Semantic detection and resolution of conflicts and redundancies in network function virtualization policies

1. A method for managing policies to provide a network service in a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) environment, comprising:

obtaining, from service requests, the policies specifying placement and lifecycle management of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs);

extracting, from each policy, attribute values including at least a policy type value which specifies an action performed by the policy;

grouping the policies into a plurality of groups based on the attribute values, wherein the policies in a same group share at least a common policy type value;

comparing the attribute values within each group to detect conflicts and redundancies before deployment of the network service and in real-time after the network service is deployed; and

removing one or more of the obtained policies to produce a policy repository free of the conflicts and the redundancies.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute values of each policy further include a virtual functionality value which is a specification of one or more VNFs to which the policy applies, and wherein the policies in the same group share a common virtual functionality value in addition to the common policy type value.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the virtual functionality value specifies one or more VNF nodes, one or more VNF types, or a virtual path interconnecting more than one of the VNFs.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the policies in the same group share the common virtual functionality value which specifies a same number of VNF nodes or VNF types.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute values further include a priority value, and wherein removing the one or more policies further comprises:

removing a first policy that is in conflict with, or redundant of, a second policy when the priority value of the first policy is lower than the second policy.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the priority value is a global priority value which indicates a priority of a policy source among a plurality of different policy sources.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein, when the first policy and the second policy have a same global priority value, the priority value is a local priority value designated by the policy source.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each policy is an affinity policy or an anti-affinity policy, and wherein both affinity policies and anti-affinity policies are applicable to the placement and the lifecycle management of the VNFs.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the attribute values within each group further comprises:

encoding each of a plurality of known conflicts and known redundancies between two policies into a known binary string;

encoding a relation between two of the obtained policies into a binary string; and

comparing the binary string with the known binary string to detect existence of a known conflict or a known redundancy.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a new policy after the network service is deployed;

identifying, from the policy repository, one of the groups to which the new policy belongs;

detecting, in real-time during the network service, any conflict or redundancy between the new policy and the identified group; and

adding the new policy into the policy group when no conflict or redundancy is detected between the new policy and the identified group.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action performed by the policy includes one of:

placement, scaling and migration.

12. A network node comprising:

processing circuitry; and

memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry for managing policies to provide a network service in a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) environment,

 the network node operative to:

obtain, from service requests, the policies specifying placement and lifecycle management of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs);

extract, from each policy, attribute values including at least a policy type value which specifies an action performed by the policy;

group the policies into a plurality of groups based on the attribute values, wherein the policies in a same group share at least a common policy type value;

compare the attribute values within each group to detect conflicts and redundancies before deployment of the network service and in real-time after the network service is deployed; and

remove one or more of the obtained policies to produce a policy repository free of the conflicts and the redundancies.

13. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the attribute values of each policy further include a virtual functionality value which is a specification of one or more VNFs to which the policy applies, and wherein the policies in the same group share a common virtual functionality value in addition to the common policy type value.

14. The network node of claim 13 , wherein the virtual functionality value specifies one or more VNF nodes, one or more VNF types, or a virtual path interconnecting more than one of the VNFs.

15. The network node of claim 13 , wherein the policies in the same group share the common virtual functionality value which specifies a same number of VNF nodes or VNF types.

16. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the attribute values further include a priority value, and wherein the network node is further operative to:

remove a first policy that is in conflict with, or redundant of, a second policy when the priority value of the first policy is lower than the second policy.

17. The network node of claim 16 , wherein the priority value is a global priority value which indicates a priority of a policy source among a plurality of different policy sources.

18. The network node of claim 17 , wherein, when the first policy and the second policy have a same global priority value, the priority value is a local priority value designated by the policy source.

19. The network node of claim 12 , wherein each policy is an affinity policy or an anti-affinity policy, and wherein both affinity policies and anti-affinity policies are applicable to the placement and the lifecycle management of the VNFs.

20. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative to:

encode each of a plurality of known conflicts and known redundancies between two policies into a known binary string;

encode a relation between two of the obtained policies into a binary string; and

compare the binary string with the known binary string to detect existence of a known conflict or a known redundancy.

21. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative to:

receive a new policy after the network service is deployed;

identify, from the policy repository, one of the groups to which the new policy belongs;

detect, in real-time during the network service, any conflict or redundancy between the new policy and the identified group; and

add the new policy into the policy group when no conflict or redundancy is detected between the new policy and the identified group.

22. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the action performed by the policy includes one of: placement, scaling and migration.