KR20070060980A - Apparatus and method of simulating for control protocol development - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a method of simulating for control protocol operation are provided to flexibly and easily expand a required module according to a purpose of simulation by constituting the module through simple change of a parameter or handling routine. An apparatus of simulating for control protocol operation includes a packet generating/collecting module(110), a packet forwarding module(120), and a controlling module(130). The packet generating/collecting module(110) generates a packet used for simulation and transmits the packet to a destination, or receives a simulation packet destined for itself and stores the packet. The packet forwarding module inspects the packet inputted from the packet generating/collecting module, classifies the packet according to a priority order with a pre-set scheduling method, and transmits the packet to other adjacent node. The controlling module re-processes the packet inputted from the packet generating/collecting module or the packet forwarding module, and transmits the packet to other adjacent node.

Description

A simulation apparatus and method for verifying the operation of a control protocol {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SIMULATING FOR CONTROL PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT}

1 is a view showing the structure of a simulation apparatus for verifying the operation of a control protocol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure of a packet generation and collection module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure of a packet forwarding module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view showing a detailed structure of a control module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a simulation procedure for verifying the operation of a control protocol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a view showing a simulation model according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: simulation device 110: packet generation and collection module

120: packet forwarding module 130: control module

140: link module 201, 301, 401: input buffer

202: traffic generator 203: traffic collector

204, 304, 405: output buffer 302: priority queue

402: control packet transformation unit 403: routing control unit

404: operation management control unit

The present invention relates to a simulation apparatus and method for a control protocol operating in a control network, and more particularly, to a simulation apparatus and method for verifying the operation and performance of a control protocol before actual protocol development.

In a control network constructed on the Internet or an intra network, a network control procedure is performed by a predetermined protocol, that is, a control protocol.

Meanwhile, in order to develop a control protocol operating in the control network in the related art, it is almost impossible to construct a real network in which the control protocol to be developed will operate. Protocol verification method was used.

However, the test and verification methods as described above have a problem in that they are insufficient to execute the protocol operation in a near-real environment due to the lack of systematic traffic generation, protocol operation processing, and a method of flexibly adapting to a new shape. .

Therefore, there is a need for a simulation model and method that can be applied when developing a new control protocol, and a scalable and flexible simulation that can be applied to develop not only the control protocol but also other network-oriented application technologies. The method is desperately needed.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a simulation apparatus and method for verifying the operation of the control protocol that can verify the operation and performance of the control protocol before the actual protocol development when developing a new control protocol It's there.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a simulation apparatus and method for verifying the operation of a control protocol for performing simulation on the control protocol by asynchronous distributed processing by event method when developing a control protocol operating in a control network. It's there.

Simulation apparatus for verifying the operation of the control protocol according to the present invention for achieving the above object, generating a packet to be used for the simulation to send to the destination, or a packet generation for receiving and storing the simulation packet is the destination and A packet forwarding module for inspecting a packet inputted from the packet generating and collecting module, classifying the packet according to a priority according to a predetermined scheduling method, and transmitting the packet to another neighboring node, and the packet generating and collecting module or packet forwarding And a control module for reprocessing the packet received from the module and transmitting the packet to another neighboring node.

In addition, the simulation method for verifying the operation of the control protocol according to the present invention for achieving the above object, defining the traffic to be simulated, generating a packet according to the defined traffic, and the generated packet Transmitting to another adjacent node, processing the packet according to the characteristics of the node at the adjacent node receiving the transmitted packet, and, when the transmitted packet arrives at the final destination node, statistics from the received packet. And collecting and storing data.

On the other hand, the present invention is a method for verifying the operation and performance of the control protocol before the actual protocol development when developing a new control protocol, each element such as a control module, packet forwarding module, packet generation and collection module, link module, etc. It provides a program module that executes the function to perform, communication module for generating and sending simulation packet containing actual traffic information between each function module, and module for collecting the simulated result and analyzing the statistical result. We propose a method to simulate the operation and performance of a comprehensive control protocol.

In addition, the present invention overcomes many problems that occur when a single system is executed by providing an environment in which such simulation is executed by asynchronous distributed processing based on an event method, and more accurately represents the actual system, thereby bringing the system closer to the operation of the actual system. You can simulate it.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same reference numerals and the same elements among the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and symbols as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

First, a simulation apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

1 is a view showing the structure of a simulation apparatus for verifying the operation of a control protocol according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the simulation apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a packet generation and collection module (TG) 110, a packet forwarding node (FN) 120, and a control module ( A control module (CN) 130 and a program module that executes a function performed by each element in a control network such as a link module 140 and a simulation packet containing actual traffic information between each functional module are generated and transmitted. The communication module 150 may be configured with a result analysis module 160 for collecting statistical results and analyzing statistical results.

The packet generation and collection module 110 generates a packet used for the simulation and transmits it to a destination through the packet forwarding module 120 or the control module 130, or receives a simulation packet of which the destination is a measurement and statistics. Program module written to execute the function for saving.

The packet forwarding module 120 is a program module configured to execute a function of inspecting an externally inputted packet and transmitting it to the control module 130, another packet forwarding module 120, or the packet generation and collection module 111.

The control module 130 is a program module written to execute a function for controlling a network configured for a specific purpose (eg, a virtual private network (VPN), a virtual local area network (VLAN), an internet access, etc.).

The link module 140 is configured to define the characteristics of each link. In this case, the link capacity and the propagation delay of the link are defined and used as the characteristics of the link.

The communication module 150 plays a role of transmitting and receiving a simulation packet containing information of actual traffic between each function module, and the result analysis module 160 collects the simulation results and analyzes statistical results. do.

Hereinafter, the detailed structure of each program module constituting the simulation apparatus 100 described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 will be described in detail.

2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure of a packet generation and collection module 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the packet generation and collection module 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an input buffer 201, a traffic generator 202, a traffic collector 203, an output buffer 204, and the like. have.

As described above, the packet generation and collection module 110 generates a packet used for simulation and transmits it to a destination through the packet forwarding module 120 or the control module 130, or receives a simulation packet which is its destination. Program module written to execute functions for storage for measurements and statistics.

The packet generation and collection module 110 generates and transmits traffic through the output buffer 204 as shown, and receives and processes the traffic through the input buffer 201. A traffic collector 203.

The traffic generator 202 may define a plurality of logical ports on a single physical link, and is configured to transmit traffic having different characteristics for each port. In this case, each traffic defines packet generation characteristics, packet size, session duration, active and inactive times according to the type of service. For example, the types of traffic include streaming audio, streamed video, plain web, PDF file, HD stream video, routing protocol, and the like. This can be

On the other hand, it is implemented by the method of calculating and transmitting the rate of generating each traffic according to the characteristics defined above, the characteristics sample for the traffic is shown in Table 1 below.

Type of service Packet generation characteristic Average size Act / inact time (1Mbps / channel) Session duration Streamed audio uniform 8 Kbyte / sec 350 ms / 650 ms 30 minutes Streamed video uniform 100 Kbyte / sec 1sec / 0sec 15 minutes Plain web bulk 25 Kbyte 250 ms / 5 sec 15 minutes PDF file bulk 250 Kbyte 2.5sec / 30sec 5 minutes

The traffic collector 203 receives a simulation packet transmitted to the destination, collects and stores data for measurement statistics, and discards the received packet. In addition, the collected and stored data may be analyzed through the result analysis module 160 described above.

Table 2 below shows the data format of the simulation packet used in each simulation module.

Message source information Produce time Place of creation (node, port ID) Message type (CNTL, DATA, ...) Asynchronous distributed communication information time-stamp node, port ID (send: current ID) (receive: previous ID) Delay processing of the current node Final destination (node, port ID) Property Information by Message Type Specific message types (Diffserv, QoS, RIP, OSPF, BGP, ARP, ICMP, Fwd-Tbl, ...) Length, ... Simulation Results and Statistics Information Result structure pointer Payload length payload data size Connection pointer Next linked pointer

Referring to Table 2, the data format of the simulation packet initially has a message generation time, a generation place, and a message type as information on a place where a message is first generated. Next, communication information for asynchronous distributed simulation, time-stamp, node / port ID of the previous transmission, processing delay value of the current node, and node / port of the final destination. ID (node / port ID) and so on.

In addition, the data format of the simulation packet can be configured to be processed as an option (option) as a place to define additional information on the characteristics according to the type of message, and then to store the results and state information of the simulation The part can be defined. Finally, a portion indicating the length of the payload and a pointer to the next connected message may be defined.

3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure of a packet forwarding module 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the packet forwarding module 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an input buffer 301, a priority queue 302, a scheduler 303, an output buffer 304, and the like.

As described above, the packet forwarding module 120 is configured to execute a function of inspecting an externally input packet and transmitting it to the control module 130, another packet forwarding module 120, or the packet generation and collection module 110. Program module.

As shown, the priority queue 302 classifies and processes packets inputted through the input buffer 301 by priority. In addition, simulation packets in each priority queue 302 are transmitted to an output port according to a scheduling algorithm defined in the scheduler 303. In this case, a scheduling algorithm for processing a packet in each priority queue 302 may be used by applying various algorithms of various methods. Meanwhile, simulation packets input to the packet forwarding module 120 may be input and output from the control module 130, another packet forwarding module 120, or the packet generation and collection module 110.

4 is a view showing a detailed structure of a control module 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the control module 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an input buffer 401, a control packet modifying unit 402, a routing control unit 403, an operation management control unit 404, and an output buffer 405. ) And the like.

The control module 130 is a program module written to execute a function for controlling a network (eg, VPN, VLAN, Internet access, etc.) configured for a specific purpose as described above.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control packet modification unit 402 performs a function of reprocessing an externally received packet (eg, a routing protocol packet) and transmitting it to another node. In addition, the routing controller 403 transmits routing and other table information, which is changed by external routing information, to a corresponding forwarding module. The operation management control unit 404 transmits the operation management information changed by the OAM (Operation Administration Maintenance) information generated in the operator or the system to the packet forwarding module 120.

Meanwhile, each module that processes the above-described functions does not perform the same operation as the actual operation, but generates a simulation packet that simulates the actual processing or modifies the received information packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. Is implemented in such a way as to transmit. Therefore, additionally required functions and operations can be achieved by simple modification of the information packet or simple operation of the information packet processing routine, thereby providing easy scalability and flexibility.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a simulation procedure for verifying the operation of a control protocol according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 501, the simulation apparatus defines a plurality of logical ports on a single physical link, and defines traffic having different characteristics according to characteristics of each corresponding traffic for each port. In operation 502, the simulation apparatus generates a packet according to the defined traffic, and transmits the generated packet to another node in operation 503.

In operation 504, the simulation apparatus checks whether the transmitted packet is received from an adjacent node (eg, a control node or a forwarding node or a packet generation and collection node of a destination). As a result of the check, when the neighboring node receives the transmitted packet, the simulation apparatus performs a packet simulation procedure for each node as described above according to the characteristics of each receiving node.

First, when the control node (ie, the control module 130) receives the transmitted packet, as in step 505, the simulation apparatus transmits the received packet through the control packet transform unit 402 in step 506. After reworking, proceed to step 503.

In addition, when the forwarding node (ie, the packet forwarding module 120) receives the transmitted packet (step 507), the simulation apparatus determines the priority of the received packet in step 508. After processing by classifying the priority in step 503 proceeds.

Finally, if the destination node (i.e., packet generation and collection module 110) receives the transmitted packet as in step 509, the simulation apparatus collects data for statistics from the received packet in step 510. After collecting and storing, in step 511, the received packet is discarded, and then the operation is terminated.

6 is a view showing a simulation model according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a simulation model for verifying a control protocol operation may be configured with a plurality of control nodes, packet forwarding nodes, packet generation and collection nodes, etc. according to the above-described embodiments of the present invention.

For example, as shown, the simulation model comprises two Control Nodes (CNs) and four, a Primary Control Node (PCN) 601 and a Secondary Control Node (SCN) 602. Packet forwarding nodes 603 to 606, six packet generation and collection nodes (TGs) 607 to 612, and 14 links.

As in the above embodiment, the control node CN may be configured as a main control node (PCN) 601 and an auxiliary control node (SCN) 602 to serve as a main control node in case of a main control node failure. That is, in the normal operation of the main control node 601, the auxiliary control node 602 maintains a copy of important data (various table information) of the main control node 601, and then controls when the main control node 601 fails. It takes over the information and configures it to execute network control tasks.

Meanwhile, two packet generation and collection nodes (TGs) 607 and 608 may be connected to the primary / secondary control nodes 601 and 602 to generate and receive control packets. In addition, four forwarding nodes (FNs) 603 to 606 may be configured as switching devices for relaying node data transmission, and packet generation and reception may be performed on a number of traffic generating and receiving devices (host devices) connected under each switching device. Collection nodes (TGs) 609-612 can be configured.

Each packet generation and collection node (TG) 607 to 612 generates and generates packet traffic for each characteristic to be transmitted to a destination as described above, and executes packet generation by collecting and analyzing the results. You will get a result.

On the other hand, in addition to each module described above, the necessary modules can be configured only by simple changes of parameters or processing routines according to the purpose of simulation, and the simulation target is not only a large area such as a network, but also an internal function of a communication device such as a router or a switch. Various environments can be provided to simulate the operation of the module.

The present invention has proposed a simulation method for developing a network control protocol based on the above-described modules, but this is only one area to which the present invention can be applied. Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

According to the present invention, it is possible to configure the necessary module according to the purpose of simulation with a simple change of parameters or processing routines, which has the advantage of being flexible and easily expandable according to the desired simulation purpose. In addition, according to the present invention there is an advantage that the simulation target also provides a variety of environments that can simulate the operation of the internal functional module of the communication equipment, such as routers or switches, as well as operations in a large area such as a network.

In addition, by providing an environment that executes the above simulation by asynchronous distributed processing based on the event method, it overcomes many problems that occur when running on a single system and more accurately expresses the actual system to simulate the operation of the actual system. It provides the advantages.

Claims (18)

A packet generation and collection module for generating and transmitting a packet used for simulation to a destination, or receiving and storing a simulation packet which is a destination thereof; A packet forwarding module for inspecting a packet input from the packet generation and collection module, classifying the packet according to a priority according to a predetermined scheduling method, and transmitting the packet to another adjacent node; And a control module for reprocessing the packet received from the packet generation and collection module or the packet forwarding module and transmitting the packet to another neighboring node. The method of claim 1, wherein the device, And a link module for defining characteristic information of each link including link capacity and link propagation delay information of the link. The method of claim 1, wherein the device, And a communication module configured to transmit and receive a simulation packet including information of actual traffic between the respective functional modules. The method of claim 1, wherein the device, And a result analysis module configured to collect simulation results from the packet generation and collection module and analyze statistical results. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet generation and collection module, A traffic generator for generating traffic and transmitting the generated traffic through an output buffer; And a traffic receiver for receiving and processing the traffic received through the input buffer. The method of claim 5, wherein the traffic generator, Simulation device for verifying the operation of a control protocol characterized by defining multiple logical ports on a single physical link. The method of claim 6, wherein the traffic generator, Simulation device for verifying the operation of the control protocol, characterized in that configured to be configured to transmit the traffic of different characteristics for each defined port. The method of claim 7, wherein the traffic is, The apparatus for verifying the operation of the control protocol, characterized in that generated by defining at least one of the packet generation characteristics, packet size, session duration, active and inactive time according to each type of service. The method of claim 7, wherein the traffic is, A simulation apparatus for verifying the operation of a control protocol, characterized in that at least one characteristic of streaming audio, streaming video, plain web, PDF file, HD stream video, routing protocol is defined and used. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet forwarding module, A priority queue that performs a function of classifying and processing the packets inputted through the input buffer by priority; And a scheduler for transmitting the simulation packets in the priority queues to an output port according to a predefined scheduling algorithm. The method of claim 1, wherein the control module, A control packet transformation unit for reprocessing an externally received packet and transmitting the received packet to another node; A routing control unit for transmitting routing and other table information in which a change occurs due to external routing information to a corresponding forwarding module; And an operation management control unit which performs a function of transmitting operation management information changed by an operator or information generated in the system to a corresponding packet forwarding module. Defining traffic to be simulated and generating a packet according to the defined traffic; Transmitting the generated packet to another adjacent node; Processing the packet according to the characteristics of the node in the adjacent node receiving the transmitted packet; And when the transmitted packet arrives at the final destination node, collecting and storing statistical data from the received packet. The method of claim 12, wherein And analyzing the statistical results of the simulation from the collected statistical data. The method of claim 12, wherein Reprocessing the received packet if the adjacent node receiving the packet is a control node; And transmitting the reprocessed packet back to another adjacent node. The method of claim 12, wherein When the adjacent node receiving the packet is a forwarding node, classifying the received packet by priority; And transmitting the packet classified according to the priority back to another adjacent node. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the packet comprises: Defining multiple logical ports on a single physical link, And defining traffic having different characteristics for each of the ports defined above. The method of claim 12, wherein the traffic is, Simulation method for verifying the operation of the control protocol, characterized in that generated by defining at least one of the packet generation characteristics, packet size, session duration, active and inactive time according to each type of service. The method of claim 12, wherein the traffic is, A simulation method for verifying the operation of a control protocol, characterized by using at least one of streaming audio, streaming video, plain web, PDF file, HD stream video, and routing protocol.

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