FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
“METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SCHEDULING A TASK BY A
PLATFORM SCHEDULER AND CRON JOBS SERVICE”
We, Jio Platforms Limited, an Indian National, of Office - 101, Saffron, Nr.
Centre Point, Panchwati 5 Rasta, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad - 380006, Gujarat, India.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in
which it is to be performed.
2
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SCHEDULING A TASK BY A
PLATFORM SCHEDULER AND CRON JOBS SERVICE
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
5
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of
network performance management. More particularly, embodiments of the present
disclosure relate to scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC)
service.
10
BACKGROUND
[0002] The following description of related art is intended to provide background
information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include
15 certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present
disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to
enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and
not as admissions of prior art.
20 [0003] In the current 5G network systems, there exists a problem of scheduling jobs
on respective microservice’s end which further leads to various issues relating to
overhead of development, validation, integration, testing efforts, etc. Further, in the
existing systems, in absence of an efficient and effective scheduling of jobs on
respective micro service’s end, the microservices perform operations such as create,
25 update and delete at their own system leading to wasting useful resources.
Moreover, the exiting solutions fail to provide an efficient solution for enabling the
microservices to perform these operations at a centralized platform.
3
[0004] Therefore, there exists an imperative need in the art to develop methods and
systems to overcome the limitations posed above by streamlining the
communication and interaction between the network components, such as between
the one or more network nodes and one or more scheduler services for overcoming
5 inefficient task scheduling. Thus, the present disclosure provides methods and
systems for efficient task management at the one or more scheduler services such
as one or more platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) services.
OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE
10
[0005] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the
present disclosure in a simplified form that are further described below in the
description. In order to overcome at least a few problems associated with the known
solutions as provided in the previous section, an object of the present disclosure is
15 to substantially reduce the limitations and drawbacks of the prior arts as described
hereinabove.
[0006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one
embodiment disclosed herein satisfies are listed herein below.
20
[0007] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a solution for
automatically scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC)
service.
25 [0008] Another object of the present disclosure is to allow receipt of http request to
create and schedule a task request.
[0009] Yet another object of the present disclosure is reduction in network
development, network validation, network integration, and network testing efforts
30 of the network personnel.
4
[0010] Yet another object of the present disclosure is the centralization of the task
management.
5 SUMMARY
[0011] This section is provided to introduce certain aspects of the present disclosure
in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description.
This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed
10 subject matter.
[0012] An aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a method for scheduling a
task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service. The method comprises
receiving, by a transceiver unit at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC)
15 service from one or more network nodes, a create task request associated with a
task. The create task request comprises at least a task schedule for the task. The
method further comprises creating, by an execution unit at the platform scheduler
and cron jobs (PSC) service, the task based on the create task request. Thereafter,
the method further comprises scheduling, by the execution unit at the platform
20 scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service, the task based on the task schedule.
[0013] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the task schedule is
associated with at least a termination time associated with at least a subscription
identifier.
25
[0014] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further
comprises identifying, by an identification unit at the PSC service, a status
associated with the create task request, wherein the status is at least one of a positive
status and a negative status.
30
5
[0015] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the positive status
associated with the create task request indicates non-existence of the requested task
at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service.
5 [0016] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the negative status
associated with the create task request indicates pre-existence of the requested task
at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service.
[0017] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further
10 comprises transmitting by the transceiver unit from the platform scheduler and cron
jobs (PSC) service to the one or more network nodes, a failure response in an event
the negative status associated with the create task request is identified by the
identification unit at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service.
15 [0018] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further
comprises monitoring by a processing unit at the PSC service, a subscription based
on the subscription identifier. The method further comprises determining, by the
processing unit at the PSC service, a breach condition associated with the
subscription based on the termination time. Thereafter, the method further
20 comprises transmitting, by the transceiver unit from the PSC service to the one or
more network nodes, a breach notification in an event the breach condition
associated with the subscription is determined.
[0019] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method further
25 comprises storing, by a storage unit, the created task in a database. The method
further comprises transmitting, by the transceiver unit, a success response from the
platform scheduler and cron jobs service (PSC) to the one or more network nodes.
The method further comprises triggering, by the execution unit at the platform
scheduler and cron jobs service (PSC), the task based on task schedule. And the
30 method further comprises transmitting, by the transceiver unit from the platform
6
scheduler and cron jobs service (PSC), a notification to the one or more network
nodes based on the triggering of the task.
[0020] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a frequency of the
5 notification is configurable at run time of the task.
[0021] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a system for
scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service . The system
comprises a transceiver unit at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service,
10 configured to receive, a create task request associated with the task, from one or
more network nodes. The create task request comprises at least a task schedule for
the task. The system further comprises an execution unit, at the platform scheduler
and cron jobs (PSC) service, configured to create, the task based on create task
request. The execution unit is further configured to schedule, the task based on the
15 task schedule.
[0022] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium storing instruction for scheduling a task by a
platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service, the storage medium comprising
20 executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system, causes a
transceiver unit to receive, a create task request associated with the task, from a one
or more network nodes. The create task request comprises at least a task schedule
for the task. Further, the executable code which, when executed, causes an
execution unit to create, the task based on the create task request. Further, the
25 executable code which, when executed, causes the execution unit to schedule, the
task based on the task schedule.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
7
[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute
a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods
and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the
different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale,
5 emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present
disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and
may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated
by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of
electrical components, electronic components or circuitry commonly used to
10 implement such components.
[0024] FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a
management and orchestration (MANO) architecture/platform [100].
15 [0025] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a computing device [200]
upon which the features of the present disclosure may be implemented in
accordance with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system [300] for
20 scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100], in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure.
[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method [400] flow diagram for scheduling
the task by the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100], in
25 accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary flow chart depicting a network
environment [500] showing interaction between one or more network nodes [316],
a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] and an Elastic Search (ES)
8
database [504] for scheduling the task, in accordance with exemplary embodiments
of the present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary block diagram of a system [600] for
5 scheduling the task, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0030] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed
description of the disclosure.
10
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of
15 embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that
embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific
details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one
another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not
address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the
20 problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be
fully addressed by any of the features described herein. Example embodiments of
the present disclosure are described below, as illustrated in various drawings in
which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different
drawings.
25
[0032] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not
intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather,
the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in
the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment.
30 It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and
9
arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the
disclosure as set forth.
[0033] It should be noted that the terms "mobile device", "user equipment", "user
5 device", “communication device”, “device” and similar terms are used
interchangeably for the purpose of describing the disclosure. These terms are not
intended to limit the scope of the disclosure or imply any specific functionality or
limitations on the described embodiments. The use of these terms is solely for
convenience and clarity of description. The disclosure is not limited to any
10 particular type of device or equipment, and it should be understood that other
equivalent terms or variations thereof may be used interchangeably without
departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined herein.
[0034] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough
15 understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of
ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these
specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other
components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to
obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known
20 circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without
unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0035] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process
which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure
25 diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as
a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or
concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process
is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not
included in a figure.
30
10
[0036] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean
serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the
subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any
aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not
5 necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or
designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques
known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms
“includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed
description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar
10 to the term “comprising” as an open transition word without precluding any
additional or other elements.
[0037] As used herein, an “electronic device”, or “portable electronic device”, or
“user device” or “communication device” or “user equipment” or “device” refers
15 to any electrical, electronic, electromechanical and computing device. The user
device is capable of receiving and/or transmitting one or parameters, performing
function/s, communicating with other user devices and transmitting data to the
other user devices. The user equipment may have a processor, a display, a memory,
a battery and an input-means such as a hard keypad and/or a soft keypad. The user
20 equipment may be capable of operating on any radio access technology including
but not limited to IP-enabled communication, Zig Bee, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low
Energy, Near Field Communication, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, etc. For
instance, the user equipment may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone,
smartphone, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, laptop,
25 a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer,
mainframe computer, or any other device as may be obvious to a person skilled in
the art for implementation of the features of the present disclosure.
[0038] Further, the user device and/or a system as described herein to implement
30 technical features as disclosed in the present disclosure may also comprise
11
a “processor” or “processing unit”, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry
for processing instructions. The processor may be a general-purpose processor, a
special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a
plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a
5 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application
Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other
type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data
processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the
working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the
10 processor is a hardware processor.
[0039] As used herein, “a user equipment”, “a user device”, “a smart-user-device”,
“a smart-device”, “an electronic device”, “a mobile device”, “a handheld device”,
“a wireless communication device”, “a mobile communication device”, “a
15 communication device” may be any electrical, electronic and/or computing device
or equipment, capable of implementing the features of the present disclosure. The
user equipment/device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, smart
phone, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant,
tablet computer, wearable device or any other computing device which is capable
20 of implementing the features of the present disclosure. Also, the user device may
contain at least one input means configured to receive an input from at least one of
a transceiver unit, a processing unit, a storage unit, a detection unit and any other
such unit(s) which are required to implement the features of the present disclosure.
25 [0040] As used herein, “storage unit” or “memory unit” refers to a machine or
computer-readable medium including any mechanism for storing information in a
form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable
medium includes read-only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”),
magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other
30 types of machine-accessible storage media. The storage unit stores at least the data
12
that may be required by one or more units of the system to perform their respective
functions.
[0041] As used herein, “interface” or “user interface” refers to a shared boundary
5 across which two or more separate components of a system exchange information
or data. The interface may also be referred to a set of rules or protocols that define
communication or interaction of one or more modules or one or more units with
each other, which also includes the methods, functions, or procedures that may be
called.
10
[0042] All modules, units, components used herein, unless explicitly excluded
herein, may be software modules or hardware processors, the processors being a
general-purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor,
a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
15 microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller,
Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array
circuits (FPGA), any other type of integrated circuits, etc.
[0043] As used herein, the transceiver unit includes at least one receiver and at least
20 one transmitter configured respectively for receiving and transmitting data, signals,
information or a combination thereof between units/components within the system
and/or connected with the system.
[0044] As discussed in the background section, the current known solutions have
25 several shortcomings. The one or more network nodes primarily interacts with a
centralised platform such as platform scheduler & cron job (PSC) service by
continuously sending queries and receiving event acknowledgments for breached
events, wherein the resource usage may end up surpassing predefined threshold
values. The core services of the PSC service are struggling to effectively coordinate
30 with the one or more network nodes. Therefore, this process has proven to be
13
inefficient and prone to delays, leading to suboptimal task scheduling in the network
systems. The present disclosure aims to overcome the above-mentioned and other
existing problems in this field of technology for scheduling a task by the PSC
service. The present disclosure is implemented with the help of various components
5 of a management and orchestration (MANO) architecture.
[0045] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a
management and orchestration (MANO) architecture/platform [100], in accordance
with exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. The MANO architecture
10 [100] may be developed for managing telecom cloud infrastructure automatically,
managing design or deployment design, managing instantiation of a network
node(s) etc/service(s). The MANO architecture [100] deploys the network node(s)
in the form of Virtual Network Function (VNF) and Cloud-native/ Container
Network Function (CNF). The system as provided by the present disclosure may
15 comprise one or more components of the MANO architecture [100]. The MANO
architecture [100] may be used to automatically instantiate the VNFs into the
corresponding environment of the present disclosure so that it could help in
onboarding other vendor(s) CNFs and VNFs to the platform. In an implementation,
the system may comprise a NFV Platform Decision Analytics (NPDA) [1096]
20 component.
[0046] As shown in FIG. 1, the MANO architecture [100] comprises a user
interface layer [102], a network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined
network (SDN) design function module [104], a platform foundation services
25 module [106], a platform core services module [108] and a platform resource
adapters and utilities module [112] All the components may be assumed to be
connected to each other in a manner as obvious to the person skilled in the art for
implementing features of the present disclosure.
14
[0047] The NFV and SDN design function module [104] comprises a network
manager [1042], a VNF catalog [1044], a network services catalog [1046], a
network slicing and service chaining manager [1048], a physical and virtual
resource manager [1050] and a CNF lifecycle manager [1052]. The network
5 manager [1042] may be responsible for deciding on which server of the
communication network the microservice may be instantiated. The network
manager [1042] may manage the overall flow of incoming/ outgoing requests
during interaction with the user. The network manager may have a VNF lifecycle
manager and the CNF lifecycle manager in case the network is working utilising
10 the VNF and CNF. The network manager [1042] may be responsible for
determining which sequence to be followed for executing the process. For e.g. in
an AMF network function of the communication network (such as a 5G network),
sequence for execution of processes P1 and P2 etc. The VNF catalog [1044] stores
the metadata of all the VNFs (also CNFs in some cases). The network services
15 catalog [1046] stores the information of the services that need to be run. The
network slicing and service chaining manager [1048] manages the slicing (an
ordered and connected sequence of network service/ network functions (NFs)) that
must be applied to a specific networked data packet. The physical and virtual
resource manager [1050] stores the logical and physical inventory of the VNFs.
20 Just like the network manager [1042], the CNF lifecycle manager [1052] may be
similarly used for the CNFs lifecycle management.
[0048] The platforms foundation services module [106] comprises a
microservices elastic load balancer [1062], an identity & access manager [1064], a
25 command line interface (CLI) [1066], a central logging manager [1068], and an
event routing manager [1070]. The microservices elastic load balancer [1062]
may be used for maintaining the load balancing of the request for the services. The
identity & access manager [1064] may be used for logging purposes. The
command line interface (CLI) [1066] may be used to provide commands to
30 execute certain processes which requires changes during the run time. The central
15
logging manager [1068] may be responsible for keeping the logs of every service.
These logs are generated by the MANO platform [100]. These logs may be used for
debugging purposes. The event routing manager [1070] may be responsible for
routing the events i.e., the application programming interface (API) hits to the
5 corresponding services.
[0049] The platforms core services module [108] comprises NFV infrastructure
monitoring manager [1082], an assure manager [1084], a performance manager
[1086], a policy execution engine [1088], a capacity monitoring manager [1090], a
10 release management (mgmt.) repository [1092], a configuration manager & golden
configuration template (GCT) [1094], an NFV platform decision analytics [1096],
a platform NoSQL DB [1098], a platform schedulers and cron jobs service [1100],
a VNF backup & upgrade manager [1102], a microservice auditor [1104], and a
platform operations, administration and maintenance manager [1106]. The NFV
15 infrastructure monitoring manager [1082] may monitor the infrastructure part of
the NFs. For e.g., any metrics such as CPU utilization by the VNF. The assure
manager [1084] may be responsible for supervising the alarms the vendor may be
generating. The performance manager [1086] may be responsible for managing
the performance counters. The policy execution engine (PEEGN) [1088] may be
20 responsible for managing all the policies. The capacity monitoring manager
(CMM) [1090] may be responsible for sending the request to the PEEGN [1088].
The release management repository (RMR) [1092] may be responsible for
managing the releases and the images of all of the vendor’s network nodes. The
configuration manager & GCT [1094] manages the configuration and GCT of all
25 the vendors. The NFV platform decision analytics (NPDA) [1096] helps in
deciding the priority of using the network resources. It is further noted that the
policy execution engine (PEEGN) [1088], the configuration manager & (GCT)
[1094] and the (NPDA) [1096] work together. The platform NoSQL DB [1098]
may be a platform database for storing all the inventory (both physical and logical)
30 as well as the metadata of the VNFs and CNF. It may be noted that the platform
16
NoSQL DB [1098] may be just a narrower implementation of the present
disclosure, and any other kind of structure for the database may be implemented for
the platform database such as relational or non-relational database. The platform
schedulers and cron jobs service [1100] may schedule the task such as but not
5 limited to triggering of an event, traverse the network graph etc. The VNF backup
& upgrade manager [1102] takes backup of the images, binaries of the VNFs and
the CNFs and produces those backups on demand in case of server failure. The
microservice auditor [1104] audits the microservices. For e.g., in a hypothetical
case, instances not being instantiated by the MANO architecture [100] may be using
10 the network resources. In such case, the microservice auditor [1104] audits and
informs the same so that resources can be released for services running in the
MANO architecture [100]. The audit assures that the services only run on the
MANO platform [100]. The platform operations, administration and
maintenance manager [1106] may be used for newer instances that are spawning.
15
[0050] The platform resource adapters and utilities module [112] further
comprises a platform external API adaptor and gateway [1122], a generic decoder
and indexer (XML, CSV, JSON) [1124], a docker service adaptor [1126], API
adapter [1128], and a NFV gateway [1130]. The platform external API adaptor
20 and gateway [1122] may be responsible for handling the external services (to the
MANO platform [100]) that requires the network resources. The generic decoder
and indexer (XML, CSV, JSON) [1124] may get directly the data of the vendor
system in the XML, CSV, JSON format. The docker service adaptor [1126] may
be the interface provided between the telecom cloud and the MANO architecture
25 [100] for communication. The API adapter [1128] may be used to connect with
the virtual machines (VMs). The NFV gateway [1130] may be responsible for
providing the path to each services going to/incoming from the MANO architecture
[100].
17
[0051] The Docker Service Adapter (DSA) [1126] may be a microservices-based
component that may be designed to deploy and manage Container Network
Functions (CNFs) and their components (CNFCs) across Docker nodes. The DSA
[1126] may offer REST endpoints for key operations, such as uploading container
5 images to a Docker registry, terminating CNFC instances, and creating Docker
volumes and networks. The CNFs, that may be network functions packaged as
containers, may consist of multiple CNFCs. The DSA [1126] facilitates the
deployment, configuration, and management of these components by interacting
with Docker's API, ensuring proper setup and scalability within a containerized
10 environment. The DSA provides a modular and flexible framework for handling
network functions in a virtualized network setup.
[0052] The present disclosure can be implemented on a computing device [200] as
shown in FIG. 2. The computing device [200] implements the present disclosure in
15 accordance with the MANO architecture (as shown in FIG. 1). FIG. 2 illustrates
an exemplary block diagram of the computing device [200] upon which the features
of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with exemplary
implementation of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the computing
device [200] may also implement a method [400] (as shown in FIG. 4) for
20 scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] (as
shown in FIG. 1) utilising a system [300] (as shown in FIG. 3) and a system [600]
(as shown in FIG. 6). In another implementation, the computing device [200] itself
implements the method [400] for scheduling a task by the PSC service [1100] in a
communication network using one or more units configured within the computing
25 device [200], wherein said one or more units can implement the features as
disclosed in the present disclosure.
[0053] The computing device [200] may include a bus [202] or other
communication mechanism for communicating information, and a hardware
30 processor [204] coupled with the bus [202] for processing information. The
18
hardware processor [204] may be, for example, a general-purpose microprocessor.
The computing device [200] may also include a main memory [206], such as a
random-access memory (RAM), or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the
bus [202] for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processor
5 [204]. The main memory [206] also may be used for storing temporary variables or
other intermediate information during execution of the instructions to be executed
by the processor [204]. Such instructions, when stored in non-transitory storage
media accessible to the processor [204], render the computing device [200] into a
special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operations specified in
10 the instructions. The computing device [200] further includes a read only memory
(ROM) [208] or other static storage device coupled to the bus [202] for storing static
information and instructions for the processor [204].
[0054] A storage device [210], such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or solid-state
15 drive is provided and coupled to the bus [202] for storing information and
instructions. The computing device [200] may be coupled via the bus [202] to a
display [212], such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), Liquid crystal Display (LCD),
Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, Organic LED (OLED) display, etc. for
displaying information to a computer user. An input device [214], including
20 alphanumeric and other keys, touch screen input means, etc. may be coupled to the
bus [202] for communicating information and command selections to the processor
[204]. Another type of user input device may be a cursor controller [216], such as
a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicating direction
information and command selections to the processor [204], and for controlling
25 cursor movement on the display [212]. The input device typically has two degrees
of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allow
the device to specify positions in a plane.
[0055] The computing device [200] may implement the techniques described
30 herein using customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware
19
and/or program logic which in combination with the computing device [200] causes
or programs the computing device [200] to be a special-purpose machine.
According to one implementation, the techniques herein are performed by the
computing device [200] in response to the processor [204] executing one or more
5 sequences of one or more instructions contained in the main memory [206]. Such
instructions may be read into the main memory [206] from another storage medium,
such as the storage device [210]. Execution of the sequences of instructions
contained in the main memory [206] causes the processor [204] to perform the
process steps described herein. In alternative implementations of the present
10 disclosure, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with
software instructions.
[0056] The computing device [200] also may include a communication interface
[218] coupled to the bus [202]. The communication interface [218] provides a two15 way data communication coupling to a network link [220] that is connected to a
local network [222]. For example, the communication interface [218] may be an
integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellite modem, or
a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of
telephone line. As another example, the communication interface [218] may be a
20 local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a
compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such
implementation, the communication interface [218] sends and receives electrical,
electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing
various types of information.
25
[0057] The computing device [200] can send messages and receive data, including
program code, through the network(s), the network link [220] and the
communication interface [218]. In the Internet example, a server [230] might
transmit a requested code for an application program through the Internet [228], the
30 ISP [226], the local network [222], the host [224] and the communication interface
20
[218]. The received code may be executed by the processor [204] as it is received,
and/or stored in the storage device [210], or other non-volatile storage for later
execution.
5 [0058] The present disclosure is implemented by the system [300] (as shown in
FIG. 3). The system [300] may be implemented using the computing device [200]
(as shown in FIG. 2). In an implementation, the computing device [200] may be
connected to the system [300] to perform the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.
3, an exemplary block diagram of the system [300] for scheduling a task by a
10 platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] in a communication
network, is shown, in accordance with the exemplary implementations of the
present disclosure. The system [300] comprises at least one platform scheduler and
cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] and one or more network nodes [316]. The PSC
service [1100] acts as a centralised platform which helps to create and schedule jobs
15 on behalf of other microservices. The PSC service [1100] interacts with multiple
microservices i.e., the one or more network nodes [316]. The one or more network
nodes [316] constantly tracks the network resource utilization. The one or more
network nodes [316] tracks usage of each resource such as CPU, RAM and storage
across all VIM sites. The one or more network nodes [316] is also capable of
20 monitoring these parameters for each instance of the VNF. The one or more network
nodes [316] tags each resource with a threshold value, which is user-defined. The
PSC service [1100] further comprises at least one transceiver unit [304], at least one
identification unit [308], at least one execution unit [310], at least one processing
unit [312], and at least one storage unit [314]. The storage unit [314] further
25 comprises at least one database [3122]. Also, all of the components/ units of the
system [300] are assumed to be connected to each other unless otherwise indicated
below. As shown in the FIG. 3, all units shown within the system [300] should also
be assumed to be connected to each other. Also, in FIG. 3 only a few units are
shown, however, the system [300] may comprise multiple such units or the system
30 [300] may comprise any such number of said units, as required to implement the
21
features of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the system [300] may
reside in a server or a network entity. In another implementation, the system [300]
may reside partly in the server/ network entity.
5 [0059] The system [300] is configured for scheduling a task by the PSC service
[1100], with the help of the interconnection between the components/units of the
system [300]. The scheduling here involves assigning or prioritizing a task created
at the PSC service [1100] to notify termination of one or more subscriptions or to
notify one or more network nodes such as network function for carrying out the
10 execution of the intended tasks of the network component. The network resources
may include processors, network links, memories etc. The scheduling of tasks in
the communication network helps in minimizing network problems such as delays
and allows to automate recurring tasks, such as backups, data synchronization and
maintenance jobs.
15
[0060] The transceiver unit [304] at the PSC service [1100], is configured to
receive, a create task request associated with the task, from one or more network
nodes [316]. The create task request comprises at least a task schedule for the task.
Further, the create task request comprises parameters such as Task type, Task
20 frequency, Task periodicity, Task counter and Task information. The Task type
may be for example, an API creation, an FTP, an EVENT creation or a QUERY.
The Task frequency can be periodic such as done daily, weekly, monthly or onetime execution as per the requirement of the operations team or configuration of the
one or more network nodes [316]. The Task periodicity may define the time period
25 when the task is to be scheduled. The Task counter defines the number of task
notifications. The Task information defines details related to resources such as
name, identifier, address and threshold value of usage. An example of a tasks may
be such as, creating an event to clear cache weekly. The PSC service [1100] may
include a network component that works as a task manager for managing the
30 sequence of network tasks. The PSC service [1100] may also employ a fixed
22
queueing algorithm for governing the scheduling of the task. The create task request
is responsible for defining the initial stages or actions for the task execution.
Further, the one or more network nodes [316] may be one of at least one or more
microservices and an user equipment associated with the network.
5
[0061] The execution unit [310], at the PSC service [1100], is configured to create,
the task based on the create task request. The execution unit [310] is further
configured to schedule, the task based on the task schedule.
10 [0062] The identification unit [308] at the PSC service [1100], is configured to
identify, a status associated with the create task request. The status is at least one of
a positive status and a negative status.
[0063] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the positive status
15 associated with the create task request indicates non-existence of the requested task
at the PSC service [1100]. The non-existence is indicative of the fact that the
requested task is not in the scheduler’s queue comprising a list of tasks. The nonexistence also indicates that the task has not been created or scheduled for
execution.
20
[0064] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the negative status
associated with the create task request indicates pre-existence of the requested task
at the PSC service [1100]. The pre-existence is indicative of the fact that the
requested task is present in the scheduler’s queue comprising list of tasks. The pre25 existence of the task indicates that the task has been created or scheduled for
execution. The execution unit [310] only creates task which have positive status,
which ensures there is no overlapping of the tasks. It is to be noted that the nonexistence or pre-existence of the task is identified by identification unit [308], which
compares one or more attributes of the created task stored at the database [3122],
30 such as Task ID (identifier).
23
[0065] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the transceiver unit [304]
is further configured to transmit, from the PSC service [1100] to the one or more
network nodes [316], a failure response in an event the negative status associated
5 with the create task request is identified by the identification unit [308] at the PSC
service [1100]. The failure response represents that the task creation failed as the
requested task was present in the scheduler’s queue. In an implementation, if a
similar task is identified, then the identified similar Task ID is sent in the failure
response along with error code associated with the negative status.
10
[0066] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the task schedule is
associated with at least a termination time associated with a subscription identifier.
Further, as used herein the subscription identifier may refer to a unique
alphanumeric identifier assigned to a specific subscription of a service subscribed
15 from the network node. Further, the subscription identifier may serve as a reference
point for managing recurring and/or persistent resource allocations. Further, the
subscription identifier may be associated with the termination time, wherein the
termination time may refer to a predetermined timestamp and/or duration after
which the subscription is automatically stopped, cancelled, or expired.
20
[0067] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing unit
[312] is configured to monitor at the PSC service [1100], a subscription based on
the subscription identifier. As used herein the subscription may refer to an
agreement and/or an arrangement between the one or more network nodes [316]
25 and a service provider for granting access to a specific product, a service, and/or a
resource for a defined period i.e., a subscription period. For instance, in an
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a Service Z provides
subscriptions for consumers who register with the service Z. Upon registration, the
Service Z creates a task at the PSC service [1100], wherein the task is created to
24
notify the Service Z to terminate the subscription associated with the particular
consumer upon expiry of the same.
[0068] In said preferred embodiment, the processing unit [312] is configured to
5 determine, by at the PSC service [1100], a breach condition associated with the
subscription based on the termination time.
[0069] As used herein, the breach condition may refer to an occurrence of a specific
event and/or circumstance that violates agreed-upon terms and conditions of the
10 subscription and that may trigger a potential termination and/or cancellation of the
subscription. In an implementation, the breach condition associated with the
subscription is met when the termination time is exceeded and/or violated, such as
non-payment, unauthorized use, and/or a failure to comply with service
requirements. For example, if a subscription A is due to expire on a X date of each
15 month, then a breach condition may be detected if the subscription A is not renewed
on X-2 days.
[0070] Thereafter in said preferred embodiment, the transceiver unit [304]
configured to transmit, by from the PSC service [1100] to the one or more network
20 nodes [316], a breach notification in an event the breach condition associated with
the subscription is determined. Further, in another implementation of the above
example multiple breach conditions may be detected in a scenario the subscription
A is not renewed on X-3 days, X-2 days and X-1 days. In that scenario the breach
notification may transmitted to the one or more network nodes [316] may be
25 notified only once based on determining any of the breach condition (i.e., X-3 days,
X-2 days and X-1 days).
[0071] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in a scenario, the
PSC service [1100] manages a subscription for the one or more network nodes
30 [316], and each subscription is associated with a specific monitoring time frame
25
(i.e., a termination time and a breach condition based on the termination). If the
subscription for the one or more network nodes [316] overlaps with multiple
monitoring time frames, the PSC service [1100] in that scenario may transmit to the
one or more network nodes [316] only one breach notification regarding the
5 overlapping subscription so as to prevent transmitting multiple breach notifications
to the one or more network nodes [316] that could potentially cause confusion or
unnecessary alerts.
[0072] Further, in an implementation of the present disclosure, the PSC service
10 [1100] and the one more network node [316] may communicate via one or more
interfaces, wherein the one or more interfaces may be referred to as one of at least
a PS_CMM, a PS_ERM, a PS_NS, a PS_CLI, a PS_AU, a PS_IM, a PS_BR, a
PS_OAM, a PS_UI, a PS_LB and any other such like node. In an exemplary
implementation the PS_ERM may be used for the routing of the notification
15 associated with the task received from the PSC service [1100] based on the
triggering of the task.
[0073] In few non-limiting examples, the one or more network nodes (also
microservices) may be a capacity monitoring manager (CMM), an Event Routing
20 Manager (ERM), one or more databases, a command line interface (CLI), a
microservice auditor (AU), an inventory manager (IM), a backup/upgrade/restore
(BR) manager, an operations/administration/maintenance (OAM) manager, a user
interface (UI), one or more load balancers (LB), etc. Such network nodes may be
explained in conjunction with MANO architecture/ platform provided in the FIG.
25 1. The CMM may be referred and understood to be similar to the capacity
monitoring manager (CMM) [1090]. The ERM may be referred and understood to
be similar to the Event Routing Manager (ERM) [1070]. The one or more databases
may be referred and understood to be similar to a platform NoSQL database [1098].
The CLI may be referred and understood to be similar to the Command Line
30 Interface (CLI) [1066]. The microservice auditor (AU) may be referred and
26
understood to be similar to the microservice auditor [1104]. The inventory manager
(IM) may be referred and understood to be similar to the physical and virtual
resource manager [1050]. The backup/upgrade/restore (BR) manager may be
referred and understood to be similar to the VNF backup and upgrade manager
5 [1102]. The operations/administration/maintenance (OAM) manager may be
referred and understood to be similar to platform operations, administration, and
maintenance (OAM) manager [1106]. The user interface may be referred and
understood to be similar to the user interface layer [102]. The one or more load
balancers (LB) may be referred and understood to be similar to the microservices
10 elastic load balancer [1062].
[0074] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_NS
may be used to store, create, modify, view and delete the information associated
with the task using the one or more databases. Further, the PS_NS may be used to
15 fetch the information from a NS service based upon the create task request.
[0075] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_CLI
is used to execute any operations such as configuration changes on the PSC service
[1100] using command line interface.
20
[0076] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_AU
is used to create the task may fetch the notification based on the triggered task.
[0077] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
25 PS_IM may be utilised to create the task based on the create task request. Further,
PS_BR is used to create the task to get the notification for backup and restore
resources.
27
[0078] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_OAM may be utilised to provide the registration details of all PSC instances
connected to the one or more network nodes [316].
5 [0079] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_UI may be used to create, view, modify and delete the task.
[0080] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_LB is used to provide a scalability across all the instance of PSC service [1100]
10 i.e., to distribute all incoming and outgoing create task requests in order to balance
the load equally across all instances of PS service.
[0081] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, a
new interface for example a PS_X may be integrated with PSC service [1100] to
15 register the task for a service. All the computation details will be stored at the PS_X
during the registration of the task initiated by the service and the PS_X may
compute an expected outcome and notifies the service with the expected outcome.
In an exemplary embodiment, a Service X via the PS_X subscribes to the PSC
service [1100] of scheduling a task. In this scenario, the Service X creates a task at
20 the PSC service [1100] that provides specific triggers and notifications based on a
scheduled task and a termination time associated with the scheduled task. Further,
based on the scheduled task the PSC service [1100] may also send a breach
notification (i.e., expiry of the subscription, a nearing expiry of the subscription or
any other breach condition that be associated with the scheduled task) to the service
25 X.
[0082] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the storage unit [314] is
further configured to store the created task in a database [3122]. The transceiver
unit [304] is further configured to transmit a success response from the PSC service
30 [1100] to the one or more network nodes [316]. It is to be noted that the success
response comprises attributes such as but not limited to a success code, a Task
28
name, Task ID etc. The execution unit [310] is further configured to trigger the task
based on the task schedule. The transceiver unit [304] is further configured to
transmit a notification to the one or more network nodes [316] based on the
triggering of the task.
5
[0083] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more network
nodes [316] is configured to determine a usage of one or more resources, on
receiving the notification based on triggering of the task. The one or more network
nodes [316] constantly tracks the network resource utilization of the resources
10 assigned to the task. The one or more network nodes [316] tags each resource with
a threshold value, which is user-defined. When PSC service [1100] triggers a
notification to the one or more network nodes [316] at scheduled time, then one or
more network nodes [316] gathers current resource level and compares with
threshold tagged and takes appropriate action when the current usage of resource
15 exceeds this value.
[0084] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the scheduling for the task
comprises at least a daily scheduling, a weekly scheduling and a monthly
scheduling.
20
[0085] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a frequency of the
notification is configurable at run time of the task. It is pertinent to note that the
frequency of the notification is configurable by a user at the run time of the task via
a graphical user interface (GUI) [604] (as shown in FIG.6) or a command line
25 interface (CLI) [606] (as shown in FIG.6). Thus, the GUI [604] or the CLI [606] of
the PSC service [1100] enables the user to create a task about which notification
needs to be sent periodically or just one time, thereby giving notification of the
created and triggered tasks as per requirement of the user.
29
[0086] Referring to FIG. 4, an exemplary method flow diagram [400] for
scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100], in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present disclosure is shown.
The scheduling here involves assigning or prioritizing a task created at the PSC
5 service [1100] to notify termination of one or more subscriptions or to notify one
or more network resources such as for carrying out the execution of the intended
tasks of the network component. The network resources may include processors,
network links, memories etc., based on the scheduling. The scheduling of the task
in the communication network helps in minimizing network problems such as
10 delays, and allows to automate recurring tasks, such as backups, data
synchronization and maintenance jobs. In an implementation the method [400] is
performed by the system [300] (as shown in FIG. 3). In another implementation,
the method [400] is performed by the system [600] (as shown in FIG. 6). Further,
in an implementation, the system [300] may be present in a server device to
15 implement the features of the present disclosure. Furthermore, in an
implementation, the system [600] may be present in a server device to implement
the features of the present disclosure. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the method [400]
starts at step [402].
20 [0087] At step [404], the method [400] comprises receiving, by a transceiver unit
[304] at the platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] from one or
more network nodes [316], a create task request associated with the task. Further,
the create task request comprises parameters such as Task type, Task frequency,
Task periodicity, Task counter and Task information. The Task type may be for
25 example, an API creation, an FTP, an EVENT creation or a QUERY. The Task
frequency can be periodic such as done daily, weekly, monthly or one time
execution as per the requirement of the operations team or configuration of the one
or more network nodes [316]. The Task periodicity may define the time period
when the task is to be scheduled. The Task counter defines the number of task
30 notifications. The Task information defines details related to resources such as
30
name, identifier, address and threshold value of usage. An example of a tasks may
be such as, creating an event to clear cache weekly. The PSC service [1100] may
include a network component that works as arbiter over a particular network node
for managing the sequence of network tasks. The PSC service [1100] may also
5 employ a fixed queueing algorithm for governing the scheduling of the task. The
create task request is responsible for defining the initial stages or actions for the
task execution. Further, the one or more network nodes [316] may be one of at least
one or more microservices and a user equipment associated with the network.
10 [0088] At step [406], the method [400] further comprises creating, by an execution
unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the task based on the create task request.
[0089] At step [408], the method [400] further comprises scheduling, by the
execution unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the task based on the task schedule.
15
[0090] Further in accordance with present disclosure as disclosed herein, the
method [400] comprises identifying, by an identification unit [308] at the PSC
service [1100], a status associated with the create task request. The status is at least
one of a positive status and a negative status.
20
[0091] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the positive status
associated with the create task request indicates non-existence of the requested task
at the PSC service [1100]. The non-existence is indicative of the fact that the
requested task is not in the scheduler’s queue comprising a list of tasks. The non25 existence also indicates that the task has not been created or scheduled for
execution.
[0092] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the negative status
associated with the create task request indicates pre-existence of the requested task
30 at the PSC service [1100]. The pre-existence is indicative of the fact that the
31
requested task is existing in the scheduler’s queue comprising list of tasks. The preexistence of the task indicates that the task has been created or scheduled for
execution. The execution unit [310] only creates task which have positive status,
which ensures there is no overlapping of the tasks. It is to be noted that the non5 existence or pre-existence of the task is identified by identification unit [308], which
compares one or more attributes of the created task stored at the database [3122].
[0093] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method [400] further
comprises transmitting by the transceiver unit [304] from the PSC service [1100]
10 to the one or more network nodes [316], a failure response in an event the negative
status associated with the create task request is identified by the identification unit
[308] at the PSC service [1100]. The failure response represents that the task
creation failed as the requested task was present in the scheduler’s queue. If similar
task is identified, then the identified similar task ID is sent in the failure response
15 along with error code associated with negative status.
[0094] In an preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the task schedule is
associated with at least a termination time associated with a subscription identifier.
Further, as used herein the subscription identifier may refer to a unique
20 alphanumeric identifier assigned to a specific subscription of a service subscribed
from the network node. Further, the subscription identifier may serve as a reference
point for managing recurring and/or persistent resource allocations. Further, the
subscription identifier may be associated with the termination time, wherein the
termination time may refer to a predetermined timestamp and/or duration after
25 which the subscription is automatically stopped, cancelled, or expired.
[0095] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the method [400]
further comprises monitoring by a processing unit [312] at the PSC service [1100],
a subscription based on the subscription identifier. As used herein the subscription
30 may refer to an agreement and/or an arrangement between the one or more network
32
nodes [316] and a service provider for granting access to a specific product, a
service, and/or a resource for a defined period i.e., a subscription period. For
instance, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a Service Z
provides subscriptions for consumers who register with the service Z. Upon
5 registration, the Service Z creates a task at the PSC service [1100], wherein the task
is created to notify the service Z to a terminate their subscription associated with
the particular consumer upon expiry of the same.
[0096] In said preferred embodiment, the method [400] further comprises
10 determining, by the processing unit [312] at the PSC service [1100], a breach
condition associated with the subscription based on the termination time.
[0097] As used herein, the breach condition may refer to an occurrence of a specific
event and/or circumstance that violates agreed-upon terms and conditions of the
15 subscription and that may trigger a potential termination and/or cancellation of the
subscription. In an implementation, the breach condition associated with the
subscription is met when the termination time is exceeded and/or violated, such as
non-payment, unauthorized use, and/or a failure to comply with service
requirements. For example, if a subscription A is due to expire on a X date of each
20 month, then a breach condition may be detected if the subscription A is not renewed
on X-2 days.
[0098] Thereafter in said preferred embodiment, the method [400] transmitting, by
the transceiver unit from the PSC service to the one or more network nodes [316],
25 a breach notification in an event the breach condition associated with the
subscription is determined. Further, in another implementation of the above
example multiple breach conditions may be detected in a scenario the subscription
A is not renewed on X-3 days, X-2 days and X-1 days. In that scenario the breach
notification may transmitted to the one or more network nodes [316] may be
33
notified only once based on determining any of the breach condition (i.e., X-3 days,
X-2 days and X-1 days).
[0099] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in a scenario, the
5 PSC service [1100] manages a subscription for the one or more network nodes
[316], and each subscription is associated with a specific monitoring time frame
(i.e., a termination time and a breach condition based on the termination). If the
subscription for the one or more network nodes [316] overlaps with multiple
monitoring time frames, the PSC service [1100] in that scenario may transmit to the
10 one or more network nodes [316] only one breach notification regarding the
overlapping subscription so as to prevent transmitting multiple breach notifications
to the one or more network nodes [316] that could potentially cause confusion or
unnecessary alerts.
15 [0100] Further, in an implementation of the present disclosure, the PSC service
[1100] and the one more network node [316] may communicate via one or more
interfaces, wherein the one or more interfaces may be referred to as one of at least
a PS_CMM, a PS_ERM, a PS_NS, a PS_CLI, a PS_AU, a PS_IM, a PS_BR, a
PS_OAM, a PS_UI, a PS_LB and any other such like node. In an exemplary
20 implementation the PS_ERM may be used for the routing of the notification
associated with the task received from the PSC service [1100] based on the
triggering of the task.
[0101] In few non-limiting examples, the one or more network nodes (also
25 microservices) may be a capacity monitoring manager (CMM), an Event Routing
Manager (ERM), one or more databases, a command line interface (CLI), a
microservice auditor (AU), an inventory manager (IM), a backup/upgrade/restore
(BR) manager, an operations/administration/maintenance (OAM) manager, a user
interface (UI), one or more load balancers (LB), etc. Such network nodes may be
30 explained in conjunction with MANO architecture/ platform provided in the FIG.
1. The CMM may be referred and understood to be similar to the capacity
34
monitoring manager (CMM) [1090]. The ERM may be referred and understood to
be similar to the Event Routing Manager (ERM) [1070]. The one or more databases
may be referred and understood to be similar to a platform NoSQL database. The
CLI may be referred and understood to be similar to the Command Line Interface
5 (CLI) [1066]. The microservice auditor (AU) may be referred and understood to be
similar to the microservice auditor [1104]. The inventory manager (IM) may be
referred and understood to be similar to the physical and virtual resource manager
[1050]. The backup/upgrade/restore (BR) manager may be referred and understood
to be similar to the VNF backup and upgrade manager [1102]. The
10 operations/administration/maintenance (OAM) manager may be referred and
understood to be similar to platform operations, administration, and maintenance
(OAM) manager [1106]. The user interface may be referred and understood to be
similar to the user interface layer [102]. The one or more load balancers (LB) may
be referred and understood to be similar to the microservices elastic load balancer
15 [1062].
[0102] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_NS
may be used to store, create, modify, view and delete the information associated
with the task using the one or more databases. Further, the PS_NS may be used to
20 fetch the information from a NS service based upon the create task request.
[0103] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_CLI
is used to execute any operations such as configuration changes on the PSC service
[1100] using command line interface.
25
[0104] In another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the PS_AU
is used to create the task may fetch the notification based on the triggering of the
task.
35
[0105] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_IM may be utilised to create the task based on the create task request. Further,
PS_BR is used to create the task to get the notification for backup and restore
resources.
5
[0106] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_OAM may be utilised to provide the registration details of all PSC instances
connected to the one or more network nodes [316].
10 [0107] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_UI may be used to create, view, modify and delete the task.
[0108] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, the
PS_LB is used to provide a scalability across all the instance of PSC service [1100]
15 i.e., to distribute all incoming and outgoing create task requests in order to balance
the load equally across all instances of PS service.
[0109] Further, in another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, a
new interface for example a PS_X may be integrated with PSC service [1100] to
20 register the task for a service. All the computation details will be stored at the PS_X
during the registration of the task initiated by the service and the PS_X may
compute an expected outcome and notifies the service with the expected outcome.
In an exemplary embodiment, a Service X via the PS_X subscribes to the PSC
service [1100] of scheduling a task. In this scenario, the Service X creates a task at
25 the PSC service [1100] that provides specific triggers and notifications based on a
scheduled task and a termination time associated with the scheduled task. Further,
based on the scheduled task the PSC service [1100] may also send a breach
notification (i.e., expiry of the subscription, a nearing expiry of the subscription or
any other breach condition that be associated with the scheduled task) to consumers
30 of the service X.
36
[0110] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the method [400] further
comprises storing, by a storage unit [314], the created task in a database [3122].
The method [400] further comprises transmitting, by the transceiver unit [304], a
5 success response from the PSC service [1100] to the one or more network nodes
[316]. It is to be noted that the success response comprises attributes such as but not
limited to success code, task name, task ID etc. The method [400] further comprises
triggering, by the execution unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the task based on
the task schedule. And the method [400] further comprises transmitting, by the
10 transceiver unit [304] from the PSC service [1100], a notification to the one or more
network nodes [316] based on the triggering of the task. The notification here
comprises attributes such as but not limited to task ID, task name, task information
i.e., resources that are assigned to the task and to be monitored.
15 [0111] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more network
nodes [316], determines a usage of one or more resources, on receiving the
notification based on triggering of the task. The one or more network nodes [316]
is capable of monitoring usage of network resources such as but not limited to CPU
utilization, RAM utilization and storage utilization across all the instances of the
20 virtual infrastructure manager (VIM) or simply the NFV infrastructure monitoring
manager [1082]. The one or more network nodes[316] is also capable of monitoring
said network resources for each instance of the VNF. The one or more network
nodes [316] is responsible for constantly tracking the network resource utilization.
The one or more network nodes [316] tags each resource with a threshold value,
25 which is user-defined. It then creates a task at the PSC service [1100]. When PSC
service [1100] triggers a response to the one or more network nodes [316] at a
scheduled time, then the one or more network nodes [316] gathers current network
resource usage level and compares with threshold attached/ tagged to the network
resource being used and takes appropriate action when the current usage of network
37
resource exceeds the preset threshold value. Thus, the one or more network nodes
[316] constantly tracks the network resource utilization.
[0112] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the scheduling for the task
5 comprises at least a daily scheduling, a weekly scheduling, and a monthly
scheduling.
[0113] In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a frequency of the
notification is configurable at run time of the task. It is pertinent to note that the
10 frequency of the notification is configurable by a user at the run time of the task via
a graphical user interface (GUI) [604] (as shown in FIG.6) or a command line
interface (CLI) [606] (as shown in FIG.6). Thus, the platform scheduler and cron
jobs (PSC) service [1100] enables the user to create a task about which notification
needs to be send periodically or just one time, thereby giving notification of the task
15 as per requirement of the user.
[0114] Thereafter, the method [400] terminates at step [410].
[0115] Referring to FIG. 5, another exemplary flow chart depicting an interaction
20 between one or more network nodes [316] (also shown in FIG. 3), a platform
scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] and an Elastic Search (ES) database
[504] for scheduling a task, in a network environment [500] is shown, in accordance
with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure
may be implemented by the system [300] (as shown in FIG. 3) and the system [600]
25 (as shown in FIG. 6) having the computing device [200] (as shown in FIG. 2). In
an implementation, the computing device [200] may be connected to the system
[300] to perform scheduling of the task by the PSC [1100]. Further, the network
environment [500] comprises various components of MANO architecture [100] (as
shown in FIG. 1) in implementation of the present disclosure. The network
30 environment [500] comprises the one or more network nodes [316], the platform
38
scheduler and cron jobs service (PSC) [1100] and the Elastic Search (ES) database
[504]. In another implementation of the present disclosure, the one or more network
nodes [316] performs the functions appertain to the capacity monitoring manager
[1090] (as shown in FIG. 1) of the MANO architecture [100]. Further, the Elastic
5 Search (ES) [504] is a distributed search and analytics engine. Elasticsearch (ES) is
used for data ingestion, enrichment, storage, analysis, and visualization. At its core,
Elasticsearch (ES) acts as a server that can process JSON requests and gives back
JSON data. So, the PSC service [1100] interacts with the Elasticsearch (ES)
database [504] for fetching the data and provide the relevant information to other
10 microservices. The interaction between the one or more network nodes [316], the
PSC service [1100] and the Elastic Search (ES) database [504] is performed in the
following manner:
Step 1 (S1): The one or more network nodes [316] sends an HTTP REQUEST
for creation and scheduling of a task. This request is sent to the PSC service
15 [1100] for scheduling as a TASK REQUEST. It is sent to confirm if the task is
already created and scheduled at the PSC service [1100].
Step 2 (S2): S2 is performed by the PSC service [1100] for affirming that the
requested task has not been created and scheduled. Further, the PSC service
20 [1100] may affirm with the ES [504] whether the requested task has been
already created and scheduled or not. If the task has been created and scheduled
(i.e., affirmed by the ES [504]), then the PSC service [1100] sends back a
FAILURE RESPONSE to the one or more network nodes [316]. The FAILIRE
RESPONSE is reflective of the fact that the requested task exists at the PSC
25 service [1100] and therefore the TASK REQUEST cannot be performed.
Step 3 (S3): In an event if the task does not exist been i.e., the task is not created
and scheduled (i.e., affirmed by the ES [504]), then the PSC service [1100]
creates the requested task and stores the created task in the ES [504].
30
39
Step 4 (S4): The task is scheduled for execution at the PSC service [1100], a
notification is sent out by the PSC service [1100] to the one or more network
nodes [316] that the task is successfully created and scheduled. Step S4
indicates that the task has been successfully created and scheduled for execution
5 at the PSC service [1100]. The PSC service [1100] informs the one or more
network nodes [316] about the task creation and scheduling via a notification.
Step 5 (S5): Later, when the task is triggered based on the schedule, a
notification via the HTTP request is sent to the one or more network nodes
10 [316]. Step S5 is performed when the task is triggered at the scheduled time.
Further, to in order to trigger the task at the scheduled time the PSC service
[1100] may fetch the relevant details of the task such as the termination time
from the ES [504], thereafter based on the relevant details the task is triggered
at the scheduled time (such time of detecting a breach condition) and the
15 notification of the task is transmitted to the one or more network nodes [316]
via the HTTP REQUEST.
[0116] Referring to FIG. 6, another exemplary block diagram of a system [600] for
scheduling the task is shown, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of
20 the present disclosure. The system comprises an event routing manager (ERM)
[602]; a graphical user (GU) interface [604]; a CL interface [606]; an edge load
balancer (EDGE-LB/ ELB) [608]; a platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service
[1100]; an elastic search database (ES-DB) client [612] connected to Elastic Search
(ES) database [504] (also shown as ES [504] in FIG. 5); and a virtual network
25 function (VNF) manager [614]. The VNF manager [614] further manages various
virtual machines (VM). The ERM [602] is a microservice which is used to route the
request to and from the required microservices. The interface between the PSC
service [1100] and the ERM [602] is used to route all the incoming requests to PSC
service [1100] and all the outgoing requests from PSC service [1100]. This is
30 achieved through Publisher and Subscriber policy. If any microservice wants to
40
send request to PSC service [1100] then that event should be registered in ERM
[602] with publisher as PSC service [1100] and subscriber as other microservice,
such as one or more network nodes [316] as shown in FIG. 1. Further, if PSC service
[1100] wants to send request to other microservice then that event should be
5 registered in ERM [602] with subscriber as PSC service [1100] and publisher as
other microservice. The ELB [608] is used to send the requests between the active
instances of one microservice to another microservice. The PSC service [1100] is a
process scheduler that allows one to execute commands, scripts, and programs
following specified schedules via input given through either the graphical user (GU)
10 interface [604] or the CL interface [606]. It is pertinent to note that the frequency
of the notification is configurable by a user at the run time of the task via a graphical
user interface (GUI) [604] or a command line interface (CLI) [606]. Thus, the PSC
service [1100] enables the user to create a task about which notification needs to be
sent periodically or just one time, thereby giving notification of the task as per
15 requirement of the user. The PSC service [1100] carries out the following functions:
1. Cron Management [616] - It is used to manage all the active and inactive
crons created at the platform core services module (or PSC) [108] (as shown
in FIG.1).
2. Task Management [618]- It is used to manage all the active and inactive
20 tasks created at the PSC [108].
3. FCAP Management [620]– A Fault, Configuration, Accounting,
Performance and Security (FCAP) management is done for all the counters
and alarms created at the PSC [108].
4. Event Handling [622]– PSC [108] manages all the events between
25 microservices through the event handling function of the PSC service
[1100].
5. High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance [624]– The PSC handles all the
requests if one running instance goes down, then another active instance
will complete that request, through the HA and Fault Tolerance function of
30 the PSC service [1100].
41
[0117] The ES [504] stores the created and scheduled tasks or jobs The ES [504]
interacts with the PSC service [1100] via the ES-DB client [612]. The ES [504]
keeps the tasks in the stack data structure based upon the execution-priority of the
5 tasks. The VNF manager [614] is a key component of the network functions
virtualization (NFV) management and organization (MANO) architectural
framework (as shown in FIG.1). The NFV defines standards for compute, storage,
and networking resources that can be used to build virtualized network functions.
The VNF manager [614] works in tandem with the NFV to help standardize the
10 functions of virtual networking and increase the interoperability of softwaredefined networking elements.
[0118] Another aspect of the present disclosure may relate to a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium storing instruction for scheduling a task by a
15 platform scheduler and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100], the storage medium
comprising executable code which, when executed by one or more units of a system
[300], causes a transceiver unit [304] to receive, a create task request associated
with the task, from one or more network nodes [316]. The create task request
comprises a task schedule for the task. Further, the executable code which, when
20 executed, causes an identification unit [308] to identify, a status associated with the
create task request, wherein the status is at least one of a positive status and a
negative status. Further, the executable code which, when executed, causes an
execution unit [310] to create, the task based on the positive status. Further, the
executable code which, when executed, causes the execution unit [310] to schedule,
25 the task based on the task schedule.
[0119] Further, in accordance with the present disclosure, it is to be acknowledged
that the functionality described for the various components/units can be
implemented interchangeably. While specific embodiments may disclose a
30 particular functionality of these units for clarity, it is recognized that various
42
configurations and combinations thereof are within the scope of the disclosure. The
functionality of specific units as disclosed in the disclosure should not be construed
as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Consequently, alternative
arrangements and substitutions of units, provided they achieve the intended
5 functionality described herein, are considered to be encompassed within the scope
of the present disclosure.
[0120] As is evident from the above, the present disclosure provides a technically
advanced solution for automatically scheduling the task by the platform scheduler
10 and cron jobs (PSC) service [1100] by delivering tangible benefits in terms of time,
effort, and operational efficiency of operating the network systems. The present
disclosure offers the notable technical advantages:
1. Addressing the problem of task scheduling on the one or more network node
managers/ one or more network nodes [316] as the present disclosure leads
15 to significant reduction in network development, network validation,
network integration, and network testing efforts of the network personnel
(primarily network administrators).
2. An efficient workflow for the network personnel by saving valuable time
and network resources constrained by the time.
20 3. Centralization of the task management process for the one or more network
nodes [316] as the tasks, including but not limited to creation, updates, and
deletions of the task in the scheduler queue. The centralization given by the
present disclosure absolves one the need of individual operations on each
respective network systems.
25 4. Simplification of the task management by ensuring consistency and
coherence across the platform, thereby enhancing overall network system
efficiency and maintainability.
[0121] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the disclosed
30 implementations, it will be appreciated that many implementations can be made and
43
that many changes can be made to the implementations without departing from the
principles of the present disclosure. These and other changes in the implementations
of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, whereby it is to
be understood that the foregoing descriptive matter to be implemented is illustrative
5 and non-limiting.
44
We Claim:
1. A method [400] for scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs
(PSC) service [1100], the method [400] comprising:
5 - receiving, by a transceiver unit [304] at the PSC service [1100] from one or
more network nodes [316], a create task request associated with a task,
wherein the create task request comprises at least a task schedule;
- creating, by an execution unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the task based
on the create task request; and
10 - scheduling, by the execution unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the task
based on the task schedule.
2. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the task schedule is associated
with at least a termination time associated with at least a subscription identifier.
15
3. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method [400] further
comprises identifying, by an identification unit [308] at the PSC service [1100],
a status associated with the create task request, wherein the status is at least one
of a positive status and a negative status.
20
4. The method [400] as claimed in claim 3, wherein the positive status associated
with the create task request indicates non-existence of the requested task at the
PSC service [1100], and wherein the negative status associated with the create
task request indicates pre-existence of the requested task at the PSC service
25 [1100].
5. The method [400] as claimed in claim 3, wherein the method [400] further
comprises transmitting by the transceiver unit [304] from the PSC service
[1100] to the one or more network nodes [316], a failure response in an event
45
the negative status associated with the create task request is identified by the
identification unit [308] at the PSC service [1100].
6. The method [400] as claimed in claim 2, the method [400] comprising:
5 - monitoring by a processing unit [312] at the PSC service [1100], a
subscription based on the subscription identifier;
- determining, by the processing unit [312] at the PSC service [1100], a
breach condition associated with the subscription based on the termination
time; and
10 - transmitting, by the transceiver unit [304] from the PSC service [1100] to
the one or more network nodes [316], a breach notification in an event the
breach condition associated with the subscription is determined.
7. The method [400] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method [400] further
15 comprises:
• storing, by a storage unit [314], the created task in a database [3122];
• transmitting, by the transceiver unit [304], a success response from the
PSC service [1100] to the one or more network nodes [316];
• triggering, by the execution unit [310] at the PSC service [1100], the
20 task based on the created task; and
• transmitting, by the transceiver unit [304] from the PSC service [1100],
a notification to the one or more network nodes [316] based on the
triggering of the task.
25 8. The method [400] as claimed in claim 7, wherein a frequency of the notification
is configurable at run time of the task.
9. A system [300] for scheduling a task by a platform scheduler and cron jobs
(PSC) service [1100], the system [300] comprises:
46
- a transceiver unit [304] configured to receive, at the PSC service [1100]
from one or more network nodes [316], a create task request associated with
a task, wherein the create task request comprises at least a task schedule;
and
5 - an execution unit [310] connected to the transceiver unit [304], wherein the
execution unit [310] is configured to:
o create, at the PSC service [1100], the task based on the create task
request, and
o schedule, at the PSC service [1100], the task based on the task
10 schedule.
10. The system [300] as claimed in claim 9, wherein the task schedule is associated
with at least a termination time associated with at least a subscription identifier.
15 11. The system [300] as claimed in claim 9, wherein the system [300] further
comprises an identification unit [308] configured to identify at the PSC service
[1100], a status associated with the create task request, wherein the status is at
least one of a positive status and a negative status.
20 12. The system [300] as claimed in claim 11, wherein the positive status associated
with the create task request indicates non-existence of the requested task at the
PSC service [1100], and wherein the negative status associated with the create
task request indicates pre-existence of the requested task at the PSC service
[1100].
25
13. The system [300] as claimed in claim 11, wherein the transceiver unit [304] is
further configured to transmit, from the PSC service [1100] to the one or more
network nodes [316], a failure response in an event the negative status
associated with the create task request is identified by the identification unit
30 [308] at the PSC service [1100].
47
14. The system [300] as claimed in claim 10, the system [300] further comprises:
- a processing unit [312] connected to the execution unit [310], wherein the
processing unit [312] is configured to:
o monitor at the PSC service [1100], a subscription based on the
5 subscription identifier, and
o determine, by at the PSC service [1100], a breach condition
associated with the subscription based on the termination time; and
- the transceiver unit [304] configured to transmit, by from the PSC service
[1100] to the one or more network nodes [316], a breach notification in an
10 event the breach condition associated with the subscription is determined.
15. The system [300] as claimed in claim 9, wherein the system [300] further
comprises:
• a storage unit [314] connected to the execution unit [310], wherein the
15 storage unit [314] is configured to store the created task in a database
[3122];
• the transceiver unit [304] configured to transmit, a success response
from the PSC service [1100] to the one or more network nodes [316];
and
20 • the execution unit [310] configured to trigger at the PSC service [1100],
the task based on the created task; and
wherein the transceiver unit [304] is further configured to the
transmit from the PSC service [1100], a notification to the one or more network nodes [316] based on the triggering of the task.
16. The system [300] as claimed in claim 15, wherein a frequency of the notification
is configurable at run time of the task.