Patent · US Active

Intelligent distribution of virtual network function images

US11146623B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
7References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 19, 2020
Grant dateOct 12, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 19, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/34
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An orchestrator process can efficiently distribute images of virtual network functions (“VNFs”) in a telco network. The images can be accompanied by metadata that describes VNF requirements, such as computing requirements and functional characteristics. Based on the image metadata and location of a virtual infrastructure manager (“VIM”), the orchestrator can select a storage location and deploy the image to the storage location. The VIM can instantiate a corresponding VNF by retrieving the image. The orchestrator can track the storage location and cause the VIM to delete the image if the image is not used for a threshold period of time.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.