Apparatus and method for managing virtual machine in mobile communication system using an edge cloud management controller

A method for managing a virtual machine (VM) by a VM host in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the VM host, a first edge cloud manager (ECM) command message including preparation operation information, from an ECM, if the VM host is selected, from a plurality of VM hosts, for a third party entity by the ECM based on a resource usage of the VM host;
• performing, by the VM host, a preparation operation for starting a VM instance based on the preparation operation information, after receiving the first ECM command message;
• and
• transmitting, by the VM host, a first ECM command Ack message, as a response message to the first ECM command message, to the ECM, after performing the preparation operation for starting the VM instance,
• receiving a second ECM command message, which the ECM transmits according to a reception of an edge cloud-radio access network (EC-RAN) VM control command message, which comprises a VM instance identifier (ID), an EC-RAN ID, and a start code, from an edge cloud management controller (ECMC), after transmitting the first ECM command Ack message;
• and
• transmitting a second EMC command Ack message, as a response message to the second ECM command message, to the ECM,
• wherein the preparation operation information includes at least one of central processing unit (CPU) type information, memory size information, disk volume information, and operating system type information, related to the VM instance.

An edge cloud management controller (ECMC) in a mobile communication system, comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• transmit a first edge cloud-radio access network (EC-RAN) virtual machine (VM) control command message indicating that the ECMC commands a VM provisioning to an edge cloud manager (ECM) upon receiving a VM provisioning request message from a third party entity,
• receive, from the ECM, a first EC-RAN VM control command Ack message comprising information indicating whether a VM host, the VM host being a target of the first EC-RAN VM control command message, accepts or rejects the first EC-RAN VM control command message, and comprising a VM instance identifier (ID) allocated to the VM host, as a response message to the first EC-RAN VM control command message, and
• register a VM instance corresponding to the VM instance ID, and setting a status of the VM host instance to allocated to the third party entity, after receiving the first EC-RAN VM control command Ack message from the ECM.

A virtual machine (VM) host in a mobile communication system, comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• receive a first edge cloud manager (ECM) command message including preparation operation information, from an ECM, if the VM host is selected, from a plurality of VM hosts, for a third party entity by the ECM based on a resource usage of the VM host, receive a second ECM command message, which the ECM transmits according to a reception of an edge cloud-radio access network (EC-RAN) VM control command message, which comprises a VM instance identifier (ID), an EC-RAN ID, and a start code, from an edge cloud management controller (ECMC),
• perform a preparation operation for starting a VM instance based on the preparation operation information, after receiving the first ECM command message, and
• transmit a first ECM command Ack message, as a response message to the first ECM command message, to the ECM, after performing the preparation operation for starting the VM instance, transmit a second EMC command Ack message, as a response message to the second ECM command message, to the ECM, and
• wherein the preparation operation information includes at least one of central processing unit (CPU) type information, memory size information, disk volume information, and operating system type information, related to the VM instance.