CN114244765B

CN114244765B - Storage method and device for service chain, electronic equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114244765B
Application number: CN202111566578.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 扶奉超; 曹维华; 王鹏; 谢元宝; 李文云; 朱华虹; 刘浩; 李建钊
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-20
Filing date: 2021-12-20
Publication date: 2023-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 2041-12-20
Also published as: CN114244765A

Abstract

The disclosure provides a storage method, a storage device, electronic equipment and a storage medium for a service chain. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a service path indicated by a service path identification number SPI; determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, so that the SFFs store the target service paths received by the SFFs, respectively. The method can save the storage space of the SFF, reduce the interaction length of control plane messages between the SDN and the SFF, save resources and solve the problem of limited service path length of a service chain.

Description

Storage method and device for service chain, electronic equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular relates to a storage method, a storage device, electronic equipment and a storage medium for a service chain.

Background

Service chaining (Service Function Chain, SFC) techniques may enable network traffic to pass through individual service functions (also referred to as service functions) in a given order as required by the service logic.

In the related art, an SDN (Software Defined Network ) controller issues a complete Service Path represented by an SPI (Service Function Path Identifier, service Path identification number) to each SFF (Service Function Forwarder ), thereby guiding the SFF to forward traffic according to the SP (Service Path).

However, with the rapid development of service chain network services, the number of SPIs stored in SFF is increased, and the occupied storage space is increased. In addition, at present, one SPI contains 256 SFFs at most, and it is difficult to meet the needs of part of the scenes.

It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancing understanding of the background of the present disclosure and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a storage method, a system, a device, electronic equipment and a storage medium for a service chain, wherein the method can save the storage space of SFF, reduce the control plane message interaction length between SDN and SFF, save resources and solve the problem of limited service path length of the service chain.

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by the practice of the disclosure.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a storage method for a service chain, which comprises the following steps: acquiring a service path indicated by a service path identification number SPI; determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, so that the SFFs store the target service paths received by the SFFs, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the service path includes K sequentially arranged service functions SF, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the K sequentially arranged SFs respectively correspond to the K sequentially arranged SFFs, the plurality of target service paths includes the service path and a plurality of sub-service paths, and a sum of numbers of SFs included in the plurality of sub-service paths is K.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of sub-service paths includes a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path; determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths, including: dividing the service path into a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, wherein the first sub-service path comprises M SF, the second sub-service path comprises (K-M) SF, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; determining the service path, the first sub-service path, and the second sub-service path as the plurality of target service paths.

In an exemplary embodiment, forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, includes: forwarding the first sub-service path to 1 st to (M-1) th SFFs, forwarding the service path to an mth SFF, and forwarding the second sub-service path to (m+1) th to kth SFFs.

In an exemplary embodiment, the service paths include K sequentially arranged SFs, the K sequentially arranged SFs respectively corresponding to the K sequentially arranged SFFs, and the plurality of target service paths include (K-1) sub-service paths, K being an integer greater than or equal to 1; determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths, including: dividing the service path into (K-1) sub-service paths, wherein the first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths sequentially corresponds to the first (K-1) SF in the service path respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, includes: forwarding the (K-1) sub-service paths to the front (K-1) SFFs according to the first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths; forwarding the (K-1) th sub-service path to the Kth SFF, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the K sub-service paths are the same length.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a storage device for a service chain, comprising: the path acquisition module is used for acquiring the service path indicated by the service path identification number SPI; the path determining module is used for determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; and the path forwarding module is used for forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs respectively so that the SFFs respectively store the received target service paths.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device, including: at least one processor; and a storage terminal device for storing at least one program, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement any one of the storage methods for the service chain described above.

The disclosed embodiments provide a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements any of the above-described storage methods for a service chain.

According to the storage method for the service chain, the SDN controller can determine a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths and forward the target service paths to the SFFs corresponding to the target service paths, so that each SFF only needs to store one target service path instead of all the service paths, the storage space of the SFFs can be saved, meanwhile, the control plane message interaction length between the SDN and the SFFs is reduced, resources are saved, and the problem that the service chain service path length is limited is solved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the drawings in the following description are merely examples of the disclosure and that other drawings may be derived from them without undue effort.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an SFC service chain model, according to an example.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a storage method for a service chain according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating another method of storage for a service chain according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a storage device for a service chain according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments may be embodied in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Furthermore, the drawings are merely schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and thus a repetitive description thereof will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the figures are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically separate entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits or in different networks and/or processor terminals and/or microcontroller terminals.

Referring to fig. 1, the SFC service chain model includes classifiers (Service Classifier, SC), SFF1, SFF2, SFF3, SFF4, SF1, SF2, SF3, SF4, and SDN controller.

Taking the traffic flows SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 as an example, table 1 shows a correspondence relationship among SPI (Service Function Path Identifier ), SI (Service Index), SF and SFF.

TABLE 1

SPI	SI	SF	SFF
				1	255	SF1	SFF1
1	254	SF2	SFF2
				1	253	SF3	SFF3
1	252	SF4	SFF4

In the related art, taking the service flow model shown in fig. 1 and table 1 as an example, the SFC message forwarding flow is as follows:

step1: the SDN controller issues SPs to SFF 1-SFF 4, wherein the SP bar comprises 4 SF;

step2: after the service flow reaches the classifier, the head of NSH (Network Service Header, network service head) is packaged and enters SFC network;

step3: each SFF forwards the SP issued by the SDN controller to corresponding SF processing;

step4: after each SF processing on the SP, the SFF4 is reached, the NSH header is stripped off, and the SFC network is left.

So far, the SDN controller issues the same SP to SFF 1-SFF 4, and transmits 16 pieces of SF information in total; each of SFF1 to SFF4 stores 1 identical SP, includes 4 SFs, and occupies a total of 16 SFs.

Hereinafter, each step of the storage method for a service chain in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a storage method for a service chain according to an exemplary embodiment. The method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by an SDN controller, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 2, the storage method for a service chain provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may include the following steps.

In step S202, a service path indicated by the service path identification number SPI is acquired.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the SDN controller may obtain the service path SP indicated by the SPI.

In an exemplary embodiment, the service path may include K sequentially arranged service functions SF, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and K sequentially arranged SFs correspond to K sequentially arranged SFFs, respectively.

Referring to fig. 1, for example, the service path includes 4 SFs, which are SF1, SF2, SF3, and SF4 in sequence, where SF1 corresponds to SFF1, SF2 corresponds to SFF2, SF3 corresponds to SFF3, SF4 corresponds to SFF4, SFF1 may forward a message to SF1, SFF2 may forward a message to SF2, SFF3 may forward a message to SF3, and SFF4 may forward a message to SF4.

In step S204, a plurality of target service paths are determined from the service paths.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the SDN controller may determine a plurality of target service paths from the service paths.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of target service paths may include a service path and a plurality of sub-service paths, a sum of the number of SFs included in the plurality of sub-service paths being K.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the SDN controller may divide the service path into a plurality of sub-service paths, where a sum of numbers of SFs included in each sub-service path is K.

Specifically, the service path may be disconnected from the middle of one SF and its next SF, and the service path may be divided into 2-segment sub-service paths.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a service path may be divided into two or more sub-service paths, and the following description will take the case of dividing into two sub-service paths as an example, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of sub-service paths includes a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path; determining a plurality of target service paths from the service paths, comprising: dividing a service path into a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, wherein the first sub-service path comprises M SF, the second sub-service path comprises (K-M) SF, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the service path, the first sub-service path, and the second sub-service path are determined as a plurality of target service paths.

With continued reference to fig. 1, still taking k=4 as an example, for example, the service path SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 may be divided into 2 sub-service paths: SF1→sf2, SF3→sf4 (i.e. when m=2), or the service path SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 may be divided into 2 sub-service paths: SF1, SF2→sf3→sf4 (i.e. when m=1), or the service path SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 may be divided into 2 sub-service paths: SF1→sf2→sf3, SF4 (i.e. when m=3), wherein the sum of the number of SFs included in the 2 sub-service paths is 4.

Taking k=4 and m=2 as an example, the service chain model of the first sub-service path is shown in table 2, and the service chain model of the second sub-service path is shown in table 3.

TABLE 2

SPI	SI	SF	SFF
				1	255	SF1	SFF1
1	254	SF2	SFF2

TABLE 3 Table 3

SPI	SI	SF	SFF
				1	253	SF3	SFF3
1	252	SF4	SFF4

In step S206, the plurality of target service paths are forwarded to the plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, so that the SFFs store the target service paths received by them, respectively.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the SDN controller may forward the plurality of target service paths to the plurality of service function forwarders respectively, and after each service function forwarder receives the target service path, store the received target service path.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first sub-service path is forwarded to the 1 st through (M-1) th SFFs, the service path is forwarded to the Mth SFF, and the second sub-service path is forwarded to the (M+1) th through Kth SFFs.

Referring to fig. 1, tables 1 to 3, the description will be given taking k=4 and m=2 as an example, and the service paths SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 are divided into 2 sub-service paths: SF 1-SF 2 (i.e., the first sub-service path), SF 3-SF 4 (i.e., the second sub-service path).

For example, the first sub-service path SF1→sf2 may be forwarded to SFF1, the service path SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 may be forwarded to SFF2, and the second sub-service path SF3→sf4 may be forwarded to SFF3 and SFF4, respectively.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, an SDN controller issues the service paths or sub-service paths to SFFs 1 to 4, respectively, where SFF1 includes the first two SFs, SFF2 includes 4 SFs, and SFF3 and SFF4 include the second two SFFs; after the service flow reaches the flow divider, packaging an NSH head, and entering an SFC network; after each SF on the service path is processed, the SFF4 is reached, the NSH header is stripped off, and the SFC network is left.

Therefore, when the storage method for the service chain provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is used for processing the service flows SF1, SF2, SF3 and SF4, 10 pieces of SF information are transmitted between the SDN controller and the SFFs 1 to SFFs 4 in total, only half of service paths are needed to be stored in the SFFs 1, SFFs 3 and SFFs 4, and the SFFs 1 to SFFs 4 occupy 10 pieces of SF storage space in total; compared with the storage space requiring 16 SF in the related art, the method disclosed by the invention can save the storage space and save computer resources.

In addition, when the service path is divided into two segments, the SP storage space of about 1/2 can be saved, and the more the number of segments is, the greater the saved SP storage space is.

In addition, in some embodiments, the service paths can be divided into a plurality of segments of sub-service paths according to the needs, and each segment of service paths is forwarded to a corresponding SFF, so that the SFF only needs to store one segment of service paths instead of all the service paths, the purpose of reducing the storage space of the SFF service paths is achieved, meanwhile, the control plane message interaction length between the SDN and the SFF is reduced, resources are saved, and the problem that the service path length of a service chain is limited is solved.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating another method of storage for a service chain according to an exemplary embodiment. The method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by an SDN controller, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 3, the storage method for a service chain provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may include the following steps.

In step S302, a service path indicated by the SPI is obtained, where the service path includes K SFs arranged in sequence, and the K SFs arranged in sequence correspond to the K SFFs arranged in sequence, respectively.

Still taking k=4 as an example, for example, the service path includes 4 SFs, which are SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 in sequence, where SF1 corresponds to SFF1, SF2 corresponds to SFF2, SF3 corresponds to SFF3, and SF4 corresponds to SFF4.

In step S304, a plurality of target service paths are determined from the service paths, the plurality of target service paths including (K-1) sub-service paths, K being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

In an exemplary embodiment, the service path is divided into (K-1) sub-service paths, wherein the first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths respectively correspond in turn to the first (K-1) SF in the service path.

Still taking k=4 as an example, for example, the service path SF1→sf2→sf3→sf4 is divided into 3 sub-service paths: the first SF (i.e., SF1, SF2, SF 3) of the 3 sub-service paths SF 1-SF 2, SF 2-SF 3, SF 3-SF 4 respectively correspond to the first 3 SFs of the service paths SF 1-SF 2-SF 3-SF 4 in sequence.

In an exemplary embodiment, the K sub-service paths are the same length.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the lengths of the K sub-service paths may be the same or different, and when the lengths of the K sub-service paths are the same, more storage space may be saved.

In step S306, forwarding the (K-1) sub-service paths to the front (K-1) SFFs according to the first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths; forwarding the (K-1) th sub-service path to the Kth SFF, respectively.

Taking k=4 as an example, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the SFF corresponding to the first SF in the 3 sub-service paths, the 3 sub-service paths may be forwarded to the first 3 SFFs, and the 3 rd sub-service path may be forwarded to the 4 th SFF.

For example, sub-service path SF1→sf2 may be forwarded to SFF1, sub-service path SF2→sf3 may be forwarded to SFF2, sub-service path SF3→sf4 may be forwarded to SFF3, and sub-service path SF3→sf4 may be forwarded to SFF4.

Therefore, when the storage method for the service chain provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is used for processing the service flows SF1, SF2, SF3 and SF4, 8 pieces of SF information are transmitted between the SDN controller and the SFFs 1 to SFFs 4 in total, the SFFs 1, SFFs 2, SFFs 3 and SFFs 4 only need to store half of service paths, and the SFFs 1 to SFFs 4 need to occupy 8 pieces of SF storage space in total; compared with the storage space requiring 16 SF in the related art, the method disclosed by the invention can save the storage space and save computer resources.

It should also be understood that the above is only intended to assist those skilled in the art in better understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing examples that various equivalent modifications or variations can be made, for example, some steps of the methods described above may not be necessary, or some steps may be newly added, etc. Or a combination of any two or more of the above. Such modifications, variations, or combinations thereof are also within the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It should also be understood that the foregoing description of the embodiments of the present disclosure focuses on highlighting differences between the various embodiments and that the same or similar elements not mentioned may be referred to each other and are not repeated here for brevity.

It should also be understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It is also to be understood that in the various embodiments of the disclosure, terms and/or descriptions of the various embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to one another in the absence of a particular explanation or logic conflict, and that the features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments in accordance with their inherent logic relationships.

Examples of storage methods for service chains provided by the present disclosure are described above in detail. It will be appreciated that the computer device, in order to carry out the functions described above, comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will 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 implemented as hardware or computer software driven 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 disclosure.

The following are device embodiments of the present disclosure that may be used to perform method embodiments of the present disclosure. For details not disclosed in the embodiments of the apparatus of the present disclosure, please refer to the embodiments of the method of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 4, the storage 400 for a service chain may include: a path acquisition module 402, a path determination module 404, and a path forwarding module 406.

The path acquisition module 402 is configured to acquire a service path indicated by the service path identification number SPI; the path determining module 404 is configured to determine a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; the path forwarding module 406 is configured to forward the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, so that the SFFs store the target service paths received by the SFFs, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of sub-service paths includes a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path; the path determining module 404 is further configured to divide the service path into a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, where the first sub-service path includes M SFs, and the second sub-service path includes (K-M) SFs, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; determining the service path, the first sub-service path, and the second sub-service path as the plurality of target service paths.

In an exemplary embodiment, path forwarding module 406 is further configured to forward the first sub-service path to a 1 st through (M-1) th SFFs, forward the service path to an mth SFF, and forward the second sub-service path to a (m+1) th through kth SFFs.

In an exemplary embodiment, the service paths include K sequentially arranged SFs, the K sequentially arranged SFs respectively corresponding to the K sequentially arranged SFFs, and the plurality of target service paths include (K-1) sub-service paths, K being an integer greater than or equal to 1; the path determining module 404 is further configured to divide the service path into (K-1) sub-service paths, where a first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths sequentially corresponds to a first (K-1) SF in the service path, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, path forwarding module 406 is further configured to forward the (K-1) sub-service paths to the first (K-1) SFFs, respectively, according to the first SF in the (K-1) sub-service paths; forwarding the (K-1) th sub-service path to the K-th SFF.

In an exemplary embodiment, the K sub-service paths are the same length.

It should be noted that the block diagrams shown in the above figures are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically separate entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits or in different networks and/or processor terminals and/or microcontroller terminals.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment. It should be noted that the electronic device shown in fig. 5 is only an example, and should not impose any limitation on the functions and the scope of use of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 501, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 502 or a program loaded from a storage section 508 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 503. In the RAM 503, various programs and data required for the operation of the system 500 are also stored. The CPU 501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 are connected to each other through a bus 504. An input/output (I/O) interface 505 is also connected to bus 504.

The following components are connected to the I/O interface 505: an input section 506 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output portion 507 including a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the like, and a speaker, and the like; a storage portion 508 including a hard disk and the like; and a communication section 509 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, or the like. The communication section 509 performs communication processing via a network such as the internet. The drive 510 is also connected to the I/O interface 505 as needed. A removable medium 511 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is mounted on the drive 510 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is mounted into the storage section 508 as needed.

In particular, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer program product comprising a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising program code for performing the method shown in the flowcharts. In such an embodiment, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network via the communication portion 509, and/or installed from the removable media 511. The above-described functions defined in the system of the present disclosure are performed when the computer program is executed by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 501.

It should be noted that the computer readable medium shown in the present disclosure may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium, or any combination of the two. The computer readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, terminal device, or apparatus, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, terminal device, or apparatus. In the present disclosure, however, the computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, with the computer-readable program code embodied therein. Such a propagated data signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable signal medium may also be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, terminal device, or apparatus. Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, fiber optic cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The units involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of software, or may be implemented by means of hardware. The described units may also be provided in a processor, for example, described as: a processor includes a transmitting unit, an acquiring unit, a determining unit, and a first processing unit. The names of these units do not constitute a limitation on the unit itself in some cases, and for example, the transmitting unit may also be described as "a unit that transmits a picture acquisition request to a connected server".

As another aspect, the present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium that may be included in the electronic device described in the above embodiments; or may exist alone without being incorporated into the electronic device. The computer-readable storage medium carries one or more programs which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement the methods described in the embodiments below. For example, the electronic device may implement the steps shown in fig. 2.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device performs the methods provided in the various alternative implementations of the above-described embodiments.

It should be understood that any number of elements in the drawings of the present disclosure are for illustration and not limitation, and that any naming is used for distinction only and not for limitation.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following the general principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be effected without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of storing a service path for a service chain, comprising:

acquiring a service path indicated by a service path identification number SPI;

determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; the service paths comprise K service functions SF which are arranged in sequence, K is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the K SF which are arranged in sequence respectively correspond to the K SFFs which are arranged in sequence, the plurality of target service paths comprise the service paths, a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, and the sum of the quantity of SF included in the first sub-service path and the second sub-service path is K;

forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, so that the SFFs store the target service paths received by the SFFs, respectively;

wherein determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths comprises:

dividing the service path into a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, wherein the first sub-service path comprises M SF, the second sub-service path comprises (K-M) SF, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

determining the service path, the first sub-service path, and the second sub-service path as the plurality of target service paths;

wherein forwarding the plurality of target service paths to the plurality of service function forwarders SFF, respectively, comprises:

forwarding the first sub-service path to 1 st to (M-1) th SFFs, forwarding the service path to an mth SFF, and forwarding the second sub-service path to (m+1) th to kth SFFs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of target service paths either comprises (K-1) third sub-service paths;

determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths, or comprising:

dividing the service path into (K-1) third sub-service paths, wherein the first SF in the (K-1) third sub-service paths respectively correspond to the first (K-1) SF in the service path in sequence;

forwarding the plurality of target service paths to a plurality of service function forwarders SFFs, respectively, or comprising:

forwarding the (K-1) third sub-service paths to the previous (K-1) SFFs according to the first SF in the (K-1) third sub-service paths;

forwarding the (K-1) th third sub-service path to the K-th SFF.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the (K-1) third sub-service paths are the same length.

4. A storage device for a service path of a service chain, comprising:

the path acquisition module is used for acquiring the service path indicated by the service path identification number SPI;

the path determining module is used for determining a plurality of target service paths according to the service paths; the service paths comprise K service functions SF which are arranged in sequence, K is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the K SF which are arranged in sequence respectively correspond to the K SFFs which are arranged in sequence, the plurality of target service paths comprise the service paths, a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, and the sum of the quantity of SF included in the first sub-service path and the second sub-service path is K;

a path forwarding module, configured to forward the multiple target service paths to multiple service function forwarders SFFs, so that the SFFs store the received target service paths respectively;

the path determining module is further configured to divide the service path into a first sub-service path and a second sub-service path, where the first sub-service path includes M SFs, the second sub-service path includes (K-M) SFs, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; determining the service path, the first sub-service path, and the second sub-service path as the plurality of target service paths;

the path forwarding module is further configured to forward the first sub-service path to the 1 st to (M-1) th SFFs, forward the service path to the mth SFF, and forward the second sub-service path to the (m+1) th to kth SFFs.

5. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor;

storage means for storing at least one program which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. A computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which computer program, when being executed by a processor, implements the method according to any of claims 1 to 3.