WO2015052869A1

WO2015052869A1 - Terminal device, terminal-device control method, and terminal-device control program

Info

Publication number: WO2015052869A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/004554
Authority: WO
Inventors: 秀一狩野; 才田　好則; 義和渡邊; 弦森田; 貴裕飯星
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2013-10-11
Filing date: 2014-09-04
Publication date: 2015-04-16

Abstract

This terminal device, in which communication networks to use in communication are selected from among a plurality of connected communication networks, is provided with a transmitting means (81) for transmitting instruction information to a selecting means for selecting communication networks on the basis of said instruction information, which includes the following: traffic-identifying information that identifies traffic; communication-network information that identifies a plurality of communication networks used to convey the traffic identified by the traffic-identifying information; and allocation information that includes the order in which to allocate flows to the plurality of communication networks and/or the frequency with which to allocate flows to the plurality of communication networks.

Description

Terminal device, terminal device control method, and terminal device control program

The present invention relates to a terminal device capable of communicating with the outside, a terminal device control method for controlling the terminal device, and a terminal device control program for controlling the terminal device.

Open flow (OpenFlow) is known as a protocol in which a control device controls a switch that transfers a packet. OpenFlow is defined in Non-Patent Document 1.

In open flow, the control device sets a flow entry in the switch. Then, the switch processes the received packet according to the flow entry. The flow entry is information that defines how to process a packet (for example, transfer, discard, etc.). The flow entry is set for each packet flow. When the switch receives a packet and there is a flow entry corresponding to the flow of the packet, the switch processes the packet according to the flow entry. On the other hand, when there is no flow entry corresponding to the flow of the received packet, the switch notifies the control device to that effect. Then, the control device determines a flow entry corresponding to the flow of the packet and sets it in the switch.

Examples of messages transmitted and received between the control device and the switch in OpenFlow include “Packet_in”, “Flow_mod”, “Packet_out”, and “Flow_removed”.

“Packet_in” is a message sent from the switch to the control device. “Packet_in” is used to send a packet for which no corresponding flow entry exists from the switch to the control device.

“Flow_mod” is a message sent from the control device to the switch. “Flow_mod” is a message for adding, changing, or deleting a flow entry from the control device to the switch.

“Packet_out” is a message sent from the control device to the switch. “Packet_out” is a message instructing packet output from the port.

“Flow_removed” is a message sent from the switch to the control device. “Flow_removed” is a message that notifies the control device when a flow entry is not used for a certain period of time and is deleted from the switch due to a timeout. When transmitting “Flow_removed”, the switch also transmits statistical information of the flow corresponding to the deleted flow entry to the control device.

In recent years, smartphones and the like are rapidly spreading as terminal devices that can communicate with the outside. These terminal devices are connected to a plurality of communication networks such as 3G (3rd generation) or Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity, registered trademark). Therefore, even when one communication network cannot be used, it is possible to perform communication using another communication network.

Furthermore, ECMP (Equal Cost Multi Multi Path) is known as a method of transferring packets using a plurality of routes to a single destination in order to distribute the network load. In ECMP, a hash operation is performed on the contents of a specific field in the packet header, and the packet is transferred to a route specified by the operation.

Further, Patent Document 1 describes a path control device that distributes transmission data to avoid congestion, delay, and packet loss. The route control device described in Patent Literature 1 creates a route state management table by collecting route quality information using packets for measuring network quality and referring to a network usage fee from a usage fee table. Furthermore, the route control device described in Patent Document 1 uses this route state management table to select a plurality of routes based on policies such as the number of routes to be used and parameters to be used that are set in advance. Create

JP 2005-57487 A

3G is a mobile phone network, has a wide range of wireless coverage, and has many base stations, so it can be used in most places. However, on the other hand, since the communication speed is slower than Wi-Fi, it is not very suitable for the use of application software (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) for performing communication such as moving images. In this way, it is desirable to be able to control the communication network according to the traffic so that an application that generates a lot of traffic does not put pressure on a specific circuit network.

A method of distributing traffic using ECMP described above is also conceivable. However, in ECMP, a method of statically mapping a route is used. For example, packets of the same flow are mapped to one specific route. In addition, in ECMP, a route is specified based on the contents of a packet header. For example, when an application transmits packets to a specific destination, traffic may be concentrated on the specific route. There is.

Further, in the above-described ECMP, there is a problem that the method of load distribution is limited, and the unit of traffic distributed to each communication network cannot be flexibly controlled.

In addition, the route control device described in Patent Document 1 creates a route state management table in which the next hop and path attributes for each destination network are arranged, and creates a selected route table based on the route state management table. . However, the route control device described in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that allocation of traffic to be distributed is determined. Therefore, no consideration is given to a control method for changing the already set selection route table and a control method when unset traffic is transmitted. Therefore, it cannot be said that the unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of communication networks can be flexibly controlled.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device, a terminal device control method, and a terminal device control program that can flexibly control a unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of connected communication networks.

The terminal device according to the present invention is a terminal device that selects a communication network to be used for communication from among a plurality of connected communication networks, and in response to a request from other means that cannot determine a communication network to be assigned to a flow. Traffic identification information for identifying traffic and communication for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by the traffic identification information as a selection means for selecting a communication network to be assigned to a flow based on instructed information A transmission means for transmitting instruction information including network information and distribution information including one or both of an order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks and a frequency of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks; Features.

A terminal device control method according to the present invention is a terminal device control method for performing control for selecting a communication network used for communication from among a plurality of communication networks connected to the terminal device, wherein the transmission means of the terminal device includes a flow Traffic identification information for identifying traffic to the selection means of its own terminal device that selects a communication network to be assigned to the flow based on instructed information in response to a request from other means that cannot determine the communication network to be assigned to Either communication network information for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by the traffic identification information, an order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, and a frequency of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, or Instruction information including distribution information including both is transmitted.

The terminal device control program according to the present invention includes a plurality of devices connected to a selection unit that selects a communication network to be allocated to the flow based on instructed information in response to a request from another unit that cannot determine the communication network to be allocated to the flow. A terminal device control program applied to a computer that performs control for selecting a communication network to be used for communication from among the above communication networks, the computer identifying traffic identification information for identifying traffic and the traffic identification information Distribution information including either or both of communication network information for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmitting traffic, an order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, and a frequency of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks A transmission process for transmitting the instruction information including the above to the selection means is executed.

According to the present invention, the unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of connected communication networks can be flexibly controlled.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of the terminal device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a policy typically. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of OFC2. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the information which the flow management part 24 manages. 3 is a block diagram showing details of a policy management unit 22. FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example of the terminal device 1. It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the terminal device by this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the control device in OpenFlow is referred to as OFC (OpenFlow Controller). Also, a switch in OpenFlow is referred to as OFS (OpenFlow Switch).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a terminal device of the present invention. The terminal device 1 of the present invention includes a communication control management unit 2, a control application unit 3, a packet transfer unit 4, a protocol processing unit 5, an application unit 6, and communication interface units 7a to 7n. The terminal device 1 is a device that is connected to a plurality of communication networks at the same time and communicates by appropriately using a communication network selected from the plurality of communication networks. As an example of the terminal device 1, a smart phone, a tablet-type portable terminal, etc. are mentioned, for example.

Each application unit 6 is realized by a CPU that operates according to each application installed in the terminal device 1. Each application unit 6 performs an operation according to the corresponding application.

The packet transfer unit 4 processes a packet that the application unit 6 intends to transmit to the outside according to the communication control management unit 2 (for example, transfers or discards the packet).

The communication control management unit 2 controls packet processing in the packet transfer unit 4 based on an instruction from the control application unit 3. In the present embodiment, a case where the communication control management unit 2 controls the packet transfer unit 4 according to an open flow will be described as an example. In other words, in the present embodiment, the communication control management unit 2 corresponds to the OFC in the open flow, and the packet transfer unit 4 corresponds to the OFS in the open flow. However, the communication control management unit 2 may control the packet transfer unit 4 with a protocol other than OpenFlow. Hereinafter, the communication control management unit 2 is referred to as OFC2. The packet transfer unit 4 is referred to as OFS4. OFC2 and OFS4 are realized by a CPU that operates according to a program. A program for realizing the function as the OFC 2 is called an OFC base.

When the terminal device 1 of the present embodiment is realized by an open flow, the OFS 4 requests the OFC 2 to assign a communication network to the flow when the communication network to be assigned to the flow cannot be determined. At this time, the OFC 2 selects a communication network to be assigned to the flow in response to a request from the OFS 4.

The control application unit 3 is realized by a CPU that operates according to control application software. Hereinafter, the control application software is referred to as a control application or a control APP (Application). The control application unit 3 sends instruction information indicating an instruction for the OFC 2 to the OFC 2. This instruction information is referred to as a policy. The contents of this policy will be described later.

The communication interface units 7a to 7n are communication interfaces corresponding to various types of communication such as 3G, LTE (Long Terminology Evolution), and Wi-Fi. Each of the communication interface units 7a to 7n is specifically identified as an OFS4 port. That is, it can be said that the terminal device 1 is connected to the plurality of communication networks.

The protocol processing unit 5 is realized by a CPU that operates according to a program. The protocol processing unit 5 provides a communication service for the application. The protocol processing unit 5 is a part in which protocols such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) used in the transmission path are implemented. The protocol processing unit 5 monitors whether or not each of the communication interface units 7a to 7n is usable, and notifies the monitoring result to the OFC 2 (specifically, a node state management unit 25 described later, see FIG. 3). . Further, the protocol processing unit 5 notifies the OFC 2 (specifically, a protocol state management unit 26 described later, see FIG. 3) of the own port number and the process ID (Identification) corresponding to the own port number. The self port number is a self port number such as TCP or UDP in each communication instructed by the application.

Each program for realizing the functions of the control application and OFC2, OFS4, and protocol processor 5 can be referred to as a terminal device control program. The terminal device control program is stored in a storage device (not shown) of the terminal device 1, and the CPU of the terminal device 1 reads the terminal device control program, and according to the program, OFC2, control application unit 3, OFS4, protocol processing unit 5 Works as.

The policy that the control application unit 3 sends to the OFC 2 will be described. The policy is instruction information for instructing an action according to the content of traffic. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a policy. The policy includes a search key used when searching for a policy and an action indicating an operation specified by the policy.

Information specifying traffic (hereinafter referred to as traffic identification information) is described as a search key. For example, an application ID is described as a search key. The application ID is an identifier of an application that transmits / receives the control target traffic within the terminal device. If the application ID is not specified in the policy, it is regarded as a wild card.

Further, for example, the identification information of the flow of the control target traffic may be described as a search key. The flow identification information includes, for example, an address and a port number. If the address or port number used as flow information is not specified, it is regarded as a wild card.

Also, the search key may include a priority. The priority indicates the priority of the policies when there are a plurality of policies corresponding to the common traffic. Therefore, when a plurality of policies are obtained as a result of the OFC 2 searching for a policy corresponding to a certain traffic, the OFC 2 finally uses only the policy with the highest priority among the policies as a search result.

The mode for specifying an action includes a mode for specifying a communication network of the traffic according to the traffic. In this aspect, a communication network (Wi-Fi, 3G, etc.) to which the terminal device 1 can be connected is designated. For example, when Wi-Fi is specified as an action in a policy corresponding to a certain traffic, the packet of the traffic is transmitted from the communication interface unit corresponding to Wi-Fi.

Also, as an aspect for specifying an action, there is an aspect in which whether or not to execute a predetermined operation is determined by a flag. As an example of the operation defined in advance, for example, an operation such as “when OFC 2 detects traffic designated by a policy, OFC 2 notifies the control application unit 3 to that effect”. Assume that the flag corresponding to this operation is set to ON in the policy. When the OFC 2 detects traffic and searches for this policy as a policy corresponding to the traffic, the OFC 2 executes the above-described operation specified by the flag. If this flag is set to OFF in the policy, the OFC 2 does not execute the above operation even if this policy is retrieved.

Also, as an aspect for specifying an action, there is an aspect for specifying a plurality of actions in association with each other. Specifically, as an aspect for specifying an action, an aspect for specifying a plurality of communication networks for the traffic described above and an operation for selecting one communication network from the communication networks as a predetermined operation are specified. is there. In this aspect, for example, when the OFC 2 detects traffic designated by the policy, one communication network is selected from a plurality of designated communication networks according to a predetermined operation.

The method of selecting a communication network is arbitrary, and for example, an action of processing a flow according to a round robin method may be designated as an action. In this case, the OFC 2 selects a plurality of designated communication networks in order each time a flow designated by the policy is detected. Furthermore, when a flow is processed by the round robin method, a ratio for distributing the flow to each communication network (hereinafter referred to as a distribution ratio) may be designated as an action. In this case, when the OFC 2 detects the flow designated by the policy, the OFC 2 selects each communication network at the designated distribution ratio. The policy may include one or both of the order of distributing flows to a plurality of communication networks and the distribution ratio (that is, frequency) of distributing flows to a plurality of communication networks. Hereinafter, information including one or both of the order and frequency of distributing a plurality of flows may be referred to as distribution information.

As described above, the OFC 2 controls packet processing in the OFS 4 based on an instruction from the control application unit 3. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the OFC 2 controls a communication network to which the OFS 4 transfers traffic based on an instruction from the control application unit 3. In other words, in the terminal device 1 of this embodiment, it can be said that the OFC 2 and OFS 4 have selected a communication network used for traffic transmission. Further, in the terminal device 1 of the present embodiment, it can be said that the control application unit 3 transmits a policy as information for the OFC 2 and OFS 4 to select a communication network.

Therefore, when allocating a flow to a plurality of communication networks based on a predetermined distribution ratio, the control application unit 3 assigns traffic identification information, a plurality of communication networks, and a distribution ratio indicating a ratio for distributing the flows to the plurality of communication networks. The policy including the ratio is transmitted to OFC2. The traffic identification information is information for identifying the traffic to be transmitted, and is, for example, a search key. The plurality of communication networks are communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by traffic identification information. In the present embodiment, for example, a port number for specifying the communication interface units 7a to 7n may be set in the designation of the communication network included in the policy.

In addition, the control application unit 3 may transmit information for identifying the operation for realizing the distribution ratio in the policy. For example, the round robin method may be designated as an operation for realizing the distribution ratio in the policy. In this case, the OFC 2 may select a communication network at a distribution ratio specified according to the round robin method. When the operation for realizing the distribution ratio is not specified, the OFC 2 may select the communication network with the specified distribution ratio according to a predetermined operation (for example, round robin method). When the distribution ratio can be specified only by the operation that realizes the distribution ratio, the control application unit 3 may transmit only the operation that realizes the distribution ratio without transmitting the distribution ratio.

Further, the control application unit 3 may include the application ID in the traffic identification information of the policy to be transmitted. By transmitting such a policy to the OFC 2, it becomes possible to distribute flows in units of applications.

Therefore, for example, it is assumed that the terminal device 1 connected to 3G and Wi-Fi wants to distribute the traffic from the web browser at a ratio of 1: 3. At this time, the control application unit 3 transmits to the OFC 2 a policy in which “Web browser” is set as the application ID of the search key, “3G, Wi-Fi” is set as the route specification, and “Distribution ratio 1: 3” is set as the flag specification. do it.

As described above, the terminal device 1 according to the present embodiment can flexibly control the unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of connected communication networks.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the details of OFC2. The OFC 2 includes an API management unit 21, a policy management unit 22, a statistical information management unit 23, a flow management unit 24, a node state management unit 25, and a protocol state management unit 26.

The API management unit 21 relays API calls from the control application unit 3 and responses from the OFC 2 side. For example, when the API management unit 21 receives a policy addition, change, or deletion notification from the control application unit 3, the API management unit 21 sends the notification to the policy management unit 22. When the policy management unit 22 transmits information to the control application unit 3, the API management unit 21 relays the information. For example, when the API management unit 21 receives a request for traffic statistical information from the control application unit 3, the API management unit 21 sends the request to the statistical information management unit 23. When the statistical information management unit 23 transmits statistical information to the control application unit 3 in response to the request, the API management unit 21 relays the statistical information.

The policy management unit 22 holds each policy sent from the control application unit 3. When a packet sent from OFS 4 together with “Packet_in” to OFC 2 (a packet for which no matching flow entry exists in OFS 4) is acquired, a policy corresponding to the packet is searched and determined by the searched policy. Execute the specified operation.

The statistical information management unit 23 holds statistical information sent from the OFS 4.

The flow management unit 24 performs communication with the OFS 4 and manages information related to the flow entry set in the OFS 4. When the flow management unit 24 receives a packet (packet for which no matching flow entry exists in OFS 4) together with “Packet_in” from the OFS 4, the flow management unit 24 sends the packet to the policy management unit 22. Further, when “Flow_removed” is received, the flow management unit 24 sends the statistical information received from the OFS 4 together with “Flow_removed” to the statistical information management unit 23. When the policy management unit 22 creates a flow entry according to the policy, the flow management unit 24 generates a flow entry to be set for the OFS 4 and transmits the flow entry to the OFS 4.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of information managed by the flow management unit 24. Each piece of information managed by the flow management unit 24 is generated for each flow entry set in the OFS 4. Each piece of information managed by the flow management unit 24 includes a search key for searching for each piece of information. The search key describes the flow flow identification information controlled by the flow entry. As already described, the flow identification information includes, for example, an address and a port number. If the address or port number used as flow information is not specified, it is regarded as a wild card. The search key also includes the policy ID used when setting the flow entry. Further, each information managed by the flow management unit 24 also describes an action set in the flow entry.

The node state management unit 25 acquires information indicating whether or not each communication interface unit 7a to 7n (see FIG. 1) is usable from the protocol processing unit 5 and holds it. The policy management unit 22 (specifically, an action selection unit 224, which will be described later, see FIG. 5) refers to this information to determine whether or not each communication interface unit 7a to 7n is usable. To do. The policy management unit 22 (specifically, the action selection unit 224) stops the creation of a flow entry that defines packet transmission from the communication interface when the communication interface to which the packet is to be transmitted cannot be used.

The protocol state management unit 26 holds information representing the correspondence between the packet flow information and the application ID (application identifier). Here, a case where a port number is used as the flow information of a packet will be described as an example. The protocol state management unit 26 acquires a port number and a process ID from the protocol processing unit 5 (see FIG. 1). The protocol state management unit 26 creates information in which a UID (User ID) corresponding to the process ID is associated with an application ID corresponding to the UID, and holds the information. As a result, the flow information (port number) and the application ID are associated with each other, and the application ID can be searched from the flow information. However, the mode in which the protocol state management unit 26 holds information indicating the correspondence between the flow information and the application ID is not particularly limited, and may not be the above mode.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of the policy management unit 22. The policy management unit 22 includes a policy table storage unit 221, a policy entry management unit 222, a policy search unit 223, and an action selection unit 224.

The policy table storage unit 221 is a storage device (for example, a memory) that stores policies.

When the policy entry management unit 222 receives a policy addition, change, or deletion notification from the control application unit 3 via the API management unit 21, the policy entry management unit 222 updates the policy in the policy table storage unit 221 according to the notification. For example, the policy entry management unit 222 newly stores the policy in the policy table storage unit 221, changes the contents of the policy stored in the policy table storage unit 221, or is stored in the policy table storage unit 221. Or delete existing policies.

When a packet is sent from the flow management unit 24, the policy search unit 223 causes the protocol state management unit 26 to search for an application ID corresponding to the flow information using the flow information (port number in this example) of the packet as a key. . The protocol state management unit 26 returns the searched application ID to the policy search unit 223. This application ID is the application ID that is the source of the packet. The policy search unit 223 searches the policy table storage unit 221 for a policy using this application ID as a key.

The action selection unit 224 executes an action defined by the policy searched by the policy search unit 223.

Specifically, when a plurality of communication networks and distribution ratios of the communication networks are included in the action defined by the searched policy, the action selection unit 224 sets the searched distribution ratio to Accordingly, traffic is distributed to a plurality of communication networks. At this time, the action selection unit 224 may distribute traffic based on, for example, a round robin method. Further, when the action defined by the searched policy includes an operation for realizing the distribution ratio, the action selection unit 224 may distribute the traffic according to the operation.

Further, the action selection unit 224 inquires of the node state management unit 25 whether or not the communication network is usable, and when the selected communication network is usable, the action selection unit 224 distributes the flow to the selected communication network. May be. In other words, the action selection unit 224 may use the communication network as a transmission path when the simultaneously connected communication network is available.

In this way, for example, once “3G, Wi-Fi” is specified for action routing, both communication networks can be selected when both 3G and Wi-Fi communication networks are available. In a state where only one communication network is usable, only the usable communication network can be selected. Thus, by not setting a complicated policy according to the availability of the communication network, it is not necessary to re-enter the policy following the change in the connection status, so that convenience can be improved. Also, with such settings, the time required for complicated control processing can be suppressed, and unintended communication control can be prevented from occurring.

The action selection unit 224 records the latest communication network to which the flow is distributed as a history, and distributes the flow to each communication network so that the most recent distribution history approaches the specified distribution ratio. Good. Further, the action selection unit 224 may record the number of times the flow is distributed to each communication network, and distribute the flow to each communication network so that the number of times approaches the distribution ratio specified by the action. . Specifically, the OFC 2 counts the number of entries whose period has not expired among the past flow entries notified to the OFS 4 and distributes each communication network (also referred to as a utilization rate). May be obtained.

Furthermore, the action selection unit 224 may reset the number of times the flow has been allocated when the state changes from a state where some of the communication networks cannot be used to a usable state. By doing in this way, it can suppress that communication concentrates on the communication network recovered in order to implement | achieve a distribution ratio.

Note that the action selection unit 224 may use the current flow rate for each communication network as the distribution ratio. In this case, for example, the action selection unit 224 may calculate the flow rate from the statistical value of the flow entry of the OFS 4.

Further, the action selection unit 224 may notify the control application unit 3 according to the policy searched by the policy search unit 223.

Next, the operation of the terminal device of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example of the terminal device 1 of the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the terminal device 1 is simultaneously connected to two communication networks, Wi-Fi and Cellular, which is a public wireless communication network. Further, in FIG. 6, the content of the policy sent from the control application unit 3 to the OFC 2 is shown surrounded by a broken line.

The control application unit 3 transmits a policy to the OFC base (that is, OFC 2) and instructs the addition of the transmitted policy (step S1). In the example shown in FIG. 6, the control application unit 3 sets “APP1” in the application ID that is a part of the search key, “Wi-Fi, Cellular” in the route designation that is part of the action, and “ A policy in which the order “RR” and the ratio (frequency) “1: 1” are set is transmitted to the OFC 2.

When the policy is received, the OFC 2 (specifically, the policy entry management unit 222) updates the content of the policy table storage unit 221 with the content of the received policy.

For example, the control application unit 3 may transmit a policy input to the user of the terminal device 1 or may transmit a policy given in advance by a mobile carrier or the like.

Thereafter, the application unit 6 (in this example, referred to as APP1) transmits a packet directed to the outside to the OFS 4 (step S2). If the received packet does not match the flow entry, the OFS 4 transmits the packet to the OFC 2 together with “Packet_in” (step S3).

The OFC 2 (specifically, the policy search unit 223) searches the policy table storage unit 221 for a policy corresponding to the received packet. Since the transmission source application of the packet transmitted in step S2 is APP1, the policy added in step S1 is searched. Therefore, OFC2 (specifically, action selection unit 224) assigns Wi-Fi and Cellular, which are communication networks, to flows at a ratio of 1: 1 based on the round robin method. In this case, the OFC 2 (specifically, the action selection unit 224) first determines the communication network to be assigned to the flow as Wi-Fi.

OFC2 (specifically, flow management unit 24) creates a flow entry that stipulates that Wi-Fi is used as a communication network for the flow of the received packet in accordance with the searched policy. In the present embodiment, since the port of the OFS 4 is directly connected to each interface of the terminal device 1, any output port is designated as the action of the flow entry. The OFC 2 (specifically, the flow management unit 24) transmits “Flow_mod” and “Packet_out” specifying the flow entry to the OFS 4 (step S4).

The OFS 4 that has received “Packet_out” causes the packet to be output from the communication interface unit connected to the Wi-Fi (step S5). The OFS 4 holds the received flow entry.

Thereafter, when the OFS 4 receives the same packet as the flow of the stored flow entry (Step S6), the OFS 4 selects Wi-Fi from the communication network based on the flow entry, and the packet is connected to the Wi-Fi. The process of outputting from the communication interface unit is repeated (step S7).

Thereafter, it is assumed that the application unit 6 transmits a packet of another flow to the OFS 4 (step S8). If the received packet does not match the flow entry, the OFS 4 transmits the packet to the OFC 2 together with “Packet_in” (step S9).

The OFC 2 (specifically, the policy search unit 223) searches the policy table storage unit 221 for a policy corresponding to the received packet. As in step S2, since the transmission source application of the packet transmitted in step S8 is APP1, the policy added in step S1 is searched. Therefore, the OFC 2 (specifically, the action selection unit 224) determines the next communication network to be assigned to the flow as Cellular.

OFC2 (specifically, the flow management unit 24) creates a flow entry that stipulates that the cellular is used as a communication network for the received packet flow in accordance with the searched policy. The OFC 2 (specifically, the flow management unit 24) transmits “Flow_mod” and “Packet_out” specifying the flow entry to the OFS 4 (step S10).

The OFS 4 that has received “Packet_out” outputs the packet from the communication interface unit connected to the Cellular (step S11). The OFS 4 holds the received flow entry.

Thereafter, when the OFS 4 receives the same packet as the flow of the stored flow entry (step S12), the OFS 4 selects Cellular from the communication network based on the flow entry, and the packet is transmitted from the communication interface unit connected to the Cellular. The process of outputting is repeated (step S13).

Furthermore, after that, when the application unit 6 transmits a packet of another flow to the OFS 4, the same processing as steps S2 to S5 for selecting Wi-Fi as the communication network is repeated (steps S14 to S17).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the control application unit 3 transmits to the OFC 2 a policy including traffic identification information, a plurality of communication networks, and distribution information for the plurality of communication networks. Therefore, the OFC 2 distributes traffic based on the transmitted policy. That is, the terminal device 1 can flexibly control the unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of connected communication networks. Specifically, according to the present embodiment, the terminal device 1 can select a communication network used by traffic from a plurality of communication networks based on a plurality of conditions such as an application and destination of a packet transmission source.

For example, in a general load distribution method, when a plurality of communication networks are connected at the same time, a method for distributing the communication networks has been limited. Also, with a general load balancing method, it is impossible to specify a distribution ratio to distribute communication networks, or to distribute communication networks individually for each source application, so it cannot be said that convenience is high. It was. Furthermore, in such a general method, since a distribution method is determined statically, it is not assumed that control is performed by transmitting information necessary for distribution in the first place.

However, in this embodiment, the control application unit 3 transmits the policy to the OFC 2 that selects the communication network based on the instructed information (specifically, to the OFC 2 that instructs the OFS 4 to select the communication network). To do. This policy includes a distribution ratio for allocating communication for each flow and application information of a transmission source as a distribution target. Therefore, the OFC 2 can flexibly control the communication network to be used based on the distribution ratio, the communication network to be used, and the application simply by changing this policy (that is, instructing the policy setting).

In this embodiment, since traffic is transmitted using a plurality of communication networks, more bandwidth can be allocated for traffic transmission than when a single communication network is used.

In the present embodiment, traffic belonging to a single flow is transmitted using a specific single communication network, and is not distributed over a plurality of communication networks. If traffic belonging to a single flow is to be distributed and transmitted to a plurality of communication networks, a device for dividing and aggregating the traffic is required on the network side. In this embodiment, since the communication network is selected based on the flow granularity, there is also an effect that it is not necessary to separately set a device on the network side.

Next, an outline of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an outline of a terminal device according to the present invention. A terminal apparatus according to the present invention is a terminal apparatus (for example, terminal apparatus 1) that selects a communication network to be used for communication from a plurality of connected communication networks (for example, 3G, Wi-Fi). Traffic identifying traffic to selection means (for example, OFC2) that selects a communication network to be allocated to the flow in response to a request from another means (for example, OFS4) that cannot determine the communication network to be allocated Identification information (for example, a search key), communication network information for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by the traffic identification information (for example, “route designation” illustrated in FIG. 2), and The order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks (for example, round robin method) and the frequency of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks (for example, Instruction information including a distribution information including either or both of the distribution ratio) (for example, a transmission unit 81 for transmitting a policy) (e.g., control application unit 3).

With such a configuration, the unit of traffic transmitted from a plurality of connected communication networks can be flexibly controlled.

Further, the transmission unit 81 assigns application identification information (for example, application ID) that identifies an application that is a transmission source of a packet in traffic as traffic identification information and a flow that uses an application identified by the application identification information as a transmission source. And instruction information including distribution information including either or both of the frequency and the frequency may be transmitted to the selection means.

According to such a configuration, the communication network to be used can be distributed in units of applications that generate traffic.

Further, the transmission unit 81 may transmit the instruction information specifying the operation for distributing the flow to each communication network to the selection unit. Specifically, the transmission unit 81 may transmit the instruction information specifying the round robin method to the selection unit as the order in which the flows are distributed to the respective communication networks. According to such a configuration, a method for selecting a communication network to be used can be flexibly controlled.

Note that the selection means may select a communication network based on the received instruction information.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated with reference to embodiment and an Example, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment and Example. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-2104026 filed on Oct. 11, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

1 Terminal device 2 Communication control manager (OFC)
3 Control application part 4 Packet transfer part (OFS)
5 Protocol processing unit 6 Application unit 7 Communication interface unit 21 API management unit 22 Policy management unit 23 Statistics information management unit 24 Flow management unit 25 Node state management unit 26 Protocol state management unit 221 Policy table storage unit 222 Policy entry management unit 223 Policy Search unit 224 Action selection unit

Claims

A terminal device for selecting a communication network used for communication from a plurality of connected communication networks,
Traffic identification information for identifying traffic and selection information for selecting a communication network to be assigned to the flow based on instructed information in response to a request from another means that cannot determine the communication network to be assigned to the flow, and the traffic identification information Including communication network information for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by, an order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, and a frequency of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, or both of them. A terminal device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits instruction information including distribution information.
The transmission means includes either or both of application identification information for identifying an application that is a transmission source of a packet in traffic as traffic identification information, and an order and a frequency for distributing a flow having an application identified by the application identification information as a transmission source. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the instruction information including the distribution information including is transmitted to the selection unit.
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits instruction information specifying an operation of distributing a flow to each communication network to the selection unit.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transmission unit transmits instruction information designating a round robin method to the selection unit as an order of allocating flows to each communication network.
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a communication network based on the received instruction information.
A terminal device control method for performing control for selecting a communication network used for communication from a plurality of communication networks connected to a terminal device,
The transmission means of the terminal device selects the communication network to be assigned to the flow based on the instructed information in response to a request from another means that cannot determine the communication network to be assigned to the flow. Identifying traffic identification information, communication network information identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by the traffic identification information, order of distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, and the plurality of communication networks A terminal apparatus control method comprising: transmitting instruction information including distribution information including either or both of the frequency of distributing flows to each other.
Either or both of the application identification information for identifying the transmission source application of the packet in the traffic as the traffic identification information, and the order and / or the frequency of distributing the flow having the application identified by the application identification information as the traffic identification information. The terminal device control method according to claim 6, wherein the instruction information including the distribution information including is transmitted to the selection unit.
Used for communication among a plurality of connected communication networks as a selection means for selecting a communication network to be assigned to the flow based on instructed information in response to a request from another means that cannot determine the communication network to be assigned to the flow. A terminal device control program applied to a computer that performs control to select a communication network to be selected,
In the computer,
Traffic identification information for identifying traffic, communication network information for identifying a plurality of communication networks used for transmission of traffic specified by the traffic identification information, an order for distributing flows to the plurality of communication networks, and the plurality of communications A terminal device control program for executing transmission processing for transmitting instruction information including distribution information including one or both of the frequencies of distributing flows to the network.
On the computer,
In the transmission process, either or both of application identification information for identifying an application that is a transmission source of a packet in traffic as traffic identification information, and an order and / or frequency of distributing a flow having an application identified by the application identification information as a transmission source The terminal device control program according to claim 8, wherein instruction information including distribution information is transmitted to the selection unit.