CN104253698B

CN104253698B - The processing method and equipment of message multicast

Info

Publication number: CN104253698B
Application number: CN201310270820.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郝卫国; 夏寅贲; 王闯; 杨涛; 杨坚
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-06-29
Filing date: 2013-06-29
Publication date: 2018-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2033-06-29
Also published as: CN108632147B; CN108632147A; CN104253698A

Abstract

The embodiment of the present invention provides a kind of processing method and equipment of message multicast, and this method includes：The multicast message that reception source edge network is sent, the multicast message include the original message in multicast information and virtual subnet；At least one purpose edge network is determined according to the multicast information；The original message is sent at least one purpose edge network by multicast replication mode, so that original message described in each purpose edge network to the first terminal multicast of the corresponding virtual subnet.The processing method and equipment of the message multicast are by concentrating the multicast message that copy-point is sent to source edge network to carry out forward process, and multicast message is sent to purpose edge network according to multicast information, realize the multicast of message, reduce the network burden of edge network, the efficiency of message multicast is improved, beneficial to the communication performance of lifting network.

Description

Message multicast processing method and device

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a method and equipment for processing message multicast.

Background

Large data center networks are typically required to support multiple tenants, with traffic isolation between each tenant so that traffic of one tenant is not seen by another tenant. In order to implement this tenant-based traffic isolation, an emerging method currently employs an overlay network (overlay) based network virtualization technology. Conventionally, VXLAN (Virtual extensible local area networks), NVGRE (Network Virtual routing encapsulation) are two typical technologies for implementing such overlay networks, where vnid (Virtual Network identifier) may represent a Virtual Network identification number, and in NVGRE technology, vsid (Virtual Wall Security identifier) may represent a Virtual Network identification number; take VXLAN as an example, wherein a virtual subnet of a tenant uses a corresponding virtual network identification number VNID for traffic isolation. Each terminal in a virtual subnet, such as TES (Tenant End System), is connected to an edge Network element (NVE), and when a terminal needs to multicast a message to other terminals in the same virtual subnet, it needs to copy and forward through the edge Network element; for example, a terminal 1 is connected to an edge network element 1, a terminal 2 in the same virtual subnet is connected to the edge network element 2, and a terminal 3 is connected to the edge network element 3, so that when the terminal 1 multicasts a message to the terminal 2 and the terminal 3, the edge network element 1 copies a broadcast message into two parts, and sends the two copied broadcast messages to the edge network element 2 and the edge network element 3 after respectively encapsulating the outer layer of a unicast tunnel, wherein the destination IP (Internet Protocol) address of the outer layer of the unicast tunnel is the IP address of each destination edge network element, that is, the IP addresses of the outer layers of the tunnel of the two copied broadcast messages are the IP address of the edge network element 2 and the IP address of the edge network element 3, and in addition, the virtual network identification number of the outer layer of the tunnel corresponds to the virtual subnet to which the terminal 1, the terminal 2, and the terminal 3 belong; and then the edge network element 2 and the edge network element 3 decapsulate the outer layer message of the encapsulation tunnel to obtain an original broadcast message, and send the broadcast message to respective local terminals according to the virtual network identification number, that is, the edge network element 2 sends the broadcast message to the terminal 2, the edge network element 3 sends the broadcast message to the terminal 3, and the terminal 1 multicast messages to the terminal 2 and the terminal 3 in the same virtual subnet is completed. The edge network element also has a similar sending mode for other messages in the virtual subnet.

With the continuous expansion of network scale, network deployment is more and more complex, when the method is used for packet multicast in a virtual subnet, a source edge network element (such as the edge network element 1) needs to copy a large number of packets, and a unicast tunnel outer layer (such as a unicast tunnel outer layer) needs to be respectively encapsulated for each packet obtained by copying, so that the network burden of the edge network element is too heavy, the multicast efficiency of the packet is affected, and the communication performance of the network is not favorably improved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a message multicast processing method and device, which are used for optimizing a message multicast process and improving network communication performance.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for processing a packet multicast, including:

receiving a multicast message sent by a source edge network element, wherein the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message in a virtual subnet;

determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information;

and sending the original message to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication mode so that each destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the first terminal corresponding to the virtual subnet.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation manner, the determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information includes:

learning multicast information carried by the outer layer of a first unicast tunnel of the multicast message, and acquiring an original message; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

and searching a local multicast forwarding table according to the virtual network identification number, and determining the IP address of the network interconnection protocol of at least one destination edge network element.

With reference to the first implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second implementation manner, the sending the original packet to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner includes:

copying the original message to obtain at least one original message with the same number as the target edge network element;

and according to the IP address of each destination edge network element, sending each original message to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel.

With reference to the first aspect, in a third implementation manner, the determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information includes:

acquiring an original message encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel according to the multicast message;

learning multicast information carried on the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, wherein the multicast information is a multicast group IP address;

and searching a local multicast forwarding table according to the multicast group IP address, and determining the IP address of at least one destination edge network element.

With reference to the third implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation manner, the sending, by a multicast replication manner, the original packet to at least one destination edge network element includes:

copying the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to obtain at least one original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, the number of which is the same as that of the target edge network elements;

and respectively sending the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulated destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

With reference to the second or fourth implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth implementation manner, the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel is forwarded to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel through encapsulation, and is sent to an upper layer centralized replication point, so that the upper layer centralized replication point sends the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the at least one first centralized replication point.

With reference to any one implementation manner of the first aspect to the fifth implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth implementation manner, before receiving a multicast packet sent by a source edge network element, the processing method further includes:

receiving management information issued by a centralized management device, wherein the management information comprises at least two items of information:

virtual subnet information, edge network element IP address information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; an incidence relation exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information except the item of information;

generating a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

receiving the notification information of each edge network element by the notification information through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and generating a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information and the notification information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for processing packet multicast, including:

receiving an original message sent by a second terminal in the virtual subnet;

sending a multicast message to a centralized replication point according to the original message, so that at least one target edge network element multicasts the original message to a first terminal corresponding to the virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and the original message, and the multicast information is determined according to management information.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first implementation manner, the sending a multicast packet to a centralized replication point according to the original packet includes:

encapsulating the original message into a first unicast tunnel outer layer to obtain the multicast message, wherein the first unicast tunnel outer layer carries a virtual network identification number serving as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to the virtual subnet;

and sending the multicast message to the centralized replication point.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second implementation manner, the sending a multicast packet to a centralized replication point according to the original packet includes:

encapsulating the original message into an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, wherein the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

packaging the original message packaged with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel into the outer layer of a second unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast message;

and sending the multicast message to a centralized replication point.

With reference to the second aspect to any one of the second implementation manners of the second aspect, in a third implementation manner, before receiving an original packet sent by a local terminal, the processing method further includes:

virtual subnet information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; an incidence relation exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information except the item of information;

sending notice information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and generating a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a centralized replication point, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving a multicast message sent by a source edge network element, wherein the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message in a virtual subnet;

a determining module, configured to determine at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information;

and the sending module is used for sending the original message to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication mode so that each destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the first terminal corresponding to the virtual subnet.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first implementation manner, the determining module is specifically configured to learn multicast information carried in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel of the multicast packet, and obtain an original packet; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

With reference to the first embodiment of the third aspect, in a second embodiment, the sending module specifically includes:

a copying unit, configured to copy the original packet to obtain at least one original packet with the same number as that of the target edge network element;

and the sending unit is used for sending each original message to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

With reference to the third aspect, in a third embodiment, the determining module is specifically configured to obtain, according to the multicast packet, an original packet encapsulating an outer layer of a multicast tunnel;

With reference to the third embodiment of the third aspect, in a fourth embodiment, the copying unit is further configured to copy the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, and obtain at least one original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, where the number of the original packets is the same as that of the destination edge network element;

and the sending unit is further configured to send the original packet, which is encapsulated in the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

With reference to the second or fourth implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth implementation manner, the determining module further determines an IP address of at least one first centralized replication point according to the multicast information,

the sending module is further configured to forward the original packet or the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel through encapsulation, and send the original packet or the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the upper layer centralized replication point, so that the upper layer centralized replication point sends the original packet or the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the at least one first centralized replication point.

With reference to any one embodiment of the third to fifth aspects, in a sixth embodiment,

the receiving module is further configured to receive management information issued by the centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information:

the centralized replication point further comprises:

the generating module is used for generating a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the receiving module is used for receiving the notification information of each edge network element through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and the generating module is also used for generating a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an edge network element, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving an original message sent by a second terminal in the virtual subnet;

a sending module, configured to send a multicast packet to a centralized replication point according to the original packet, so that at least one destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to a first terminal corresponding to the virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and the original message, and the multicast information is determined according to management information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first implementation manner, the sending module specifically includes:

and the encapsulating unit is used for encapsulating the original message into an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast message, wherein the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number serving as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to the virtual subnet.

And the sending unit is used for sending the multicast message to the centralized replication point.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a second implementation manner, the encapsulating unit is further configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, where the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

the sending unit is further configured to send the multicast packet to a centralized replication point.

With reference to any one implementation manner of the fourth aspect to the second implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third implementation manner, the receiving module is configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information:

the edge network element further comprises a generating module, and the generating module generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the sending module is used for sending notification information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol between the sending module and the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and the generating module generates a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information.

The method and the device for processing the message multicast provided by the embodiment of the invention have the advantages that the concentrated replication point is introduced to forward the multicast message sent by the source edge network element by the concentrated replication point, and the multicast message is sent to the target edge network element according to the multicast information, so that the message multicast is realized, the network load of the edge network element is reduced, the message multicast efficiency is improved, and the network communication performance is favorably improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a method for processing packet multicast according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of a message multicast processing method according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a signaling diagram of a third embodiment of a processing method for multicast packets in the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a signaling diagram of a fourth embodiment of a processing method for multicast packets in the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first network architecture according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second network architecture according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a third network architecture according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a centralized replication point;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a centralized replication point;

fig. 11 is a diagram of a first embodiment of an edge network element according to the present invention;

fig. 12 is a diagram of a second embodiment of an edge network element according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of a centralized replication point in accordance with the present invention;

fig. 14 is a structural diagram of a third embodiment of an edge network element according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a method for processing packet multicast according to the present invention. The method of this embodiment may be executed by a centralized replication point, which is a centralized overlay multicast replication device. As shown in fig. 1, the method includes:

s101, receiving a multicast message sent by a source edge network element.

The multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message in a virtual subnet, wherein the original message is sent to an edge network element by a terminal managed by the edge network element, and the terminal can be TES; for example, when the terminal 1 needs to send a multicast message to other terminals in the same virtual subnet, such as the terminal 10 and the terminal 11, the terminal 1 needs to forward the multicast message through the edge network element of the management terminal 1, where the edge network element of the management terminal 1 is a source edge network element, and correspondingly, the edge network element of the other terminals, such as the terminal 10 and the terminal 11, is a destination edge network element with respect to the source edge network element. Further, when the source edge network element forwards the multicast message, the multicast message needs to be sent through a centralized replication point. The multicast message received by the centralized replication point is obtained by tunnel encapsulation of the original message in the virtual subnet according to a tunnel protocol; for convenience of description in this embodiment, tunnel encapsulation performed on an original packet is referred to as encapsulating an outer layer of a tunnel, so as to obtain a multicast packet, and multicast information is carried on the outer layer of the tunnel.

And S102, determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information.

When the centralized replication point decapsulates the tunnel outer layer of the multicast message, the centralized replication point can learn a virtual network identification number carried by the tunnel outer layer, and acquire multicast information according to the virtual network identification number, wherein the multicast information comprises an IP address of at least one destination edge network element; or the centralized replication point obtains the multicast group IP address after decapsulating the tunnel outer layer of the multicast message, and obtains the multicast information including the IP address of at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast group IP address.

S103, sending the original message to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication mode.

After the IP address of the at least one destination edge network element obtained in S102 is obtained, the original packet is sent to each destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner, so that each destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet, where the first terminal is a local terminal of the destination edge network element, and the multicast replication manner includes replicating, repackaging, and the like the IP address of the original packet facing the at least one destination edge network element.

In this embodiment, by introducing the centralized replication point, the centralized replication point forwards the multicast packet sent by the source edge network element, and sends the multicast packet to the destination edge network element according to the multicast information, so as to implement multicast of the packet, reduce the network load of the edge network element, improve the efficiency of packet multicast, and facilitate improvement of the communication performance of the network.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of a message multicast processing method according to the present invention. The method of this embodiment may be performed by an edge network element. As shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

s201, receiving an original message sent by a second terminal in the virtual subnet.

The edge network element may manage a plurality of local terminals, each local terminal may belong to a different virtual subnet, and one terminal in the same virtual subnet may multicast an original packet to a terminal managed by another edge network element through the edge network element as a manager, and receive the edge network element of the original packet sent by the terminal.

S202, sending the multicast message to the centralized replication point according to the original message.

Because the source edge network element as the sender needs to multicast the original message through the centralized replication point, at least one destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message; specifically, an original packet may be encapsulated in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain a multicast packet, where the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number as multicast information, where the virtual network identification number corresponds to the virtual subnet, and then the multicast packet is sent to the centralized replication point; or,

encapsulating an original message into an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, wherein the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

packaging the original message packaged with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel into the outer layer of a second unicast tunnel to obtain a multicast message; and then sending the multicast message to a centralized replication point.

And enabling at least one target edge network element to multicast the original message to the first terminal in the corresponding virtual subnet through the centralized replication point.

It should be noted that, when the centralized management device deploys the network, the corresponding relationship between the virtual subnet and the multicast information is preset; the edge network element receives the original message sent by the terminal and judges the virtual subnet to which the terminal belongs, so that the outer layer of the tunnel carries the corresponding multicast information. Specifically, the multicast information is determined according to a local multicast forwarding table, where the local multicast forwarding table is generated according to management information issued by a centralized management device; or generated by a signaling protocol with the centralized replication point; for example, it is preset that the virtual subnet 1 corresponds to the multicast Group IP address Group1, the edge network element receives the original message sent by the terminal, and determines that the virtual subnet to which the terminal belongs is the virtual subnet 1, so that the multicast Group IP address carried in the outer layer of the tunnel is Group 1.

In this embodiment, by introducing the centralized replication point, the source edge network element sends the multicast packet to the centralized replication point, and the centralized replication point sends the multicast packet to at least one destination edge network element, so that the centralized replication point bears the replication burden in the packet multicast process, the network burden of the edge network element is reduced, the packet multicast efficiency is improved, and the network communication performance is favorably improved.

Fig. 3 is a signaling diagram of a third embodiment of a method for processing packet multicast according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, this embodiment combines the first embodiment and the second embodiment to further describe the processing method of packet multicast, where the method includes:

s301, the source edge network element receives the original message sent by the second terminal.

The second terminal is a local terminal managed by the source edge network element, and the original message sent by the second terminal is used for multicasting information to other terminals (i.e. the first terminal managed by the destination edge network element) in the same virtual subnet.

S302, the source edge network element obtains the multicast message according to the original message.

The source edge network element may encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast packet, where the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel may be an outer layer of a unicast overlay tunnel, the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number as multicast information, and the edge network element may determine, according to management information issued by the centralized management device, that the destination IP address is an IP address of a centralized replication point, where the virtual network identification number corresponds to a virtual subnet.

S303, the source edge network element sends the multicast message to the centralized replication point.

The source edge network element sends the multicast message to a centralized replication point corresponding to the centralized replication point IP address according to the centralized replication point IP address; it can be understood that, when the centralized replication point receives the multicast packet sent by the source edge network element, it needs to search the unicast routing forwarding table through a plurality of intermediate devices in the network according to the IP address of the centralized replication point to transmit the multicast packet to the centralized replication point, where the intermediate devices may be top-of-rack switches and the like. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture in the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, a plurality of intermediate devices exist between the centralized replication point and the edge network element, and the source edge network element and the destination edge network element are edge network elements having the same function in this embodiment, and in order to describe the transmission direction of the multicast packet, the edge network element is distinguished from the source edge network element, so that any one of the edge network elements 1, 2, and 3 in fig. 4 may be the source edge network element or the destination edge network element in this embodiment according to the transmission direction of the multicast packet, and correspondingly, the terminal connected to each edge network element is also the first terminal or the second terminal according to the transmission direction of the multicast packet.

S304, the centralized replication point acquires multicast information according to the multicast message.

Because the protocol field of the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel (i.e. the outer layer of the unicast tunnel) indicates that the outer layer of the tunnel is the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel, the centralized copy point can learn that the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel of the multicast message carries multicast information according to the outer layer protocol of the first unicast tunnel, and obtain the original message by decapsulation, wherein the multicast information is a virtual network identification number.

S305, the centralized replication point determines at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information.

The centralized replication point searches a local multicast forwarding table according to the virtual network identification number, and determines the IP address of the network interconnection protocol of at least one destination edge network element. The local multicast forwarding table is also used for generating the local multicast forwarding table for determining the destination address according to the management information issued in advance by the centralized management equipment.

S306, the centralized replication point sends the original message to the destination edge network element.

The centralized replication point obtains an original message in S305, and replicates the original message to obtain at least one original message with the same number as that of the target edge network elements; and then, according to the IP address of each destination edge network element, sending each original packet to each destination edge network element through an outer layer of an encapsulated destination unicast tunnel, where the outer layer of the destination unicast tunnel may be an outer layer of a unicast overlay tunnel or an outer layer of a unicast GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunnel. It can be understood that, in order to multicast the original packet to the local terminal by the destination edge network element, the virtual network identification number on the outer layer of the destination unicast tunnel still corresponds to the virtual subnet.

S307, the destination edge network element acquires the original message.

And the destination edge network element obtains the original message by decapsulating the outer layer of the destination unicast tunnel and learns the virtual network identification number on the outer layer of the tunnel.

And S308, the destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the first terminal.

And the destination edge network element sends the original message to the local terminal managed by the destination edge network element, namely the first terminal, according to the virtual network identification number, so that the multicast of the message is realized.

It should be noted that the local multicast forwarding table of the centralized replication point records the IP address of each edge network element corresponding to the virtual network identification number, that is, the IP address includes the IP address of the source edge network element, but the centralized replication point supports the source port pruning function, that is, when the centralized replication point copies and forwards the original packet to the edge network element, the forwarding to the source edge network element is not performed, that is, the destination edge network element in this embodiment does not include the source edge network element in S302.

It should be added that, before executing the processing method of the packet multicast in this embodiment, the centralized replication point and the edge network element respectively receive the management information sent by the centralized management device; the management information includes at least two items of information:

virtual subnet information, edge network element IP address information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; wherein an association relationship exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information other than the item of information; the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or, through the signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element, the notification information of each edge network element is obtained; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet; if the multicast information may be a virtual network identification number in this embodiment, the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information. For example, if the local multicast forwarding entry generated by the centralized replication point 1 according to the association relationship between the virtual subnet and the edge network element includes the correspondence between the virtual network identification number corresponding to the virtual subnet and the edge network element, the centralized replication point may learn, according to the virtual network identification number 3000 on the multicast packet, that 3000 corresponds to the IP address of the destination edge network element 2 by querying the local multicast forwarding table, and then forward the received multicast packet to the destination edge network element 2.

For an edge network element, receiving management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two items of information: virtual subnet information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; an incidence relation exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information except the item of information; the edge network element generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or, the notification information is sent to the centralized replication point through a signaling Protocol with the centralized replication point, such as BGP (border gateway Protocol); the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and a multicast group IP address corresponding to each virtual subnet; and generating a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information. And then, when the edge network element performs multicast on the message of the local terminal, the edge network element can perform correct processing on the original message sent by the local terminal according to the local multicast forwarding table, for example, writing a correct virtual network identification number in the outer layer of the tunnel of the multicast message and sending the virtual network identification number to a corresponding centralized replication point.

In the existing packet forwarding technology, each time a multicast packet is forwarded, a source IP address changes, and after a local terminal managed by each destination edge network element receives an original packet, unicast communication may be performed with a source terminal that sends the original packet, but since the IP address of the source edge network element is replaced in the forwarding process of the multicast packet, subsequent unicast communication between two terminals still needs to be managed by centralized control of a centralized replication point, which causes an excessive burden on the centralized replication point, and thus, it is more preferable that fig. 5 is a signaling diagram of a fourth embodiment of the processing method for packet multicast according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, this embodiment optimizes a processing method for packet multicast based on the third embodiment, where the method includes:

s401, the source edge network element receives an original message sent by the second terminal.

The network architecture in this embodiment may refer to the network architecture shown in fig. 4, but is flexible and may adopt a better network architecture, for example, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first network architecture in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, in order to alleviate the burden of the edge network element, the terminal may be dually accessed to two edge network elements (NVE 1 and NVE 2), and when the terminal dually accessed to NVE1 and NVE2 is used as the second terminal to send the original packet, one link is selected according to a load sharing algorithm (e.g., a hash algorithm) to send the original packet to NVE1 or NVE 2; where NVE1 and NVE2 are configured with the same edge network element IP address towards the centralized replication point.

S402, the source edge network element obtains the multicast message according to the original message.

Specifically, a source edge network element encapsulates an original message into an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, wherein the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information; and then, encapsulating the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel into the outer layer of a second unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast message.

For example, the edge network element encapsulates the original packet in an outer layer of a multicast tunnel (e.g., an outer layer of a multicast overlay tunnel), and the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel carries a multicast group IP address as multicast information, where the multicast group IP address corresponds to a virtual subnet, that is, the edge network element knows, according to management information issued by a centralized management device, when processing the original packet, the multicast group IP address corresponding to the virtual subnet where the current original packet is located, which can also be understood, the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel still carries a virtual network identification number VNID for the destination edge network element to send the original packet to the local terminal, and the IP address of the source edge network element is carried on the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel; after the packet is encapsulated into the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel, a second unicast tunnel outer layer (which may be a unicast GRE tunnel outer layer) is encapsulated again, the destination IP address of the unicast GRE tunnel outer layer is the IP address of the centralized replication point, and at this time, the source IP address of the unicast GRE tunnel outer layer is also the IP address of the source edge network element.

If the network architecture shown in fig. 6 is used, after NVE1 or NVE2 receives the original packet sent by the second terminal, NVE1 or NVE2 processes the original packet by using the above method, and the IP address of the source edge network element carried by the outer layer of the tunnel is the same IP address configured by NVE1 and NVE 2.

It should be noted that the above specific tunnel outer layers (i.e., the overlay multicast tunnel outer layer and the GRE unicast tunnel outer layer) are only used as examples, and in practice, the tunnel outer layers are not limited to the above examples.

S403, the source edge network element sends the multicast message to the centralized replication point.

If the network architecture shown in fig. 6 is adopted in this embodiment, because the NVE1 and the NVE2 configure the same edge network element IP address, the source edge network element IP address on the multicast packet is the same no matter the multicast packet sent to the centralized replication point by the NVE1 or the NVE 2.

In addition, the flexible centralized replication point can also adopt a load sharing mode to construct a network. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a second network architecture according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, a centralized replication point 2 may be deployed for sharing the forwarding burden of the centralized replication point 1, and certainly, more centralized replication points may be deployed for sharing the forwarding burden of the centralized replication point 1; when a plurality of centralized replication points exist, the centralized management device sends management information to each edge network element in advance to inform the IP address of the centralized replication point corresponding to each virtual subnet, for example, it is specified that multicast messages from the virtual subnet 1 to the virtual subnet 50 are sent by the centralized replication point 1, and then the source edge network element does not send multicast messages in the virtual subnet 51 to the centralized replication point 1, but sends the multicast messages to the centralized replication point 2 corresponding to the virtual subnet 51 according to the management information. When one of the centralized replication points fails, for example, the centralized replication point 1 fails, the centralized management device updates the management information and issues the updated management information to each of the normally operating centralized replication points again, so that the other normally operating centralized replication points (e.g., the centralized replication point 2) bear the burden of the failed centralized replication point, that is, the centralized replication point 2 performs replication multicast on the multicast messages in the virtual subnet 1 to the virtual subnet 50 by issuing the management information.

S404, the centralized replication point acquires the multicast information.

The centralized replication point acquires an original message encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel according to the multicast message and learns multicast information carried on the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, wherein the multicast information is a multicast group IP address;

the centralized replication point searches a local multicast forwarding table according to the multicast group IP address and determines the IP address of at least one destination edge network element. Specifically, since the protocol field of the outer layer of the second unicast tunnel (i.e. the outer layer of the unicast GRE tunnel) indicates that the outer layer of the tunnel is the outer layer of the second unicast tunnel, the centralized copy point can decapsulate the outer layer of the second unicast tunnel of the multicast packet according to the outer layer protocol of the second unicast tunnel, and obtain the multicast packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel; and then, learning the IP address of the multicast group carried by the outer layer of the multicast tunnel according to the outer layer protocol of the multicast tunnel.

S405, the centralized replication point determines at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information.

The centralized replication point searches a local multicast forwarding table according to the IP address of the multicast group and determines the IP address of at least one destination edge network element.

S406, the centralized replication point sends the original message to the destination edge network element.

The centralized replication point replicates the original message encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to obtain at least one original message encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, the number of which is the same as that of the target edge network elements; and respectively sending the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulated destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element. The outer layer of the destination unicast tunnel carries the IP address of the destination edge network element; for example, the centralized replication point decapsulates the outer layer of the unicast GRE tunnel in S402 to obtain a multicast packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel, after determining the IP address of at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast group IP address on the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel, replicates the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel, and encapsulates a layer of destination unicast tunnel outer layer on the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel of each replicated original packet again, where the destination unicast tunnel outer layer may be a unicast GRE tunnel outer layer, or may be another unicast tunnel outer layer; it can be seen that in S405, the source edge network element IP address as the source IP address on the outer layer of the multicast tunnel is not replaced.

If part of the destination edge network elements are burdened by other centralized copy points, determining the IP address of at least one first centralized copy point according to the multicast information, copying and encapsulating the original message of the multicast tunnel outer layer, and obtaining at least one original message of the multicast tunnel outer layer encapsulated with the same number as the destination edge network elements; and respectively sending the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulated destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element. For example, fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a third network architecture in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, after the centralized replication point 1 receives the multicast packet sent by the NVE1 borne by the centralized replication point 1, it learns from the acquired multicast group IP address that the destination edge network element includes the destination edge network elements NVE50 to NVE99 borne by the centralized replication point 2 in addition to the NVE3 to NVE10 borne by the centralized replication point 1, then the centralized replication point 2 encapsulates the multicast packet encapsulating the multicast overlay tunnel outer layer into the forwarding unicast tunnel outer layer, which may also be the unicast GRE tunnel outer layer, but at this time, the unicast GRE tunnel outer layer, i.e. the destination IP address of the forwarding unicast tunnel outer layer, is the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point, i.e. the IP address of the centralized replication point 1, where the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point is obtained by the centralized management device receiving the management information issued by the centralized management device before the centralized replication point performs the processing method of this embodiment, and storing the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point into a local multicast forwarding table, and when the message needs to be forwarded to other first centralized replication points, sending the message to the upper layer centralized replication point according to the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point. With the network architecture shown in fig. 8, since the centralized replication point determines the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point according to the local multicast forwarding table in S405, the multicast packet encapsulating the outer layer of the second tunnel is encapsulated and forwarded to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel, and the destination IP address of the outer layer of the unicast tunnel is the IP address of the upper layer centralized replication point; and then, the multicast message on the outer layer of the encapsulation forwarding unicast tunnel is sent to an upper layer centralized replication point. It should be added that the network architecture of fig. 8 is also applicable to the third embodiment, so that the upper layer centralized replication point sends the original packet or the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to at least one first centralized replication point through the upper layer centralized replication point. As shown in fig. 8, the centralized replication point 1 sends the multicast packets outside each encapsulated destination unicast tunnel to each destination edge network element according to the IP address of each destination edge network element (NVE 3-NVE 10), and also sends the multicast packets outside the encapsulated forwarding unicast tunnel to the upper layer centralized replication point, the upper layer centralized replication point and the centralized replication point 1 have the same working principle, the outer layer of the forwarding unicast tunnel is decapsulated to obtain the multicast group IP address carried on the outer layer of the multicast overlay tunnel, and determines the next forwarding destination IP address as the IP address of the first centralized copy point (centralized copy point 2) according to the local multicast forwarding table of the upper layer centralized copy point, similar to the centralized copy point 1, the upper layer centralized copy point will encapsulate the outer layer of the forwarding unicast tunnel again on the outer layer of the encapsulating multicast overlay tunnel, but at this time, the destination IP address on the outer layer of the forwarding unicast tunnel encapsulated by the upper layer centralized copy point is the IP address of the centralized copy point 2; and finally, the centralized replication point 2 sends the multicast message to the edge network element managed by the centralized replication point 2, wherein the process that the centralized replication point 2 sends the multicast message to the NVEs 50-99 is similar to the process that the centralized replication point 1 sends the multicast message to the NVEs 3-10, and is not described herein again.

In addition, similar to the third embodiment, the centralized replication point supports the source port pruning function, that is, when the centralized replication point replicates and forwards the original packet to the destination edge network element, the original packet will not be replicated and forwarded to the source edge network element.

As can be seen from the above description, the centralized replication point may only use the unicast function, so when the processing method for packet multicast in the embodiment of the present invention is applied in the existing network environment, by using the network architecture in fig. 8, the device that does not support the multicast function in the existing network environment is used as a node in the processing method for packet multicast, and the cyclic utilization of the old device is implemented; similarly, with the network architecture shown in fig. 8, the source edge network element IP address as the source IP address on the outer layer of the multicast tunnel is not replaced.

S407, the destination edge network element obtains the original message.

After receiving the multicast message sent by the centralized replication point, each destination edge network element decapsulates the two tunnel outer layers of the multicast message to obtain an original message, and learns a virtual network identification number on the tunnel outer layer; and at this time, according to the processing procedures described in the above S403 to S407, the source IP address on the outer layer of the second tunnel of the multicast packet is kept as the source edge network element IP address.

And S408, the destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the first terminal.

And the destination edge network element multicasts the original message to the local terminal according to the virtual network identification number to realize the multicast of the message.

In this embodiment, in order to describe the transmission direction of the multicast packet, the source edge network element and the destination edge network element are distinguished.

It should be added that, before executing the processing method for packet multicast in this embodiment, the centralized replication point receives and collects management information issued by the management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information:

virtual subnet information, edge network element IP address information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; an incidence relation exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information except the item of information; generating a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

receiving the notification information of each edge network element through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast group IP addresses corresponding to the virtual subnets; the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information, and then the centralized replication point can determine the next destination IP address according to the local multicast forwarding table after receiving the multicast message; for example, the centralized replication point 1 learns that the IP address of the multicast Group of the multicast packet is Group1, and learns that Group1 corresponds to the IP address of the centralized replication point 2 by querying the local multicast forwarding table, and forwards the received multicast packet to the centralized replication point 2.

Correspondingly, before implementing this embodiment, the edge network element also receives management information issued by the centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information: virtual subnet information, multicast group IP address information and centralized replication point IP address information; an incidence relation exists between any item of information in the management information and at least one item of information except the item of information; the edge network element generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or, through the signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and the central replication point, the notification information is sent to the central replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet; in this embodiment, the multicast information is a multicast group IP address; and generating a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information. For example, the edge network element notifies the centralized replication point of notification information of creation, deletion and the like of the virtual subnet of the edge network element, and notifies the centralized replication point of a multicast group IP address corresponding to each virtual subnet, so that the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information, and the edge network element also generates a local multicast forwarding table correspondingly; further, in the network architecture shown in fig. 8, after receiving the advertisement information sent by the edge network element, the centralized replication point also sends the advertisement information to other centralized replication points, for example, after receiving the advertisement information, the centralized replication point 1 sends the advertisement information to the centralized replication point 2 and the upper layer centralized replication point, so that the centralized replication point 2 and the upper layer centralized replication point generate local multicast forwarding tables respectively.

In this embodiment, a centralized replication point is introduced to process a multicast packet sent by a source edge network element by the centralized replication point, and the multicast packet is sent to a destination edge network element according to multicast information, thereby implementing multicast of the packet, and reducing the network burden of the edge network element.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a centralized replication point according to a first embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 9, the centralized replication point includes:

a receiving module 501, configured to receive a multicast packet sent by a source edge network element, where the multicast packet includes multicast information and an original packet in a virtual subnet;

a determining module 502, configured to determine at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information;

a sending module 503, configured to send the original packet to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner, so that each destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet.

The modules in this embodiment correspond to the above method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the multicast packet sent by the source edge network element is forwarded by the centralized replication point, and the multicast packet is sent to the destination edge network element according to the multicast information, so that multicast of the packet is implemented, network load of the edge network element is reduced, efficiency of packet multicast is improved, and improvement of communication performance of the network is facilitated.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a second embodiment of a centralized replication point. As shown in fig. 10, in this embodiment, a detailed description is performed on the centralized replication point shown in fig. 9, where the determining module 502 is specifically configured to learn multicast information carried in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel of a multicast packet, and acquire an original packet; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

Further, the sending module 503 specifically includes:

a copying unit 513, configured to copy the original packet to obtain at least one original packet with the same number as that of the destination edge network element;

a sending unit 523, configured to send each original packet to each destination edge network element through an outer layer of a unicast tunnel for encapsulation according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

Further, the determining module 502 is specifically configured to obtain an original packet encapsulating an outer layer of the multicast tunnel according to the multicast packet;

and searching a local multicast forwarding table according to the IP address of the multicast group, and determining the IP address of at least one destination edge network element.

The copying unit 513 is further configured to copy the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, and obtain at least one original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, which is the same as the number of the destination edge network elements;

the sending unit 523 is further configured to send each original packet encapsulated in the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

Further, the determining module 502 determines the IP address of at least one first centralized copy point according to the multicast information,

the sending module 503 is further configured to forward the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel through encapsulation, and send the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the upper layer centralized replication point, so that the upper layer centralized replication point sends the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to at least one first centralized replication point.

The receiving module 501 is further configured to receive management information sent by the centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two of the following information:

the centralized replication point further comprises:

a generating module 504, configured to generate a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the receiving module 501 is configured to receive notification information of each edge network element through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

the generating module 504 is further configured to generate a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information.

Fig. 11 is a structural diagram of an edge network element according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the edge network element includes:

a receiving module 601, configured to receive an original packet sent by a second terminal in a virtual subnet;

a sending module 602, configured to send a multicast packet to the centralized replication point according to the original packet, so that at least one destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message, and the multicast information is determined according to the management information.

Fig. 12 is a structural diagram of an edge network element according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 12, in this embodiment, an edge network element is further described in detail on the basis of the edge network element shown in fig. 11, and the sending module 602 of the edge network element specifically includes:

an encapsulating unit 612, configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain a multicast packet, where the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to a virtual subnet.

A sending unit 622, configured to send the multicast packet to the centralized replication point.

The encapsulating unit 612 is further configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of the multicast tunnel, where the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

packaging the original message packaged with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel into the outer layer of a second unicast tunnel to obtain a multicast message;

the sending unit 622 is further configured to send the multicast packet to the centralized replication point.

The receiving module 601 is further configured to receive management information sent by the centralized management device, where the management information includes the following information:

the corresponding relation between the virtual subnet and the virtual network identification and the centralized copy point, and the corresponding relation between the virtual subnet and the multicast group IP address and the centralized copy point.

The receiving module 601 is configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two items of information:

the edge network element further includes a generating module 603, and the generating module 603 generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or, the sending module 602 is configured to send notification information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol with the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet; the generating module 604 generates a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information.

It should be noted that, in the processing process of multicast according to a packet, the edge network element in this embodiment is used as a source edge network element, and the source edge network element and the destination edge network element are edge network elements having the same function, so it can be understood that the source edge network element may be used as a destination edge network element in the processing process of other multicast according to a packet, and the edge network element further includes a decapsulation module for decapsulating an outer layer of a tunnel.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of a centralized replication point. As shown in fig. 13, the centralized replication point includes:

a receiver 701, configured to receive a multicast packet sent by a source edge network element, where the multicast packet includes multicast information and an original packet in a virtual subnet;

a processor 702, configured to determine at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information;

the sender 703 is configured to send the original packet to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner, so that each destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet.

Further, the processor 702 is specifically configured to learn multicast information carried in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel of the multicast packet, and obtain an original packet; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

Further, the sender 703 is specifically configured to copy the original packet to obtain at least one original packet with the same number as the number of the destination edge network elements;

and is further specifically configured to send each original packet to each destination edge network element through an outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

Further, the processor 702 is specifically configured to obtain, according to the multicast packet, an original packet encapsulating an outer layer of the multicast tunnel;

The sender 703 is configured to copy the original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, and obtain at least one original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, the number of which is the same as that of the destination edge network element;

and the method is also used for respectively sending the original message which encapsulates the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

Further, the processor 702 determines an IP address of at least one first centralized copy point based on the multicast information,

the sender 703 is further configured to forward the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel through encapsulation, and send the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the upper layer centralized replication point, so that the upper layer centralized replication point sends the original packet or the original packet encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to at least one first centralized replication point.

The receiver 701 is further configured to receive management information sent by the centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two of the following information:

the processor 702 is further configured to generate a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the receiver 701 is configured to receive notification information of each edge network element through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

the processor 702 is further configured to generate a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information.

Fig. 14 is a structural diagram of a third embodiment of an edge network element according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 14, the edge network element includes:

a receiver 801, configured to receive an original packet sent by a second terminal in the virtual subnet;

a sender 802, configured to send a multicast packet to the centralized replication point according to the original packet, so that at least one destination edge network element multicasts the original packet to the first terminal of the corresponding virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message, and the multicast information is determined according to the management information.

Further, the sender 802 is configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain a multicast packet, where the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number serving as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to a virtual subnet.

A transmitter 802, configured to transmit the multicast packet to the centralized replication point.

The sender 802 is further configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, where the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

the transmitter 802 is further configured to transmit the multicast packet to the centralized replication point.

The receiver 801 is further configured to receive management information issued by the centralized management device, where the management information includes the following information:

The receiver 801 is configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two items of information:

the edge network element further includes a processor 803, configured to generate a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; alternatively, the transmitter 802 is further configured to transmit the notification information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol with the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet; and the generating module generates a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information.

It should be noted that, in the processing process of multicast packet by the edge network element in this embodiment, as a source edge network element, the source edge network element and the destination edge network element are edge network elements having the same function, and it can be understood that the source edge network element may be a destination edge network element in the processing process of other multicast packet, and the receiver 801 of the edge network element further has a function of decapsulating the outer layer of the tunnel.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or a portion of the steps of implementing the above-described method embodiments may be performed by hardware associated with program instructions. The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When executed, the program performs steps comprising the method embodiments described above; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for processing message multicast is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a centralized replication point receives a multicast message sent by a source edge network element, wherein the multicast message comprises multicast information and an original message in a virtual subnet;

the centralized replication point determines at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information;

and the centralized replication point sends the original message to at least one target edge network element in a multicast replication mode so that each target edge network element multicasts the original message to a first terminal corresponding to the virtual subnet.

2. The processing method of claim 1, wherein the centralized replication point determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information comprises:

the centralized replication point learns the multicast information carried by the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel of the multicast message and acquires an original message; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

and the centralized replication point searches a local multicast forwarding table according to the virtual network identification number and determines the IP address of the network interconnection protocol of at least one destination edge network element.

3. The processing method according to claim 2, wherein the centralized replication point sends the original packet to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner, including:

the centralized replication point replicates the original message to obtain at least one original message with the same number as that of the target edge network elements;

and the centralized replication point respectively sends each original message to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of the encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

4. The processing method of claim 1, wherein the centralized replication point determining at least one destination edge network element according to the multicast information comprises:

the centralized replication point acquires an original message which encapsulates the outer layer of the multicast tunnel according to the multicast message;

the centralized replication point learns multicast information carried on the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, wherein the multicast information is a multicast group IP address;

and the centralized replication point searches a local multicast forwarding table according to the IP address of the multicast group and determines the IP address of at least one destination edge network element.

5. The processing method according to claim 4, wherein the centralized replication point sends the original packet to at least one destination edge network element in a multicast replication manner, including:

the centralized replication point replicates the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to obtain at least one original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, the number of which is the same as that of the target edge network elements;

and the centralized replication point respectively sends the original message which encapsulates the outer layer of each multicast tunnel to each destination edge network element through the outer layer of an encapsulation destination unicast tunnel according to the IP address of each destination edge network element.

6. The processing method according to claim 3 or 5, wherein the centralized replication point further determines an IP address of at least one first centralized replication point according to the multicast information, the processing method further comprising:

and the centralized replication point transmits the original message or the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the outer layer of the unicast tunnel through encapsulation and transmission, and transmits the original message or the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the upper layer centralized replication point, so that the upper layer centralized replication point transmits the original message or the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel to the at least one first centralized replication point.

7. The processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein before the centralized replication point receives the multicast packet sent by the source edge network element, the processing method further includes:

the centralized replication point receives management information issued by centralized management equipment, wherein the management information comprises at least two items of information:

the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the centralized replication point acquires the notification information of each edge network element through a signaling protocol between the centralized replication point and at least one edge network element; the notification information comprises the IP address of each edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and the centralized replication point generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the notification information.

8. The processing method according to claim 6, wherein before the centralized replication point receives the multicast packet sent by the source edge network element, the processing method further comprises:

9. A method for processing message multicast is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a source edge network element receives an original message sent by a second terminal in a virtual subnet;

the source edge network element sends a multicast message to a centralized replication point according to the original message, so that at least one target edge network element multicasts the original message to a first terminal in the virtual subnet through the centralized replication point; the multicast message comprises multicast information and the original message, wherein the multicast information is determined according to a local multicast forwarding table.

10. The processing method according to claim 9, wherein the sending, by the source edge network element, the multicast packet to the centralized replication point according to the original packet comprises:

the source edge network element encapsulates the original message into a first unicast tunnel outer layer to obtain the multicast message, wherein the first unicast tunnel outer layer carries a virtual network identification number serving as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to the virtual subnet;

and the source edge network element sends the multicast message to the centralized replication point.

11. The processing method according to claim 9, wherein the sending, by the source edge network element, the multicast packet to the centralized replication point according to the original packet comprises:

the source edge network element encapsulates the original message into an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, and the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address serving as multicast information;

the source edge network element encapsulates the original message encapsulated with the outer layer of the multicast tunnel into the outer layer of a second unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast message;

and the source edge network element sends the multicast message to a centralized replication point.

12. The processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein before the source edge network element receives the original packet sent by the second terminal, the processing method further includes:

the source edge network element receives management information issued by centralized management equipment, wherein the management information comprises at least two items of information:

the source edge network element generates a local multicast forwarding table according to the management information; or,

the source edge network element sends notification information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol between the edge network element and the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;

and the source edge network element generates a corresponding local multicast forwarding table facing the centralized replication point according to the notification information.

13. A centralized replication point, comprising:

14. The centralized replication point of claim 13, wherein the determining module is specifically configured to learn multicast information carried in an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel of the multicast packet, and obtain an original packet; wherein, the multicast information is a virtual network identification number;

15. The centralized replication point of claim 14, wherein the sending module specifically comprises:

16. The centralized replication point of claim 13, wherein the determining module is specifically configured to obtain, according to the multicast packet, an original packet encapsulating an outer layer of a multicast tunnel;

17. The centralized replication point of claim 16, wherein the replication unit is further configured to replicate an original packet encapsulating an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, and obtain at least one original packet encapsulating the outer layer of the multicast tunnel, the number of which is the same as that of the destination edge network element;

18. The centralized replication point of claim 15 or 17, wherein the determining module further determines an IP address of at least one first centralized replication point based on the multicast information,

19. The centralized replication point of any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information:

the centralized replication point further comprises:

20. The centralized replication point of claim 18, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two of the following information:

the centralized replication point further comprises:

21. An edge network element, comprising:

22. The edge network element of claim 21, wherein the sending module specifically comprises:

a packaging unit, configured to package the original packet into an outer layer of a first unicast tunnel to obtain the multicast packet, where the outer layer of the first unicast tunnel carries a virtual network identification number serving as multicast information, and the virtual network identification number corresponds to the virtual subnet;

23. The edge network element of claim 22, wherein the encapsulating unit is further configured to encapsulate the original packet in an outer layer of a multicast tunnel, where the outer layer of the multicast tunnel carries a multicast group IP address as multicast information;

24. The edge network element of any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the receiving module is configured to receive management information issued by a centralized management device, where the management information includes at least two pieces of information:

the sending module is used for sending notification information to the centralized replication point through a signaling protocol between the edge network element and the centralized replication point; the notification information comprises an IP address of the edge network element, virtual subnet information managed by the edge network element and multicast information corresponding to each virtual subnet;