IP Library Granted Patent US 12,468,515
Granted Patent B2
US 12,468,515 · App. 17/190,507 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Containerized network function deployment during runtime resource creation

Inventors: Abhishek Kumar (Bangalore, IN); Ravi Potluri (Coppell, TX); Hans Raj Nahata (New Providence, NJ)
Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
G06F8/60G06F9/45558H04L41/046H04L41/40
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,468,515
App. No.
17/190,507
Granted
Nov 11, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods described herein provide a Specialized-Operator enabled with admission control functionalities and Custom Resource Definition (CRD) plugins responsible for improving the reliability of the CNF Lifecycle Management operations for deploying containerized workloads on any heterogeneous cloud platform or in multi-cluster environments. According to one implementation, a computing device includes a sensor Network Function Virtualization (NFV)-extension and an actuator NFV-extension. The sensor NFV-extension obtains, from a Container Infrastructure Service Manager (CISM), an event signal that indicates a deficiency with a customer Containerized Network Function (CNF) deployment; detects a current state for the CNF deployment; determines an intent for the CNF deployment; identifies, based on the intent, a desired state for the CNF deployment; and selects, from a group of available actuator NFV-extensions, the actuator NFV-extension corresponding to the desired state. The actuator NFV-extension may be configured to initiate remediation of the CNF deployment to the desired state.

Claims (67)

1 . A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a network device including a sensor Network Function Virtualization (NFV)-extension, an instantiation request, which includes a deficient Containerized Network Function (CNF) package, from a Container Infrastructure Service Manager (CISM);

detecting, by the sensor NFV-extension, a current state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request, wherein the detecting includes inspecting for labels, annotations, and public key infrastructure (PKI) settings in the deficient CNF package;

determining, by the sensor NFV-extension, an intent for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request;

identifying, by the sensor NFV-extension and based on the intent, a desired state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request;

selecting, by the sensor NFV-extension and from a plurality of available actuator NFV-extensions, an actuator NFV-extension corresponding to the desired state; and

initiating, by the selected actuator NFV-extension, remediation of the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request to achieve the desired state,

wherein the sensor NFV-extension and the actuator NFV-extension are executed in a deployment process flow between sending the instantiation request to an application programming interface (API) server and receiving the instantiation request by the API server.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the intent for the deficient CNF package, further comprises:

accessing a deployment policy repository.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein, when obtaining the instantiation request, the deficient CNF package includes a defect in:

one of the labels or the annotations,

one of the PKI settings, or

a policy rule.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor NFV-extension and the actuator NFV-extension are managed objects in a VNF layer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the deficient CNF package includes intercepting a first instance of the instantiation request directed to the API server.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating remediation of the deficient CNF package further comprises:

performing automated remediation of the deficient CNF package,

providing a notification of the deficient CNF package, or

performing admission control for the instantiation request containing the deficient CNF package.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating remediation of the deficient CNF package to the desired state further comprises:

inserting a missing label or a missing annotation into the deficient CNF package.

8 . A computing device, comprising:

a communication interface to communicate with network devices; and

one or more processors including:

a sensor Network Function Virtualization (NFV)-extension configured to:

obtain, from a Container Infrastructure Service Manager (CISM), an instantiation request, which includes a deficient Containerized Network Function (CNF) package,

detect a current state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request, wherein the detecting includes inspecting for labels, annotations, and public key infrastructure (PKI) settings in the deficient CNF package,

determine an intent for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request,

identify, based on the intent, a desired state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request, and

select, from a plurality of available actuator NFV-extensions, an actuator NFV-extension corresponding to the desired state; and

the actuator NFV-extension configured to:

initiate remediation of the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request to achieve the desired state,

wherein the sensor NFV-extension and the actuator NFV-extension are executed in a deployment process flow between sending the instantiation request to an application programming interface (API) server and receiving the instantiation request by the API server.

9 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein, when determining the intent for the deficient CNF package, the sensor NFV-extension is further configured to:

access a deployment policy repository.

10 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor NFV-extension is one of an admissions controller or a custom resource definition controller.

11 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein, when obtained by the sensor NFV-extension, the deficient CNF package includes a defect in:

a CNF naming standard,

one of the labels or the annotations,

a public key infrastructure, or

a policy rule.

12 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor NFV-extension and the actuator NFV-extension are managed objects in a VNF layer.

13 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein, when obtaining the deficient CNF package, the sensor NFV-extension is further configured to:

intercept a first instance of an instantiation request directed to the API server.

14 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein, when initiating remediation of the deficient CNF package to the desired state, the actuator NFV-extension is further configured to:

perform automated remediation of the deficient CNF package,

provide a notification of the deficient CNF package, or

perform admission control for the instantiation request containing the deficient CNF package.

15 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein, when initiating remediation of the deficient CNF package to the desired state, the actuator NFV-extension is further configured to:

insert a missing label or a missing annotation into the deficient CNF package.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions executable by at least one processor, the computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions for:

obtaining, by a network device including a sensor Network Function Virtualization (NFV)-extension, an instantiation request, which includes a deficient Containerized Network Function (CNF) package, from a Container Infrastructure Service Manager (CISM);

detecting, by the sensor NFV-extension, a current state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request, wherein the detecting includes inspecting for labels, annotations, and public key infrastructure (PKI) settings in the deficient CNF package;

determining, by the sensor NFV-extension, an intent for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request;

identifying, by the sensor NFV-extension and based on the intent, a desired state for the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request;

selecting, by the sensor NFV-extension and from a plurality of available actuator NFV-extensions, an actuator NFV-extension corresponding to the desired state; and

initiating, by the selected actuator NFV-extension, remediation of the deficient CNF package in the instantiation request to achieve the desired state,

wherein the sensor NFV-extension and the actuator NFV-extension are executed in a deployment process flow between sending the instantiation request to an application programming interface (API) server and receiving the instantiation request by the API server.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the sensor plugin and the actuator plugin are managed objects in a VNF layer.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions for obtaining the instantiation request further comprise instructions for:

intercepting a first instance of the instantiation request directed to the API server.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the sensor NFV-extension is one of an admissions controller or a custom resource definition controller.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the deficient CNF package includes a defect in:

one of the labels or the annotations,

one of the PKI settings, or

a policy rule.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2021
From: KUMAR, ABHISHEK; POTLURI, RAVI; NAHATA, HANS RAJ
To: VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.
Reel/Frame 055473/0054 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220283792A1 · Sep 8, 2022
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