# US 10,375,015 B2 · Methods and system for allocating an IP address for an instance in a network function virtualization (NFV) system

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- Number: US 10,375,015 B2
- Document ID: US10375015B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/888,877
- Filed: 2018-02-05
- Published: 2018-06-07
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-08-19
- Assignees: Futurewei Technologies, Inc.
- Applicants: Futurewei Technologies, Inc.
- Inventors: Anni Wei; Zhixian Xiang; Lei Zhu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10375015B2

## CPC

- H04L 61/5007: Internet protocol [IP] addresses
- H04L 49/70: {Virtual switches}
- H04L 61/5061: Pools of addresses
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions for allocating an IP address for an instance in a network function virtualization (NFV) system, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of obtaining a first requirement of IP address allocation from VNFD by a first node in the NFV system, determining a second requirement of IP address allocation for the instance according to the first requirement; and sending to a second node in the NFV system the second requirement, wherein the IP address is allocated for the instance based upon the second requirement.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions for allocating an IP address for an instance in a network function virtualization (NFV) hardware system, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
obtaining, by a first node in the NFV hardware system, a first requirement of IP address allocation for the instance from a virtualised network function descriptor (VNFD);
determining, by the first node, a second requirement of IP address allocation for the instance according to the first requirement; and
sending, by the first node, to a second node in the NFV hardware system the second requirement, wherein the IP address is allocated for the instance based upon the second requirement.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the instance comprises a virtualised network function (VNF) instance or a virtualised network function component (VNFC) instance.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the first requirement is included in a virtual deployment unit (VDU) information element in the VNFD.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the computer instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of allocating the IP address for the instance based on the second requirement.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the first requirement and the second requirement respectively indicate one or more characteristics of the IP address to be allocated, and wherein the one or more characteristics indicated in the first requirement are pre-defined in the VNFD.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The medium of claim 5, wherein the first node is a NFV orchestrator (NFVO) entity or a VNF manager (VNFM) entity, and the second node is a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM) entity.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The medium of claim 5, wherein the one or more characteristics of the IP address comprises at least one type from a group of:
an IP address type indicator indicating the type of the IP address to be allocated;
an access point name (APN) indicator indicating an APN which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address pool indicator indicating an IP address pool which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address range indicator indicating an IP address range constraint within which the IP address to be allocated is;
an IP address list indicator indicating a list of specific IP addresses in which the IP address to be allocated is; and
a port indicator indicating an allowed port associated with the IP address for the instance.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the computer instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
receiving, by the first node, a third requirement of IP address allocation for the instance from a third node in the NFV hardware system through an interface between the first node and the third node; and
wherein the first requirement indicates the IP address allocation is to be configured through an interface between nodes in the NFV hardware system, the second requirements indicates one or more characteristics of the IP address that the first node expects to allocate, the third requirement indicates one or more characteristics of the IP address that the third node expects to allocate, and the determining the second requirement of IP address allocation for the instance according to the first requirement comprises:
determining the second requirement at least based on the first and third requirement.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The medium of claim 8, wherein the second requirement is sent through an interface between the first node and the second node in the NFV hardware system.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The medium of claim 8, wherein the first node is a VNFM entity, the second node is a VIM entity and the third node is a VNF entity; wherein the first node is a VNFM entity, the second node is a VNF entity or an element management system (EMS), and the third node is a NFVO entity; wherein the first node is an NFVO entity, the second node is a VIM entity and the third node is an OSS entity or other authorized management entity; or wherein the first node is an NFVO entity, the second node is a VNF entity or an EMS, and the third node is a VIM entity.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more characteristics of the IP address comprises at least one type from a group of:
an IP address type indicator indicating the type of the IP address to be allocated;
an APN indicator indicating an APN which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address pool indicator indicating an IP address pool which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address range indicator indicating an IP address range constraint within which the IP address to be allocated is;
an IP address list indicator indicating a list of specific IP addresses in which the IP address to be allocated is; and
a port indicator indicating an allowed port associated with the IP address for the instance.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The medium of claim 1, wherein the first requirement indicates the IP address allocation is to be configured through an interface between nodes in the NFV hardware system, the second requirements indicates one or more characteristics of the IP address that the first node expects to allocate.

### Claim 13

A method, comprising:
receiving a request for an IP address for an instance in a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) hardware system;
allocating the IP address by obtaining a first requirement of IP address allocation for the instance from a virtualised network function descriptor (VNFD) and a second requirement of IP address allocation for the instance according to the first requirement, and
sending a selected IP address to the instance based upon the second requirement.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the first requirement is included in a virtual deployment unit (VDU) information element in the VNFD.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the first requirement and the second requirement respectively indicate one or more characteristics of the IP address to be allocated, and wherein the one or more characteristics indicated in the first requirement are pre-defined in the VNFD.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more characteristics of the IP address comprises at least one type from a group of:
an IP address type indicator indicating the type of the IP address to be allocated;
an access point name (APN) indicator indicating an APN which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address pool indicator indicating an IP address pool which the IP address to be allocated belongs to;
an IP address range indicator indicating an IP address range constraint within which the IP address to be allocated is;
an IP address list indicator indicating a list of specific IP addresses in which the IP address to be allocated is; and
a port indicator indicating an allowed port associated with the IP address for the instance.