# US 11,121,957 B2 · Dynamic quality of service in edge cloud architectures

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- Number: US 11,121,957 B2
- Document ID: US11121957B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/235,354
- Filed: 2018-12-28
- Published: 2019-05-09
- Granted: 2021-09-14
- Earliest claimed: 2018-12-28
- Assignees: Intel Corporation
- Applicants: Intel Corporation
- Inventors: Francesc Guim Bernat; Andrew J. Herdrich; Karthik Kumar; Felipe Pastor Beneyto; Edwin Verplanke; Rashmin Patel; Monica Kenguva; Brinda Ganesh; Alexander Vul; Ned M. Smith
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11121957B2

## CPC

- H04L 43/16: Threshold monitoring
- H04L 41/40: using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
- H04L 41/5006: Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties
- H04L 43/08: Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
- H04L 43/20: the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV
- H04L 45/125: based on throughput or bandwidth
- H04L 47/2408: for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
- H04L 47/2425: for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
- H04L 41/5019: Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
- H04L 43/0852: Delays
- H04L 43/0888: Throughput
- H04W 28/0268: {using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] (negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24)}
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A device of a service coordinating entity includes communications circuitry to communicate with a plurality of access networks via a corresponding plurality of network function virtualization (NFV) instances, processing circuitry, and a memory device. The processing circuitry is to perform operations to monitor stored performance metrics for the plurality of NFV instances. Each of the NFV instances is instantiated by a corresponding scheduler of a plurality of schedulers on a virtualization infrastructure of the service coordinating entity. A plurality of stored threshold metrics is retrieved, indicating a desired level for each of the plurality of performance metrics. A threshold condition is detected for at least one of the performance metrics for an NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the retrieved plurality of threshold metrics. A hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with an access network is adjusted based on the detected threshold condition.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A device of a service coordinating entity, comprising:
communications circuitry to communicate with a plurality of access networks via a corresponding plurality of network function virtualization (NFV) instances;
processing circuitry; and
a memory device including instructions embodied thereon, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the processing circuitry to perform operations to:
monitor stored performance metrics for the plurality of NFV instances, each of the plurality of NFV instances instantiated by a corresponding scheduler of a plurality of schedulers on a virtualization infrastructure of the service coordinating entity, the plurality of schedulers executing as part of Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) services of the service coordinating entity;
retrieve a plurality of threshold metrics, the plurality of threshold metrics associated with one or more network traffic types processed by the plurality of schedulers and indicating a desired level for each of the performance metrics;
detect a threshold condition for at least one of the performance metrics for an NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the retrieved plurality of threshold metrics; and
adjust a hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with an access network of the plurality of access networks based on the detected threshold condition.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein each NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances is provided by a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) application executing on the virtualization infrastructure of the service coordinating entity.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the service coordinating entity is a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) host executing the plurality of NFV instances as MEC applications instantiated on the virtualization infrastructure.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The device of claim 3, wherein the MEC host is configured to operate according to a standard from a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) MEC standards family or ETSI Network Function Virtualization (NFV) standards family.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the performance metrics comprise one or more of the following quality of service (QoS) metrics:
communication throughput for at least one of the plurality of NFV instances;
latency for the at least one of the plurality of NFV instances;
bandwidth of a communication link between two NFV instances of the plurality of NFV instances;
reliability for the at least one of the plurality of NFV instances; and
power consumption of a hardware resource used by the at least one of the plurality of NFVs.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The device of claim 5, further comprising a communication interface configured to:
receive the performance metrics for storing as Service Level Agreement (SLA) objectives.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, the operations further to:
determine a plurality of Top-down Microarchitecture Analysis Method (TMAM) metrics for the plurality of NFVs; and
select, based on the plurality of TMAM metrics, the hardware resource from a plurality of available hardware resources for adjustment due to the threshold condition.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The device of claim 7, wherein the plurality of available hardware resources includes allocated processing power, allocated memory, and allocated communication bandwidth.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The device of claim 7, wherein the TMAM metrics include one or more of the following:
metrics indicating a memory bound condition;
metrics indicating a processing core bound condition;
metrics indicating a frontend latency condition; and
metrics indicating a processing misprediction condition.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The device of claim 7, the operations further to:
generate a prediction for hardware resource utilization by the NFV instance based at least on the TMAM metrics; and
adjust the hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with the access network of the plurality of access networks further based on the generated prediction.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, the operations further to:
allocate at least a portion of the memory device to store Class of Service (CloS) information for the plurality of access networks.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The device of claim 11, wherein the CloS information includes:
an identifier of a network traffic type for at least one of the plurality of access networks; and
a second plurality of threshold metrics associated with the network traffic type.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The device of claim 12, wherein the NFV instance is configured to communicate with the at least one of the plurality of access networks via the network traffic type, and the operations further to:
detect the threshold condition for at least one of the performance metrics for the NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the second plurality of threshold metrics; and
adjust the hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with the access network of the plurality of access networks based on the detected threshold condition.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein to detect the threshold condition, the processing circuitry is further to:
detect the at least one of the performance metrics for the NFV instance is below a corresponding threshold metric of the plurality of threshold metrics.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of access networks is a wireless network operating according to a 3GPP standards family.

### Claim 16

At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processing circuitry of a service coordinating entity, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
monitoring stored performance metrics for a plurality of network function virtualization (NFV) instances, each of the plurality of NFV instances instantiated by a corresponding scheduler of a plurality of schedulers on a virtualization infrastructure of the service coordinating entity, the plurality of schedulers executing as part of Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) services of the service coordinating entity;
retrieving a plurality of threshold metrics, the plurality of threshold metrics associated with one or more network traffic types processed by the plurality of schedulers and indicating a desired level for each of the performance metrics;
detecting a threshold condition for at least one of the performance metrics for an NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the retrieved plurality of threshold metrics; and
adjusting a hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with an access network of a plurality of access networks based on the detected threshold condition.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the performance metrics comprise one or more of the following quality of service (QoS) metrics:
communication throughput for at least one of the plurality of NFV instances;
latency for the at least one of the plurality of NFV instances;
bandwidth of a communication link between two NFV instances of the plurality of NFV instances;
reliability for the at least one of the plurality of NFV instances; and
power consumption of a hardware resource used by the at least one of the plurality of NFVs.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
receiving the performance metrics for storing as Service Level Agreement SLA) objectives.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
determining a plurality of Top-down Microarchitecture Analysis Method (TMAM) metrics for the plurality of NFVs; and
selecting, based on the plurality of TMAM metrics, the hardware resource from a plurality of available hardware resources for adjustment due to the threshold condition.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the plurality of available hardware resources includes allocated processing power, allocated memory, and allocated communication bandwidth.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
allocating at least a portion of a memory device of the service coordinating entity to store Class of Service (CloS) information for the plurality of access networks.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the CloS information includes:
an identifier of a network traffic type for at least one of the plurality of access networks; and
a second plurality of threshold metrics associated with the network traffic type.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the NFV instance is configured to communicate with the at least one of the plurality of access networks via the network traffic type, and wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
detecting the threshold condition for at least one of the performance metrics for the NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the second plurality of threshold metrics; and
adjusting the hardware resource used by the NFV instance to communicate with the access network of the plurality of access networks based on the detected threshold condition.

### Claim 24

A system, comprising:
a first Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) entity, comprising communication circuitry to communicate via one or more access networks of a plurality of available access networks, and processing circuitry configured to:
monitor stored performance metrics for a plurality of network function virtualization (NFV) instances, each of the plurality of NFV instances instantiated by a corresponding scheduler of a plurality of schedulers on a virtualization infrastructure of the first MEC entity, the plurality of schedulers executing as part of MEC services of the first MEC entity;
retrieve a plurality of threshold metrics, the plurality of threshold metrics associated with one or more network traffic types processed by the plurality of schedulers and indicating a desired level for each of the of performance metrics; and
detect a threshold condition for at least one of the performance metrics for an NFV instance of the plurality of NFV instances, based on the retrieved plurality of threshold metrics; and
a second MEC entity, comprising communication circuitry to communicate with the first MEC entity via the one or more access networks, and processing circuitry configured to:
receive an indication of the detected threshold condition from the first MEC entity; and
adjust a hardware resource used by the NFV instance in the first MEC entity to communicate with an access network of the plurality of available access networks based on the detected threshold condition.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The system of claim 24, wherein:
the first MEC entity is a MEC host executing the plurality of NFV instances as MEC applications instantiated on the virtualization infrastructure; and
the second MEC entity is a MEC orchestrator or a MEC platform manager coupled to the first MEC entity via an Mm5 interface.