The present document describes the high-level functional architectural framework and design philosophy of virtualised network functions and of the supporting infrastructure. The document also defines the scope of the NFV Industry Specification Group (ISG) activities to realize this framework.
 
The purpose of the present document is to abstract the overall problem space in such a way that the requirements and aspects unique to NFV (ETSI GS NFV 004: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Virtualisation Requirements") are clearly identified so that the work can be scoped and organized. The resulting network architectural framework aims at positioning NFV among relevant telecommunications and IT industry stakeholders, including network operators, solution vendors, service integrators and providers, as well as serving as a reference to NFV ISG working groups.
 
Another purpose of the present document is to provide guidance to the industry Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) to align existing network related specifications with the NFV architectural framework outlined in the present document. Any further standardization of network functions, architecture and interfaces that are required to properly operate in a virtualised environment will be carried out in relevant SDOs. The resulting standards are expected to support the NFV high-level architectural requirements for both intra- and inter-provider domains.