DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the same central processing unit (CPU)" in “wherein the plurality of cores are in the same central processing unit (CPU) of the host computing node.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as the term “the same central processing unit (CPU)” is not previously referenced either in claim 4 or claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bono et al. (U.S. Patent No. US 20210133001 A1), hereinafter “Bono” in view of Alluboyina et al. (U.S. Patent No. US 20250310182 A1), hereinafter “Alluboyina” and Huang et al. (U.S. Patent No. US 20190394219 A1), hereinafter “Huang.”
With regards to claim 1, Bono teaches:
A method performed by a group of containers on a host computing node, the group of containers implementing functionality of a telecommunications service, the method comprising:
during instantiation of the group of containers, instantiating an initialization container and a workload container (Fig. 2, paragraph 66, “In one embodiment of the invention, node (200) includes one or more application container(s) (e.g., application container A (202), application container B (204)), a file system container (206), an operating system (OS) (208), and a hardware layer (210)” The node including one or more application containers and a file system container would involve the instantiation of each type of container and therefore correlates to during instantiation of the group of containers, instantiating an initialization container and a workload container);
using the initialization container, for each of a plurality of threads, recording a mapping between the thread and one of the cores (Paragraphs 433, 438, and 440-441, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … In contrast, the core thread pools are groupings of threads that are each associated with a specific core of the processors… In one or more embodiments of the invention, the file system processor affinity association list (3200) is a data construct that includes metadata related to an association between one or more file systems and the processor thread pools discussed above… In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system preferred thread pool (e.g., file system A preferred thread pool (3214), file system B preferred thread pool (3224)) is a unique identifier of a processor thread pool or a core thread pool in a node. The file system preferred thread pool (3214, 3224, 3234) may be assigned to a processor thread pool or a core thread by a processor coordinator.” The file system container including a processor coordinator that assigns file system preferred thread pools of one or more file systems, such as a core thread pool which groups threads associated with a specific core, in the file system processor affinity association list correlates to using the initialization container, for each of a plurality of threads, recording a mapping between the thread and one of the cores);
and using the workload container, executing each thread on one of the cores according to the mapping (Paragraph 442, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, each thread pool identified by the file system preferred thread pools (3214, 3224, 3234) include threads that may be used to execute an operation (e.g., a read or write request/operation) associated with the specified file system. For example, if an application is to execute an operation on a file system A, denoted by a file system A name (3210), a processor coordinator managing the file system processor affinity association list (3200) may identify the file system A preferred thread pool (3214) to identify the processor or core thread pool from which to select a thread for processing the operation.” The processor coordinator selecting a thread for processing the application operation correlates to using the workload container, initializing the plurality of threads for executing an application of the workload container).
Bono does not explicitly teach:
using the initialization container, reading a record in a file system of the host computing node, the record identifying a plurality of cores of the host computing node which have been allocated to the workload container;
using the workload container, initializing the plurality of threads for executing an application of the workload container
However, Alluboyina teaches:
reading a record in a file system of the host computing node, the record identifying a plurality of cores of the host computing node which have been allocated to the workload container (Paragraphs 65, 69, and 86, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may include a plurality of entries that each include a node identifier (i.e., identifier of the server 102), a computing allocation (e.g., number of processor cores) … and a component identifier to which the allocation belongs (e.g., identifier of a cluster 111, pod 112, container 114, storage volume 116, or application instance 118) … The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… the log processor 130, the orchestrator 106, and/or some other component may further process the provisioning data 300 and log files 200 in order to identify relationships between component identifiers.” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system of the host computing node. The log processor or orchestrator processing the provisioning data and log files, which include information such as node identifiers, computing core allocations, and the container or application instances to which the allocation belongs correlates to reading a record in a file system of the host computing node, the record identifying a plurality of cores of the host computing node which have been allocated to the workload container)
Alluboyina does not explicitly teach that the reading is done using the initialization container. However, initialization containers are a popular type of entity used to read records as evidenced by Bono (Paragraphs 440, 442-443, and 445, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the file system processor affinity association list (3200) is a data construct that includes metadata related to an association between one or more file systems and the processor thread pools discussed above… For example, if an application is to execute an operation on a file system A, denoted by a file system A name (3210), a processor coordinator managing the file system processor affinity association list (3200) may identify the file system A preferred thread pool (3214) to identify the processor or core thread pool from which to select a thread for processing the operation… In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … For example, each application in a node may be associated with a file system. The processor coordinator may identify the file system by identifying the associated file system of the application.” The file system container including a processor coordinator software identifying a particular file system thread pool from the file system processor affinity association list correlates the initialization container reading a record).
Additionally, Huang teaches:
using the workload container, initializing the plurality of threads for executing an application of the workload container (Paragraph 33, “The process-related activity may include any activity by the app containers 104 in consuming processor cycles of the virtual processor 156, causing the virtual processor 156 to execute computer-readable instructions, loading, storing, and removing data into the virtual memory 160, and so on. Specifically, the process-related activity may include, but is not limited to initializing processes, initializing threads…” The app containers performing process-related activity such as initializing threads correlates to using the workload container, initializing the plurality of threads for executing an application of the workload container).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with reading a record in a file system of the host computing node, the record identifying a plurality of cores of the host computing node which have been allocated to the workload container as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with using the workload container, initializing the plurality of threads for executing an application of the workload container as taught by Huang because file system monitors can be used to periodically or in real time transmit captured data or metadata for logging and reporting if some characteristic the data of an app container violates a particular policy for the app container. Process related activity within the app containers can include initializing threads, the number of threads or processes opened, and the names of the threads (Huang: paragraphs 32 and 34).
With regards to claim 2, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein the initialization container comprises instructions for reading the record (Paragraph 433, 465 “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … At (3), a process coordinator (3410) operating in the file system container (3400) identifies a file system E (which is local to the file system container) as associated with operation request A. The processor coordinator (3410) further uses a file system processor affinity association list (not shown) to identify a core thread pool associated with file system E.” The file system container including a process coordinator which further includes instructions for identifying a core thread pool in the file system processor affinity association list correlates to wherein the initialization container comprises instructions for reading the record).
Bono does not explicitly teach that the record is in the file system. However, records are a popular type of file in file systems as evidenced by Alluboyina above (Paragraphs 65 and 69, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file…” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with the record in the file system as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
With regards to claim 3, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
recording the mapping in the file system of the host computing node (Paragraphs 65, 69, and 89, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… As noted above, provisioning data 300 is dynamic and may change over time. Accordingly, some or all of the hosting relationships 700, environmental variable relationships 702, and network relationships 704 may be re-derived on a fixed repetition period or in response to detecting a record in the log files 200 indicating an action that may affect any of these relationships 702-704.” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system of the host computing node. The log files and provisioning data being dynamic and relationships being re-derived in response to a change in the log files which are stored at a directory location correlates to recording the mapping in the file system of the host computing node)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with recording the mapping in the file system of the host computing node as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
With regards to claim 4, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein the plurality of cores are in the same central processing unit (CPU) of the host computing node (Paragraph 435, “Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may be an integrated circuit for processing instructions of components in the node (e.g., 200, FIG. 2; 300, FIG. 3) discussed above. Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may include one or more cores.” The node having a processor which includes one or more cores correlates to wherein the plurality of cores are in the same central processing unit (CPU) of the host computing node).
With regards to claim 5, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein each thread is allocated to a different one of the cores (Paragraphs 438-439, “The processors (3110, 3120, 3130) may be associated with threads that are grouped into one or more processor thread pools and/or one or more core thread pool(s). The processor thread pools are groupings of threads associated with the processor but not required to be executed on any given core of the processor. In contrast, the core thread pools are groupings of threads that are each associated with a specific core of the processors. In one or more embodiments of the invention, a thread is a sequence of instructions initiated by a core of a processor. Each core of a processor may be equipped to execute one or more threads.” Each specific core having a core thread pool which can consist of one or more threads associated with the specific core of the processor correlates to wherein each thread is allocated to a different one of the cores).
With regards to claim 6, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein the group of containers is a Kubernetes pod (Paragraphs 67 and 71, “In one embodiment of the invention, an application container (202, 204) may be an independent software instance that executes within a larger container management software instance (not shown) (e.g., Docker®, Kubernetes®) … In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system container (206) may be an independent software instance that executes within a larger container management software instance (not shown) (e.g., Docker®, Kubernetes®, etc.).” The application and file system containers executing within a larger container management software instance such as Kubernetes would involve the containers being part of a Kubernetes pod and therefore correlates to wherein the group of containers is a Kubernetes pod).
With regards to claim 8, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
using an agent at the host computing node to allocate the cores to the containers (Paragraphs 63 and 74-75, “A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112. Each Kubelet 204 may generate one or more log files 200 describing operation of the Kubelet 204 and each pod 112 executing within the Kubelet 204. A pod 112 is a group of one or more containers 114 that have shared storage, network resources, and execution context… The method 500 may include obtaining 504 component identifiers for dynamically created components. Dynamically created components may be those instantiated in order to scale up capacity. Dynamically created components may be created by the orchestrator 106 or KUBERNETES… The provisioning for each component identifier may include a host identifier (identifier of a server 102 or unit of computing resources of a cloud computing platform) as well as an allocation of one or more computing resources (computing power, memory, and/or storage).” The node having a Kubelet agent instantiating and managing pods, such as the provisioning of dynamically created components which includes compute resource cores, correlates to using an agent at the host computing node to allocate the cores to the containers) and to update the record in the file system with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container (Paragraph 65, 67, 69, and 74, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may include a plurality of entries that each include a node identifier (i.e., identifier of the server 102), a computing allocation (e.g., number of processor cores) … and a component identifier to which the allocation belongs (e.g., identifier of a cluster 111, pod 112, container 114, storage volume 116, or application instance 118) … Note that the on-premise provisioning data 302 and cloud provisioning data 304 is dynamic… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… The method 500 may include obtaining 504 component identifiers for dynamically created components. Dynamically created components may be those instantiated in order to scale up capacity. Dynamically created components may be created by the orchestrator 106 or KUBERNETES. The component identifiers of dynamically created components may be obtained from log files 200 generated by KUBERNETES, i.e., a KUBERNETES master, Kubelet, or other component of a KUBERNETES installation that performs instantiation of components. Note that dynamically created components may also be deleted. Accordingly, the current set of component identifiers obtained at steps 502 and 504 may be updated to remove component identifiers of those that are dynamically deleted due to scaling down, failure of a host, or other event.” The on-premise provisioning data and log files including entries with identifiers for each container and its allocated cores correlates to a record with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container. The on-premise provisioning data and log files being dynamic and new log files being generated to reflect the component identifiers of instantiated components, which are accessible from a directory location, correlates to updating the record in the file system with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with using an agent at the host computing node to allocate the cores to the containers and to update the record in the file system with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container as taught by Alluboyina because agents operating on nodes to instantiate or manage pods such as Kubelets can generate additional log files for dynamically created components, which may be instantiated to scale up or down capacities. The provisioning for each component also involves the allocation of one or more computing resources, such as cores, for the containers within a pod (Alluboyina: paragraphs 63, and 74-75).
With regards to claim 9, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
using an agent at the host computing node to instantiate the container such that it has an identifier of the record in the file system (Paragraphs 63 and 69, “A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112. Each Kubelet 204 may generate one or more log files 200 describing operation of the Kubelet 204 and each pod 112 executing within the Kubelet 204. A pod 112 is a group of one or more containers 114 that have shared storage, network resources, and execution context… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file.” The node having a Kubelet agent instantiating and managing pods which include multiple containers and generating one or more log files accessible in a file directory describing each pod with identifiers correlates to using an agent at the host computing node to instantiate the initialization container such that it has an identifier of the record in the file system).
Alluboyina does not explicitly teach that the container is an initialization container. However, initialization containers are a popular type of container used within a node as evidenced by Bono above (Fig. 2, paragraph 66, “In one embodiment of the invention, node (200) includes one or more application container(s) (e.g., application container A (202), application container B (204)), a file system container (206), an operating system (OS) (208), and a hardware layer (210)” The node including a file system container correlates to an initialization container).
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bono in view of Alluboyina, Huang and Xu et al. (U.S. Patent No. US 20210297347 A1), hereinafter “Xu.”
With regards to claim 7, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang teaches the method of claim 1 above. Bono in view of Alluboyina and Huang does not explicitly teach:
wherein the workload container contains a data plane application of a telecommunications network service.
However, Xu teaches:
wherein the workload container contains a data plane application of a telecommunications network service (Paragraphs 54, 63 and 79, “Data-plane applications 112 and 122 are 4G or 5G's business logic software and use shared memory to exchange data-plane packets with the transport service components 111 and 121, respectively… Examples of the data-plane applications may include, but not limited to, video call applications, applications for receiving, processing and transmit of radio link control (RLC) or PDCP data, virtual reality applications, games applications and so on… The data-plane containers 420-1, 420-2 and 420-3 include data-plane applications 471, 472 and 473, respectively.” Based on paragraph 14 of the specification, the data-plane containers including data-plane applications such as video call applications correlates to wherein the workload container contains a data plane application of a telecommunications network service).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with wherein the workload container contains a data plane application of a telecommunications network service as taught by Xu because the resource utilization rate of transport service VNFCs can be improved to avoid the waste of computing and storage resources through allocations based on the number of data-plane VNFCs deployed on the same server and overall traffic throughput of the data-plane VNFCs. Virtual switch containers can also be configured for data-plane packets dispatching and load balancing between the transport service container and the data-plane containers (Xu: paragraphs 67 and 81).
Claim(s) 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu.
With regards to claim 10, Bono teaches:
a plurality of cores (Paragraph 435, “Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may be an integrated circuit for processing instructions of components in the node (e.g., 200, FIG. 2; 300, FIG. 3) discussed above. Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may include one or more cores.” The node having a processor which includes one or more cores correlates to a plurality of cores);
a file system (Paragraph 363, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system (not shown) is a construct that organizes data physically located on one or more hardware components of one or more nodes (i.e., memory and/or persistent storage).” The file system being located on one or more hardware components of one or more nodes correlates to a file system);
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by one of the cores, cause the node to perform operations comprising:
for each of a plurality of threads of the container, recording a mapping between the thread and one of the cores (Paragraphs 433, 438, and 440-441, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … In contrast, the core thread pools are groupings of threads that are each associated with a specific core of the processors… In one or more embodiments of the invention, the file system processor affinity association list (3200) is a data construct that includes metadata related to an association between one or more file systems and the processor thread pools discussed above… In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system preferred thread pool (e.g., file system A preferred thread pool (3214), file system B preferred thread pool (3224)) is a unique identifier of a processor thread pool or a core thread pool in a node. The file system preferred thread pool (3214, 3224, 3234) may be assigned to a processor thread pool or a core thread by a processor coordinator.” The file system container including a processor coordinator that assigns file system preferred thread pools of one or more file systems, such as a core thread pool which groups threads associated with a specific core, in the file system processor affinity association list correlates to for each of a plurality of threads of the container, recording a mapping between the thread and one of the cores); and
executing each thread on one of the cores according to the mapping (Paragraph 442, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, each thread pool identified by the file system preferred thread pools (3214, 3224, 3234) include threads that may be used to execute an operation (e.g., a read or write request/operation) associated with the specified file system. For example, if an application is to execute an operation on a file system A, denoted by a file system A name (3210), a processor coordinator managing the file system processor affinity association list (3200) may identify the file system A preferred thread pool (3214) to identify the processor or core thread pool from which to select a thread for processing the operation.” The processor coordinator selecting a thread for processing the application operation correlates to executing each thread on one of the cores according to the mapping).
Bono does not explicitly teach:
A node of a telecommunications network, the node comprising:
a container for executing data plane functionality of the telecommunications network;
reading a record in the file system, the record identifying which of the cores have been allocated to the container;
However, Xu teaches:
A node of a telecommunications network, the node comprising:
a container for executing data plane functionality of the telecommunications network (Paragraphs 54, 63 and 79, “Data-plane applications 112 and 122 are 4G or 5G's business logic software and use shared memory to exchange data-plane packets with the transport service components 111 and 121, respectively… Examples of the data-plane applications may include, but not limited to, video call applications, applications for receiving, processing and transmit of radio link control (RLC) or PDCP data, virtual reality applications, games applications and so on… The data-plane containers 420-1, 420-2 and 420-3 include data-plane applications 471, 472 and 473, respectively.” Based on paragraph 14 of the specification, the data-plane containers including data-plane applications such as video call applications would be included in a node and therefore correlates to A node of a telecommunications network, the node comprising: a container for executing data plane functionality of the telecommunications network);
Additionally, Alluboyina teaches:
reading a record in the file system, the record identifying which of the cores have been allocated to the container (Paragraphs 65, 69, and 86, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may include a plurality of entries that each include a node identifier (i.e., identifier of the server 102), a computing allocation (e.g., number of processor cores) … and a component identifier to which the allocation belongs (e.g., identifier of a cluster 111, pod 112, container 114, storage volume 116, or application instance 118) … The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… the log processor 130, the orchestrator 106, and/or some other component may further process the provisioning data 300 and log files 200 in order to identify relationships between component identifiers.” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system. The log processor or orchestrator processing the provisioning data and log files, which include information such as node identifiers, computing core allocations, and the container or application instances to which the allocation belongs correlates to reading a record in the file system, the record identifying which of the cores have been allocated to the container);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with a node of a telecommunications network, the node comprising: a container for executing data plane functionality of the telecommunications network as taught by Xu because the resource utilization rate of transport service VNFCs can be improved to avoid the waste of computing and storage resources through allocations based on the number of data-plane VNFCs deployed on the same server and overall traffic throughput of the data-plane VNFCs. Virtual switch containers can also be configured for data-plane packets dispatching and load balancing between the transport service container and the data-plane containers (Xu: paragraphs 67 and 81).
Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with reading a record in the file system, the record identifying which of the cores have been allocated to the container as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
With regards to claim 11, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Bono further teaches:
an initialization container comprising instructions for reading the record (Paragraph 433, 465 “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … At (3), a process coordinator (3410) operating in the file system container (3400) identifies a file system E (which is local to the file system container) as associated with operation request A. The processor coordinator (3410) further uses a file system processor affinity association list (not shown) to identify a core thread pool associated with file system E.” The file system container including a process coordinator which further includes instructions for identifying a core thread pool in the file system processor affinity association list correlates to an initialization container comprising instructions for reading the record).
Bono does not explicitly teach that the record is in the file system. However, records are a popular type of file in file systems as evidenced by Alluboyina above (Paragraphs 65 and 69).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with the record in the file system as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
With regards to claim 12, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
wherein the file system comprises the mapping (Paragraphs 65, 69, and 89, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… As noted above, provisioning data 300 is dynamic and may change over time. Accordingly, some or all of the hosting relationships 700, environmental variable relationships 702, and network relationships 704 may be re-derived on a fixed repetition period or in response to detecting a record in the log files 200 indicating an action that may affect any of these relationships 702-704.” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system. The log files and provisioning data being dynamic and relationships being re-derived in response to a change in the log files which are stored at a directory location correlates to wherein the file system comprises the mapping)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with wherein the file system comprises the mapping as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
With regards to claim 13, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein the plurality of cores are in a same central processing unit (CPU) of the host computing node (Paragraph 435, “Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may be an integrated circuit for processing instructions of components in the node (e.g., 200, FIG. 2; 300, FIG. 3) discussed above. Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may include one or more cores.” The node having a processor which includes one or more cores correlates to wherein the plurality of cores are in the same central processing unit (CPU) of the host computing node).
With regards to claim 14, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Bono further teaches:
wherein each thread is allocated to a different one of the cores (Paragraphs 438-439, “The processors (3110, 3120, 3130) may be associated with threads that are grouped into one or more processor thread pools and/or one or more core thread pool(s). The processor thread pools are groupings of threads associated with the processor but not required to be executed on any given core of the processor. In contrast, the core thread pools are groupings of threads that are each associated with a specific core of the processors. In one or more embodiments of the invention, a thread is a sequence of instructions initiated by a core of a processor. Each core of a processor may be equipped to execute one or more threads.” Each specific core having a core thread pool which can consist of one or more threads associated with the specific core of the processor correlates to wherein each thread is allocated to a different one of the cores).
With regards to claim 15, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Bono further teaches:
a Kubernetes pod containing the container (Paragraphs 67 and 71, “In one embodiment of the invention, an application container (202, 204) may be an independent software instance that executes within a larger container management software instance (not shown) (e.g., Docker®, Kubernetes®) … In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system container (206) may be an independent software instance that executes within a larger container management software instance (not shown) (e.g., Docker®, Kubernetes®, etc.).” The application and file system containers executing within a larger container management software instance such as Kubernetes would involve the containers being part of a Kubernetes pod and therefore correlates to a Kubernetes pod containing the container).
With regards to claim 16, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 10 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
an agent of an orchestrator of the telecommunications network (Paragraphs 48 and 63, “In some embodiments, some or all of the servers 102 may function as edge servers in a telecommunication network… A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112.” The Kubelet agent executing on the node in a telecommunications network to implement instructions for instantiating and managing pods correlates to an agent of an orchestrator of the telecommunications network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with an agent of an orchestrator of the telecommunications network as taught by Alluboyina because agents operating on nodes to instantiate or manage pods such as Kubelets can generate additional log files for dynamically created components, which may be instantiated to scale up or down capacities. The provisioning for each component also involves the allocation of one or more computing resources, such as cores, for the containers within a pod (Alluboyina: paragraphs 63, and 74-75).
With regards to claim 17, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 16 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
wherein the agent comprises instructions to allocate one or more of the cores to the container (Paragraphs 63 and 74-75, “A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112. Each Kubelet 204 may generate one or more log files 200 describing operation of the Kubelet 204 and each pod 112 executing within the Kubelet 204. A pod 112 is a group of one or more containers 114 that have shared storage, network resources, and execution context… The method 500 may include obtaining 504 component identifiers for dynamically created components. Dynamically created components may be those instantiated in order to scale up capacity. Dynamically created components may be created by the orchestrator 106 or KUBERNETES… The provisioning for each component identifier may include a host identifier (identifier of a server 102 or unit of computing resources of a cloud computing platform) as well as an allocation of one or more computing resources (computing power, memory, and/or storage).” The node having a Kubelet agent implementing instructions for instantiating and managing pods, such as the provisioning of dynamically created components which includes compute resource cores, correlates to wherein the agent comprises instructions to allocate one or more of the cores to the container) and to update the record in the file system with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container (Paragraph 65, 67, 69, and 74, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may include a plurality of entries that each include a node identifier (i.e., identifier of the server 102), a computing allocation (e.g., number of processor cores) … and a component identifier to which the allocation belongs (e.g., identifier of a cluster 111, pod 112, container 114, storage volume 116, or application instance 118) … Note that the on-premise provisioning data 302 and cloud provisioning data 304 is dynamic… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… The method 500 may include obtaining 504 component identifiers for dynamically created components. Dynamically created components may be those instantiated in order to scale up capacity. Dynamically created components may be created by the orchestrator 106 or KUBERNETES. The component identifiers of dynamically created components may be obtained from log files 200 generated by KUBERNETES, i.e., a KUBERNETES master, Kubelet, or other component of a KUBERNETES installation that performs instantiation of components. Note that dynamically created components may also be deleted. Accordingly, the current set of component identifiers obtained at steps 502 and 504 may be updated to remove component identifiers of those that are dynamically deleted due to scaling down, failure of a host, or other event.” The on-premise provisioning data and log files including entries with identifiers for each container and its allocated cores correlates to a record with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container. The on-premise provisioning data and log files being dynamic and new log files being generated to reflect the component identifiers of instantiated components, which are accessible from a directory location, correlates to updating the record in the file system with, for each container, a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with wherein the agent comprises instructions to allocate one or more of the cores to the container and to update the record in the file system with a name of the container and identifier(s) of one or more of the cores allocated to the container as taught by Alluboyina because agents operating on nodes to instantiate or manage pods such as Kubelets can generate additional log files for dynamically created components, which may be instantiated to scale up or down capacities. The provisioning for each component also involves the allocation of one or more computing resources, such as cores, for the containers within a pod (Alluboyina: paragraphs 63, and 74-75).
With regards to claim 18, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 16 above. Bono further teaches:
an initialization container comprising instructions for reading the record (Paragraphs 440, 442-443, and 445, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the file system processor affinity association list (3200) is a data construct that includes metadata related to an association between one or more file systems and the processor thread pools discussed above… For example, if an application is to execute an operation on a file system A, denoted by a file system A name (3210), a processor coordinator managing the file system processor affinity association list (3200) may identify the file system A preferred thread pool (3214) to identify the processor or core thread pool from which to select a thread for processing the operation… In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … For example, each application in a node may be associated with a file system. The processor coordinator may identify the file system by identifying the associated file system of the application.” The file system container including a processor coordinator software identifying a particular file system thread pool from the file system processor affinity association list would involve instructions in the software and therefore correlates an initialization container comprising instructions for reading the record).
Bono does not explicitly teach that the record is in the file system. However, records are a popular type of file in file systems as evidenced by Alluboyina above (Paragraphs 65 and 69).
Alluboyina further teaches:
wherein the agent comprises instructions to instantiate the container such that it has an identifier of the record in the file system (Paragraphs 63 and 69, “A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112. Each Kubelet 204 may generate one or more log files 200 describing operation of the Kubelet 204 and each pod 112 executing within the Kubelet 204. A pod 112 is a group of one or more containers 114 that have shared storage, network resources, and execution context… The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file.” The node having a Kubelet agent implementing instructions for instantiating and managing pods which include multiple containers and generating one or more log files accessible in a file directory describing each pod with identifiers correlates to wherein the agent comprises instructions to instantiate the container such that it has an identifier of the record in the file system).
Alluboyina does not explicitly teach that the container is an initialization container. However, initialization containers are a popular type of container used within a node as evidenced by Bono above (Fig. 2, paragraph 66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with wherein the agent comprises instructions to instantiate the container such that it has an identifier of the record in the file system as taught by Alluboyina because agents operating on nodes to instantiate or manage pods such as Kubelets can generate additional log files for dynamically created components, which may be instantiated to scale up or down capacities. The provisioning for each component also involves the allocation of one or more computing resources, such as cores, for the containers within a pod (Alluboyina: paragraphs 63, and 74-75).
With regards to claim 19, Bono in view of Alluboyina and Xu teaches the system of claim 16 above. Alluboyina further teaches:
wherein the agent is a Kubelet (Paragraphs 48 and 63, “In some embodiments, some or all of the servers 102 may function as edge servers in a telecommunication network… A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112.” The Kubelet agent executing on the node in a telecommunications network to implement instructions for instantiating and managing pods correlates to wherein the agent is a Kubelet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with wherein the agent is a Kubelet as taught by Alluboyina because agents operating on nodes to instantiate or manage pods such as Kubelets can generate additional log files for dynamically created components, which may be instantiated to scale up or down capacities. The provisioning for each component also involves the allocation of one or more computing resources, such as cores, for the containers within a pod (Alluboyina: paragraphs 63, and 74-75).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bono in view of Alluboyina.
With regards to claim 20, Bono teaches:
the node comprising:
a plurality of cores (Paragraph 435, “Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may be an integrated circuit for processing instructions of components in the node (e.g., 200, FIG. 2; 300, FIG. 3) discussed above. Each processor (3010, 3020, 3030) may include one or more cores.” The node having a processor which includes one or more cores correlates to a plurality of cores);
a group of containers comprising at least an initialization container and a workload container (Fig. 2, paragraph 66, “In one embodiment of the invention, node (200) includes one or more application container(s) (e.g., application container A (202), application container B (204)), a file system container (206), an operating system (OS) (208), and a hardware layer (210)” The node including one or more application containers and a file system container correlates to a group of containers comprising at least an initialization container and a workload container);
a file system (Paragraph 363, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system (not shown) is a construct that organizes data physically located on one or more hardware components of one or more nodes (i.e., memory and/or persistent storage).” The file system being located on one or more hardware components of one or more nodes correlates to a file system); and
the workload container configured to execute a plurality of threads on specified ones of the plurality of cores allocated to the workload container according to a mapping between threads and cores, the mapping created by the initialization container (Paragraphs 433, 438, and 440-442, “In one or more embodiments of the invention, the processor coordinator (2920) is software executing within the file system container (2900), that may include instructions which, when executed, initiate operations of one or more components in the hardware layer (discussed above) … In contrast, the core thread pools are groupings of threads that are each associated with a specific core of the processors… In one or more embodiments of the invention, the file system processor affinity association list (3200) is a data construct that includes metadata related to an association between one or more file systems and the processor thread pools discussed above… In one or more embodiments of the invention, a file system preferred thread pool (e.g., file system A preferred thread pool (3214), file system B preferred thread pool (3224)) is a unique identifier of a processor thread pool or a core thread pool in a node. The file system preferred thread pool (3214, 3224, 3234) may be assigned to a processor thread pool or a core thread by a processor coordinator… In one or more embodiments of the invention, each thread pool identified by the file system preferred thread pools (3214, 3224, 3234) include threads that may be used to execute an operation (e.g., a read or write request/operation) associated with the specified file system. For example, if an application is to execute an operation on a file system A, denoted by a file system A name (3210), a processor coordinator managing the file system processor affinity association list (3200) may identify the file system A preferred thread pool (3214) to identify the processor or core thread pool from which to select a thread for processing the operation.” The file system container including a processor coordinator that assigns file system preferred thread pools of one or more file systems, such as a core thread pool which groups threads associated with a specific core, in the file system processor affinity association list correlates to a mapping between threads and cores, the mapping created by the initialization container. The processor coordinator selecting a thread for processing the application operation correlates to the workload container configured to execute a plurality of threads on specified ones of the plurality of cores allocated to the workload container according to a mapping between threads and cores, the mapping created by the initialization container).
Bono does not explicitly teach:
A node of a telecommunications network;
the initialization container configured to read a record a file system, the record identifying a plurality of the cores which have been allocated to the workload container;
However, Alluboyina teaches:
A node of a telecommunications network (Paragraphs 48 and 63, “In some embodiments, some or all of the servers 102 may function as edge servers in a telecommunication network… A Kubelet 204 is an agent of KUBERNETES that executes on a node and implements instructions from the cluster 111 on a server 102 or cloud computing platform to instantiate, monitor, and otherwise manage pods 112.” The node on the server in a telecommunications network correlates to a node of a telecommunications network),
read a record a file system, the record identifying a plurality of the cores which have been allocated to the workload container (Paragraphs 65, 69, and 86, “Referring to FIG. 3, data contained in the log files 200 may be related to provisioning data 300 in order to obtain the AAI. Provisioning data 300 includes identifiers of components instantiated by the orchestrator 106 and allocation data indicating computing resources allocated to each component. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers 102. For example, on-premise provisioning data 302 may include a plurality of entries that each include a node identifier (i.e., identifier of the server 102), a computing allocation (e.g., number of processor cores) … and a component identifier to which the allocation belongs (e.g., identifier of a cluster 111, pod 112, container 114, storage volume 116, or application instance 118) … The log files 200 include a plurality of log messages 400. Each message may include a text string including values such as a component identifier and a value indicating usage. The entry identifier may also be obtained from a directory location of the log file or a name of the log file… the log processor 130, the orchestrator 106, and/or some other component may further process the provisioning data 300 and log files 200 in order to identify relationships between component identifiers.” The log files being stored in a directory location correlates to a record in a file system. The log processor or orchestrator processing the provisioning data and log files, which include information such as node identifiers, computing core allocations, and the container or application instances to which the allocation belongs correlates to reading a record a file system, the record identifying a plurality of the cores which have been allocated to the workload container);
Alluboyina does not explicitly teach that the reading is done using the initialization container. However, initialization containers are a popular type of entity used to read records as evidenced by Bono (Paragraphs 440, 442-443, and 445).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bono with a node of a telecommunications network and read a record a file system, the record identifying a plurality of the cores which have been allocated to the workload container as taught by Alluboyina because on-premise provisioning data can describe provisioning with respect to one or more servers which include identifications of nodes, memory, storage, allocations and the components to which the allocation belongs. Log files can include multiple log messages related to the provisioning data with component identifiers and values including some or all of an indicator of processor time spent executing a component identified by the entry identifier, an amount of memory occupied by the component identified by the component identifier, and an amount of storage used by the component identified by the component identifier can be accessed through a directory location. (Alluboyina: paragraphs 65 and 69).
Prior Art Made of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Beckett et al. (U.S. Patent No. US 20220164196 A1); teaching a method of providing an interface for a core aggregation layout identifying a grouping of processor cores into core aggregations. Core mapping tables represent a mapping of each core to a core aggregation, along with additional information regarding the application, workload, process, or thread mapped to each core or core aggregation. Globally unique identifiers may be used in the mapping such as a core identifier, a core aggregation identifier, a process identifier, a thread identifier, an application identifier, and a workload identifier.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SELINA HU whose telephone number is (571)272-5428. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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SELINA HU
Examiner
Art Unit 2193
/Chat C Do/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2193
Prosecution Insights