Deploying Hybrid Network Services: Mixing VNFs and CNFs in Multi-site Infrastructures

Abstract

Next generation mobile networks base on the auto- mated, flexible, and dynamic orchestration of virtualised network services (NSs). These NSs are made up of Virtual Network Functions, which have hitherto mostly been implemented by means of virtual machines. The current trend is to include the use of containers, the so-called Cloud-native Network Functions, which may fit better the need of NS deployments embracing edge infrastructures having constrained resources. This ends up in the definition of NSs mixing both kinds of network functions (NFs) satisfying the needs of network operators and vertical industries and the characteristics of available infrastructures. We refer to the use of both kinds of NFs in a single NS as Hybrid NS. This demonstration presents the extensions done in the 5Growth management and orchestration platform to perform the deployment of such kind of NSs in a multi-site infrastructure, including the dynamic interconnection of the deployed NFs according to their nature.