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• Proposed name for the project: VIM Northbound Model and Interface
• Proposed name for the repository: vim_nbi
• Project Categories: (Requirements)

While OpenStack is a competitive candidate for VIM, existing interfaces provided by OpenStack include three major parts: compute, storage, and network. However, OpenStack as a general cloud platform is not customized for NFV scenario, leaving a lot of detailed work for the NFV orchestrator.

The proposed project is to provide a consistent and intuitive northbound interface for VIM to better fitting the orchestrator, and make it easy for resource access, connection generation, flow identification, policy operation, etc.

There will be a shim layer to encapsulate higher order operations appropriately in the NFV problem domain, and convert them into collections of calls to cloud platforms. This project will use existing projects, like promise, copper, VNFFG, and so on, to implement the NBI and find gaps when the NBI cannot be implemented by existing projects.

To achieve the NBI consistency, we can use the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach and define system functionality using platform-independent models. Interfaces can be generated automatically with well defined models.

Describe the problem being solved by project

This project is to provide a consistent, organized and intuitive northbound interface for VIM to better fitting the VNF manager and the orchestrator. With a set of information models and interfaces, we can address most use-cases in a systematical way. The proposed project is intended to (tentatively scheduled):

• document typical NFV use-cases for high-level functional abstraction, and find gaps between OpenStack API and high level applicaitons;
• abstract VIM NB models and interfaces, refine existing information models and develop new models;
• work together with other entities to achieve collaboration and synergy;

The following figure shows the mapping to ETSI NFV architecture. As the first step, Or-Vnfm interface is beyond the scope of existing OPNFV. So the logical node operation will map to this architecture with secondary priority.

• provide open source implementation for a shim layer. The northbound API encapsulates higher order operations appropriate in the NFV problem domain, and converts them into collections of calls to cloud platforms.
• and coordinate integrated testing and release testing results.

Specify any interface/API specification proposed

Vi-Vnfm, Or-Vi

Identify similar projects is underway or being proposed in OPNFV or upstream project

• The "Promise" project in OPNFV
• The "Nova" project in OpenStack
• The "Neutron" project in OpenStack
• The "Congress" project in OpenStack

Names and affiliations of the committers:

  Tianran Zhou (zhoutianran@huawei.com)
  Lei Zhu (lei.zhu@huawei.com)
  Zhipeng Huang (huangzhipeng@huawei.com)
  Linghui Zeng (linghui.zeng@huawei.com)
  Qiao Fu (fuqiao@chinamobile.com)
  Susan Hares (shares@ndzh.com)
  Zhiying Wang (wang.zhiying1@zte.com.cn)
  Gerald Kunzmann (kunzmann@docomolab-euro.com) 
  Peter Lee (plee@clearpathnet.com)
  David Lenrow (david.lenrow@hp.com)

Any other contributors:

  Julien Zhang (zhang.jun3g@zte.com.cn)
  Rajeev Seth (rseth@sonusnet.com)
  Guofeng Shao (shaoguofeng@huawei.com)
  Yinben Xia (xiayinben@huawei.com)
  Wei Cao (wayne.caowei@huawei.com)

• Described the project release package as OPNFV or open source upstream projects.
• If project deliverables have multiple dependencies across other project categories, described linkage of the deliverables.

• When is the first release planned? Q2 2015
• Will this align with the current release cadence? Yes