KR101669518B1 - Apparatus and method for managing network module based on software defined network - Google Patents

Abstract

And an SDN-based network module management apparatus and method for enabling direct communication between devices on a heterogeneous network. The SDN-based network module management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a network module management unit for dividing a plurality of network protocols into hierarchies and selecting one or more protocols for each hierarchy according to characteristics of interconnected heterogeneous networks; An open flow switch unit for receiving information on at least one protocol for each selected layer from the network module management unit and transmitting the received information to the SDN unit; And a controller unit controlling the open flow switch unit and requesting the network module management unit to add a network module for connection of the dissimilar network.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING NETWORK MODULE BASED ON SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for managing network modules, and more particularly, to a network module management technology based on SDN (Software Defined Network).

Ubiquitous and IoT (Internet of Things), the diversity and complexity of wired / wireless network environments have increased. The existing wired and wireless networks were environments for computers and smart devices based on TCP / IP. On the other hand, the hybrid multi-computing environment such as automobile Infotainment, IoT, USN (Ubiquitous Sensor Networks) must support various network protocols other than TCP / IP (CAN, FlexRay, MOST, Low6Pan, Lightweight TCP / do. For example, currently available vehicles incorporate electronic devices in the vehicle body, which transmit and receive data using various communication protocols.

Communication protocols are used not only for connection between embedded devices but also for accessing devices outside the vehicle (driver's smartphone, notebook, navigation, etc.). And IoT, the computing devices in the existing wired / wireless network environment based on TCP / IP should be able to support communication with non-TCP / IP based devices. To solve this problem, a conventional gateway is installed between a TCP / IP-based network environment and a non-TCP / IP-based network environment as shown in FIG. This method was effective for low mobility devices.

However, since IoT, USN, and Infotainment devices have high mobility, it is necessary to perform direct communication (without going through a gateway) between devices existing on a heterogeneous network as shown in FIGS. For example, when connecting to an IoT device in a vehicle while driving, it is necessary to connect a direct communication channel between the Infotainment device and the IoT device as shown in FIG. If the vehicle network module does not include a communication protocol for IoT (Low6Pan, Zigbee), or if the IoT network module does not include TCP / IP, data can not be exchanged between the two devices. Therefore, one of the two devices must support a communication protocol for the target device to communicate with.

Since existing network modules are configured as a single chunk module as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to reboot the system or restart the entire network service in order to add or delete network modules required for the devices on the heterogeneous network. In such a case, the network of the system may temporarily be stopped, and such a network outage may be fatal to a system requiring network consistency.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a network system capable of selective addition of network modules for direct communication between heterogeneous networks and ensuring the consistency of network services.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an SDN-based network module management apparatus and method that enable direct communication between devices on heterogeneous networks.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an SDN-based network module management apparatus and method capable of facilitating the addition and deletion of network modules by dividing the network modules by hierarchy and protocol and managing them as individual tasks.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an SDN-based network module management apparatus and method capable of ensuring the consistency of network services without stopping the system due to the addition of network modules.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an SDN-based network module management apparatus for dividing a plurality of network protocols into layers and selecting at least one protocol for each layer according to characteristics of a heterogeneous network to be interconnected A network module management unit; An open flow switch unit for receiving information on at least one protocol for each selected layer from the network module management unit and transmitting the received information to the SDN unit; And a controller unit controlling the open flow switch unit and requesting the network module management unit to add a network module for connection of the dissimilar network.

In addition, the SDN-based network module managing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an SDN apparatus unit for analyzing a protocol of a network packet received from the open flow switch unit and transmitting information on a protocol to be added to the controller unit, ; ≪ / RTI >

The controller unit may receive information on a protocol to be added according to a protocol analysis result of the packet received by the SDN apparatus from the SDN apparatus unit and may transmit the information to the network module management unit.

The network module management unit may transmit information on at least one protocol for each layer corresponding to a specific network module to the open flow switch unit in response to a request from the controller unit.

The SDN-based network module management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed by an SDN-based network module management apparatus including a network module management unit, an open flow switch unit, a controller unit, and an SDN device unit, Analyzing a protocol of the received network packet and transmitting information on a protocol to be added to the controller unit; The controller requesting the network module manager to add a network module based on information about the protocol; And transmitting, by the network module management unit, information on a network module existing in a task form to the SDN device unit through the open flow switch unit in response to a request from the controller unit.

The SDN-based network module management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the open flow switch unit receives and / or stores a routing policy from the controller unit, The method comprising:

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily add and delete network modules and to perform parallel processing of network modules by dividing the network stack composed of single chunks into individual tasks and configuring and managing them as individual tasks .

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform direct communication between devices on a heterogeneous network without going through a gateway by adding and deleting optional network modules.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to guarantee the consistency of the network service without stopping the system due to the addition of the network module.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the network module can be selectively added, there is an effect that utilization of the storage space of the micro-device having a limited storage space can be enhanced.

1 is a diagram for explaining a method for solving the problem of connectivity of heterogeneous networks between a TCP / IP-based network environment and a non-TCP / IP-based network environment according to the related art.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a network module composed of a single chunk according to the related art.
3 is a configuration diagram of a network system including an SDN-based network module management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a network protocol stack configuration of an SDN apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram for explaining a network stack configuration of a network task added in each SDN apparatus.
6 is a flowchart illustrating an SDN-based network module management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It is noted that the technical terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. It is also to be understood that the technical terms used herein are to be interpreted in a sense generally understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs, Should not be construed to mean, or be interpreted in an excessively reduced sense. Further, when a technical term used herein is an erroneous technical term that does not accurately express the spirit of the present invention, it should be understood that technical terms that can be understood by a person skilled in the art are replaced. In addition, the general terms used in the present invention should be interpreted according to a predefined or prior context, and should not be construed as being excessively reduced.

Also, the singular forms "as used herein include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the term "comprising" or "comprising" or the like should not be construed as necessarily including the various elements or steps described in the specification, Or may be further comprised of additional components or steps.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like or similar elements throughout the several views, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a configuration diagram of a network system including an SDN-based network module management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, an SDN-based network module management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention divides a plurality of network protocols into layers and selects one or more protocols for each layer according to characteristics of interconnected heterogeneous networks A network module management unit 10; An open flow switch unit 20 for receiving information on at least one protocol for each selected layer from the network module management unit 10 and delivering the information to the SDN device unit 40; A controller unit 30 for controlling the open flow switch unit 20 and requesting the network module management unit 10 to add a network module for connection to the heterogeneous network; And an SDN device unit 40 for analyzing a protocol of a network packet received from the open flow switch unit 20 and transmitting information on a protocol to be added to the controller unit 30. [

The controller 30 may include a plurality of controllers (Controller 1, Controller 2, ..., Controller k), and the open flow switch unit 20 may include a plurality of open flow switches OFS 1, OFS 2, ..., OFS t), and the SDN device unit 40 may include a plurality of SDN devices (SDN Device 1, SDN Device 2, ..., SDN Device n).

The controller unit 30 may perform a function of controlling the open flow switch unit 20 and a function of requesting the network module management unit 10 to add a network module required for the SDN device unit 40. [ Specifically, the controller unit 30 receives information on a protocol to be added according to a protocol analysis result of a packet received from the SDN device unit 40 by the SDN device unit 40, and transmits it to the network module management unit 10, Lt; / RTI >

The open flow switch unit 20 may receive and / or store a routing policy from the controller unit 30 and may transmit the network packets to the SDN device unit 40 according to the policy. In addition, the open flow switch unit 20 can transmit the information on the network module transmitted by the network module management unit 10 to the SDN device unit 40.

The SDN device unit 40 refers to all devices existing on the SDN, and may include IoT devices, USN devices, TCP / IP devices, and the like.

The network module management unit 10 can store information on a plurality of network modules configured in the form of a task. Upon receiving a request from the controller unit 30, the network module management unit 10 transmits the network module to the SDN device unit 40).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a network protocol stack configuration of an SDN apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the task configuration of the network module proposed in the present invention and its relationship. 5 is a diagram for explaining a network stack configuration of a network task added in each SDN apparatus.

4 and 5, the network modules according to an embodiment of the present invention are classified into individual tasks by hierarchy and protocol and are transmitted to the SDN device unit 40 by the network module management unit 10 .

For example, when the USN Device having the ZigBee and Low6Pan protocols needs IP and TCP protocol for communication with the TCP / IP based device, the Ethernet task, the IP task, and the TCP task are received and executed from the network module management unit 10 The network stack can be configured as shown in FIG. At the same time, the TCP / IP-based device must receive and execute the ZigBee task from the network module management unit 10.

6 is a flowchart illustrating an SDN-based network module management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 6, an SDN-based network module management method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a network module management unit 10, an open flow switch unit 20, a controller unit 30, (40). ≪ / RTI >

First, in step S601, the SDN device unit 40 analyzes protocols of the received packet, and transmits information on a network protocol to be added according to the analysis result to the controller unit 30 (S603).

Next, the controller unit 30 requests the network module management unit 10 to add a network module based on the protocol information requested from the SDN device unit 40 (S605).

Next, the network module management unit 10 transmits the network module files existing in the form of a task to the SDN device unit 40 via the open flow switch unit 20 (S607 and S609).

In response to the request from the controller unit 30, the network module management unit 10 may transmit information about one or more protocols for each layer corresponding to the network module that needs to be added to the open flow switch unit 20.

The open flow switch unit 20 may transmit a network packet to the SDN device unit 40 according to a routing policy received and / or stored from the controller unit 30. [

Then, the SDN device unit 40 stores and executes the received network module (S611), and can process the received packet (S613).

Here, the network module management unit 10, the open flow switch unit 20, the controller unit 30, and the SDN device unit 40 can communicate with each other through a channel providing a security function such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) have.

The functional operations and implementations described in the present specification may be embodied in digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware, or hardware, or a combination of any of the foregoing. The implementations described in the present disclosure may be implemented as one or more computer program products, that is, one or more modules associated with computer program instructions encoded on a program storage medium of the type for control of, or for execution by, Lt; / RTI >

Implementations of the subject matter described herein may include, for example, a back-end component such as a data server, or may include a middleware component, such as an application server, or may be a web browser or a graphical user, for example a user, who may interact with an implementation of the subject- Front-end components such as client computers with interfaces, or any combination of one or more of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as, for example, a communications network.

The embodiments disclosed herein have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thus, the embodiments shown in the drawings are not to be construed as limiting, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be combined with each other, and when combined, some of the components may be omitted.

Here, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea disclosed in the present specification.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only examples described in this specification, and not all of the technical ideas disclosed in this specification are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

Claims (12)

An SDN device unit for analyzing a protocol of a network packet received in the heterogeneous network and transmitting information on a protocol to be added;
A controller unit for receiving an additional request of the network module corresponding to the information on the protocol when receiving information on the protocol from the SDN unit; And
When a request for addition of the network module is received from the controller, a protocol for each of the plurality of network modules is selected and transmitted to the SDN device unit, A network module management unit for controlling the flow switch unit;
, ≪ / RTI &
The SDN device unit,
Wherein the SDN-based network module management unit configures the layer-by-layer protocols received from the network module management unit as a network stack, and processes the network packet using the network stack. The method according to claim 1,
The open-
Receives and / or stores a routing policy from the controller unit, and transmits a network packet to the SDN unit according to the routing policy.
SDN based network module management device. delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The network module management unit,
Layer protocols for the plurality of network modules are organized and managed in the form of a task
SDN based network module management device. 6. The method of claim 5,
The network module management unit,
And transmits the layer-by-layer protocols corresponding to the additionally requested network module to the open-flow switch unit
SDN based network module management device. A network module management method by an SDN-based network module management apparatus including a network module management unit, an open flow switch unit, a controller unit, and an SDN device unit,
Analyzing a protocol of a network packet received by the SDN apparatus and transmitting information on a protocol to be added to the controller unit;
The controller requesting the network module manager to add a network module based on information about the protocol; And
Selecting a layer-by-layer protocol corresponding to the additionally requested network module in response to a request from the controller unit, and transmitting the selected protocol to the SDN unit through the open-flow switch unit; And
Processing the network packet by configuring the layer-by-layer protocols received from the network module management unit as a network stack;
Based network module management method. 8. The method of claim 7,
The open flow switch receiving and / or storing a routing policy from the controller unit and transmitting a network packet to the SDN unit according to the routing policy;
Based network module management method. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the step of transmitting information on the network module by the network module management unit comprises:
Transmitting the layer-by-layer protocols corresponding to the additionally requested network module to the open-flow switch unit;
Based network module management method. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the SDN device unit, the network module management unit, the open flow switch unit, and the controller unit communicate through a secure channel including an SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
SDN based network module management method. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the additional requested network module further comprises:
Characterized in that the network module is a network module for heterogeneous network connection
SDN based network module management device. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the additional requested network module further comprises:
Characterized in that the network module is a network module for heterogeneous network connection
SDN based network module management method.

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