US 12,463,890 B2
Systems and methods for cloud-native network slicing and testing-as-a-service with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) capabilities
Chris Yonghai Gu, Thornton, CO (US); and Marc Rouanne, Cherry Hills Village, CO (US)
Assigned to DISH Wireless L.L.C., Englewood, CO (US)
Filed by DISH Wireless L.L.C., Englewood, CO (US)
Filed on Jan. 12, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/411,912.
Application 18/411,912 is a continuation of application No. 17/971,236, filed on Oct. 21, 2022, granted, now 11,909,620.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/270,993, filed on Oct. 22, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0154894 A1, May 9, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04L 43/50 (2022.01); G06F 11/3668 (2025.01); H04L 41/12 (2022.01); H04L 41/14 (2022.01); H04L 43/12 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 43/50 (2013.01) [H04L 41/12 (2013.01); H04L 41/145 (2013.01); H04L 43/12 (2013.01); G06F 11/3684 (2013.01); G06F 11/3692 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for slicing and/or testing of a cloud-native network (CNN) with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), the method comprising:
electronically generating a plurality of network cells (NCs), wherein each NC of the plurality of NCs includes:
a containerized test agent (CTA);
a containerized network function (CNF); and
a containerized digital twin (CDT) of the CNF, wherein the CTA controls behavior of the CDT and the CDT is selectively configurable by the CTA to operate as an emulator of the CNF or as a test node of the CNF;
electronically providing a virtual router through which each NC of the plurality of NCs is accessible by a testing-as-a-service (TaaS) orchestrator (TO); and
electronically defining a network Internet Protocol (IP) address coding scheme for each NC of the plurality of NCs enabling, for each NC of the plurality of NCs to have a respective unique IP subnet of the NC and the CNF included inside the NC to be directly accessed by the TO throughout the CNN via the virtual router;
wherein:
the network IP address coding scheme specifies a network private IP space, an index to a network slice or a network environment, a routable IP address of a respective NC, and an IP address subnet within the respective NC; and
the network private IP space, the index to the network slice or the network environment, the routable IP address of the respective NC, and the IP address subnet within the respective NC are separated by periods.