Verizon Communications Inc.
Systems and methods for virtualized network function ("VNF") selection in a wireless telecommunications network

Abstract:

A system described herein may provide a technique for the resolution of requests for Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses for Virtualized Network Functions ("VNFs") in a network, such as a Software-Defined Network ("SDN") (e.g., a wireless telecommunications network). In the network, different instances of the same VNF may be implemented by different hardware resources, and may accordingly have different IP addresses. Metrics of routes between instances of a requested VNF type and a requestor may be calculated, and a particular instance of the requested VNF may be selected based on the metrics (e.g., a lowest cost, highest performance, etc.). The IP address of the particular VNF instance may be provided to the requestor. The requestor, such as a User Equipment ("UE"), may communicate with the particular VNF instance in order to receive services provided the requested VNF type.