CN106685784A

CN106685784A - Virtualized network function VNF instance scaling method and VNF instance scaling device

Info

Publication number: CN106685784A
Application number: CN201510749932.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 祝伟宏
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2015-11-05
Filing date: 2015-11-05
Publication date: 2017-05-17
Also published as: WO2017076078A1

Abstract

The invention provides a virtualized network function VNF instance scaling method and a VNF instance scaling device. The method comprises the following steps: an element management system EMS determines a VNF instance needing scaling and an expected deployment flavor to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; the EMS sends the identity of the VNF instance and scaling information determined according to the expected deployment flavor to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, wherein the identity of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information. Through the method and the device, the problem that VNF scaling cannot be realized through EMS's trigger in the related technology is solved, VNF instance scaling is realized through EMS's trigger, and the trigger speed of VNF instance scaling is improved.

Description

Scaling method and device for VNF (virtual network function) instance

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of communication, in particular to a method and a device for scaling a Virtual Network Function (VNF) instance.

Background

In the Management field of wireless communication systems, an interface between a Network Management System (NMS) and an Element Management System (EMS) is called an north interface (Itf-N). The EMS mainly completes an Element Management Layer (EML) function in an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecommunications Management Network (TMN), that is, a Management function of one or more mobile communication devices, and generally, the EMS cannot be commonly used among different device providers. NMS mainly completes the function of Network Management Layer (NML) in ITU TMN, and is responsible for the Management of all Network elements in a managed Network. In the case where a plurality of device providers exist in a managed network (called a subnet), the purpose of managing the entire subnet can be achieved by respective EMS management.

At present, in order to improve the flexibility of a communication Network and reduce the management cost, an operator initiates a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) concept, and under the condition of using an NFV technology, an original physical Network element device is replaced by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF) so as to decouple the Network Function from specific hardware, as shown in fig. 1, where fig. 1 is a Network Function Virtualization reference architecture diagram in the related art, and the VNF is isolated from a Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) of a bottom layer. For the management of the VNF, the conventional maintenance management function is performed on the VNF instance through the EMS, and the lifecycle management function of the VNF is completed through the VNF manager VNFM. The underlying virtual Infrastructure is managed by a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM). Specific network traffic is typically accomplished through one or more VNF instances. The management of the network traffic is performed by the NFV orchestrator NFVO.

After network function virtualization is realized, from the application level, when a network service instance is to be established, a VNF instance required by a network service needs to be generated first, and then one or more VNF instances form a network service instance, so that the network service is provided through the network service instance. One benefit of the virtualized network function is that, with the change of the use condition of the network, the resources used by the VNF instances forming the network service can be dynamically adjusted, that is, the VNF instances are scaled, so as to provide the utilization rate of the resources and achieve the purpose of energy saving. Among them, scaling of VNF instances includes capacity expansion (scale out or scale up) and capacity reduction (scale in or scale down). Capacity expansion includes two cases: extension (scale out): when the VNF is a Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU) that can be composed of multiple virtual Deployment units, the VDU instances composing the VNF instance are added to increase the capability of the VNF instance; scale up (scale up): that is, the configuration of a Virtual Machine (VM) running the VNF instance is increased, such as adding a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a memory, a network port, and the like, so as to increase the capability of the VNF instance. Similarly, shrinkage includes two cases: shrinkage (scale in): namely, when the VNF can be composed of multiple VDUs, the VDU instances composing the VNF instance are reduced to reduce the capability of the VNF instance; scale down: that is, the configuration of Virtual Machines (VMs) running VNF instances is reduced, such as reducing CPUs, memories, network ports, etc., to reduce the capacity of the VNF instances; at present, there is a preliminary study on how to perform scaling (expansion and contraction) of VNF instances, and an overall flow of scaling of VNF instances is given. However, in the current research, it is not clear how to trigger scaling of a VNF instance by using an EMS, that is, it is not clear what parameters should be provided by the EMS when initiating scaling of the VNF instance through the VNFM to tell the VNFM how to scale the VNF instance, nor is it clear how to provide parameters to the VNFM, so that a scheme for implementing scaling of the VNF instance by triggering the EMS cannot be implemented in the related art.

Aiming at the problem that the extension and retraction of a VNF instance cannot be realized through EMS triggering in the related technology, an effective solution is not provided at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method and a device for stretching a VNF instance with a virtualization network function, which are used for at least solving the problem that the stretching of the VNF instance cannot be realized through EMS triggering in the related technology.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling method for a virtualized network function VNF instance, including: the method comprises the steps that an Element Management System (EMS) determines a VNF instance needing to be scaled and an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; and the EMS sends the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), wherein the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for indicating the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, the determining, by the EMS, the VNF instance that needs to be scaled includes: the EMS determines the processing performance of one or more VNF instances for carrying out business processing according to the collected performance data of the one or more VNF instances; the EMS determines that the VNF instances with the processing performance lower than a first performance threshold or the VNF instances with the processing performance higher than a second performance threshold are the VNF instances needing scaling; and/or the EMS determining the desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale comprises: the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance which needs to be scaled and the capability which the VNF instance is expected to reach.

Optionally, the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance by one of the following methods: the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNF instance; the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores the information of the preset deployment specification; the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNFM; and the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the NMS.

Optionally, the determining, by the EMS, a VNF instance that needs to be scaled and a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled includes: the EMS receives a first scaling command which is sent by a Network Management System (NMS) and used for indicating scaling processing of the VNF instance, wherein the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of the expected deployment specification; the EMS determining the VNF instance and the desired deployment specification according to the first scaling command; or, the EMS receives a second scaling command, which is sent by the NMS and used to instruct scaling processing on the VNF instance, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and information of capability to which the VNF instance needs to scale; the EMS determines the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to scale to and the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

Optionally, the scaling information includes one of: identification information of the desired deployment specification; scaling type information and scaling level information determined from the desired deployment specification and an actual deployment specification of the VNF instance.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling method for a VNF instance, including: a Network Management System (NMS) determines a VNF instance needing to be scaled; the NMS sends a scaling command for indicating scaling processing of the VNF instance to an element management system EMS; the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled to a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM), and the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, the NMS sending, to the EMS, the scaling command for instructing scaling processing on the VNF instance that needs scaling includes: the NMS sends a first scaling command to the EMS, wherein the scaling command carries the identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification; or the NMS sends a second scaling command to the EMS, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and a capability of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling method for a VNF instance, including: a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM) receives identification and scaling information of a VNF instance which needs to be scaled from an Element Management System (EMS), wherein the scaling information is scaling information determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; and the VNFM performs scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling apparatus for virtualizing a network function VNF instance, where the apparatus is applied in an element management system EMS, and the apparatus includes: the system comprises a first determining module, a second determining module and a third determining module, wherein the first determining module is used for determining a VNF instance which needs to be scaled and a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a first sending module, configured to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, when determining a VNF instance that needs to be scaled, the first determining module includes: a first determining unit, configured to determine, according to the collected performance data of one or more VNF instances, processing performance of the one or more VNF instances for performing traffic processing; a second determining unit, configured to determine, as the VNF instance that needs to be scaled, a VNF instance whose processing performance is lower than a first performance threshold or a VNF instance whose processing performance is higher than a second performance threshold; and/or, in determining a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale, the first determining module includes: a third determining unit, configured to determine the expected deployment specification according to a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance that needs to be scaled and a capability that the VNF instance is expected to achieve.

Optionally, the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance is obtained by one of the following methods: acquiring the preset deployment specification from the VNF instance; acquiring the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores information of the preset deployment specification; acquiring the preset deployment specification from the VNFM; and acquiring the preset deployment specification from a Network Management System (NMS).

Optionally, the first determining module includes: a first receiving unit, configured to receive a first scaling command that is sent by a network management system NMS and used to instruct scaling of the VNF instance, where the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of the expected deployment specification; a fourth determining unit, configured to determine the VNF instance and the desired deployment specification according to the first scaling command; or, the second receiving unit is configured to receive a second scaling command, which is sent by an NMS (network management system) and used to instruct scaling processing on the VNF instance, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and information of capability to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a fifth determining unit, configured to determine the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and the EMS determines the desired deployment specification according to a capability of the VNF instance to scale to and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling device for virtualizing a network function VNF instance, where the scaling device is applied to a network management system NMS, and the scaling device includes: the second determination module is used for determining the VNF instances needing to be scaled; a second sending module, configured to send a scaling command for instructing to scale the VNF instance to an element management system EMS; the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled to a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM), and the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, the second sending module includes: a first sending unit, configured to send a first scaling command to the EMS, where the scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification; or, a second sending unit, configured to send a second scaling command to the EMS, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and a capability of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaling apparatus for a VNF instance, where the apparatus is applied in a VNFM, and the apparatus includes: a receiving module, configured to receive an identifier and scaling information of a VNF instance that needs to be scaled from an element management system EMS, where the scaling information is scaling information that is determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; and the processing module is used for performing scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

According to the invention, a network element management system EMS is adopted to determine a VNF instance which needs to be stretched and a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched; and the EMS sends the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), wherein the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for indicating the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information. The problem that the extension and retraction of the VNF cannot be achieved through EMS triggering in the related technology is solved, and the effects that the extension and retraction of the VNF instance are achieved through EMS triggering and the extension and retraction triggering speed of the VNF instance is improved are achieved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention without limiting the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network function virtualized reference architecture in the related art;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a scaling method of a first virtualized network function VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 3 is a flow chart of a scaling method of a second virtualized network function VNF instance according to an embodiment of the invention;

figure 4 is a flow chart of a scaling method of a third virtualized network function, VNF, instance according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an overall flow diagram of VNF instance scaling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a block diagram of a scaling device of a first example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 7 is a first block diagram illustrating the structure of the first determination module 62 in the scaling device of the first VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a block diagram of a second configuration of the first determination module 62 in the scaling device of the first VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 9 is a block diagram of a scaling device of a second example of a virtualized network function VNF, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a block diagram of a second sending module 94 in a scaling device of a second example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a block diagram of a scaling device of a third example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of the present invention and in the drawings described above are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

In this embodiment, a scaling method of a VNF instance of a virtualized network function is provided, and fig. 2 is a flowchart of a scaling method of a VNF instance of a virtualized network function according to a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the flowchart includes the following steps:

step S202, a network element management system EMS determines a VNF instance which needs to be scaled and an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

step S204, the EMS sends the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Through the steps, after the EMS determines the VNF instance which needs to be stretched, the identity of the VNF instance and the stretching information determined according to the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched are sent to the VNFM used for executing the VNF instance stretching processing, so that the process of stretching processing of the VNF instance through triggering of the EMS is realized, specific contents contained in parameters sent to the VNFM by the EMS are defined, the problem that the VNF cannot be stretched through triggering of the EMS in the related technology is solved, the VNF instance can be stretched through triggering of the EMS, and the effect of improving the triggering speed of the VNF instance stretching is achieved.

In an optional embodiment, the determining, by the EMS, the VNF instance that needs to be scaled includes: the EMS determines the processing performance of the one or more VNF instances for carrying out business processing according to the collected performance data of the one or more VNF instances; the EMS determines that the VNF instances with the processing performance lower than a first performance threshold or the VNF instances with the processing performance higher than a second performance threshold are VNF instances needing scaling; in another optional embodiment, the determining, by the EMS, the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale includes: the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance which needs to be scaled and the capability of the expected VNF instance to reach. Here, the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance may be preset in a VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance. A plurality of different levels of deployment specifications are typically preset in the VNFD.

When the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance, there may be multiple acquisition manners, and in an optional embodiment, the EMS may acquire the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance through one of the following manners: the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNF instance; the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores the information of the preset deployment specification; the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNFM; the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the NMS. When the EMS obtains the preset deployment specification through the private interface, the EMS and the VNF instance may be provided by the same vendor. Of course, the above-mentioned manners of obtaining the preset deployment specification are only examples, and the preset deployment specification may also be obtained by other manners, which are not listed here.

In the foregoing embodiments, the scaling process of the VNF instance is actively triggered and implemented by the EMS, or triggered and implemented by other network elements, which is described below:

in an optional embodiment, the determining, by the EMS, the VNF instance to be scaled and the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance is to be scaled includes: receiving, by the EMS, a first scaling command which is sent by an NMS (network management system) and used for instructing scaling processing on the VNF instance, where the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of the expected deployment specification; the EMS determines a VNF instance and the expected deployment specification according to the first scaling command; in another optional embodiment, the EMS receives a second scaling command, which is sent by the NMS and used to instruct scaling processing on the VNF instance, where the second scaling command carries information about an identifier of the VNF instance and capability of the VNF instance to be scaled; the EMS determines the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

The first scaling command and the second scaling command received by the EMS may also be from an Operation-Support System (OSS) or a Business Support System (BSS).

In an alternative embodiment, the above-mentioned scaling information may include one of the following: the identification information of the expected deployment specification, the scaling type information and the scaling level information determined according to the expected deployment specification and the actual deployment specification of the VNF instance. When the scaling information is identification information of the expected deployment specification, the VNFM can determine the expected deployment specification according to the identification of the expected deployment specification, so that scaling processing can be performed on the VNF instance, and the VNF instance is reduced or expanded to the expected deployment specification; when the scaling information is scaling type information and scaling level information, the VNFM may determine whether to perform capacity reduction processing or capacity expansion processing according to the scaling type information, and the VNFM may determine a degree of capacity reduction or capacity expansion according to the scaling level information, thereby implementing scaling processing on the VNF instance.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a scaling method of a second virtualized network function VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, the flowchart includes the following steps:

step S302, a Network Management System (NMS) determines that a scaling VNF instance needs to be performed;

step S304, the NMS sends a scaling command for instructing scaling processing on the VNF instance to an element management system EMS; the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send, to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Through the steps, after the NMS determines the VNF instance which needs to be subjected to scaling processing, the NMS instructs the EMS to execute the scaling processing of the VNF instance, and the EMS transmits the identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled to the VNFM according to the instruction of the NMS, so that the scaling processing flow of the VNF instance through the EMS is realized, specific contents contained in parameters transmitted to the VNFM by the EMS are determined, the problem that the scaling of the VNF cannot be realized through EMS triggering in the related technology is solved, further the scaling of the VNF instance through EMS triggering is realized, and the effect of improving the triggering speed of the scaling of the VNF instance is improved.

In an optional embodiment, the sending, by the NMS, a scaling command for instructing scaling processing on the VNF instance that needs scaling to be performed to the EMS includes: the NMS sends a first scaling command to the EMS, wherein the first scaling command carries the identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification; or the NMS sends a second scaling command to the EMS, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and a capability of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

When determining a VNF instance that needs scaling processing, the VNF instance may be determined according to a monitoring parameter (monitoring _ parameter), where the monitoring parameter is used to describe which parameters in the VNF instance are monitored, and 1 or more of the parameters may be used to determine a deployment specification of the VNF instance and also indicate capabilities that the VNF instance can provide. Examples of such parameters include, but are not limited to: number of calls per second (cps), flow per second (flowper-second), number of subscribers (number-of-subscribers), etc.

The expected deployment specification (deployment specification) and the preset deployment specification all relate to the deployment specification of the VNF instance, and the deployment specification is described below: generally, a VNF instance has a deployment specification of multiple VNFs, where each deployment specification describes resources owned by the VNF instance under the specification, such as how many VDUs are included, and a configuration (such as parameters of CPU, memory, network, and the like) of each VDU, so as to also describe how many levels of processing capability the VNF type can provide. The deployment specification (deployment _ viewer) of the VNF represents different deployment specifications using 1 or more of the monitoring parameters as its deployment specification key indicators (viewer _ key). For example, when the number of calls per second (cps) is used as a key indicator, different values of the calls-per second can be used to represent different deployment specifications of the VNF, for example, the deployment specifications can be represented as 1 ten thousand calls per second, 5 ten thousand calls per second, 10 ten thousand calls per second, and the like; each deployment specification also contains an Identification (ID).

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a scaling method for a third virtualized network function VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4, the flowchart includes the following steps:

step S402, a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM) receives identification and expansion information of a VNF instance which needs to be expanded and contracted and is from an Element Management System (EMS), wherein the expansion information is expansion information which is determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be expanded and contracted;

in step S404, the VNFM performs scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Through the steps, the VNFM can receive the identification of the VNF instance from the EMS and the expansion and contraction information determined according to the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be expanded and contracted, so that the process of expanding and contracting the VNF instance is triggered and realized through the EMS, the specific content contained in the parameter sent to the VNFM by the EMS is clarified, the problem that the VNF cannot be expanded and contracted through EMS triggering in the related technology is solved, the VNF instance is expanded and contracted through EMS triggering, and the effect of improving the VNF instance expansion and contraction triggering speed is achieved.

Fig. 5 is an overall flowchart of VNF instance scaling according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 5, the flowchart includes the following steps:

s502, the EMS acquires information of a VNF deployment specification (i.e., an actual deployment specification) corresponding to the VNF instance;

s504, the EMS judges whether the VNF instance needs to be stretched or not; if the expansion is needed, go to step S506, otherwise, the process is ended;

s506, the EMS determines to which deployment specification the VNF instance should scale (i.e., the desired deployment specification);

s508, the EMS sends a request for scaling the VNF instance to the VNFM, where parameters included in the request may include: the only identification of the VNF instance needing to be stretched is determined, and the deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched is determined;

s510, after receiving a request of VNF instance expansion and contraction, the VNFM executes expansion and contraction operation on the corresponding VNF instance;

s512, the EMS receives the VNF instance scaling completion message returned by the VNFM.

In step S502, the method for acquiring the specification information of the VNF by the EMS includes, but is not limited to, the following modes:

obtaining through a VNF instance;

when the EMS and the VNF are provided by the same manufacturer, the EMS can acquire VNF specification information through a private interface;

obtaining from a VNFM;

obtaining from the NMS;

in step S504, when the EMS determines whether the VNF instance needs to be scaled, it may be determined whether the VNF instance needs to be scaled according to performance data of the VNF instance;

in step S506, when the EMS determines which deployment specification the VNF instance should be scaled to, may be determined according to the information of the VNF deployment specification corresponding to the VNF instance and the capability that the VNF instance is expected to achieve;

in step S510, the specific step of the VNFM performing scaling operation on the corresponding VNF instance may include:

the VNFM sends a request for approving VNF instance scaling to the NFVO;

the NFVO checks whether the existing resources can meet the applied VNF instance scale from the VIM and performs reservation of related resources (wherein, the operation of subscribing the related resources is optional);

the VIM returns the check and subscribe results to the NFVO. If the resource meets the requirement and the reservation is successful, the next step is carried out, otherwise, the process is ended;

the NFVO returns a response message for approving the expansion of the VNF instance to the VNFM;

the VNFM requests the VIM to allocate corresponding resources;

and after the VIM allocates the corresponding resources, returning an acknowledgement message to the VNFM.

In an alternative embodiment, the scaling of the VNF instance may also be initiated by the NMS through the EMS, in which embodiment, the following steps may be included:

the NMS issues a VNF instance scaling command to the EMS, wherein command parameters comprise the unique identifier of the VNF instance and the deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

the EMS sends a request for VNF instance scaling to the VNFM, and parameters contained in the request comprise: the only identification of the VNF needing to be stretched and retracted, and the deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched and retracted;

after receiving a request for scaling the VNF instances, the VNFM executes scaling operation on the corresponding VNF instances;

and after the VNFM completes the expansion and contraction of the VNF instance, returning a message of completing the expansion and contraction to the EMS.

In another alternative embodiment, the VNF instance scaling initiated by the NMS through the EMS may also be implemented by:

the NMS sends a VNF instance scaling command to the EMS, wherein command parameters in the scaling command comprise the unique identifier of the VNF instance and the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled;

after receiving the extension command, the EMS determines the deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be extended according to the capability parameter to which the VNF instance needs to be extended and the VNF deployment specification information corresponding to the VNF instance;

the EMS sends a request for VNF instance scaling to the VNFM, and parameters contained in the request comprise: the only identification of the VNF needing to be stretched and retracted, and the determined deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched and retracted;

Specifically, in the above step, determining which deployment specification the VNF instance should be stretched to according to the capability that the VNF instance needs to reach after stretching is performed, means that according to a value of a parameter "capability to reach after stretching is performed on the VNF instance", for example, callsper second (CPS) ═ 3K, by referring to a definition of a VNF deployment specification (depolymentflag) in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, a minimum specification that can meet the capability requirement is obtained, for example, CPS are 1K, 5K, and 10K are provided as capabilities supported by a VNF in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, respectively, and the deployment specification determined here is a specification corresponding to which CPS ═ 5K.

In an optional embodiment, the VNF instance scaling instruction initiated by the NMS may also be initiated by an Operation-Support System (OSS) or a Business Support System (BSS).

The present invention is described below with reference to specific embodiments, and in the following embodiments, the deployment specification may be simply referred to as a specification.

Example 1:

in this embodiment, a method for scaling functions of a virtualized network is provided, which includes the following steps:

the EMS acquires VNF specification information (namely information of preset deployment specifications of the VNF instances) corresponding to the VNF instances;

the EMS judges whether the VNF instance needs to be stretched or not; if the expansion is needed, the next step is carried out, otherwise, the process is introduced;

the EMS determines to which specification the VNF instance should scale;

the EMS sends a request for VNF instance scaling to the VNFM, and parameters contained in the request comprise: the unique identification of the VNF needing to be stretched and retracted, and the specification to which the determined VNF instance needs to be stretched and retracted;

and the EMS receives the VNF instance scaling completion message returned by the VNFM.

The specific steps of the above-mentioned VNFM performing scaling operation on the corresponding VNF instance include:

the VNFM sends a request for approving VNF instance scaling to the NFVO;

the NFVO checks from the VIM whether the existing resources can meet the applied VNF instance scaling, and performs reservation of the related resources (reservation of the related resources is an optional scheme);

the VNFM requests the VIM to allocate corresponding resources;

Example 2:

in this embodiment, another method for scaling functions of a virtualized network is provided, which includes the following steps:

the EMS acquires VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance from a system database through a private interface;

the EMS judges whether the VNF instance needs to be stretched or not according to the performance data of the VNF and a preset performance threshold; if the expansion is needed, the next step is carried out, otherwise, the process is introduced;

the EMS determines the specification to which the VNF instance should be stretched according to the VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance and the capability which the VNF instance is expected to reach;

Example 3:

the method for expanding and contracting the function of the virtualization network provided by the embodiment comprises the following steps:

the EMS acquires VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance from the database through a private interface;

the EMS receives a command to "perform VNF scaling" from the NMS, and parameters of the command include "identification of VNF instance to scale" (vnfr _ id), and "capability to reach after VNF scaling" (deployment _ scaling-scaling _ key) parameters.

The EMS determines, according to a parameter "capability to be reached after the VNF is stretched" (default _ flavour-flavour _ key), a capability that the VNF instance needs to be reached after being stretched, for example, when the VNF instance is a vPGW (virtual PDN Gateway-Packet Data Network Gateway), the "capability to be reached after the VNF is stretched" herein is that the number of calls per second (call per second) is 10K, that is, 1 ten thousand calls per second is supported at maximum. Then determining a specification ID corresponding to the specification to be reached after the VNF instance is stretched according to the capability to be reached after the VNF instance is stretched and the VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance obtained in the step 1;

the EMS receives a message which is returned by the VNFM and completes the extension and retraction of the VNF instance;

the EMS sends a message to the NMS that the VNF instance scaling is complete.

Example 4:

the method for expanding and contracting the functions of the virtualized network in the embodiment comprises the following steps:

EMS obtains VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance from NMS;

the EMS receives a command of ' performing VNF scaling ' from the NMS, and parameters of the command comprise ' identification of VNF instance to be scaled ' (vnfr _ ID) ' and ' specification ID (default _ flag-flag _ key) parameters corresponding to specification to be reached after VNF scaling ';

the EMS sends a request for VNF instance scaling to the VNFM, and parameters contained in the request comprise: the unique identifier of the VNF needing to be stretched and the specification ID corresponding to the specification to which the VNF instance needs to be stretched;

the EMS sends a message to the NMS that the VNF instance scaling is complete.

Example 5:

the EMS acquires VNF specification information corresponding to the VNF instance from the VNF instance;

the EMS receives a command of ' performing VNF scaling ' from the OSS, and parameters of the command comprise ' identification of VNF instance to be scaled ' (vnfr _ ID) ' and ' specification ID (default _ flag-flag _ key) parameters corresponding to specification to be reached after VNF scaling '.

the EMS sends a message to the OSS that the VNF instance scaling is complete.

It should be noted that the information carried in the instruction sent by the OSS to the EMS may also be an "identifier of a VNF instance to be scaled" (vnfr _ id) and a "capability of the VNF to be reached after scaling" (default _ flag _ key), and the specific operation may refer to embodiment 3.

Example 6:

in this embodiment, under the assumption that the EMS knows or can acquire the current deployment specification of the VNF instance, and the preset deployment specifications corresponding to the VNF instance are sorted from small to large according to the capacity, a method for scaling the virtualized network function is provided, which includes the following steps:

the EMS acquires VNF specification information (namely information of a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance) corresponding to the VNF instance and a current actual deployment specification of the VNF instance;

the EMS determines to which specification the VNF instance should scale, i.e. the expected deployment specification of the VNF instance;

the EMS compares the expected deployment specification and the current actual deployment specification of the VNF instance to determine the parameters of the VNF instance that need scaling: 1) if the expected deployment specification is higher than the actual deployment specification (namely the corresponding capacity is higher than the capacity corresponding to the actual deployment specification), determining that the telescopic action to be executed is capacity expansion, otherwise, determining that the telescopic action is capacity reduction; 2) and calculating the absolute value of the difference value of the levels corresponding to the expected deployment specification and the actual deployment specification as the level of capacity expansion or capacity reduction.

The EMS sends a request for VNF instance scaling to the VNFM, and parameters contained in the request comprise: the unique identifier of the VNF instance that needs to be scaled, the type of scaling action (capacity expansion or reduction) that the VNF instance needs to be scaled, and the level of capacity expansion or reduction;

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but the former is a better implementation mode in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a scaling device for a VNF instance of a virtualized network function is further provided, and the scaling device is used to implement the foregoing embodiments and preferred embodiments, which have already been described and are not described again. As used below, the term "module" may be a combination of software and/or hardware that implements a predetermined function. Although the means described in the embodiments below are preferably implemented in software, an implementation in hardware, or a combination of software and hardware is also possible and contemplated.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a scaling apparatus of a first example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be applied to an element management system EMS, as shown in fig. 6, and includes a first determining module 62 and a first sending module 64, and the apparatus is described below.

A first determining module 62, configured to determine a VNF instance that needs to be scaled and a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a first sending module 64, connected to the first determining module 62, configured to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Fig. 7 is a first block diagram illustrating a first determining module 62 in a scaling device of a first example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the first determining module 62 is described below with reference to fig. 7.

In determining the VNF instance that needs scaling, the first determining module 62 includes: a first determining unit 72, configured to determine, according to the collected performance data of the one or more VNF instances, processing performance of the one or more VNF instances for performing traffic processing; a second determining unit 74, connected to the first determining unit 72, configured to determine that the VNF instance with the processing performance lower than the first performance threshold or the VNF instance with the processing performance higher than the second performance threshold is the VNF instance that needs to be scaled; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

in determining the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale, the first determining module 62 includes: a third determining unit 76, configured to determine the expected deployment specification according to the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance that needs to be scaled and the capability that the VNF instance is expected to achieve.

In an alternative embodiment, the EMS may obtain the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance by one of the following ways: acquiring a preset deployment specification from the VNF example; acquiring the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores information of the preset deployment specification; acquiring the preset deployment specification from the VNFM; and acquiring the preset deployment specification from a Network Management System (NMS).

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of a second configuration of the first determining module 62 in the scaling device of the first example of the virtualized network function VNF according to the embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 8, the first determining module 62 includes a first receiving unit 82 and a fourth determining unit 84, or the first determining module 62 includes a second receiving unit 86 and a fifth determining unit 88, and the first determining module 62 is described below.

A first receiving unit 82, configured to receive a first scaling command that is sent by an NMS and used to instruct scaling processing on a VNF instance, where the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of an expected deployment specification; a fourth determining unit 84, connected to the first receiving unit 82, for determining a VNF instance and the desired deployment specification according to the first scaling command;

a second receiving unit 86, configured to receive a second scaling command, which is sent by the NMS and used to instruct scaling of the VNF instance, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and information of a capability to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a fifth determining unit 88, connected to the second receiving unit 86, for determining the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and the EMS determining the desired deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

In an alternative embodiment, the above-mentioned scaling information includes one of the following: identification information of the expected deployment specification; scaling type information and scaling level information determined from the desired deployment specification and the actual deployment specification of the VNF instance.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a scaling device of a second example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be applied to a network management system NMS, and which includes a second determining module 92 and a second sending module 94, as shown in fig. 9, and which is described below.

A second determining module 92, configured to determine that a scaling VNF instance needs to be performed; a second sending module 94, connected to the second determining module 92, configured to send a scaling command for instructing to scale the VNF instance to the element management system EMS; the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send, to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a second sending module 94 in a scaling device of a second example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention, where as shown in fig. 10, the second sending module 94 includes a first sending unit 102 or a second sending unit 104, and the second sending module 94 is explained below.

A first sending unit 102, configured to send a first scaling command to the EMS, where the scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification;

a second sending unit 104, configured to send a second scaling command to the EMS, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and a capability of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a scaling apparatus of a third example of a virtualized network function VNF according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be applied to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, and as shown in fig. 11, the apparatus includes a receiving module 112 and a processing module 114, and the following describes the apparatus:

a receiving module 112, configured to receive, from an element management system EMS, an identifier and scaling information of a VNF instance that needs to be scaled, where the scaling information is scaling information that is determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a processing module 114, connected to the receiving module 112, configured to perform scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

It should be noted that, the above modules may be implemented by software or hardware, and for the latter, the following may be implemented, but not limited to: the modules are all positioned in the same processor; alternatively, the modules are respectively located in a plurality of processors.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a storage medium. Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the storage medium may be configured to store program codes for performing the following steps:

s11, the EMS determines the VNF instance to be scaled and the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance is to be scaled;

s12, the EMS sends the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, the storage medium is further arranged to store program code for performing the steps of:

s21, the network management system NMS determines that a VNF instance needs to be scaled;

s22, the NMS sends a scaling command for instructing scaling of the VNF instance to an element management system EMS; the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send, to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, an identifier of a VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

s31, the VNFM receives the identification and the scaling information of the VNF instance which needs scaling from the EMS, wherein the scaling information is the scaling information which is determined by the EMS according to the expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs scaling;

and S32, the VNFM performing scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may include, but is not limited to: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a removable hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the processor performs steps S11-S12 according to program code already stored in the storage medium.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the processor performs steps S21-S22 according to program code already stored in the storage medium.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the processor performs steps S31-S32 according to program code already stored in the storage medium.

Optionally, the specific examples in this embodiment may refer to the examples described in the above embodiments and optional implementation manners, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

The VNF specification information is obtained through the EMS in each embodiment of the invention, the specification to which the VNF instance is to be stretched is directly provided for the VNFM when the VNF stretching instruction is initiated, and the VNFM performs stretching operation on the corresponding VNF instance after receiving the instruction, so that the aim of determining how to efficiently initiate the VNF instance stretching operation between the EMS and the VNFM is fulfilled.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that described herein, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple ones of them may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A scaling method for a VNF instance of a virtualized network function includes:

the method comprises the steps that an Element Management System (EMS) determines a VNF instance needing to be scaled and an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

and the EMS sends the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), wherein the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for indicating the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

2. The method of claim 1,

the EMS determining the VNF instances needing scaling comprises: the EMS determines the processing performance of one or more VNF instances for carrying out business processing according to the collected performance data of the one or more VNF instances; the EMS determines that the VNF instances with the processing performance lower than a first performance threshold or the VNF instances with the processing performance higher than a second performance threshold are the VNF instances needing scaling; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the EMS determining a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale includes: the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance which needs to be scaled and the capability which the VNF instance is expected to reach.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the EMS obtains the pre-configured deployment specification of the VNF instance by one of:

the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNF instance;

the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores the information of the preset deployment specification;

the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the VNFM;

and the EMS acquires the preset deployment specification from the NMS.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the EMS determining the VNF instances that need to scale and the desired deployment specification to which the VNF instances need to scale comprises:

the EMS receives a first scaling command which is sent by a Network Management System (NMS) and used for indicating scaling processing of the VNF instance, wherein the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of the expected deployment specification; the EMS determining the VNF instance and the desired deployment specification according to the first scaling command; or,

the EMS receives a second scaling command which is sent by a Network Management System (NMS) and used for indicating scaling processing of the VNF instance, wherein the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and information of capability of the VNF instance to be scaled; the EMS determines the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to scale to and the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;

scaling type information and scaling level information determined from the desired deployment specification and an actual deployment specification of the VNF instance.

6. A scaling method for a VNF instance of a virtualized network function includes:

a Network Management System (NMS) determines a VNF instance needing to be scaled;

the NMS sends a scaling command for indicating scaling processing of the VNF instance to an element management system EMS;

the scaling command is used for instructing the EMS to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined by the EMS according to a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled to a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM), and the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used for instructing the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the NMS sending the scaling command to the EMS for instructing scaling processing of the VNF instance that needs scaling comprises:

the NMS sends a first scaling command to the EMS, wherein the scaling command carries the identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification; or,

and the NMS sends a second scaling command to the EMS, wherein the second scaling command carries the identifier of the VNF instance and the capability of the VNF instance required to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance required to be scaled and the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;

9. A scaling method for a VNF instance of a virtualized network function includes:

a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM) receives identification and scaling information of a VNF instance which needs to be scaled from an Element Management System (EMS), wherein the scaling information is scaling information determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

and the VNFM performs scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;

11. A scaling device of a Virtualized Network Function (VNF) instance is applied to an Element Management System (EMS), and comprises:

the system comprises a first determining module, a second determining module and a third determining module, wherein the first determining module is used for determining a VNF instance which needs to be scaled and a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

a first sending module, configured to send an identifier of the VNF instance and scaling information determined according to the expected deployment specification to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the identifier of the VNF instance and the scaling information are used to instruct the VNFM to scale the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11,

when determining a VNF instance that needs scaling, the first determining module includes: a first determining unit, configured to determine, according to the collected performance data of one or more VNF instances, processing performance of the one or more VNF instances for performing traffic processing; a second determining unit, configured to determine, as the VNF instance that needs to be scaled, a VNF instance whose processing performance is lower than a first performance threshold or a VNF instance whose processing performance is higher than a second performance threshold; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

in determining a desired deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to scale, the first determining module comprises: a third determining unit, configured to determine the expected deployment specification according to a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance that needs to be scaled and a capability that the VNF instance is expected to achieve.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the preset deployment specification of the VNF instance is obtained by one of:

acquiring the preset deployment specification from the VNF instance;

acquiring the preset deployment specification through a private interface with a database, wherein the database stores information of the preset deployment specification;

acquiring the preset deployment specification from the VNFM;

and acquiring the preset deployment specification from a Network Management System (NMS).

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first determining module comprises:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a first scaling command that is sent by a network management system NMS and used to instruct scaling of the VNF instance, where the first scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and an identifier of the expected deployment specification; a fourth determining unit, configured to determine the VNF instance and the desired deployment specification according to the first scaling command; or,

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a second scaling command, which is sent by a NMS and used to instruct scaling of the VNF instance, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and information of a capability to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled; a fifth determining unit, configured to determine the VNF instance according to the first scaling command, and the EMS determines the desired deployment specification according to a capability of the VNF instance to scale to and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;

16. A scaling device for a Virtualized Network Function (VNF) instance is applied to a Network Management System (NMS) and comprises the following components:

the second determination module is used for determining the VNF instances needing to be scaled;

a second sending module, configured to send a scaling command for instructing to scale the VNF instance to an element management system EMS;

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second sending module comprises:

a first sending unit, configured to send a first scaling command to the EMS, where the scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and the expected deployment specification; or,

a second sending unit, configured to send a second scaling command to the EMS, where the second scaling command carries an identifier of the VNF instance and a capability of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the EMS determines the expected deployment specification according to the capability of the VNF instance to be scaled and a preset deployment specification of the VNF instance.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;

19. A scaling device of a VNF instance is applied to a VNFM, and comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive an identifier and scaling information of a VNF instance that needs to be scaled from an element management system EMS, where the scaling information is scaling information that is determined by the EMS according to an expected deployment specification to which the VNF instance needs to be scaled;

and the processing module is used for performing scaling processing on the VNF instance according to the scaling information.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the scaling information comprises one of:

identification information of the desired deployment specification;