Method and apparatus for NFV management and orchestration

1. A method for network functions virtualization (NFV)-management and orchestration (MANO) comprising:

receiving, by a software defined topology field graph (SDT-FG) entity of a processing system, a customer request for a network service, the customer request including a checklist of network components and network service requirements for constructing the network service;

constructing, by the SDT-FG of the processing system, the network service using the checklist included in the customer request;

generating, by the SDT-FG of the processing system, a virtualized network function (VNF)-forwarding graph (FG) according to the constructed network service using a network service catalog, the VNF-FG comprising a plurality of VNFs and a link connecting two of the plurality of VNFs;

constructing, by the SDT-FG entity of processing system, a network service request comprising the generated VNF-FG and the constructed network service;

sending, by the SDT-FG entity of processing system, the constructed network service request for determining a network function virtualization infrastructure point of presence (NFVI-PoP) for each of the plurality of VNFs in the generated VNF-FG;

receiving, by a software defined topology point of presence (SDT-PoP) entity or an orchestrator of the processing system, the constructed network service request;

determining, by the SDT-PoP entity of the processing system, the NFVI-PoP for each of the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG; and

transmitting, by the SDT-PoP entity or the orchestrator of the processing system, an instruction to instantiate the plurality of VNFs using a virtual infrastructure manager (VIM) and a virtual network function manager (VNFM).

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

instantiating the plurality of VNFs using the VIM and the VNFM.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending the constructed network service request comprises:

sending, by the SDT-FG entity of the processing system, a command requesting determination of NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG to the SDT-Pop entity of the processing system.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving, by the SDT-FG entity in response to the command, a message sent by the SDT-POP entity indicating the determination of the NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

sending, by the SDT-FG entity in response to the customer request, an acknowledgement message indicating generation of the VNF-FG and the determination of the NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VNF-FG comprises a VNF that is related to network performance assessment and enhancement.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions for:

receiving a customer request for a network service, the customer request including a checklist of network components and network service requirements for constructing the network service;

constructing the network service using the checklist included in the customer request;

generating a virtualized network function (VNF)-forwarding graph (FG) according to the constructed network service using a network service catalog, the VNF-FG comprising a plurality of VNFs and a link connecting two of the plurality of VNFs;

constructing a network service request comprising the generated VNF-FG and the constructed network service;

sending the constructed network service request for determining a network function virtualization infrastructure point of presence (NFVI-PoP) for each of the plurality of VNFs in the generated VNF-FG

receiving the constructed network service request;

determining the NFVI-PoP for each of the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG; and

transmitting an instruction to instantiate the plurality of VNFs using a virtual infrastructure manager (VIM) and a virtual network function manager (VNFM).

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions for:

instantiating the plurality of VNFs using the VIM and the VNFM; and

adding the network service request to the network service catalog.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the sending the constructed network service request comprises:

sending a command requesting for determination of NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG to a software defined topology point of presence (SDT-PoP) entity.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions for:

receiving, in response to the command, a message sent by the SDT-POP entity indicating the determination of the NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions for:

sending, in response to the customer request, an acknowledgement message indicating generation of the VNF-FG and the determination of the NFVI-PoPs for the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG.

12. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming, the programming including instructions to:

receive a customer request for a network service, the customer request including a checklist of network components and network service requirements for constructing the network service;

constructing the network service using the checklist included in the customer request;

generate a virtualized network function (VNF)-forwarding graph (FG) according to the constructed network service using a network service catalog, the VNF-FG comprising a plurality of VNFs and at least a link connecting two of the plurality of VNFs;

construct a network service request comprising the generated VNF-FG and the constructed network service;

send the constructed network service request for determining a network function virtualization infrastructure point of presence (NFVI-PoP) for each of the plurality of VNFs in the generated VNF-FG

receive the constructed network service request;

determine the NFVI-PoP for each of the plurality of VNFs in the VNF-FG; and

transmit an instruction to instantiate the plurality of VNFs using a virtual infrastructure manager (VIM) and a virtual network function manager (VNFM).

13. The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions to:

instantiating the plurality of VNFs using the VIM and the VNFM.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions to add the constructed network service request to the network service catalog.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adding the constructed network service request to the network service catalog.