CN110932895B

CN110932895B - Message forwarding method and device for network slice

Info

Publication number: CN110932895B
Application number: CN201911173713.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王泽林; 王光全; 徐博华
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-26
Filing date: 2019-11-26
Publication date: 2022-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 2039-11-26
Also published as: CN110932895A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a message forwarding method and device for a network slice, relates to the technical field of network slices, and aims to identify a dedicated network slice of a service directly according to label binding information and reduce cost overhead in an implementation process. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring label binding information of the network slice, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes the identification of the network slice; and creating table entries for the slice-FEC, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding the message of hitting the table entries by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC. The embodiment of the application is applied to forwarding the message on the exclusive network slice.

Description

Message forwarding method and device for network slice

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of network slicing, in particular to a message forwarding method and device of network slicing.

Background

The end-to-end network slicing capability provided by the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5-generation, 5G) network can flexibly and dynamically allocate and release the required network resources in the whole network facing different requirements, and a plurality of logic networks are divided on an independent physical network, so that the network connection is further dynamically optimized, the cost is reduced, and the benefit is improved. The core requirement of the 5G network slice (slice) on the bearer network is that different network slices need to have dedicated bearer sub-networks, and the different dedicated bearer sub-networks can be strictly hard resource isolation and also can be soft isolation for achieving an approximate hard isolation effect. The packet network supports statistical multiplexing, which is more economical than a private network or a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) network, and in order to support a 5G network slicing requirement, the packet network needs to slice and divide the network resources of a bottom layer (underlay) to meet requirements of different upper layer (overlay) services, such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) services.

At present, there are various 5G bearer network slicing technologies, which mainly include an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) multi-topology technology and an IGP flexible algorithm (flex-algorithm) technology. The IGP multi-topology technology is to divide a physical network topology into a plurality of logical sub-topologies and to attribute different overlay services to different logical sub-topologies. The IGP flexible algorithm technology is that multiple IGP algorithms are operated in one physical network topology to calculate multiple flex-algorithm planes, and different overlay services are iterated to different flex-algorithm planes. Therefore, both the IGP multi-topology technology and the IGP flexible algorithm technology need to maintain multiple IGP routing tables in packet network equipment during the implementation process, and the cost and the overhead during the implementation process are very high.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for forwarding a packet of a network slice, which can directly identify a dedicated network slice of a service according to tag binding information, thereby reducing cost overhead in an implementation process.

In a first aspect, a method for forwarding a network slice packet is provided, where the method is used for a target node, and includes the following steps: acquiring label binding information of the network slice, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes an identification of a network slice; and creating table entries for the slice-FEC, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding the message of hitting the table entries by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

In the scheme, label binding information of the network slice is obtained, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes the identification of the network slice; and creating table entries for the slice-FEC, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding the message of hitting the table entries by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC. Therefore, in the application, the identifier of the network slice is used as the slice-FEC of the network slice, and after the access node of the slice-FEC receives the label binding information, the service packet can be directly forwarded on the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice carried in the label binding information, so that the problem that a plurality of IGP routing tables need to be maintained in a packet network when an overlay service belongs to the exclusive underlay network resource is avoided, and the cost overhead in the implementation process is reduced.

In a second aspect, a network slice packet forwarding apparatus is provided, including: the system comprises an acquisition module, a forwarding module and a forwarding module, wherein the acquisition module is used for acquiring label binding information of a network slice, and the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes the identification of the network slice; and the processing module is used for creating table entries for the slice-FEC obtained by the obtaining module, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding the message of hitting the table entries by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

In a third aspect, a network sliced message forwarding device is provided, which includes a processor, and when the network sliced message forwarding device is running, the processor executes computer execution instructions to make the network sliced message forwarding device execute the above network sliced message forwarding method.

In a fourth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the message forwarding method for network slices as described above.

In a fifth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises instruction codes for executing the message forwarding method of the network slice as described above.

It can be understood that any one of the above-provided message forwarding apparatuses, computer storage media, or computer program products of the network slice is used to execute the method corresponding to the first aspect, and therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved by the message forwarding apparatuses, the computer storage media, or the computer program products can refer to the beneficial effects of the method of the first aspect and the corresponding schemes in the following detailed description, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a message forwarding method for a network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for acquiring tag binding information by an egr node according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a Slice-prefix FEC element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for a transit node to obtain label binding information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network topology according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a message forwarding apparatus for network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a message forwarding apparatus of a network slice according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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 only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the 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 invention.

In the age 5G, the objects of mobile network services are no longer pure mobile phones, but various types of devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, fixed sensors, vehicles, and the like. Application scenarios are also diversified, such as mobile broadband, large-scale internet, mission-critical internet, and the like. The requirements to be met are also diversified, such as mobility, security, time delay, reliability and the like, so that a place for network slicing is provided, the end-to-end network slicing capability provided by the 5G network can flexibly and dynamically allocate and release the required network resources to different requirements in the whole network, a plurality of logic networks are divided on an independent physical network, the network connection is further dynamically optimized, the cost is reduced, and the benefit is improved. The core requirement of the 5G network slice (slice) on the bearer network is that different network slices need to have their own dedicated bearer sub-networks, and the different dedicated bearer sub-networks can be strict hard resource isolation or soft isolation to achieve an approximate hard isolation effect.

At present, there are various 5G bearer network slicing technologies, which mainly include an interior gateway protocol IGP multi-topology technology and an IGP flexible algorithm (flex-algorithm) technology. The IGP multi-topology technology is to divide a physical network topology into a plurality of logic sub-topologies and to attribute different overlay services to different logic sub-topologies. The IGP flexible algorithm technology is to operate various IGP algorithms in one physical network topology to calculate various flex-algorithm planes, and iterate different overlay services to different flex-algorithm planes. Therefore, in the implementation process of both the IGP multi-topology technology and the IGP flexible algorithm technology, multiple IGP routing tables need to be maintained in the packet network device, and the cost and the overhead in the implementation process are very high.

In order to solve the above problem, the present application provides a network slice packet forwarding method, which is used for a target node, and as shown in fig. 1, the method specifically includes the following steps:

101. and acquiring label binding information of the network slice.

First, the key complaint of 5G bearers is to somehow map overlay traffic onto its dedicated underlay network resources. These dedicated network resources may be three-tier interfaces, two-tier interfaces, queues, processors, etc. In a 5G bearer network, one basic requirement is that the underlay network resources need to be slice-divided, that is, some underlay network resources need to be configured with a dedicated network slice number (slice-id), and another basic requirement is that overlay traffic is traffic in a dedicated network slice and is also configured with its dedicated network slice number. It can be seen that slice-id is key information for associating overlay service with underlay network resources.

Second, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is a new technology for guiding high-speed and efficient data transmission by using a label on an open communication network. MPLS, as a sort forwarding technique, classifies packets having the same forwarding processing manner into one class, which is called Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC). Where packets of the same FEC will get exactly the same processing in the MPLS network. A Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) is a control protocol of MPLS, and is equivalent to a signaling protocol in a conventional network, and is responsible for a series of operations such as FEC classification, label allocation, and Label Switched Path (LSP) establishment and maintenance.

Therefore, the target node acquires label binding information of the network slice through MPLS LDP, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes an identification of the network slice.

Specifically, the obtaining of the label binding information of the network slice includes the following conditions:

A. if the target node is determined to be an outgoing aggregation node of the slice-FEC, the method for acquiring the label binding information by the aggregation node is provided, and referring to fig. 2, the method specifically includes the following steps:

a1, acquiring local loopback configuration and identification of at least one network slice.

The loopback configuration refers to a loopback prefix (prefix), and the identifier of the network slice is the above-mentioned network slice number (slice-id).

And A2, using the identifier of the loopback configuration and the at least one network slice as the forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC in the at least one network slice.

Wherein each slice-FEC corresponds to one network slice.

Specifically, at a destination node in the MPLS network, a certain loopback prefix of the destination node may be routed in at least one network Slice as an FEC of LDP, which is called LDP Slice-FEC, and has a key value of < Slice-id, prefix >, that is, the same prefix will generate a plurality of different Slice-FECs in a plurality of different network slices.

And A3, distributing labels for slice-FEC, and generating label binding information.

The label binding information comprises a corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and a label distributed for the slice-FEC by the exit node.

The target node will assign different labels to different Slice-FECs through MPLS LDP.

Optionally, since the target node is an aggregation node of Slice-FECs, the target node may also assign the same label, for example, a special label3 or 0, to different Slice-FECs.

Further, the egress node advertises the label binding information to the neighbor nodes through LDP. Specifically, the messages node may notify the label binding information to the neighbor node by extending an LDP, for example, as shown in fig. 3, on the basis of RFC5036, the present application adds a new FEC element, which is denoted as Slice-prefix FEC element, and provides a structure of Slice-prefix FEC element, which includes type, address family, prelen, prefix, and Slice-FEC, where the type includes 1 byte, a value is TBD, and the TBD is a new value to be allocated that is not repeated with an existing value; the address family comprises 2 bytes, representing address families, e.g., IPV4 or IPV6, etc.; prelen includes 1 byte, indicating the length of the following address; prefix is an address prefix; the slice-FEC includes an identification of the network slice (slice-id). Therefore, the Slice-prefix FEC element provided in the present application is completely similar to the existing prefix FEC element, except that the Slice-FEC field indicates the identification information of a specific network Slice, and the interpretation of the other fields is completely the same as the prefix FEC element.

B. If the target node is determined to be a slice-FEC switching transit node, the method for the transit node to obtain the label binding information is provided, and referring to fig. 4, the method specifically includes the following steps:

b1, receiving the intermediate label binding information advertised by the neighbor node through the label distribution protocol LDP.

The intermediate label binding information comprises a corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and the labels distributed to the slice-FEC by the neighbor nodes.

And B2, distributing labels for the slice-FEC again, and generating label binding information.

And the label binding information comprises the corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and the label distributed to the slice-FEC by the exchange transit node.

Further, the transit node advertises the label binding information to other neighboring nodes through LDP, where the other neighboring nodes are different from the neighboring node that receives the intermediate label binding information sent to the target node. The specific method for the transit node to notify the label binding information to other neighbor nodes through the LDP can be referred to the notification mode of the egres node.

C. And if the target node is determined to be an ingress res node of the slice-FEC, acquiring label binding information advertised by the neighbor node through a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP).

102. An entry is created for slice-FEC.

And forwarding the message of which the table entry is used for hitting the table entry by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

Specifically, creating the table entry for slice-FEC includes the following cases:

A. if the target node is determined to be an outbound node of the slice-FEC, creating an Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) table entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and setting the type of a label in the ILM table entry as an outbound POP.

B. And if the target node is determined to be a slice-FEC exchange transit node, establishing an information life cycle management ILM table entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, setting the type of a label in the ILM table entry as exchange SWAP, and forwarding a label message which is used for hitting the table entry by using the unique underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

C. If the target node is determined to be an ingress res node of the slice-FEC, creating a forwarding equivalence class (FEC to NHLFE map, FTN) table entry corresponding to the slice-FEC to a next hop label forwarding unit (NHLFE), where a message hitting the table entry is forwarded by using an underlay network resource dedicated to a network slice corresponding to an identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

Referring to fig. 5, the present application provides a network topology, which includes nodes 511 to 513 and three-layer interfaces 521 to 524 on an MPLS bearer network, where the node 511 establishes a connection with a three-layer interface 522 of the node 512 through the three-layer interface 521, and the three-layer interface 523 of the node 512 establishes a connection with a three-layer interface 524 of the node 513. Wherein IGP and LDP are enabled on nodes 511-513 and three-tier interfaces 521-524.

For example, message forwarding of a network slice is performed on the network topology shown in fig. 5, first, it is assumed that three-layer interfaces 521 to 524 are divided into a plurality of two-layer sub-interfaces, where a sub-if-1 of the two-layer sub-interface belongs to a first network slice and is denoted as slice-1; the sub-if-2 of the two-layer subinterface belongs to a second network slice, and is marked as slice-2; and the sub-if-3 of the two-layer subinterface belongs to a third network slice, which is marked as slice-3. Note that for simplicity of network planning, each subinterface is not configured in a complicated manner. Secondly, assume that there are three layer 3 virtual private network (L3 VPN) services: the method comprises the following steps that VPN-1, VPN-2 and VPN-3,

nodes

511 and 513 serve as access devices of L3VPN services, and corresponding Virtual Routing Forwarding (VRF) instances VRF1, VRF2 and VRF3 are configured on the

nodes

511 and 513, wherein the instances VRF1, VRF2 and VRF3 respectively belong to network slices slice-1, slice-2 and slice-3; CE1-1 and CE1-2 are customers of vrf1 instances, CE2-1 and CE2-2 are customers of vrf2 instances, and CE3-1 and CE3-2 are customers of vrf3 instances; the

nodes

511 and 513 may advertise and learn VPN routes to each other via Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

According to the network topology and configuration, assuming that an LDP LSP of a specific network Slice (Slice) from the node 511 to the node 513 needs to be established by LDP, which is denoted as LDP Slice-LSP, the node 511 is an ingress node of the LDP Slice-LSP, the node 512 is a transit node of the LDP Slice-LSP, and the node 513 is an egr node of the LDP Slice-LSP.

Thus, first, at node 513, the loopback route of node 513, e.g., prefix-513, is configured as Slice-FEC in Slice-1, Slice-2, and Slice-3, respectively; node 513 assigns Slice-FEC < Slice-1, prefix-513> for Slice-1 to label31, Slice-FEC < Slice-2, prefix-513> for Slice-2 to label32, and Slice-FEC < Slice-3, prefix-513> for Slice-3 to label 33. Optionally, since the node 513 plays the role of the offsets of the Slice-FECs, the label31, the label32, and the label33 may be the same, for example, all are the special label3 or 0. Next, the node 513 notifies the upstream neighbor node 512 of the binding relationship between the Slice-FEC and the corresponding label through LDP, that is, the node 513 notifies the node 512 of label binding information, where the label binding information includes the Slice-prefix FEC element provided in this application instead of the prefix FEC element. Finally, for label31, label32 and label33, an ILM table entry is created on the node 513, and the type of the label in the table entry is POP.

At the node 512, first, after receiving the above label binding information of the node 513, the node 512 re-assigns a new label to the Slice-FEC, for example, assigns a label21 to the Slice-FEC < Slice-1, prefix-513>, assigns a label22 to the Slice-FEC < Slice-2, prefix-513>, and assigns a label23 to the Slice-FEC < Slice-3, prefix-513 >. Second, node 512 continues to advertise the above Slice-FEC binding to the new label to upstream neighbor node 511 via LDP. Finally, for label21, label22, label23, respectively, an ILM entry will be created on node 512. For example, in the ILM entry corresponding to label21, the type of the label is SWAP, the outgoing label is label31, and the forwarding outgoing interface is limited to resources such as a three-layer interface 523, a sub-if-1 sub-interface and a queue thereof; in the ILM table entry corresponding to label22, the type of the label is SWAP, the outgoing label is label32, and the forwarding outgoing interface is limited to resources such as a three-layer interface 523, a sub-if-2 sub-interface and a queue thereof; in the ILM entry corresponding to label23, the type of the label is SWAP, the outgoing label is label33, and the forwarding outgoing interface is limited to resources such as a three-layer interface 523, a sub-if-3 sub-interface and a queue thereof.

On the node 511, first, after receiving the label binding information of the node 512, the node 511 creates an FTN entry as an ingress node role. For example, FTN entries created when the notification of the label binding information of label21 is received are recorded as FTN1, an outgoing label is label21, and a forwarding and forwarding interface is limited to resources such as three-layer interface 521, sub-if-1 subinterface and queue thereof; FTN table entries created when the notice of the label binding information of label22 is received are recorded as FTN2, an outgoing label is label22, and a forwarding outgoing interface is limited to resources such as a three-layer interface 521, a sub-if-2 sub-interface and a queue thereof; the FTN entry created when the notification of the label binding information of label23 is received is recorded as FTN3, the outgoing label is label23, and the forwarding outgoing interface is limited to resources such as the three-layer interface 521, sub-if-3 sub-interface and its queue.

On the node 511, the node 511 learns VPN routes related to the VPN-1, VPN-2 and VPN-3 services from the node 513 through BGP, and assuming that L3VPN service labels carried in the route advertisement are VPN-label1, VPN-label2 and VPN-label3, respectively, these L3VPN service routes will iterate to the Slice-LSP created by LDP according to the BGP next hop (node 513) and the corresponding network Slice information to which they belong, that is, iterate to table entries of FTN1, FTN2 and FTN3, respectively. The L3VPN service message is forwarded along the exclusive underlay network resource of the specific network slice according to the forwarding information given in the FTN table item. For example, a packet corresponding to a vpn-1 service sent from CE1-1 to CE1-2 encapsulates two layers of labels (an inner layer label is vpn-label1, and an outer layer label is label21), and then forwards the packet to the node 512 along the three-layer interface 521. sub-if-1; a message corresponding to the vpn-2 service sent from the CE2-1 to the CE2-2 encapsulates two layers of labels (an inner layer label is vpn-label2, and an outer layer label is label22), and then is forwarded to the node 512 along the three-layer interface 521. sub-if-2; the packet corresponding to the vpn-3 service sent from the CE3-1 to the CE3-2 encapsulates two layers of labels (the inner layer label is vpn-label3, and the outer layer label is label23), and then forwards the packet to the node 512 along the three-layer interface 521. sub-if-3.

On the node 512, after the node 512 receives the message of the L3VPN service, the node hits an ILM entry according to a top label21(label22, label23), and according to the type SWAP of the label in the ILM entry, the label21(label22, label23) is switched to label31 (or label32, or label33) and then forwarded to the node 513, and when forwarding is performed, an underlay network resource exclusive to a network slice is used, for example, resources such as a three-layer interface 523, sub-if-1 (three-layer interface 523, sub-if-2, three-layer interface 523, sub-if-3) subinterface and a queue thereof.

On the node 513, after receiving the message of the L3VPN service, the node 513 hits an ILM entry according to a top label31(label32, label33), POPs up a label31(label32, label33) according to a type POP of a label in the ILM entry, and then continues to forward to a CE1-2(CE2-2, CE3-2) according to a VPN-label1(VPN-label2, VPN-label3) and an Internet Protocol (IP) load lookup table of a private network, and at this time, a network resource facing a CE private network client side, such as a queue resource, can be determined according to network slice information during forwarding.

In the scheme, label binding information of the network slice is obtained, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes the identification of the network slice; and creating table entries for the slice-FEC, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding the message of hitting the table entries by using the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC. Therefore, in the application, the identifier of the network slice is used as the slice-FEC of the network slice, and after the access node of the slice-FEC receives the label binding information, the service packet can be directly forwarded on the exclusive underlay network resource of the network slice corresponding to the identifier of the network slice carried in the label binding information, so that the problem that a plurality of IGP routing tables need to be maintained in a packet network when the overlay service belongs to the exclusive underlay network resource is avoided, and the cost and expense in the implementation process are reduced.

The embodiment of the present invention may perform functional module division on the message forwarding apparatus of the network slice according to the method embodiment described above, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the embodiment of the present invention is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and another division manner may be available in actual implementation.

Referring to fig. 6, the present application provides a packet forwarding apparatus for network slicing, which is used for a target node or a chip on the target node, and includes: an obtaining module 61, configured to obtain label binding information of a network slice, where the label binding information includes a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC includes an identification of the network slice; a processing module 62, configured to create an entry for the slice-FEC acquired by the acquiring module 61, where a message that the entry is used for hitting the entry is forwarded using an underlay network resource dedicated to a network slice corresponding to an identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC.

Optionally, if the obtaining module 61 determines that the target node is the egress node of the slice-FEC, then: the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to obtain a local loopback configuration and an identifier of at least one network slice; the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to use the loopback configuration and the identifier of the at least one network slice as a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC in the at least one network slice, where each slice-FEC corresponds to one network slice; the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to allocate a label to the slice-FEC and generate label binding information, where the label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and the label allocated to the slice-FEC by the egress node; the processing module 62 is specifically configured to create an information lifecycle management ILM entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and set the type of the label in the ILM entry as POP.

Optionally, if the obtaining module 61 determines that the target node is the switch transit node of the slice-FEC, then: the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to receive intermediate label binding information advertised by a neighbor node through a label distribution protocol LDP, where the intermediate label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and a label allocated to the slice-FEC by the neighbor node; the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to reallocate a label to the slice-FEC and generate the label binding information, where the label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and the label allocated to the slice-FEC by the exchange transit node; the processing module 62 is specifically configured to create an information lifecycle management ILM entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and set the type of the label in the ILM entry to SWAP.

Optionally, if the obtaining module 61 determines that the target node is an ingress ress node of the slice-FEC; the obtaining module 61 is specifically configured to obtain the label binding information advertised by the neighboring node through a label distribution protocol LDP; the processing module 62 is specifically configured to create a mapping FTN entry from the forwarding equivalence class corresponding to the slice-FEC to the next-hop label forwarding unit.

Under the condition of adopting an integrated module, the message forwarding device of the network slice comprises: the device comprises a storage unit, a processing unit and an interface unit. The processing unit is used for controlling and managing the action of the message forwarding device of the network slice. And the interface unit is responsible for information interaction between the message forwarding device of the network slice and other equipment. And the storage unit is used for storing the program codes and data of the message forwarding device of the network slice.

Wherein, the processing unit may be a processor, the storage unit may be a memory, and the interface unit may be a communication interface.

The message forwarding apparatus of the network slice is shown in fig. 7, and includes a processor 702, where the processor 702 is configured to execute an application program code, so as to implement the method described in this embodiment of the present application.

The processor 702 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, the message forwarding apparatus of the network slice may further include a memory 703.

The memory 703 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be self-contained and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

The memory 703 is used for storing application program codes for implementing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 702. As shown in fig. 7, the message forwarding apparatus of the network slice may further include a communication interface 701. The communication interface 701, the processor 702, and the memory 703 may be coupled to each other, for example, by a bus 704.

The communication interface 701 is used for information interaction with other devices, for example, information interaction between the message forwarding apparatus supporting network slicing and other devices, such as data acquisition from other devices or data transmission to other devices.

Further, a computing storage medium (or media) is also provided, which comprises instructions that when executed perform the message forwarding method operations of the network slice in the above embodiments. Additionally, a computer program product is also provided, comprising the above-described computing storage medium (or media).

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and the function thereof is not described herein again.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present invention, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply an order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and internal logics, and should not limit the implementation processes of the embodiments of the present invention in any way.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative modules, elements, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. 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 invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and shall cover the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A message forwarding method of network slice is used for a target node and is characterized in that,

acquiring label binding information of a network slice, wherein the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC comprises an identification of the network slice;

creating table entries for the slice-FEC, wherein the table entries are used for forwarding messages which hit the table entries by using exclusive underlay network resources of the network slices corresponding to the identifiers of the network slices in the slice-FEC;

if the target node is determined to be the egress nodes of the slice-FEC, then:

the acquiring of the label binding information of the network slice includes:

acquiring local loopback configuration and an identifier of at least one network slice;

taking the loopback configuration and the identifier of the at least one network slice as a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC in the at least one network slice, wherein each slice-FEC corresponds to one network slice;

distributing labels for the slice-FEC, and generating label binding information, wherein the label binding information comprises a corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and the labels distributed to the slice-FEC by the export nodes;

creating an entry for the slice-FEC, including:

and creating an information life cycle management ILM table entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and setting the type of the label in the ILM table entry as POP.

2. The message forwarding method for network slice according to claim 1, wherein if it is determined that the target node is a switch transit node of the slice-FEC, then:

the acquiring of the label binding information of the network slice includes:

receiving intermediate label binding information advertised by a neighbor node through a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP), wherein the intermediate label binding information comprises a corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and a label distributed to the slice-FEC by the neighbor node;

re-allocating labels to the slice-FEC, and generating label binding information, wherein the label binding information comprises a corresponding relation between the slice-FEC and the labels allocated to the slice-FEC by the exchange transit node;

creating an entry for the slice-FEC, including:

and creating an information life cycle management ILM table entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and setting the type of the label in the ILM table entry as switching SWAP.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein if it is determined that the target node is an ingress ress node of the slice-FEC;

the acquiring of the label binding information of the network slice includes:

acquiring label binding information advertised by a neighbor node through a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP);

creating an entry for the slice-FEC, including:

and creating a mapping FTN table item from the forwarding equivalence class corresponding to the slice-FEC to a next hop label forwarding unit.

4. A message forwarding device for network slicing is used for a target node or a chip on the target node, and is characterized by comprising:

the system comprises an acquisition module, a processing module and a processing module, wherein the acquisition module is used for acquiring label binding information of a network slice, and the label binding information comprises a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC; the slice-FEC comprises an identification of the network slice;

a processing module, configured to create a table entry for the slice-FEC acquired by the acquisition module, where a message that the table entry is used for hitting the table entry is forwarded using an underlay network resource dedicated to a network slice corresponding to an identifier of the network slice in the slice-FEC;

if the obtaining module determines that the target node is the egress nodes of the slice-FEC, the obtaining module:

the acquisition module is specifically configured to acquire a local loopback configuration and an identifier of at least one network slice;

the obtaining module is specifically configured to use the loopback configuration and the identifier of the at least one network slice as a forwarding equivalence class slice-FEC in the at least one network slice, where each slice-FEC corresponds to one network slice;

the obtaining module is specifically configured to allocate a label to the slice-FEC and generate label binding information, where the label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and the label allocated to the slice-FEC by the aggregation node;

the processing module is specifically configured to create an information lifecycle management ILM entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and set a type of a label in the ILM entry as POP.

5. The message forwarding device of network slice of claim 4,

if the obtaining module determines that the target node is the switch transit node of the slice-FEC, then:

the acquiring module is specifically configured to receive intermediate label binding information advertised by a neighbor node through a label distribution protocol LDP, where the intermediate label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and a label allocated to the slice-FEC by the neighbor node;

the obtaining module is specifically configured to reallocate a label to the slice-FEC and generate the label binding information, where the label binding information includes a correspondence between the slice-FEC and the label allocated to the slice-FEC by the exchange transit node;

the processing module is specifically configured to create an information lifecycle management ILM entry corresponding to the slice-FEC, and set a type of a label in the ILM entry to be SWAP.

6. The message forwarding device of network slice of claim 4,

if the obtaining module determines that the target node is an ingress res node of the slice-FEC;

the acquisition module is specifically used for acquiring the label binding information advertised by the neighbor node through a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP);

the processing module is specifically configured to create a mapping FTN entry from the forwarding equivalence class corresponding to the slice-FEC to the next-hop label forwarding unit.

7. A network-sliced message forwarding device comprising a processor that executes computer-executable instructions to cause the network-sliced message forwarding device to perform the network-sliced message forwarding method of any one of claims 1-3 when the network-sliced message forwarding device is in operation.

8. A computer storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of network slice packet forwarding according to any of claims 1-3.