFGs to the NS instance and updating VNFFGs of the NS instance are impacted. Only one type of update shall be allowed per operation. 
     Table 4 below comprises Table 7.3.5.1-1 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA013 which lists the information flow exchanged between the OSS/BSS  210  and the NFVO  232 . It is possible, however, to request several updates of a given type in one Update NS operation as indicated in the cardinalities in table 7.3.5.2-1. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 7.3.5.1-1: Update NS operation 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Message 
                 Requirement 
                 Direction 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 UpdateNsRequest 
                 Mandatory 
                 OSS/BSS NFVO 
               
               
                   
                 UpdateNsResponse 
                 Mandatory 
                 NFVO OSS/BSS 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The input parameters (7.3.5.2 Input parameters) sent when invoking the operation shall follow the indications provided in Table 5 below, which comprises table 7.3.5.2-1 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA013. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 7.3.5.2-1: Update NS operation input parameters 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Parameter 
                 Qualifier 
                 Cardinality 
                 Content 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 nsInstanceId 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the NS instance being 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updated. 
               
               
                 updateType 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Enum 
                 Specifies the type of update. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter determines also which 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 one of the following parameter is 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present in the operation. 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Possible values are: 
               
               
                   
                 AddVnf (adding existing VNF 
               
               
                   
                 instance(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 RemoveVnf (removing VNF 
               
               
                   
                 instance(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 InstantiateVnf (instantiating 
               
               
                   
                 new VNF(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 ChangeVnfDf (Changing VNF 
               
               
                   
                 DF), 
               
               
                   
                 OperateVnf (changing VNF 
               
               
                   
                 state), 
               
               
                   
                 ModifyVnfInformation 
               
               
                   
                 (modifying VNF information 
               
               
                   
                 and/or the configurable 
               
               
                   
                 properties of VNF instance(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 ChangeExtVnfConnectivity 
               
               
                   
                 (changing the external 
               
               
                   
                 connectivity of VNF 
               
               
                   
                 instance(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 AddSap (adding SAP(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 RemoveSap (removing 
               
               
                   
                 SAP(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 AddNestedNs (adding existing 
               
               
                   
                 NS instance(s) as nested 
               
               
                   
                 NS(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 RemoveNestedNs 
               
               
                   
                 (removing existing nested NS 
               
               
                   
                 instance(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 AssocNewNsdVersion 
               
               
                   
                 (associating a new NSD 
               
               
                   
                 version to the NS instance), 
               
               
                   
                 MoveVnf (moving VNF 
               
               
                   
                 instance(s) from one origin NS 
               
               
                   
                 instance to a another target NS 
               
               
                   
                 instance), 
               
               
                   
                 AddVnffg (adding VNFFG(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 RemoveVnffg (removing 
               
               
                   
                 VNFFG(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 UpdateVnffg (updating 
               
               
                   
                 VNFFG(s)), 
               
               
                   
                 ChangeNsDf (changing NS 
               
               
                   
                 DF), 
               
               
                   
                 AddPnf (adding PNF), 
               
               
                   
                 ModifyPnf(modify PNF), 
               
               
                   
                 RemovePnf (removing PNF). 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 addVnfInstance 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 VnfInstanceData 
                 Specify an existing VNF instance to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be added to the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = AddVnf. 
               
               
                 removeVnfInstanceId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Specify an existing VNF instance to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be removed from the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 The parameter contains the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 identifier(s) of the VNF instances to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be removed. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = RemoveVnf. See 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 note 1. 
               
               
                 instantiateVnfData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 InstantiateVnfData 
                 Specify the new VNF to be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instantiated. This parameter can be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 used e.g. for the bottom-up NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 creation. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = InstantiateVnf. 
               
               
                 changeVnfFlavourData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 ChangeVnfFlavourData 
                 Specify the new DF of the VNF 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance to be changed to. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = ChangeVnfDf. 
               
               
                 operateVnfData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 OperateVnfData 
                 Specify the state of the VNF 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance to be changed. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = OperateVnf. 
               
               
                 modifyVnfInfoData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 ModifyVnfInfoData 
                 Specify the VNF Information 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameters and/or the configurable 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 properties of VNF instance to be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 modified. This parameter shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = ModifyVnfInformation. 
               
               
                 changeExtVnfConnectivityData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 ChangeExtVnfConnectivityData 
                 Specify the new external 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 connectivity data of the VNF 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance to be changed. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = ChangeExtVnfConnectivity. 
               
               
                 addSap 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 SapData 
                 Specify a new SAP to be added to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = AddSap. 
               
               
                 removeSapId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Specify an existing SAP to be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 removed from the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 The parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = RemoveSap. 
               
               
                 addNestedNsId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Specify an existing nested NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance to be added to (nested 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 within) the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = AddNestedNs. 
               
               
                 removeNestedNsId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Specify an existing nested NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance to be removed from the NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 The parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = RemoveVnfN estedNs. 
               
               
                 assocNewNsdVersionData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . 1  
                 AssocNewNsdVersionData 
                 Specify the new NSD to be used for 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the NS instance. This parameter 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = AssocNewNsdVersion. 
               
               
                 moveVnfInstanceData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 MoveVnfInstanceData 
                 Specify existing VNF instance to be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 moved from one NS instance to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 another NS instance. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = MoveVnf. 
               
               
                 addVnffg 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 AddVnffgData 
                 Specify the new VNFFG to be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 created to the NS Instance. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 parameter shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = AddVnffg. 
               
               
                 removeVnffgId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of an existing VNFFG to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be removed from the NS Instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = RemoveVnffg. 
               
               
                 updateVnffg 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 UpdateVnffgData 
                 Specify the new VNFFG 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Information 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 data to be updated for a VNFFG of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the NS Instance. This parameter 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = UpdateVnffg. 
               
               
                 changeNsFlavourData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . 1  
                 ChangeNsFlavourData 
                 Specifies the new DF to be applied 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 to the NS instance. It shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = ChangeNsDf. 
               
               
                 updateTime 
                 M 
                 0 . . . 1  
                 DateTime 
                 Timestamp indicating the update 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 time of the NS, i.e. the NS will be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updated at this timestamp. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Cardinality “0” indicates the NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 update takes place immediately. 
               
               
                 addPnfData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 AddPnfData 
                 Information of the PNF(s) that are 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 being added into the NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 only if updateType = AddPnf. 
               
               
                 modifyPnfData 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 ModifyPnfData 
                 Information on the PNF(s) that are 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 being modified in this NS instance. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This parameter shall be present 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 only if updateType = ModifyPnf. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 See note 2 
               
               
                 removePnfId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the PNF(s) that are part 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 of this NS instance and that should 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be deleted from it. This parameter 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = RemovePnf. 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 NOTE 1: 
               
               
                 If a VNF instance is removed from an NS and this NS was the last one for which this VNF instance was a part, the VNF instance is terminated by the NFVO. 
               
               
                 NOTE 2: 
               
               
                 New CP addresses should be contained in the element, if PNF CPs need to be changed. 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The following shows the text being added to both input and output parameters to support the Add VNFFG action. 
     8.3.4.21 AddVnffgData Information Element 
     8.3.4.21.1 Description 
     This information element specifies the parameters that are needed for the creation of a new VNFFG instance. 
     8.3.4.21.2 Attributes 
     The attributes of the AddVnffgData information element shall follow the indications provided in Table 6 which comprises Table 8.3.4.21.2 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA0131. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 6 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 8.3.4.21.2-1: Attributes of the AddVnffgData information element 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Attribute 
                 Qualifier 
                 Cardinality 
                 Content 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 vnffgdId 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Identifier(Reference 
                 Identifier of the VNFFGD 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 to Vnffgd) 
                 which defines the VNFFG 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 to be added. 
               
               
                 vnffgName 
                 M 
                 1 
                 String 
                 Human readable name for the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 VNFFG. 
               
               
                 description 
                 M 
                 1 
                 String 
                 Human readable description 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 for the VNFFG. 
               
               
                 nfp 
                 N 
                 0 . . . N 
                 NfpData 
                 Indicate the desired new 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 NFP(s) for a given VNFFG 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 after the operations of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 addition/removal of NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 components (e.g. VNFs, VLs, 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 etc.) have been completed, or 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 indicate the NFP classification 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 and selection rule for the new 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 NFP to be added to the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 VNFFG instance. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     7.3.5 Update NS Operation 
     7.3.5.3 Output Parameters 
     The output parameter returned by the operation shall follow the indications provided in Table 7 comprising Table 7.3.5.3-1 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA0131. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 7 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 7.3.5.3-1: Update NS operation output parameters 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Parameter 
                 Qualifier 
                 Cardinality 
                 Content 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 vnfInstanceId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the instance of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the instantiated VNF. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This information shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 retuned as the result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if successful. 
               
               
                 pnfId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the PNF assigned 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 by OSS. It shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = AddPnf. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 information shall be returned 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 as the result of the operation 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if successful. 
               
               
                 addedVnffgInfo 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 AddedVnffgInfo 
                 Information of the instance of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the created VNFFG. It shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present only if updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 AddVnffg. This information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned as the result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if successful. 
               
               
                 sapId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the instance of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the created SAP. It shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present only if updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 addSap. This information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned as the result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if successful. 
               
               
                 lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Identifier 
                 The identifier of the NS 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 lifecycle operation occurrence. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This information shall be returned 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 immediately before any notification, 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 message or operation is done 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     8.3.4.x AddedVnffglnfo Information Element 
     8.3.4.x.1 Description 
     This information element specifies the VNFFG instance being added to a NS instance. 8.3.4.x.2 Attributes 
     The attributes of the AddedVnffglnfo information element shall follow the indications provided in Table 8 comprising Table 8.3.4.x.2-11 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA0131. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 8 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 8.3.4.X.2-1: Attributes of the 
               
               
                 AddVnffgInfo information element 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Attribute 
                 Qualifier 
                 Cardinality 
                 Content 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 vnffgId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . 1  
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance of the created 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 VNFFG. 
               
               
                 nfpId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier(s) of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 (Reference 
                 NFP to be added to a 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 to Nfp)) 
                 given VNFFG. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The following shows the text being added to the output parameters to support the Update VNFFG action. 
     7.3.5 Update NS Operation 
     7.3.5.3 Output Parameters 
     The output parameter returned by the operation shall follow the indications provided in Table 9 comprising table 7.3.5.3-1 from ETSI GS NFV-IFA0131. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 9 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Table 7.3.5.3-1: Update NS operation output parameters 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Parameter 
                 Qualifier 
                 Cardinality 
                 Content 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 vnfInstanceId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instantiated VNF. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This information 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be retuned as 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 successful. 
               
               
                 pnfId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 PNF assigned by 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 OSS. It shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 present only if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 AddPnf. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned as 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the result of 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the operation 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if successful. 
               
               
                 vnffgId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 created VNFFG. It 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 AddVnffg. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned as 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 successful. 
               
               
                 sapId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 instance of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 created SAP. It shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 addSap. This 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 information shall be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 returned as the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 successful. 
               
               
                 lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Identifier 
                 The identifier of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 NS lifecycle 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation occurrence. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 immediately before 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 any notification, 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 message or operation 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 is done 
               
               
                 nfpId 
                 M 
                 0 . . . N 
                 Identifier 
                 Identifier(s) of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 NFP being deleted to a 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 given VNFFG. It 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be present only 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if updateType = 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 UpdateVnffg. 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 This information shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 be returned as the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 result of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 operation if 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 successful. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The following use cases, requirements, and procedures are added to TS 28.525 to describe how NM  212  or 3GPP operators can use Add VNFFG and Update VNFFG actions in the NS update operation to add VNFFG with NFP to a NS instance. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 10 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 6.4.3.x Add VNF forwarding graph to a NS instance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Use Case 
                 Evolution/Specification 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Goal 
                 Add VNF forwarding graph to a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Actors and 
                 NM 
               
               
                 Roles 
               
               
                 Telecom 
                 NFVO 
               
               
                 resources 
               
               
                 Assumptions 
                 NM is subscribed to receive the NS LCM notifications. 
               
               
                 Pre- 
                 An NS instance, containing the VNF instances and all 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 necessary components (e.g. VLs, CPs, SAPs, . . .) to 
               
               
                   
                 form a VNFFG, has been instantiated, VNFFGD for the 
               
               
                   
                 VNFFG to be added already exists. 
               
               
                 Begins when 
                 NM determines (e.g. by operator&#39;s request) that it is 
               
               
                   
                 necessary to add a VNFFG to a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Step 1 (M) 
                 NM sends a request to the NFVO to update the NS instance 
               
               
                   
                 (see clause 7.3.5 in [6]) by adding a VNFFG to a NS 
               
               
                   
                 instance. 
               
               
                 Step 2 (M) 
                 NFVO returns to the NM lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId 
               
               
                   
                 and processes the request 
               
               
                 Step 3 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating start of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 4 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notifications 
               
               
                   
                 indicating progress of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 5 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating result of the operation. 
               
               
                 Ends when 
                 All the steps identified above are successfully completed. 
               
               
                 Exceptions 
                 One of the steps identified above fails. 
               
               
                 Post- 
                 The VNFFG has been added to the NS instance according 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 to the operator&#39;s needs. 
               
               
                 Traceability 
                 REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 11 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 6.4.3.x Update VNF forwarding graph in a NS instance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Use Case 
                 Evolution/Specification 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Goal 
                 Update VNF forwarding graph in a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Actors and 
                 NM 
               
               
                 Roles 
               
               
                 Telecom 
                 NFVO 
               
               
                 resources 
               
               
                 Assumptions 
                 NM is subscribed to receive the NS LCM notifications. 
               
               
                 Pre- 
                 An NS instance with VNFFG already exists, 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 VNFFGD for the VNFFG to be updated already exists. 
               
               
                 Begins when 
                 NM determines (e.g. by operator&#39;s request) that it is 
               
               
                   
                 necessary to update the VNFFG in a NS instance. 
               
               
                 Step 1 (M) 
                 NM sends a request to the NFVO to update the VNFFG 
               
               
                   
                 (e.g. addition, deletion, and modification of NFP) in 
               
               
                   
                 a NS instance via the NS update operation (see clause 
               
               
                   
                 7.3.5 in [6]). 
               
               
                 Step 2 (M) 
                 NFVO returns to the NM lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, 
               
               
                   
                 and the identifier of new NFP if the update is to add a 
               
               
                   
                 NFP to the existing VNFFG, and processes the request. 
               
               
                 Step 3 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating start of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 4 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notifications 
               
               
                   
                 indicating progress of the operation. 
               
               
                 Step 5 (M) 
                 NFVO sends to NM Lifecycle Change Notification 
               
               
                   
                 indicating result of the operation. 
               
               
                 Ends when 
                 All the steps identified above are successfully completed. 
               
               
                 Exceptions 
                 One of the steps identified above fails. 
               
               
                 Post- 
                 The VNFFG has been updated to the NS instance according 
               
               
                 conditions 
                 to the operator&#39;s needs. 
               
               
                 Traceability 
                 REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     For REQ-NFV_LCM_Os-Ma-nfvo-FUN-x, the Os-Ma-nfvo reference point shall support a capability allowing NM  212  to request the addition of the VNFFG as part of NS update (covered by requirement Os-Ma-nfvo.NsLcm.027 in ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram of a VNFFG update procedure to add, delete, or modify an NFP to a VNFFG instance in accordance with one or more embodiments as discussed below. As shown in  FIG. 4 , in VNFFG update procedure  400 , NM  212  sends an UpdateNsRequest—UpdateVnffg message to NFVO  212  at operation  410 . NFVO  232  responds to NM  212  with an UpdateNsResponse message at operation  412 . NFVO  232  sends Notify—NsLifecycleChangeNotification (start) message to NM  212  at operation  414 . NFVO  232  then sends Notify—NsIndentifierChangeNotification (result) message to NM  212  at operation. Details of VNFFG update procedure  400  to add an NFP, to delete an NFP, and to modify an NFP are presented below. 
     4.4.5 NS Instance Updating 
     4.4.5,x VNFFG Update to Add a NFP 
     FIG. 4.4.5.x-1 depicts the procedure of VNFFG update to add a NFP (Network Forwarding Path) to a VNFFG instance (see clause 7.3.5 [5]). 
     
         
         
           
             1. NM sends to NFVO an UpdateNsRequest (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the following parameters (see clause 7.3.5.2 of [5]) to on-board the NSD:
           nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated.   updateType=“UpdateVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation.   UpdateVnffgData: the information of VNFFG to be updated (see clause 8.3.4.22.2 of [5]):
               vnffgId: Identifier of an existing VNFFG information element to be updated for the NS instance;   nfp: Indicate the desired new NFP(s) for a given VNFFG;
                   nfpName: Human readable name for the NFP;   description: Human readable description for the NFP;   cp: Identifier(s) of the CPs and SAPs which the NFP passes by;   nfpRule: NFP classification and selection rule.   
                   
               
         
             2. NFVO sends to NM an UpdateNsResponse (see clause 7.3.5 of [ 5 ]) with the attributes:
           lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId: the identifier of the NS lifecycle operation occurrence;   nfpId that is the identifier of NFP being added to the given VNFFG;   
         
           
         
       
    
     Note: the nfpId: is currently not defined in clause 7.3.5.3 in [5].
         3. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate”, and notificationType=“start” to indicate the start of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).   4. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate “, and notificationType=“result” to indicate the end result of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).
 
4.4.5,x VNFFG Update to Delete a NFP
 
FIG. 4.4.5.x-1 depicts the procedure of VNFFG update to delete a NFP from a VNFFG instance (see clause 7.3.5 [5]).
   1. NM sends to NFVO an UpdateNsRequest (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the following parameters (see clause 7.3.5.2 of [5]) to on-board the NSD:
           nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated.   updateType=“UpdateVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation.   UpdateVnffgData: the information of the external connectivity (see clause 8.3.4.22.2 of [5]):
               vnffgId: Identifier of an existing VNFFG information element to be updated for the NS instance;   nfpId: Identifier(s) of the NFP to be deleted from a given VNFFG. 2. NFVO sends to NM an UpdateNsResponse (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the attribute nsInstanceId identifier of the lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId that is the identifier of the NS lifecycle operation occurrence,   
               
           3. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate”, and notificationType=“start” to indicate the start of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).   4. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate “, and notificationType=“result” to indicate the end result of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).
 
4.4.5,x VNFFG Update to Modify a NFP
 
FIG. 4.4.5.x-1 depicts the procedure of VNFFG update to modify a NFP (Network Forwarding Path) of a VNFFG instance (see clause 7.3.5 [5]).
   1. NM sends to NFVO an UpdateNsRequest (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the following parameters (see clause 7.3.5.2 of [5]) to on-board the NSD:
           nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated.   updateType=“UpdateVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation.   UpdateVnffgData: the information of the external connectivity (see clause 8.3.4.22.2 of [5]):
               vnffgId: Identifier of an existing VNFFG information element to be updated for the NS instance;   nfp: Indicate the desired new NFP(s) for a given VNFFG, and may contain one or more of the following attributes:
                   nfpName: Human readable name for the NFP;   description: Human readable description for the NFP;   cp: Identifier(s) of the CPs and SAPs which the NFP passes by;   nfpRule: NFP classification and selection rule.   
                   nfpId: Indicate the identifier of the NFP to be modified.   
               
           2. NFVO sends to NM an UpdateNsResponse (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the attribute lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId that is the identifier of the NS lifecycle operation occurrence.   3. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate”, and notificationType=“start” to indicate the start of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).   4. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate “, and notificationType=“result” to indicate the end result of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]).       

       FIG. 5  is a diagram of an NS update to add a VNFFG to an NS instance in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 5 , in NS update procedure  500 , NM  212  sends an UpdateNsRequest—AddVnffg message to NFVO  232  at operation  510 . NFVO  232  sends an UpdateNsResponse message to NM  212  at operation  512 . NFVO  232  then sends a Notify—NsLifecycleChangeNotification (start) message to NM  212  at operation  514 . NFVO  232  then sends a Notify—NsIdentifierChangeNotification (result) message to NM  212  at operation  516 . Details of NS update procedure  500  to add a VNFFG are described below. 
     4.4.5,x NS Update to Add a VNFFG 
     FIG. 4.4.5.x-1 depicts the procedure of NS update to add a VNFFG to a NS instance (see clause 7.3.5 [5]). 
     
         
         
           
             1. NM sends to NFVO an UpdateNsRequest (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the following parameters (see clause 7.3.5.2 of [5]) to on-board the NSD:
           nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance being updated.   updateType=“AddVnffg” to indicate the type of update operation.   AddVnffgData: the information of the VNFFG to be added (see clause 8.3.4.21.2 of [5]):
               vnffgdId: Identifier of the VNFFGD which defines the VNFFG to be added;   vnffgName: Human readable name for the VNFFG.   description: Human readable description for the VNFFG.   nfp: indicate the NFP classification and selection rule for the new NFP to be added to the VNFFG instance.   
               Note: &gt; nfp is currently not defined in clause 5.3.4.22.2 in [5].   
         
             2. NFVO sends to NM an UpdateNsResponse (see clause 7.3.5 of [5]) with the attribute:
           nsInstanceId: the identifier of the NS instance lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId that is the identifier of the NS lifecycle operation occurrence;   addedVnffglnfo: Information of the of the created VNFFG instance.
               vnffgId: Identifier of the VNFFG instance in which the NFP instances are contained;   nfpId: Identifier(s) of the NFP to be added to a given VNFFG.   
               
         
             Note: addedVnffglnfo is currently not defined in clause7.3.5.3 in [5]. 
             3. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate”, and notificationType=“start” to indicate the start of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]). 
             4. NFVO sends to NM a Notify (see clause 7.4.3 [5]) carrying an NsLifecycleChangeNotification information element with attributes nsInstanceId, lifecycleOperationOccurrenceId, operation=“NsUpdate “, and notificationType=“result” to indicate the end result of the NS instantiation (see clause 8.3.2.2 [5]). 
           
         
       
    
       FIG. 6  illustrates an architecture of a system  600  of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system  600  is shown to include a user equipment (UE)  601  and a UE  602 . The UEs  601  and  602  are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface. 
     In some embodiments, any of the UEs  601  and  602  can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network. 
     The UEs  601  and  602  may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN)  610 —the RAN  610  may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs  601  and  602  utilize connections  603  and  604 , respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections  603  and  604  are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like. 
     In this embodiment, the UEs  601  and  602  may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface  605 . The ProSe interface  605  may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). 
     The UE  602  is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)  606  via connection  607 . The connection  607  can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP  606  would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP  606  is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). 
     The RAN  610  can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections  603  and  604 . These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN  610  may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node  611 , and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node  612 . 
     Any of the RAN nodes  611  and  612  can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs  601  and  602 . In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes  611  and  612  can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  610  including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. 
     In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs  601  and  602  can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes  611  and  612  over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. 
     In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes  611  and  612  to the UEs  601  and  602 , while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. 
     The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs  601  and  602 . The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs  601  and  602  about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE  102  within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes  611  and  612  based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs  601  and  602 . The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs  601  and  602 . 
     The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8). 
     Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations. 
     The RAN  610  is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN)  620 —via an S1 interface  613 . In embodiments, the CN  620  may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface  613  is split into two parts: the S1-U interface  614 , which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes  611  and  612  and the serving gateway (S-GW)  622 , and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface  615 , which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes  611  and  612  and MMEs  621 . 
     In this embodiment, the CN  620  comprises the MMEs  621 , the S-GW  622 , the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)  623 , and a home subscriber server (HSS)  624 . The MMEs  621  may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs  621  may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS  624  may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities&#39; handling of communication sessions. The CN  620  may comprise one or several HSSs  624 , depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS  624  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. 
     The S-GW  622  may terminate the S1 interface  613  towards the RAN  610 , and routes data packets between the RAN  610  and the CN  620 . In addition, the S-GW  622  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The P-GW  623  may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW  623  may route data packets between the EPC network  623  and external networks such as a network including the application server  630  (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface  625 . Generally, the application server  630  may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW  623  is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server  630  via an IP communications interface  625 . The application server  630  can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs  601  and  602  via the CN  620 . 
     The P-GW  623  may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF)  626  is the policy and charging control element of the CN  620 . In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE&#39;s Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE&#39;s IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF  626  may be communicatively coupled to the application server  630  via the P-GW  623 . The application server  630  may signal the PCRF  626  to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF  626  may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server  630 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates example components of a device  700  in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device  700  may include application circuitry  702 , baseband circuitry  704 , Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry  706 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  708 , one or more antennas  710 , and power management circuitry (PMC)  712  coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device  700  may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device  700  may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry  702 , and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device  700  may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations). 
     The application circuitry  702  may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry  702  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 or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device  700 . In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry  702  may process IP data packets received from an EPC. 
     The baseband circuitry  704  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry  704  may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry  706  and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  706 . Baseband processing circuity  704  may interface with the application circuitry  702  for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry  706 . For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  704  may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor  704 A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor  704 B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor  704 C, or other baseband processor(s)  704 D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry  704  (e.g., one or more of baseband processors  704 A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry  706 . In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors  704 A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory  704 G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU)  704 E. 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  704  may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry  704  may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, 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  704  may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP)  704 F. The audio DSP(s)  704 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  704  and the application circuitry  702  may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  704  may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  704  may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) 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  704  is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. 
     RF circuitry  706  may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry  706  may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry  706  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  708  and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry  704 . RF circuitry  706  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry  704  and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry  708  for transmission. 
     In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry  706  may include mixer circuitry  706   a , amplifier circuitry  706   b  and filter circuitry  706   c . In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  706  may include filter circuitry  706   c  and mixer circuitry  706   a . RF circuitry  706  may also include synthesizer circuitry  706   d  for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  708  based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  706   d . The amplifier circuitry  706   b  may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry  706   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  704  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  706   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  706   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  706   d  to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry  708 . The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry  704  and may be filtered by filter circuitry  706   c.    
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   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  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   a  may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   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  706  may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry  704  may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry  706 . 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  706   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  706   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  706   d  may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the RF circuitry  706  based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry  706   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  704  or the applications processor  702  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  702 . 
     Synthesizer circuitry  706   d  of the RF circuitry  706  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  706   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  706  may include an IQ/polar converter. 
     FEM circuitry  708  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas  710 , amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry  706  for further processing. FEM circuitry  708  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry  706  for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas  710 . In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry  706 , solely in the FEM  708 , or in both the RF circuitry  706  and the FEM  708 . 
     In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry  708  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 an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry  706 ). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry  708  may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry  706 ), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas  710 ). 
     In some embodiments, the PMC  712  may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry  704 . In particular, the PMC  712  may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC  712  may often be included when the device  700  is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC  712  may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics. 
     While  FIG. 7  shows the PMC  712  coupled only with the baseband circuitry  704 . In other embodiments, however, the PMC  712  may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry  702 , RF circuitry  706 , or FEM  708 . 
     In some embodiments, the PMC  712  may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device  700 . For example, if the device  700  is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device  700  may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power. 
     If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device  700  may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device  700  goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device  700  may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC Connected state. 
     An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable. 
     Processors of the application circuitry  702  and processors of the baseband circuitry  704  may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry  704 , alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer  3 , Layer  2 , or Layer  1  functionality, while processors of the application circuitry  704  may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer  4  functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer  3  may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer  2  may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer  1  may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry  704  of  FIG. 7  may comprise processors  704 A- 704 E and a memory  704 G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors  704 A- 704 E may include a memory interface,  804 A- 804 E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory  704 G. 
     The baseband circuitry  704  may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface  812  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry  704 ), an application circuitry interface  814  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry  702  of  FIG. 7 ), an RF circuitry interface  816  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry  706  of  FIG. 7 ), a wireless hardware connectivity interface  818  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface  820  (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC  712 . 
     Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to managing virtual links in a network service instance and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190319
Publication Date: 20210803
Grant Date: 20210803
Priority Date: 20180326
Inventors: CHOU, JOEY
Yao, Yizhi
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L41/0895", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0806", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0895", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/082", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/082", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0806", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/12", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/082", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L41/0806", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 67843574