Methods, systems and computer readable media for diagnosing network function virtualization performance

Abstract

Performance issues in a service function chain having a plurality of resources and a plurality of network functions each having a network function queue are diagnosed. Each network function queue is monitored and queueing information for input packets for each of the plurality of network functions is dumped to a data store. Each resource that is under contention is identified as well as which of the network functions is a contender for the resources. A diagnosing algorithm is used to diagnose performance problems and an impact graph for each victim packet is generated. A summary of results as a list of rules is then provided.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 monitoring, by a processing system including a processor, network function queues of a plurality of virtual network functions that are bound to common physical resources;   dumping, by the processing system, queueing information for input packets for each of the plurality of virtual network functions;   identifying, by the processing system, from the queueing information, each of the common physical resources that is under contention;   determining, by the processing system, a plurality of network functions in a service chain that are contenders for the each of the common physical resources that is under contention;   using, by the processing system, a diagnosing algorithm to diagnose performance problems based on the determining step;   generating, by the processing system, an impact graph for each victim packet identified by the diagnosing algorithm as a result of a performance problem; and   generating, by the processing system, a summary of results of the diagnosing algorithm as a list of rules.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance problem comprises long tail latency or packet drops. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the using the diagnosing algorithm comprises providing an impact score for each of the common physical resources that is under contention. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying each of the common physical resources that is under contention comprises using resource counters to determine how each of the common physical resources is under contention. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the resource counters comprise symptom counters, resource measurement counters and traffic measurement counters. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the diagnosing algorithm comprises running a score back-propagation step for determining which of the plurality of network functions propagate an impact to a victim packet. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising running the score back-propagation step recursively until all root nodes are back-propagated. 
     
     
         8 . A device comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 monitoring network function queues of a plurality of virtual network functions that are bound to common physical resources; 
 dumping queueing information for input packets for each of the plurality of virtual network functions; 
 identifying from the queueing information, each of the common physical resources that is under contention; 
 determining a plurality of network functions in a service chain that are contenders for the each of the common physical resources that is under contention; 
 using a diagnosing algorithm to diagnose performance problems based on the determining step; 
 generating an impact graph for each victim packet identified by the diagnosing algorithm as a result of a performance problem; and 
 generating a summary of results of the diagnosing algorithm as a list of rules. 
   
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein the performance problem comprises long tail latency or packet drops. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 8  wherein using the diagnosing algorithm comprises providing an impact score for each of the common physical resources that is under contention. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein identifying each of the common physical resources that is under contention comprises using resource counters to determine how each of the common physical resources is under contention. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the resource counters comprise symptom counters, resource measurement counters and traffic measurement counters. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein using the diagnosing algorithm comprises running a score back-propagation step for determining which of the plurality of network functions propagate an impact to a victim packet. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise running the score back-propagation step recursively until all root nodes are back-propagated. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a device including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 monitoring network function queues of a plurality of virtual network functions that are bound to common physical resources;   dumping queueing information for input packets for each of the plurality of virtual network functions;   identifying from the queueing information, each of the common physical resources that is under contention;   determining a plurality of network functions in a service chain that are contenders for the each of the common physical resources that is under contention;   using a diagnosing algorithm to diagnose performance problems based on the determining step;   generating an impact graph for each victim packet identified by the diagnosing algorithm as a result of a performance problem; and   generating a summary of results of the diagnosing algorithm as a list of rules.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the performance problem comprises long tail latency or packet drops. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein using the diagnosing algorithm comprises providing an impact score for each of the common physical resources that is under contention. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein identifying each of the common physical resources that is under contention comprises using resource counters to determine how each of the common physical resources is under contention. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the resource counters comprise symptom counters, resource measurement counters and traffic measurement counters. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein using the diagnosing algorithm comprises running a score back-propagation step for determining which of the plurality of network functions propagate an impact to a victim package.