JPH04216241A - Packet transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently process various packets corresponding to a character peculiar for a medium and to flexibly deal with the change of the medium by executing a distribution processing corresponding to the signal class of an input/output signal corresponding to each medium. CONSTITUTION:A user interface distribution processing part 10 executes the distribution. processing corresponding to the signal class of the input/output signal corresponding to each medium. Transmission line connection parts 601 and 602, packet assembly/deassembly parts 901 and 902, and input/output signal processing parts 801 and 802, are respectively independently and correspondently provided by packet hierarchical structure, and input/output terminals 71, 72 and 73 are connected through the user interface distribution processing part 10 to the respective input/output signal conversion processing parts 801 and 802.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a packet transfer system that efficiently processes packets having various hierarchical structures.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the hierarchical structure of a packet. In the figure, data 10 transmitted through a transmission path
0 is divided into a first header section 101 and a data section 110. The data section 110 is divided into a second header section 111 and a data section 120. Furthermore, the data section 120
is divided into an n-th (here n=3) header section 121 and a data section 130. Note that the transmission path is, for example, a LAN.
For Ethernet, the first header section 101 is M
AC address, the second header part 111 is an IP header,
The third header section 121 corresponds to the TPC header.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional packet transfer processing device. In the figure, the packet transfer processing device includes a transmission line connection unit 6 connected to a transmission line 51.
0, an input/output signal conversion processing unit 80 that converts signals input and output to input/output terminals 71, 72, and 73, and transfer data.
and a packet assembly/disassembly section 90 that processes transfer data layer by layer between the transmission path connection section 60 and the input/output signal conversion processing section 80.

[0004] Here, the input/output terminals 71, 72, 73 are as follows.
Each supports video, audio, data, and other media. Furthermore, the transmission line connection unit 60 includes a connector 61 that connects to the transmission line 51 and a network physical interface control unit 62 that performs transmission and reception processing between the transmission line 51 and the transmission line 51 via the connector 61. be done. The packet assembling/disassembling section 90 is composed of hierarchical header/data processing sections 91, 92, and 93 corresponding to each layer of transfer data.

[0005]

By the way, in order to improve the reliability of data transfer, it is essential to control retransmission of packets in case packets are discarded due to packet congestion or collision on a transmission path. The hierarchical level of a packet increases in accordance with the information that controls the retransmission of the packet, etc., and the packet assembling/disassembling unit 90 includes lower hierarchical headers and
Many processing units are required, from the data processing unit 91 to the upper hierarchical header/data processing unit 93. In such a configuration, video and audio packets that require real-time performance must be layered at a high level, and access time increases due to the processing of many headers, impairing real-time performance. There was a problem. In other words, this results in a reduction in throughput, which is particularly noticeable when handling multiple types of media.

The input/output signal conversion processing unit 80 is connected to a user interface via input/output terminals corresponding to each medium, and usually includes application programs for providing various services. Therefore, the structure of this application program may become complicated as the media to be accommodated is added or deleted, and the scale of program modification may unexpectedly increase. Furthermore, as the number of media increases, it becomes necessary to implement media-specific circuits or boards (for example, video codecs and audio codecs), but there are often cases where there is not enough space to accommodate them. That is, with the configuration of a conventional packet transfer processing device, it may be difficult to easily respond to media changes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a packet transfer method that can efficiently process packets with different hierarchical structures depending on the characteristics specific to the media, and can flexibly respond to changes in media.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has a header section containing address information and other control information, and a data section containing transfer data, and the data section is further arranged in stages according to the nature of the transfer data. In a packet transfer method that transfers a packet having a hierarchical structure consisting of a header section and a data section, there is provided a transmission path connecting means that connects to the transmission path independently for each layered structure of the packet, and each transmission path connecting means. a packet assembly/disassembly means for assembling and disassembling packets sent and received via the hierarchical structure, respectively;
The packet assembly/disassembly means generates and extracts transfer data to be incorporated into a packet having a hierarchical structure,
The input/output signal conversion processing means performs conversion processing between the input and output signals, and the input/output signal is distributed to the input/output signal conversion processing means corresponding to the required hierarchical structure according to the signal type of the input/output signal. The present invention is characterized by comprising a distribution processing means.

[0009]

[Operation] Conventional packet transfer methods that support multiple media are based on a hierarchical structure of data that requires control over packet retransmission, etc., and videos and audio that require real-time performance are embedded in that hierarchical structure. was forming the transfer packet. In the present invention, when creating multimedia, it is possible to form and transfer packets with a hierarchical structure optimal for each medium without providing a basic hierarchical structure of packets.

In other words, the transmission line connection means, the packet assembly/disassembly means, and the input/output signal conversion processing means are arranged in the packet hierarchy under the distribution processing means that performs distribution processing according to the signal type of input/output signals corresponding to each media. By providing each structure independently, it is possible to efficiently transfer packets with different hierarchical structures generated according to the characteristics specific to the media.

[0011]

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, transmission path connection units 601 and 602 correspond to each hierarchical structure of packets to be handled.
, packet assembly/disassembly units 901 , 902 and input/output signal conversion processing units 801 , 802 , and input/output terminals 71 , 72 , 73 and each input/output signal conversion processing unit 801 .
, 802 are connected via the user interface distribution processing unit 10.

The configuration of this embodiment corresponds to the case where there are two types of hierarchical structures of packets to be transferred. That is,
The packet assembly/disassembly section 901 includes hierarchical header/data processing sections 91, 92, and 93 that process packets having three header sections (n=3), and the packet assembly/disassembly section 902 includes one header section. A packet with (n=
1) is provided with a hierarchical header/data processing unit 91 for processing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of packets handled in this embodiment. Packet a shown in FIG. 2(a) is an example of a video packet or an audio packet, and data 1
00 has one header section 101 (n=1) in order to realize real-time performance, and the size of the data section 110 is relatively large. The b packet shown in FIG. 2(b) is an example of a data packet, and data 100 is added with packet retransmission control information to ensure reliability.
has three header sections 101, 111, 121 (n=3)
, the size of the data section 130 is relatively small.

The receiving operation and transmitting operation of a packet having a hierarchical structure in this embodiment will be explained below. First, in the reception operation, the transmission line connection section 601,
602 receives all packets (in this case, a packets and b packets) with different hierarchical structures flowing through the transmission path 51 by the network physical interface control unit 62 via the connector 61, converts them into data format, and converts them into a data format. The packets are sent to the corresponding packet assembly/disassembly units 901 and 902, respectively. The first layered header/data processing unit 91 of each packet assembling/disassembling unit 901 , 902 extracts the first header part 101 from the input data 100 and combines the receiving address with its own address. Determine whether or not it is correct. If they match, the upper hierarchical header and
Data processing section 92 or input/output signal conversion processing section 802
The data 110 is sent to. Furthermore, if the packets do not match, the packets are discarded.

In this embodiment, the packet assembly/disassembly section 90
1, the first hierarchical header data processing unit 91 is a
Discard the packet, extract the b packet, and save its data 1
10 is sent to the second hierarchical header/data processing section 92. The second and third hierarchical header data processing units 92 and 93 extract the second and third header sections 111 and 121, respectively, and process each data based on the extracted control information. Data 1 which is the processing result
30 is sent to the input/output signal conversion processing section 801. On the other hand, the first hierarchical header/data processing section 91 of the packet assembly/disassembly section 902 discards the b packet, extracts the a packet, and sends the data 110 to the input/output signal conversion processing section 802 .

The input/output signal conversion processing section 801 converts data 1
The input/output signal conversion processing unit 802 converts the data 110 into an output signal of the a packet, and sends the data 110 to the output signal of the a packet, respectively, to the user interface distribution processing unit 10. The user interface distribution processing unit 10 distributes data 13 of packet b according to an application program prepared in advance.
The output signal corresponding to 0 and the output signal corresponding to data 110 of the a packet are appropriately used or further processed to output a screen display signal or an audio signal. Input/output terminal 7
Displays, speakers, and the like are connected to 1, 72, and 73, and screen display signals and audio signals are sent out and reproduced, respectively. Note that the screen display signal includes video input from a camera and text data input from a keyboard.

Next, the transmission operation will be explained. A video signal from a camera, an audio signal from a microphone, a text data signal and an image data signal from a keyboard are input to the user interface distribution processing section 10 via input/output terminals 71, 72, and 73. The user interface distribution processing section 10 distributes signals while performing appropriate processing according to the application program. That is, the video signal and the audio signal are sent to the input/output signal conversion processing unit 802 to be generated as an a-packet, and the text data signal and the image data signal are sent to the input-output signal conversion processing unit 801 to be generated as a b-packet. be done.

The input/output signal conversion processing section 802 converts the input signal into a data signal, sends this converted data to the packet assembly/disassembly section 902, adds the first header section 101, and generates the a packet. . The generated a packet is sent to the transmission path 51 via the transmission path connection section 602. On the other hand, independently of the processing of the input/output signal conversion processing section 802, the input/output signal conversion processing section 801 converts the input signal into a data signal, and this converted data is transferred to the packet assembly/disassembly section 9.
01 and send the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st header parts 1
21, 111, and 101 are added to generate b packet. The generated b packet is sent to the transmission path 51 via the transmission path connection section 601.

As described above, the present invention is configured to assemble or disassemble optimal packets corresponding to each medium, and is not limited to this embodiment, but can similarly process packets having multiple types of hierarchical structures. be able to. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention. The feature of this embodiment is that the addition of transmission lines is realized by a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

[0020] That is, when it is necessary to transfer packets with a large amount of transmission such as for video media, the user interface distribution processing section 10 includes an input/output signal conversion processing section 802, a packet assembly/disassembly section 902, and a transmission path. By connecting the connecting portion 602 and connecting a new transmission path 52 to the transmission path connecting portion 602 , separate from the transmission path 51, it is possible to easily add more transmission paths and expand the transmission capacity.

[0021]

As explained above, the present invention is capable of independently converting input/output signals, assembling and disassembling packets, and connecting to transmission paths for each hierarchical structure of packets. packets can be processed efficiently. That is, in a device configuration that handles high-level packets, the header portion of video/audio media packets that require real-time performance can be made small to minimize the reduction in throughput within the device.

[0022] Furthermore, by separating the input/output conversion processing means provided independently for each hierarchical structure and the distribution processing means to which application programs are applied, it is possible to prevent application programs from changing due to media changes that affect the packet hierarchical structure. Updates can be made easier. Furthermore, since input/output signal conversion processing means compatible with media such as video codecs can be placed independently,
It is possible to easily handle the addition of hardware in response to the expansion of media.

Furthermore, since the transmission line connection means for connecting to the transmission line is provided independently for each medium (packet hierarchical structure), it is easy to add more transmission lines to accommodate an increase in the number of media or the increase in transmission capacity. can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure of packets handled in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the hierarchical structure of a packet.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional packet transfer processing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 User interface distribution processing unit 51, 5
2 Transmission path 60 Transmission path connection section 61 Connector 62 Network physical interface control section 71, 72, 73 Input/output terminal 80 Input/output signal conversion processing section 90 Packet assembly/disassembly section 91 First hierarchical header/data processing section 92
2nd hierarchical header/data processing section 93 3rd hierarchical header/data processing section 100, 110, 120,
130 Data section 101, 111, 121 Header section

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A header section containing address information and other control information and a data section containing transfer data, and the data section is further composed of a header section and a data section in stages according to the nature of the transfer data. In a packet transfer method that performs a process of transferring packets having a hierarchical structure, the transmission path connecting means connects to the transmission path independently according to the hierarchical structure of the packet, and the packets are transmitted and received via the respective transmission path connecting means. a packet assembling/disassembling means for assembling and disassembling each hierarchical structure, and a packet assembling/disassembling means that generates and extracts transfer data to be incorporated into a packet having a hierarchical structure, and generates and extracts transfer data to be incorporated into a packet having a hierarchical structure, an input/output signal conversion processing means for performing conversion processing; and a distribution processing means for distributing the input/output signals to the input/output signal conversion processing means corresponding to each necessary hierarchical structure according to the signal type of the input/output signals. A packet transfer method characterized by: