CN109981235B

CN109981235B - Flexe Group negotiation method and network element

Info

Publication number: CN109981235B
Application number: CN201711458304.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林波; 高川; 付嘉
Original assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-28
Filing date: 2017-12-28
Publication date: 2022-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-28
Also published as: CN109981235A

Abstract

The first network element and the second network element can intercommunicate invalid PHY links and delete the invalid PHY links from the Flexe Group, so that the time delay difference between the links in the Flexe Group is not larger than a threshold value, the problem that the Flexe Group is unavailable due to overlarge time delay difference between the links can be avoided, and the usability of the Flexe Group is improved.

Description

Flexe Group negotiation method and network element

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of electronic information, and in particular, to a FlexE Group negotiation method and a network element.

Background

Flexible Ethernet (FlexEth) refers to a technology that can provide users with different Media Access Control (MAC) rates. A Flexible Ethernet Group (FlexE Group) is a PHY link Group formed by bonding a plurality of Physical layer (PHY) links.

If the sending end sends the data slice by using the Flexe Group, the receiving end must assemble the received data slice into a data packet, and in order to ensure the accuracy of the assembly, the existing protocol stipulates: the delay difference of PHY links in the same FlexE Group cannot exceed 10 microseconds. When the delay difference of the PHY link in the same FlexE Group exceeds 10 microseconds, the transmitting end will not transmit data any more, but periodically transmit failure information.

In practical application, delay difference of PHY links in the same FlexE Group easily exceeds 10 microseconds, for example, transmission delay of each kilometer of an optical fiber is 5 microseconds, the optical fiber is used for transmission, and the FlexE Group at a transmitting end cannot be used as long as the transmission delay exceeds 2 kilometers. For another example, if an Optical Transport Network (OTN) fails to switch, delay of a PHY link in the same FlexE Group may be increased, and the FlexE Group may be unavailable.

Therefore, how to improve the usability of the FlexE Group becomes a problem to be solved urgently at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a Flexe Group negotiation method and a network element, and aims to solve the problem of how to improve the availability of a Flexe Group.

In order to achieve the above object, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

a first aspect of the present application provides a flexible ethernet group negotiation method, including: a first network element sends an overhead frame to a second network element, wherein the overhead frame comprises a timestamp indicating bit, and the timestamp indicating bit is used for indicating the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element. And the first network element receives the information of the invalid physical layer (PHY) link of the second network element, which is sent by the second network element, wherein the invalid PHY link of the second network element is obtained by the second network element according to the time for sending the overhead frame by the first network element. The first network element deletes the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group. Because the first network element sends the timestamp indicator bit to the second network element, the second network element can determine the invalid PHY link of the second network element according to the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, and send the information of the invalid PHY link of the second network element to the first network element, so that the first network element can delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group, and therefore, the PHY links in the flexible Ethernet group are guaranteed to be valid links, the unavailability probability of the flexible Ethernet group is reduced, and the availability of the flexible Ethernet group is improved.

A second aspect of the present application provides a network element, where the network element is a first network element, and the network element includes: the device comprises a sending module, a receiving module and a deleting module. The sending module is configured to send an overhead frame to a second network element, where the overhead frame includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the first network element sends the overhead frame. The receiving module is configured to receive information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the information is sent by the second network element, and the invalid PHY link of the second network element is obtained by the second network element according to a time for sending the overhead frame by the first network element. The deleting module is configured to delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

In one implementation, the overhead frame further includes: and whether to support increasing a delay inequality indicating bit is used for indicating whether the first network element supports increasing the delay inequality.

In one implementation, the overhead frame further includes: a maximum delay indicator bit, where the maximum delay indicator bit is used to indicate a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

In one implementation, the timestamp indication bit, the whether incremental latency difference indication bit and the maximum latency indication bit are supported are included in a reserved field of the overhead frame.

In one implementation, after the first network element sends the overhead frame to the second network element, the method further includes: and the first network element receives the threshold value sent by the second network element and updates the time delay difference between the links in the flexible Ethernet group according to the threshold value.

In one implementation, before the first network element sends the overhead frame to the second network element, the method further includes: and the PHY link of the first network element and the PHY link of the second network element are subjected to time synchronization.

A third aspect of the present application provides a flexible ethernet group negotiation method, including: the method comprises the steps that a second network element receives an overhead frame sent by a first network element, wherein the overhead frame comprises a timestamp indicating bit, and the timestamp indicating bit is used for indicating the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element. And the second network element calculates the time delay of a PHY link according to the time of receiving the overhead frame and the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, wherein the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame. And the second network element selects a reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. And the second network element sends information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element to the first network element, wherein the invalid PHY link is a PHY link of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold value. The second network element deletes the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group. Because the second network element can send and delete the invalid PHY link to the first network element, the probability of unavailability of the flexible ethernet group can be reduced, and the availability of the flexible ethernet group is improved.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a network element, where the network element is a second network element, and the network element includes: the device comprises a receiving module, a calculating module, a selecting module and a sending module. The receiving module is configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element, where the overhead frame includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element. The calculation module is configured to calculate a time delay of a PHY link according to a time when the overhead frame is received and a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, where the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame. And the selection module is used for selecting the reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. The sending module is configured to send, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold. The deleting module is configured to delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

In one implementation, the selecting a reference latency link according to the latency of the PHY link includes: and taking the PHY link with the minimum time delay in the PHY links as the reference time delay link. Or, taking the trial reference delay link corresponding to the effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links as the reference delay link; or, taking an attempted reference delay link, which corresponds to an effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links and has a delay not greater than a preset value, as a reference delay link, where the attempted reference delay link is any one of the PHY links, and a correspondence relationship between the effective PHY link set and the attempted reference delay link is: the PHY link in the effective PHY link set is a PHY link whose delay difference from the trial reference delay link is not greater than the first threshold, and the delay difference between every two effective PHY links in the effective PHY link set is not greater than the first threshold.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a flexible ethernet group negotiation method, including: the method comprises the steps that a second network element receives an overhead frame sent by a first network element, wherein the overhead frame sent by the first network element comprises a timestamp indicating bit, and the timestamp indicating bit is used for indicating the time of the first network element for sending the overhead frame. And the second network element calculates the time delay of a PHY link according to the time of receiving the overhead frame and the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, wherein the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame. And the second network element selects a reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. And the second network element sends information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element to the first network element, wherein the invalid PHY link is a PHY link of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not meet preset conditions, and the preset conditions comprise that the time delay is not greater than the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element and the maximum time delay allowed by the PHY link. The second network element deletes the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group. As can be seen, the delay difference between the invalid PHY link determined by the second network element and the reference delay link is greater than the first threshold, and the invalid PHY link does not meet the preset condition, that is, the link meeting the preset condition is an valid PHY link. And because the preset condition is that the time delay is not greater than the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element and the maximum time delay allowed by the PHY link, the judgment threshold of invalid PHY links is reduced, and the utilization rate of resources is improved on the basis of improving the availability of the PHY links.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a network element, where the network element is a second network element, and the network element includes: the device comprises a receiving module, a calculating module, a selecting module, a sending module and a deleting module. The receiving module is configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element, where the overhead frame sent by the first network element includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element. The calculation module is configured to calculate a time delay of a PHY link according to a time when the overhead frame is received and a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, where the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame. And the selection module is used for selecting the reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. The sending module is configured to send, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not satisfy a preset condition, and the preset condition includes that a delay is not greater than a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element, and a maximum delay allowed by the PHY link. The deleting module is configured to delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

In one implementation, after the second network element selects the reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link, the method further includes: and the second network element determines a second threshold according to the time delay of a target link and the first threshold, wherein the time delay difference between the target link and the reference time delay link is greater than the first threshold and meets the preset condition, and the second threshold is used for updating the time delay difference between the links in the flexible Ethernet group by the first network element.

In one implementation, the determining, by the second network element, the second threshold according to the delay of the target link includes: and determining, by the second network element, a second threshold according to the delay of the target link when the overhead frame sent by the first network element further includes an indication bit indicating whether or not the increase of the delay inequality is supported, and the indication bit indicating whether or not the increase of the delay inequality is supported by the first network element.

In one implementation, after the second network element determines the second threshold according to the delay of the target link, the second network element sends the second threshold to the first network element.

In one implementation, the sending, by the second network element, the second threshold to the first network element includes: and the second network element sends an overhead frame to the first network element, and a reserved field of the overhead frame sent by the second network element comprises the second threshold.

In one implementation, the overhead frame sent by the first network element further includes: a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a FlexE Group negotiation method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a FlexE Group negotiation method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a frame structure diagram of an overhead frame used in the FlexE Group negotiation method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of another FlexE Group negotiation method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network element disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network element disclosed in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the application discloses a Flexe Group negotiation method and a network element, which are applied to the scene shown in FIG. 1. In fig. 1, two adjacent network elements in network element a, network element B, network element C, and network element D are directly connected to each other. Two network elements which are directly connected with each other are communicated through a Flexe Group.

The Network element a, the Network element B, the Network element C, and the Network element D may be any Network element, such as a router, a Packet Transport Network (PTN), an OTN, and other Network devices. The network element a, the network element B, the network element C, and the network element D may be either a transmitting end or a receiving end (in a process of transmitting and receiving data, one of the two network elements that are directly connected to each other may be a transmitting end and one may be a receiving end).

The FlexE Group negotiation method and the network element disclosed in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of the present application and not all embodiments. 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 application.

Fig. 2 discloses a FlexE Group negotiation method for an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a communication process between two directly connected network elements in fig. 1, and includes the following steps:

s201: the PHY link of the first network element is time-synchronized with the PHY link of the second network element.

In particular, time synchronization may be performed using existing protocols, including but not limited to the IEEE 1588 standard protocol. The purpose of time synchronization is to keep the PHY link time consistent.

Further, all PHY links in the transmitting end and the receiving end may be synchronized, and PHY links in the same FlexE Group in the transmitting end and the receiving end may also be synchronized.

In the conventional communication process using the FlexE Group, time synchronization is not performed.

S202: the first network element sends an overhead frame.

Fig. 3 shows a frame structure of an overhead frame, where a bit at a preset position (for example, the first) in a reserved field of the overhead frame is used to indicate whether the first network element supports increasing delay inequality (i.e., whether the first network element supports increasing delay inequality indication bit), for example, a value of the reserved field is 1 to indicate support, and a value of the reserved field is 0 to indicate non-support. In this embodiment, assume that the value of the reserved field of the overhead frame is 0, that is, the first network element does not support increasing the delay difference.

The reserved field of the overhead frame carries the time when the first network element sends the overhead frame (does not occupy the preset position, for example, the first bit, which is referred to as a timestamp indication bit for short). Specifically, when the first network element transmits the overhead frame, the first network element extracts a timestamp from the clock of the PHY link and records the timestamp in a reserved field of the overhead frame to be transmitted. Optionally, time is in microseconds, and 16 bits are occupied in the reserved field.

The Remote PHY link failure indication (RPF) field of the overhead frame is used to indicate whether the PHY link is valid, and according to the existing protocol, 0 indicates valid and 1 indicates invalid. It should be noted that, the first network element indicates whether the PHY link is valid in the overhead frame, and is the PHY link that the first network element once receives the overhead frame from the second network element, and when the first network element determines that the delay difference between the PHY link and another PHY link located in the same FlexE Group is too large, the PHY link is considered invalid, and the second network element is notified in the overhead frame, so that the negotiation efficiency of the PHY link can be improved.

In fig. 3, the other fields and abbreviations mean:

c: the Calendar configuration in use is used.

OMF: the overhead multiframe indicator is used for multiframe framing, with the first 16 frames being 0 and the last 16 frames being 1.

Res: reserved holds bits.

Flexe Group Number Flexible Ethernet Group Number.

PHY MAP: a set of all member PHYs of the flexible ethernet group.

PHY NUMBER: the PHY number.

And the Client terminal is a flexible Ethernet Client terminal time slot.

And CR, calling switch request switching time slot request.

CA, confirming the completion of the Calendar switch acknowledge slot switch.

CRC is Cyclic Redundancy Code (Cyclic Redundancy Code).

Management channel is a Management channel.

Management channel-section part of the Management channel.

Management channel-shim to shim Management channel.

Overhead Frames.

It should be noted that, in the overhead frame shown in fig. 3, except for the reserved field, the meanings and roles of other fields may all be referred to the existing protocol standard, and are not described herein again.

S203: and after receiving the overhead frame, the second network element calculates the time delay of the PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame according to the sending time carried in the overhead frame and the time for receiving the overhead frame.

Specifically, the time for receiving the overhead frame minus the sending time in the overhead frame is the delay of the PHY link transmitting the overhead frame.

S204: the second network element divides the local PHY link into an active PHY link and a remote inactive PHY link.

Specifically, for convenience of storage and processing, the second network element sets three sets: an active PHY link set, a remote inactive PHY link set, and a local inactive PHY link set. And putting the PHY link set as invalid in the received overhead frame into a remote invalid PHY link set, putting other PHY links into an effective PHY link set, and keeping the local invalid PHY link set to be empty.

S205: and the second network element determines a reference time delay link from the effective PHY links, and divides the links of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold value in the effective PHY links into local invalid PHY links.

Specifically, the principle followed by the second network element to determine the reference delay link is as follows: 1. the delay of the link is guaranteed to be minimum. Or, 2, guarantee that the number of divided into valid PHY links is at most.

For 1, the link with the smallest delay in the effective PHY links may be used as the reference link, where the delay of the link is calculated in S203.

For 2, the PHY link in each effective PHY link may be sequentially tried as the trial reference link, the delay difference between the trial reference link and other effective PHY links is calculated (the delay of the link is calculated in S203), the link with the delay difference not greater than the first threshold is used as the effective PHY link, and the delay difference between two effective PHY links is not greater than the first threshold. In the above manner, each attempted reference link corresponds to a valid set of PHY links. The tentative reference link corresponding to the valid PHY link set including the largest number of PHY links is the determined reference link.

For example, the effective PHY link includes 4 PHY links, one PHY link has a delay of 5 microseconds, and the other three PHY links have delays of 15 microseconds, 18 microseconds, and 20 microseconds, respectively.

According to principle 1, a link with a delay of 5 microseconds is a reference link, and if the first threshold is 10 microseconds, PHY links with delays of 18 microseconds and 20 microseconds are divided into locally inactive PHY links, and only the link with a delay of 10 microseconds and the reference link are active PHY links.

According to principle 2, from PHY links with time delays of 15 microseconds, 18 microseconds and 20 microseconds respectively, a PHY link with a time delay of 15 microseconds is selected as a reference link, and assuming that the first threshold is 10 microseconds, PHY links with time delays of 15 microseconds (the reference link), 18 microseconds and 20 microseconds are all valid PHY links.

In consideration of the

principles

1 and 2, the other links are divided into effective PHY links as many as possible under the condition that the time delay of the reference link is not greater than the preset value and the time delay difference between every two effective PHY links is not greater than the first threshold.

Specifically, in the case where an active PHY link set, a far-end inactive PHY link set, and a local inactive PHY link set are set, a reference link is selected from the active PHY link set, and links in the active PHY link set are retained in the active PHY link set or added to the local inactive PHY link set by a delay difference between the links in the active PHY link set and the reference link.

In this embodiment, the first threshold is 10 microseconds in the standard protocol as an example.

S206: the second network element sends an overhead frame to the first network element, and a value of a Remote PHY link failure indication (RPF) field in the overhead frame indicates a local invalid PHY link of the second network element.

Specifically, the identity of the locally inactive PHY link may be written into the RPF field.

S207: both the first network element and the second network element delete the invalid PHY link from the FlexE Group.

The invalid PHY link comprises a local invalid PHY link which is notified to the first network element by the second network element and is of the second network element, and also comprises a remote invalid PHY link which is notified to the second network element by the first network element through the RPF field.

Optionally, the local invalid PHY link of the second network element may be determined in the above manner within a preset period, and the first network element and the second network element delete the invalid PHY link from the FlexE Group, so as to ensure accuracy of the local invalid PHY link.

S208: the first network element and the second network element transmit data using a FlexE Group.

As can be seen from the process shown in fig. 2, the first network element and the second network element can intercommunicate the invalid PHY links, and both delete the invalid PHY links from the FlexE Group, so that the delay difference between the links in the FlexE Group is not greater than the threshold, and therefore, the problem that the FlexE Group is unavailable due to the fact that the delay difference between the links is too large can be avoided, and the availability of the FlexE Group is improved.

Fig. 4 discloses another FlexE Group negotiation method for the embodiment of the present application, and the main difference from the process shown in fig. 2 is that the first network element supports adding delay inequality, and the second network element determines the delay inequality suggested to be added.

The method shown in fig. 4 comprises the following steps:

s401: the PHY link of the first network element is time-synchronized with the PHY link of the second network element.

S402: the first network element sends an overhead frame.

Different from S202, in this step, the value of the bit (for short, whether or not the increment delay inequality indicator bit is supported) at the preset position in the reserved field of the overhead frame is 1, which indicates that the increment delay inequality is supported.

Optionally, the reserved field of the overhead frame may also carry the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, and optionally, the maximum delay allowed by the first network element occupies 16 bits (referred to as maximum delay indication bit for short) in the reserved field.

It should be noted that, the order of the reserved field of the overhead frame is: whether or not to support adding delay inequality indicator bits (1 bit), maximum delay indicator bits (16 bits), and timestamp indicator bits (16 bits).

S403: and after receiving the overhead frame, the second network element calculates the time delay of the PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame according to the time in the overhead frame and the time for receiving the overhead frame.

S404: the second network element divides the local PHY link into an active PHY link and a remote inactive PHY link.

S405: and the second network element determines a reference time delay link from the effective PHY links, and divides the links of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold value in the effective PHY links into local invalid PHY links.

The specific manner of division can be seen in the process shown in fig. 2.

S406: and the second network element divides the PHY link meeting the preset condition in the local invalid PHY link into valid PHY links.

Specifically, the preset conditions include: the time delay of the PHY link is not more than the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element and the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed.

It should be noted that the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element may also be preconfigured in the second network element, in this case, the overhead frame sent by the first network element may not include the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

Optionally, in a preset number of cycles (for example, three cycles, one cycle is 1024 and 20 slots), the PHY links meeting the preset condition in the locally invalid PHY links may be divided into valid PHY links, so as to ensure that the invalid PHY links are changed into valid PHY links, and the preset condition is indeed met, thereby ensuring the stability of the system.

S407: and the second network element determines a second threshold value according to the difference value between the PHY link meeting the preset condition and the first threshold value.

Specifically, the second threshold may be a maximum difference value of differences between the delay of the PHY link meeting the preset condition and the first threshold.

S408: and the second network element sends the second threshold value to the first network element, and the first network element updates the time delay difference between the links in the Flexe Group into the second threshold value.

Optionally, the second network element may carry the second threshold in the overhead frame, and further carry the second threshold in a reserved field of the overhead frame, and send the second threshold to the first network element.

S409: the second network element sends an overhead frame to the first network element, and a value of a Remote PHY link failure indication (RPF) field in the overhead frame indicates a local invalid PHY link of the second network element.

S410: both the first network element and the second network element delete the invalid PHY link from the FlexE Group.

S411: the first network element and the second network element transmit data using a FlexE Group.

As can be seen from fig. 4, in this embodiment, a fixed delay difference is no longer restricted, but a delay difference larger than the original delay difference is negotiated according to the actual capabilities of the network element and the PHY link, so as to divide more PHY links into effective PHY links. Therefore, the method shown in fig. 4 can improve the availability of the FlexE Group and improve the resource utilization rate.

In the process shown in fig. 4, optionally, S408 may not be executed, and the second network element only provides the second threshold, and after obtaining the second threshold from the second network element, the worker modifies the first network, for example, increases the buffer of the first network element and/or increases the length of the internal optical fiber, so that the delay difference between links in the FlexE Group of the first network element is increased to the second threshold.

Optionally, when the first network element supports increasing the delay inequality (that is, whether the value of the increased delay inequality indication bit is 1 is supported in the reserved field in the overhead frame sent by the first network element, and the reserved field includes the maximum delay indication bit and the timestamp indication bit), the second network element may also perform the steps after S202 in fig. 2 instead of the steps after S405 in fig. 4. That is, in the case that the first network element supports increasing the delay inequality, the second network element and the first network element may negotiate only to remove the invalid PHY link without negotiating the delay inequality.

Fig. 5 is a structure of the first network element shown in fig. 2 or fig. 4, including: the device comprises a sending module, a receiving module and a deleting module. Optionally, a synchronization module is further included.

The synchronization module is configured to perform time synchronization on the PHY link of the first network element and the PHY link of the second network element. The sending module is configured to send an overhead frame to the second network element, where a specific frame structure of the overhead frame may refer to fig. 3, which is not described herein again. Optionally, the receiving module may be further configured to receive a threshold sent by the second network element after the sending module sends the overhead frame to the second network element, and update the delay difference between links in the flexible ethernet group according to the threshold. The deleting module is configured to delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

For specific implementation of the functions of the above modules, reference may be made to the above method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 6 is a structure of the second network element shown in fig. 2, including: the device comprises a receiving module, a calculating module, a selecting module, a sending module and a deleting module.

The receiving module is configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element. The calculation module is configured to calculate a time delay of a PHY link according to a time when the overhead frame is received and a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, where the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame. And the selection module is used for selecting the reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. The sending module is configured to send, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold. The deleting module is configured to delete the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

Similar to fig. 6, the second network element shown in fig. 4 comprises: the device comprises a receiving module, a calculating module, a selecting module, a sending module and a deleting module.

Different from fig. 6, the information of the invalid PHY link sent to the first network element by the sending module of the second network element shown in fig. 4 is that the delay difference between the invalid PHY link and the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not satisfy a preset condition, where the preset condition includes that the delay is not greater than the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element, and the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the PHY link.

The second network element shown in fig. 4 may further include a determining module. The determining module is configured to determine a second threshold according to the delay of a target link after the selecting module selects a reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link, where the delay difference between the target link and the reference delay link is greater than the first threshold and meets the preset condition, and the second threshold is used for updating the delay difference between links in the flexible ethernet group by the first network element.

The sending module of the second network element shown in fig. 4 is further configured to: and after determining the second threshold according to the time delay of the target link, sending the second threshold to the first network element. The overhead frame received by the receiving module further includes: a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

The embodiment of the present application further discloses another structure of the first network element shown in fig. 2 or fig. 4, including: a transmitter, a receiver, and a processor.

Wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the overhead frame to the second network element. The receiver is configured to receive information of an invalid physical layer PHY link of the second network element, where the information is sent by the second network element. A processor is configured to remove an invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

The embodiment of the present application further discloses another structure of the second network element shown in fig. 2, including: a transmitter, a receiver, and a processor.

The receiver is configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element. The processor is configured to calculate a time delay of a PHY link according to a time when the overhead frame is received and a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, where the PHY link is a PHY link that transmits the overhead frame, and select a reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link. The transmitter is configured to transmit, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold. The processor is further configured to remove an invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible ethernet group.

The embodiment of the present application further discloses another structure of the second network element shown in fig. 4, including: a transmitter, a receiver, and a processor. The difference from the second network element shown in fig. 2 is that the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not satisfy preset conditions, where the preset conditions include that the delay is not greater than the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element, and the maximum delay of the PHY link allowed. And the processor is further configured to determine a second threshold according to the delay of a target link after the second network element selects the reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link, where the delay difference between the target link and the reference delay link is greater than the first threshold and meets the preset condition, and the second threshold is used for updating the delay difference between links in the flexible ethernet group by the first network element. The transmitter is further configured to transmit the second threshold to the first network element.

The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, hardware components, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, DSPs, and microprocessors, among others.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that in one or more of the examples described above, the functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

The above-mentioned embodiments, objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application are further described in detail, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only examples of the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A flexible ethernet group negotiation method, comprising:

a first network element sends an overhead frame to a second network element, wherein the overhead frame comprises a timestamp indicating bit, and the timestamp indicating bit is used for indicating the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, so that the second network element calculates the time delay of a PHY link according to the time of receiving the overhead frame and the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, and selects a reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link;

the first network element receives information of an invalid physical layer (PHY) link of the second network element, which is sent by the second network element, the invalid PHY link of the second network element is determined by the second network element, and the time delay difference between the invalid PHY link of the second network element and the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold;

the first network element deletes the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the overhead frame further comprises:

and whether to support increasing a delay inequality indicating bit is used for indicating whether the first network element supports increasing the delay inequality.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the overhead frame further comprises:

a maximum delay indicator bit, where the maximum delay indicator bit is used to indicate a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the timestamp indication bit, the whether incremental latency difference indication bit is supported, and the maximum latency indication bit are included in a reserved field of the overhead frame.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the first network element sends an overhead frame to a second network element:

and the first network element receives the threshold value sent by the second network element and updates the time delay difference between the links in the flexible Ethernet group according to the threshold value.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, further comprising, before the first network element sends an overhead frame to the second network element:

and the PHY link of the first network element and the PHY link of the second network element are subjected to time synchronization.

7. A flexible ethernet group negotiation method, comprising:

a second network element receives an overhead frame sent by a first network element, wherein the overhead frame comprises a timestamp indicating bit which is used for indicating the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element;

the second network element calculates the time delay of a PHY link according to the time of receiving the overhead frame and the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element, wherein the PHY link is a PHY link for transmitting the overhead frame;

the second network element selects a reference time delay link according to the time delay of the PHY link;

the second network element sends information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element to the first network element, wherein the invalid PHY link is a PHY link of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold value;

the second network element deletes the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein selecting a reference latency link as a function of the latency of the PHY link comprises:

taking the PHY link with the minimum time delay in the PHY links as the reference time delay link; or,

taking an attempted reference delay link corresponding to an effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links as the reference delay link;

or, taking the trial reference delay link corresponding to the effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links and with the delay not greater than the preset value as the reference delay link;

wherein the tentative reference delay link is any one of the PHY links, and the correspondence between the effective PHY link set and the tentative reference delay link is: the PHY link in the effective PHY link set is a PHY link whose delay difference from the trial reference delay link is not greater than the first threshold, and the delay difference between every two effective PHY links in the effective PHY link set is not greater than the first threshold.

9. A flexible ethernet group negotiation method, comprising:

a second network element receives an overhead frame sent by a first network element, wherein the overhead frame sent by the first network element comprises a timestamp indicating bit, and the timestamp indicating bit is used for indicating the time of sending the overhead frame by the first network element;

the second network element sends information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element to the first network element, wherein the invalid PHY link is a PHY link of which the time delay difference with the reference time delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not meet preset conditions, and the preset conditions comprise that the time delay is not greater than the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, the maximum time delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element and the maximum time delay allowed by the PHY link;

10. The method of claim 9, wherein after the second network element selects a reference delay link based on the delay of the PHY link, further comprising:

and the second network element determines a second threshold according to the time delay of a target link and the first threshold, wherein the time delay difference between the target link and the reference time delay link is greater than the first threshold and meets the preset condition, and the second threshold is used for updating the time delay difference between the links in the flexible Ethernet group by the first network element.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining, by the second network element, the second threshold based on the delay of the target link comprises:

and determining, by the second network element, a second threshold according to the delay of the target link when the overhead frame sent by the first network element further includes an indication bit indicating whether or not the increase of the delay inequality is supported, and the indication bit indicating whether or not the increase of the delay inequality is supported by the first network element.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein after the second network element determines the second threshold according to the delay of the target link, further comprising:

and the second network element sends the second threshold value to the first network element.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein sending, by the second network element, the second threshold value to the first network element comprises:

and the second network element sends an overhead frame to the first network element, and a reserved field of the overhead frame sent by the second network element comprises the second threshold.

14. The method of any of claims 9-13, wherein selecting a reference latency link as a function of the latency of the PHY link comprises:

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the overhead frame sent by the first network element further comprises:

a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.

16. A network element, wherein the network element is a first network element, and wherein the network element comprises:

a sending module, configured to send an overhead frame to a second network element, where the overhead frame includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, so that the second network element calculates a delay of a PHY link according to the time when the overhead frame is received and the time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, and selects a reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link;

a receiving module, configured to receive information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the information is sent by the second network element, and a delay difference between the invalid PHY link of the second network element and the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold value, where the information is determined by the second network element;

a deleting module for deleting the invalid PHY link of the second network element from the flexible Ethernet group.

17. The network element of claim 16, wherein the overhead frame sent by the sending module further comprises:

18. The network element of claim 17, wherein the overhead frame sent by the sending module further comprises:

19. The network element of claim 18, wherein the timestamp indication bit, the whether incremental delay difference indication bit and the maximum delay indication bit in the overhead frame sent by the sending module are included in a reserved field of the overhead frame.

20. The network element of claim 16, wherein the receiving module is further configured to:

and after the sending module sends the overhead frame to the second network element, receiving a threshold sent by the second network element, and updating the time delay difference between the links in the flexible Ethernet group according to the threshold.

21. The network element of any one of claims 16-20, further comprising:

a synchronization module, configured to perform time synchronization on the PHY link of the first network element and the PHY link of the second network element before the sending module sends the overhead frame to the second network element.

22. A network element, wherein the network element is a second network element, and wherein the network element comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element, where the overhead frame includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element;

a calculation module, configured to calculate a time delay of a PHY link according to a time when the overhead frame is received and a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element, where the PHY link is a PHY link that transmits the overhead frame;

a selection module, configured to select a reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link;

a sending module, configured to send, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold;

23. The network element of claim 22, wherein the selection module is configured to select a reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link, and wherein the selecting module is configured to:

the selecting module is specifically configured to use the PHY link with the smallest time delay in the PHY links as the reference time delay link; or, taking the trial reference delay link corresponding to the effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links as the reference delay link; or, taking an attempted reference delay link, which corresponds to an effective PHY link set with the largest number of effective PHY links and has a delay not greater than a preset value, as a reference delay link, where the attempted reference delay link is any one of the PHY links, and a correspondence relationship between the effective PHY link set and the attempted reference delay link is: the PHY link in the effective PHY link set is a PHY link whose delay difference from the trial reference delay link is not greater than the first threshold, and the delay difference between every two effective PHY links in the effective PHY link set is not greater than the first threshold.

24. A network element, wherein the network element is a second network element, and wherein the network element comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive an overhead frame sent by a first network element, where the overhead frame sent by the first network element includes a timestamp indicator bit, and the timestamp indicator bit is used to indicate a time when the overhead frame is sent by the first network element;

a sending module, configured to send, to the first network element, information of an invalid PHY link of the second network element, where the invalid PHY link is a PHY link whose delay difference from the reference delay link is greater than a first threshold and does not satisfy a preset condition, and the preset condition includes that a delay is not greater than a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element, a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the second network element, and a maximum delay allowed by the PHY link;

25. The network element of claim 24, further comprising:

a determining module, configured to determine a second threshold according to the delay of a target link and the first threshold after the selecting module selects a reference delay link according to the delay of the PHY link, where the delay difference between the target link and the reference delay link is greater than the first threshold and meets the preset condition, and the second threshold is used for the first network element to update the delay difference between links in the flexible ethernet group.

26. The network element of claim 25, wherein the determining module is configured to determine the second threshold according to a delay of the target link, and comprises:

the determining module is specifically configured to determine the second threshold according to the delay of the target link when the overhead frame sent by the first network element further includes an indication bit indicating whether the increase of the delay inequality is supported, and the indication bit indicates that the increase of the delay inequality is supported by the first network element.

27. The network element of claim 25, wherein the sending module is further configured to:

and after the determining module determines a second threshold according to the time delay of the target link, sending the second threshold to the first network element.

28. The network element of claim 25, wherein the sending module is configured to send the second threshold to the first network element comprises:

the sending module is specifically configured to send an overhead frame to the first network element, where a reserved field of the overhead frame sent by the sending module includes the second threshold.

29. The network element of any one of claims 24-28, wherein the selecting module is configured to select a reference latency link according to the latency of the PHY link, and comprises:

30. The network element of claim 24, wherein the overhead frame received by the receiving module further comprises:

a maximum delay of the PHY link allowed by the first network element.