US Patent 11146623 Intelligent distribution of virtual network function images

An orchestrator process can efficiently distribute images of virtual network functions (“VNFs”) in a telco network. The images can be accompanied by metadata that describes VNF requirements, such as computing requirements and functional characteristics. Based on the image metadata and location of a virtual infrastructure manager (“VIM”), the orchestrator can select a storage location and deploy the image to the storage location. The VIM can instantiate a corresponding VNF by retrieving the image. The orchestrator can track the storage location and cause the VIM to delete the image if the image is not used for a threshold period of time.