CN114374634A

CN114374634A - Message forwarding method and network equipment

Info

Publication number: CN114374634A
Application number: CN202011102972.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 白涛
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-10-15
Filing date: 2020-10-15
Publication date: 2022-04-19
Also published as: WO2022078415A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a message forwarding method and network equipment, which are used for reducing the calculation pressure of a service chain. The method of the embodiment of the application can be applied to a service chain network, and the network device determines a first service function segment identifier according to the first service segment identifier in the first data message, and then sends the first data message to the first service function device corresponding to the first service function segment identifier.

Description

Message forwarding method and network equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the field of communication, and in particular relates to a message forwarding method and network equipment.

Background

Segment routing network protocol version six (segment routing internet protocol version 6, SRv6) is a new generation network protocol (internet protocol, IP) bearer protocol based on network protocol version six (internet protocol version 6, IPv6) and Segment Routing (SR), and can unify traditional complex network protocols, and realize network protocol simplification and application level Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantee.

In an existing SRv6 service chain network, a centralized orchestrator completes service chain orchestration, where a service chain includes one or more service function (service function) modules with the same or different functions, and issues the service chain to a controller, and the controller issues a complete SRv6 service chain to a Service Classifier (SC), where the SRv6 service chain includes information such as a Service Forwarding Function (SFF).

In the prior art, the problem of high calculation pressure of a service chain exists.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a message forwarding method and network equipment, which can reduce the calculation pressure of a service chain.

A first aspect provides a packet forwarding method, including: based on the service chain network, the network device may obtain the first data packet transmitted by the other device or generated by the network device itself. The first data packet includes a first service segment identifier service SID. The network device may determine, according to the first service SID in the first data packet, a first service function segment identifier SF SID of the device, where the first service SID is to be executed. The first SF SID is an identifier of a first service function device for executing a first target service function. After determining the first SF SID, the network device may send the first data packet to the first service function device indicated by the first SF SID.

The network equipment determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID in the received first data message, and does not need a controller to calculate a detailed forwarding path of the data message, so that the calculation pressure of a service chain is reduced.

In a possible design, after determining the first SF SID, the network device may encapsulate the first SF SID in a first segment identifier list in an extension header of the first data packet, so as to complete updating of the first data packet.

In the application, the network device updates the first SF SID in the first segment identifier list of the first data message, so that other network devices can determine the first SF SID immediately after receiving the updated first data message, and the processing speed is improved.

In one possible design, the network device is a head node, and the head node may receive a second data packet transmitted from the network, determine a second segment identifier list for packet forwarding according to the second data packet and a packet classification rule, and encapsulate the second segment identifier list into an extension header of the second data packet to generate the first data packet. The first data message meets the message classification rule, the second segment identification list corresponds to the message classification rule, the first data message comprises the second segment identification list, the second segment identification list comprises a first service SID and a second service SID, the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, and the second service SID is used for enabling the network equipment to execute the step of determining the first SF SID according to the first service SID.

According to the method and the device, the network equipment determines the second section identification list according to the received second data message and the message classification rule, and generates the first data message, so that the scheme realizability is improved.

In one possible design, the network device may determine, according to the first service SID in the first data packet, a first relationship corresponding to the first service SID. The first relationship may include a plurality of SF SIDs and an index parameter corresponding to each SF SID of the plurality of SF SIDs, where the plurality of SF SIDs includes a first SF SID. That is, the network device may match the index requirement corresponding to the second segment identifier list with the index parameter in the first relationship, so as to determine the first SF SID.

In the application, the network device determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID from the obtained first relation including the index parameter according to the index requirement corresponding to the second segment identifier list, and determines the service function device corresponding to the service SID by the network device, so that a controller is not required to calculate detailed paths in a centralized manner, and the calculation pressure of a service chain is reduced.

In one possible design, the first relationship may be determined from a first Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) message received by the network device, and the first IGP message may be issued by other nodes of the network device. The first IGP packet may directly include the first service SID and the first relationship. The first relationship may also be that the network device receives a second IGP packet and a third IGP packet sent by multiple SFF nodes, where the second IGP packet may include the first service SID, the first SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, the third IGP packet may include a fourth index parameter corresponding to the first service SID, the fourth SF SID, and a fourth SF SID, and the network device may determine the first relationship based on the second IGP packet and the third IGP packet.

In the application, the network device obtains the first relationship by obtaining the IGP messages sent by other devices, so that the pressure of centralized control by devices such as a controller is reduced.

In one possible design, the network device is a head node, and may obtain a packet classification rule sent or preconfigured by the centralized orchestrator, where the packet classification rule may be used to represent an association relationship between the second segment identifier list and the data packet characteristics, and then send the packet classification rule to the head node. After receiving the second data message, the head node may determine the message characteristics of the second data message, so as to match the data message characteristics in the association relationship between the second segment identifier list indicated by the message classification rule and the data message characteristics, and determine the second segment identifier list corresponding to the second data message.

In the application, the network device matches the second segment identification list from the message classification rule according to the message characteristics of the second data message, so that the realizability of the scheme is improved.

In a possible design, when the network device is an intermediate node SFF, the intermediate node may receive a first data packet sent by the head node, where the first data packet includes the second service SID. The second service SID is the SID of the intermediate node, the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, and the intermediate node may determine the first SF SID corresponding to the first service SID according to the indication of the second service SID.

In this application, the network device receives a third data packet including the second SF SID and the third service SID, and sends the third data packet to the second service function device to obtain the first data packet, that is, the network device may also be an intermediate node, thereby improving the flexibility of the scheme.

In one possible design, the second SF SID and the second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID are a segment identifier of the network device.

In the application, the second SF SID and the second index parameter are limited to be the segment identifier of the network device, so that the realizability of the scheme is improved.

A second aspect provides a packet forwarding method, including:

based on the service chain network, the network device may be a head node or an intermediate node, and the network device may receive the first advertisement packet issued by other network devices, for example, other intermediate nodes. The first notification packet includes a first service segment identifier service SID, a first service function segment identifier SF SID, and a first indicator parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, where the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device used to execute the first target service function. After receiving the first advertisement message, the network device may directly extract the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the first index parameter included in the first advertisement message, and determine a first relationship corresponding to the first service SID based on the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the first index parameter. The first relation is used for enabling the network equipment to determine a first SF SID according to the index requirement corresponding to the segment identifier list and the first index parameter, wherein the segment identifier list comprises a first service SID, and the segment identifier list corresponds to the message classification rule.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device may determine the first relationship according to the received first service SID, the first SF SID and the first index parameter, and may determine the first SF SID according to the first relationship, where the first SF SID is determined by the network device according to the index requirement corresponding to the segment identifier list and the first index parameter, so that the efficiency of the arrangement calculation is improved.

In a possible design, the first relationship further includes a second SF SID corresponding to the first service SID, and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, where the second SF SID may be an identifier of a second service function device for executing the first target service function, and the first index parameter is different from the second index parameter.

In one possible design, the first advertisement message may be an IGP message, and the first advertisement message may include an intermediate system to intermediate system ISIS routing protocol or an open shortest path first OSPF routing protocol.

A third aspect provides a packet forwarding method, including:

based on a service chain network, a network device is an SFF, which may receive a first service segment identifier service SID, a first service function segment identifier SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID configured by a centralized orchestrator in advance, because the centralized orchestrator does not support an intermediate system to intermediate system (ISIS) routing protocol or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol, the SFF may process the first service segment identifier service SID, the first service function segment identifier SF SID, and the first index parameter sent by the centralized orchestrator into a first packet supporting an ISIS advertisement routing protocol or an OSPF routing protocol. The first advertisement packet may include a first service SID, a first SF SID, and a first indicator parameter, where the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device used to execute the first target service function. After determining the first advertisement message, the SFF may issue the first advertisement message through an IGP protocol or other protocols, and the head node and other SFFs may receive the first advertisement message.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device generates the first notification message from the first service SID, the first SF SID and the index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID and issues the first notification message to other network devices, so that the efficiency of arranging the calculation message and forwarding the calculation message to other nodes by each network device can be improved.

In a possible design, the first advertisement packet further includes a second SF SID and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, where the second SF SID includes an identifier of a second service function device for executing the first target service function, and the first index parameter is different from the second index parameter.

In one possible design, the first advertisement packet includes a first SF SID TLV that includes a first SF SID and a first index parameter.

A fourth aspect provides a network device, comprising: an obtaining module, configured to obtain a first data packet, where the first data packet includes a first service segment identifier service SID, and the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function; a determining module, configured to determine a first service function segment identifier SF SID according to a first service SID, where the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device that executes the first target service function; and the sending module is used for sending the first data message to the first service function device according to the first SF SID.

In one possible design, the network device further includes an updating module, configured to update the first data packet, where the first data packet includes a first segment identifier list, and the first segment identifier list includes the first SF SID.

In one possible design, the network device further includes a first receiving module, where the first receiving module is configured to receive the second data packet; the obtaining module is specifically configured to: determining a second section identification list according to the second data message and the message classification rule, wherein the first data message meets the message classification rule, and the second section identification list corresponds to the message classification rule; and generating a first data message according to the second data message, wherein the first data message comprises a second segment identification list, the second segment identification list comprises a first service SID and a second service SID, the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, and the second service SID is used for enabling the network equipment to execute the step that the network equipment determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID.

In one possible design, the determining module is specifically configured to: obtaining a first relation corresponding to the second service SID, wherein the first relation comprises a plurality of SF SIDs and an index parameter corresponding to each SF SID in the plurality of SF SIDs, and the plurality of SF SIDs comprise the first SF SID; and determining the first SF SID according to the index requirement corresponding to the second section of the identification list and the first relation.

In one possible design, the network device further includes a generating module, and the first receiving module is further configured to: receiving a first Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) message, wherein the first IGP message comprises a first service SID and a first relation; or receiving a second IGP message and a third IGP message, wherein the second IGP message comprises a first service SID, a first SF SID and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, and the third IGP message comprises the first service SID, a fourth SF SID and a fourth index parameter corresponding to the fourth SF SID; and the generating module is used for generating a first relation according to the second IGP message and the third IGP message.

In one possible design, the first receiving module is further configured to: receiving a message classification rule sent by a centralized orchestrator, wherein the message classification rule comprises an association relation between a data message characteristic and a second section identification list; and the determining module is also used for determining a second section identification list according to the message characteristic matching data message characteristic of the second data message.

In a possible design, the network device further includes a second receiving module, where the second receiving module is configured to receive a first data packet, where the first data packet includes a second service SID, the second service SID is an SID of the network device, and the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID; the determining module is further configured to determine the first SF SID corresponding to the first service SID according to the indication of the second service SID.

A fifth aspect provides a network device, comprising: the receiving module is used for receiving a first notification message, wherein the first notification message comprises a first service SID, a plurality of SF SIDs and an index parameter corresponding to each SF SID in the plurality of SF SIDs; and the generation module is used for generating a first relation according to the first service SID, the first SF SID and the first index parameter, wherein the first relation is used for enabling the network equipment to determine the first SF SID according to the index requirement corresponding to the segment identifier list and the first index parameter, the segment identifier list comprises the first service SID, and the segment identifier list corresponds to the message classification rule.

In a possible design, the first relationship further includes a second SF SID corresponding to the first service SID, and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, where the second SF SID includes an identifier of a second service function device for executing the first target service function, and the first index parameter is different from the second index parameter.

In one possible design, the advertisement message is an IGP message, and the first advertisement message includes an intermediate system to intermediate system ISIS routing protocol or an open shortest path first OSPF routing protocol.

A sixth aspect provides a network device, comprising: a generating module, configured to generate a first notification packet according to a first service SID, a first SF SID, and an index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, where the first notification packet includes the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, where the index parameter corresponding to the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the first SF SID is used to indicate a first relationship, the first relationship is used to determine the first SF SID according to an index requirement of a second segment identifier list, the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device that executes the first target service function, and the second segment identifier list includes the first service SID; and the issuing module is used for issuing the first notification message.

In one possible design, the first advertisement packet includes a first SF SID TLV, where the first SF SID TLV includes a first SF SID, a first indicator parameter, and a status, and the status is used to indicate whether a first target service function corresponding to the first SF SID is available.

A seventh aspect provides a network device, comprising: a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any one of the alternatives of the first aspect, and a communication interface configured to receive or transmit a message. For specific details of the network device provided in the seventh aspect, reference may be made to the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect, and details are not described here again.

An eighth aspect provides a network device, comprising: a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform the method provided in any of the second aspect or the second aspect described above, and a communication interface configured to receive or transmit a message. For specific details of the network device provided by the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect, which is not described herein again.

A ninth aspect provides a network device, comprising: a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform the method provided by any of the third aspect or the third aspect, and a communication interface configured to receive or transmit a message. For specific details of the network device provided in the ninth aspect, reference may be made to the third aspect or any optional manner of the third aspect, and details are not described here.

A tenth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium having a program stored therein, the computer when executing the program performing the method of the first aspect or any of the alternatives of the first aspect.

An eleventh aspect provides a computer readable storage medium having a program stored therein, the computer when executing the program performing the method provided by the second aspect or any of the alternatives of the second aspect.

A twelfth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium having a program stored therein, the computer, when executing the program, performing the method provided by the third aspect or any of the alternatives of the third aspect.

A thirteenth aspect provides a computer program product for performing the method of the first aspect or any of the alternatives of the first aspect when the computer program product is executed on a computer.

A fourteenth aspect provides a computer program product for performing the method of the second aspect or of any of the alternatives of the second aspect when the computer program product is executed on a computer.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer program product for performing the method of the third or any of the preceding alternatives when the computer program product is executed on a computer.

A sixteenth aspect provides a chip which, when run on a device, causes the device to perform the method as provided in the first aspect or any one of the alternatives of the first aspect.

A seventeenth aspect provides a chip which, when run on a device, causes the device to perform the method provided by the second aspect or any of the alternatives of the second aspect.

An eighteenth aspect provides a chip which, when run on a device, causes the device to perform the method provided in the third aspect or any of the alternatives of the third aspect.

A nineteenth aspect provides a network system including the network device provided in the foregoing fourth to sixth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system framework diagram of an SRv6 service chaining network provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a packet forwarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another packet forwarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another packet forwarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a distribution orchestration algorithm according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a management plane provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely illustrative of some, but not all, embodiments of the present application. As can be known to those skilled in the art, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application and in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It will be appreciated that the data so used may be interchanged under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The embodiment of the application provides a message forwarding method and network equipment, which are used for reducing the calculation pressure of a service chain.

Hereinafter, some terms in the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

Segment Routing (SR): is a protocol designed based on the concept of source routing to forward packets in a network. SR divides the network path into segments, and assigns Segment IDs (SID) to the segments and network nodes, and by arranging the SIDs in order, a SID List (also called label stack in SR-MPLS) can be obtained, where the SID List can indicate a forwarding path. Through the SR technology, the node and the path through which the data packet carrying the SIDList passes can be specified, so that the requirement of traffic optimization is met. By way of an analogy, the data packet may be compared to luggage, the SR may be compared to labels attached to luggage, and if luggage is to be sent from area a to area D, on the way to area B and area C, the luggage may be attached with a label "first to area B, then to area C, and finally to area D" at originating area a, so that each area only needs to identify the label on the luggage and forward luggage from one area to another according to the label of the luggage. In the SR technique, a source node adds a label to a packet, and an intermediate node may forward the packet to a next node according to the label until the packet reaches a destination node. For example, if < SID1, SID2, SID3> is inserted into the packet header of the packet, the packet will be forwarded to the node corresponding to SID1, then to the node corresponding to SID2, and then to the node corresponding to SID 3. Among them, SR-MPLS is called segmented Routing Multi-Protocol Label Switching (Segment Routing Multi-Protocol Label Switching) in Chinese and English.

Segment routing (SRv6) based on Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv 6): refers to the application of SR technology in IPv6 networks. IPv6 addresses (128bits) are used as a representation of the SID. When forwarding a packet, a network device supporting SRv6 queries a local segment identifier table (local SID table) according to a Destination Address ((Destination Address, DA) in the packet, and when the Destination Address of the packet matches any SID in the local segment identifier table longest, executes an operation corresponding to a policy according to the policy related to the SID in the local segment identifier table, for example, may forward the packet from an outgoing interface corresponding to the SID); if the destination address of the data packet is not matched with each SID in the local segment identification table in the longest way, then looking up the forwarding table of IPv6, and forwarding in the longest way according to the forwarding table of IPv 6.

SRv6 the different nodes in the network may be connected by Internet Protocol (IP) address layer links. For any node, the node may issue at least one End point three-layer cross-connect segment identifier (end.x SID, where End denotes endpoint and means End point; X denotes cross and means three-layer cross-connect and SID denotes segment identifier), where each end.x SID is used to identify an IP layer link directly connected to the node, and other nodes in the network may determine the SID corresponding to each IP layer link in the network by transceiving the end.x SIDs issued by each other. When a data packet enters SRv6 network, a head node receives the data packet, after determining a forwarding path of the data packet, in a possible implementation, the head node may obtain an end.x SID corresponding to a link of each IP layer according to each IP layer link that the forwarding path needs to pass through, write the obtained end.x SID into the data packet, and then send the data packet carrying the end.x SID to a next node. When any node receives a data packet, the node analyzes the data packet to obtain an end.X SID carried by the data packet, and sends the data packet out from an IP layer output interface bound by the end.X SID, so that the data packet can reach the next node through an IP layer link corresponding to the IP layer output interface, and the next node continues to forward the data packet by executing similar steps until the data packet reaches a destination node. In another possible implementation, the head node may obtain an End segment identifier (End SID, where End represents endpoint and SID means segment identifier) corresponding to each node according to each node that the forwarding path needs to pass through, write the obtained End SID into a data packet, and then send the data packet carrying the End SID to the next node. When any node receives a data packet, the node analyzes the data packet to obtain an End SID carried by the data packet, and sends the data packet to a node corresponding to the End SID, so that the data packet reaches the node corresponding to the End SID, and by analogy, each node continues to forward the data packet by executing similar steps until the data packet reaches a destination node. Note that the SID list formed by end.x or END may indicate only a part of nodes on the path, not all nodes. End.x and END, and other SRv6 Functions may also be used in combination.

Segment Routing Header (SRH): the IPv6 message consists of an IPv6 standard header, an extension header (0.. n) and a Payload. In order to implement SRv6 based on IPv6 forwarding plane, an IPv6 extension header, called SRH extension header, is newly added, which specifies an explicit path of IPv6, and stored is Segment List information of IPv6, which functions as the Segment List in SR MPLS. The head node adds an SRH extension head in the IPv6 message, and the intermediate node can forward the message according to the path information contained in the SRH extension head.

Binding SID (BSID): the BSID will be bound to a SID list. When a node obtains a valid BSID, BSID-related operations are performed. In SR-MPLS, BSID related operations may be: the BSID is popped up and pushed into the corresponding SID List. At SRv6, the BSID-related operation may be: depending on the BSID function, a new SRH header (end.b6.insert) is inserted, or a new outer IPv6 header (end.b6.encaps) containing SRH is inserted.

Head Node (Head Node): and the starting node of the SR forwarding path is responsible for encapsulating the segment identifier.

Hereinafter, an application scenario of the present application is exemplarily described. A system framework of SRv6 service chaining network as shown in fig. 1, the system framework comprising: a service chain (SFC) protocol layer (assembler), an SFC control layer (controller), a Service Classifier (SC), a service chain end device (PS), a service forwarding function node (SFF), a service function node (SF), and a Service Node (SN). In the related technology, an SFC editor issues a complete SRv6 service chain path to an SC through an SFC controller, the SC encapsulates a data packet based on path information of the service chain path and sends the data packet to an SFF, the SFF determines an SF corresponding to the packet from the encapsulated data packet, sends the data packet to the SF, the SF receives the data packet from the SFF and provides a corresponding service function, and then sends the data packet back to the SFF, and the SFF sends the data packet to the next SF, SFF or PS.

The service chain cooperation layer mainly completes basic resource presetting required by service chain service providing, including presetting and basic configuration of SC, SFF and SN, network connection cooperation of SF and SFF, service strategy configuration of SF and other functions, and is a uniform entrance of service chain characteristics.

The service chain control layer also provides network control functions of service chain characteristics, including functions of Overlay network management, service chain path calculation, flow table issuing and the like required by the service chain. Meanwhile, the service chain control layer may also provide an interface to interface with a cloud management platform or a coordination layer, and may also interface with an SC/SFF/PS through interfaces such as the network configuration protocol (NetConf).

The SC receives the data message from the non-SFC network, carries out flow classification on the data message based on a Secure Copy (SCP) protocol, packages the data message after being matched with a service chain path, and forwards the data message to the first-hop SFF, wherein the SC and the SFF can be deployed in a unified way.

The PS is a destination device of a service chain to which a data packet arrives after passing through a service chain path, and the PS and the SFF can be deployed in a unified manner.

The SFF is responsible for forwarding the data packet introduced into the service chain by the SC along a predefined service chain path, and forwarding the data packet to the PS at the end of the service chain, that is, the data packet is decapsulated and encapsulated and header information is updated as an agent of an unidentified (unidentified) type SF, the number of SFFs may be multiple, in this frame diagram, 2 are taken as an example, that is, SFF1 and SFF2 are taken as an example, the data packet of the service chain is introduced into SFF1 by the SC, and is forwarded to the PS by SFF 2.

The SF instances in the service function nodes are typically virtual resources, such as a virtual system (VSYS) instance, which receives data packets from the SFF and provides corresponding service functions, such as applying service policies, and then sends the data packets back to the SFF, and illustratively, the SF instances may be SF1-SF8, SFF1 may apply the service functions at SF1-SF4, and SFF2 may apply the service functions at SF5-SF 8.

The SN may be a Physical Network Function (PNF) or a Virtual Network Function (VNF) network service device as an SF container, the SN includes a single SF instance or multiple SF instance mode operation, and exemplarily, the frame diagram may include SNs 1-SN4, the SN1 includes SF1 and SF2, the SN2 includes SF3 and SF4, the SN3 includes SF5 and SF6, and the SN4 includes SF7 and SF 8.

In the system framework diagram of the SRv6 service chain network shown in fig. 1, SC is a head node, PS is a tail node, and at least one path may be established between the head node and the tail node. For any path between the head node and the tail node, at least one other node is also included between the head node and the tail node on the path, and the other node between the head node and the tail node is called an intermediate node for convenience of explanation. For example, the path 11 shown in fig. 1 is a path between the head node SC and the tail node PS, and SFF1 and SFF2 are further included between the head node and the tail node on the path 11, that is, SFF1 and SFF2 are intermediate nodes on the path 11. During the process of forwarding the data packet of the service chain, the data packet may be forwarded to SF4 through SFF1, and corresponding service functions are provided by SF4, or the data packet may be forwarded to SF5 through SFF2, and corresponding service functions are provided by SF 5.

The following describes a packet forwarding method in the related art, which is applied to the system framework SRv6 described above:

in the related art, a service chain is mainly applied to a data center, and with the increase of the demand for burst migration of a large number of virtual machines in the data center, many systems and platforms (such as a firewall or a load balancer) based on user services are closely related to a network topology, and need to be deployed according to a message path, and the data center realizes flexible concatenation of services and decoupling of a virtual network and a physical network in a service chain manner. In the existing service chain network, a centralized orchestrator completes service chain orchestration and a controller is issued, the controller issues a complete SRv6 service chain path to an SC, and a service chain includes a SID indicating an SFF/SF physical location. Because there are more service chains, SFs, etc. in the network, the calculation power requirement of the scheme for calculating or arranging the service chain paths by the centralized orchestrator on the centralized orchestrator is higher. When the SFF fails or the SF migrates, the centralized orchestrator needs to recalculate and issue the service chain path, and the recalculation and the issue need to take extra time.

In order to solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a packet forwarding method, where the method includes:

the following respectively introduces the packet forwarding process provided in the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the control plane flow and the forwarding plane flow.

In the control plane flow of the embodiment of the present application, the network device not only includes a situation of receiving the notification packet, but also includes a situation of sending the notification packet.

A message processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 2, where the method mainly describes a situation that a network device sends an announcement message, and the method includes the following steps:

201. the network device generates a first notification message according to the first service SID, the first SF SID and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID.

The network device may be an intermediate node SFF, or may also be a head node or a tail node, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The network device may receive the first service SID, the SF SID and the first index parameter, where the first service SID, the SF SID and the first index parameter are sent by a centralized orchestrator, or may be preconfigured in the network device in advance. The network device may generate the first notification packet after obtaining the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID. In one example, the advertisement message may be an IGP message, such as: an intermediate system to intermediate system (ISIS) message or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) message. The first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function that needs to be executed for forwarding a data packet, and the first SF SID may be used as an identifier of a first service function device that executes the first target service function.

Optionally, the network device may further obtain a second SF SID corresponding to the first Service SID and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, and carry the second SF SID and the index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID in the first notification message. The second SF SID is an identifier of a second service function device that performs the first target service function. Optionally, the first index parameter and the second index parameter have different parameter values. The index parameter may include a computation value or other index for identifying performance, such as a delay, a packet loss rate, or a throughput, which is not limited in this application.

In an example, the first advertisement packet includes a service SID type-length-value (TLV), where the service SID TLV includes a first service SID, and the service SID TLV is an extended implementation of the IGP protocol in this embodiment, and may be as shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

Wherein, Type (Type): indicating that the TLV is a Service SID type.

Length) the Service SID TLV Length is defined.

Algorithm (Algorithm): following the type of algorithm defined by IGP.

Flags (Flags): 1 octet (octet).

Endpoint Behavior (Endpoint Behavior): the type is end.B6.INTERT, and the binding tag is inserted into a new SRH mode.

Service segment identification (Service SID): 16 octets, the specific value of service SID carried.

Lower level (Sub-Sub) -TLV-length: the sub-sub-TLVs length is defined.

Sub-TLVs: a Service network Proxy (Proxy) SID Sub-TLV is defined, which may comprise a plurality of.

The first notification packet further includes an SF SID TLV, where the SF SID TLV includes the first SF SID and an indicator parameter corresponding to the first SF SID. Optionally, the first advertisement packet further includes a state (status) corresponding to the first SF SID, where the status is configured to indicate whether a first target service function corresponding to the first SF SID is available, where the first SF SID TLV is an extended implementation of the IGP protocol in this embodiment, and the first SF SID TLV may be as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2

Wherein, Type: indicating that the TLV is a new type of Service Attribute (Service Attribute).

Length: for defining the Service Proxy SID Sub-TLV length.

Computational value (ComputePower value): and identifying the index parameter corresponding to the SF SID, wherein the specific content of the index parameter is the computation value in the present example.

Flag: 1 octet (octet).

Endpoint Behavior: the middle node is end.AS or end.AD, which represents static or dynamic proxy mode, and the TAIL (TAIL) node is newly defined end.CT type, which executes the operation of stripping SRH head.

Status: the SF index parameter status is identified, and there are two statuses available and unavailable.

SF SID identification SF SID.

The index parameter corresponding to the function identifier is only carried in the SF SID Sub-TLV, but not carried in the Service SID Sub-TLV, so that the problem that the SF load is uneven because the proxy SF SID index parameter weight cannot be embodied if the proxy SF SID of the next-hop SFF is selected by the local SFF according to the index parameter routing of the Service SID can be avoided.

202. The network equipment issues a first notification message.

After the network device generates the first notification message, the network device may issue the first notification message, so that other device head nodes in the network may receive the first notification message.

Specifically, when the network device is a head node, the head node may not issue the first Service SID, the first SF SID and the first index parameter obtained by the head node.

Another message processing method provided in this embodiment is described below with reference to fig. 3, where the method mainly describes a situation that a network device receives an advertisement message, and the method includes the following steps:

301. the network device receives the first notification message.

In this embodiment, a network device may receive a first advertisement packet sent by the network device in the packet forwarding method shown in fig. 2, where the first advertisement packet includes a first service SID, a first SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID.

302. The network device generates a first relationship according to the first service SID, the first SF SID and the first index parameter.

After receiving the first advertisement message, the network device may directly extract the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the first index parameter included in the first advertisement message, and then generate a first relationship including the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the first index parameter.

Optionally, the first relationship may be generated and stored in advance by the network device, or may be generated in a data message forwarding process, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the first relationship further includes a second SF SID and a second index parameter.

In one example, the notification message further includes the second SF SID and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID.

In another example, the network device may receive a plurality of advertisement messages, where the plurality of advertisement messages may include a second IGP message and a third IGP message, and the network device may generate the first relationship based on the first service SID, the first SF SID, and the indicator parameter corresponding to the first SF SID in the received first advertisement message, and the second SF SID corresponding to the first service SID and the second indicator parameter corresponding to the second SF SID in the second advertisement message. The second SF SID is an identifier of a second service function device that executes the first target service function, and the parameter values of the first index parameter and the second index parameter are different.

In the forwarding plane flow of the embodiment of the present application, another packet processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application is introduced with reference to fig. 4, where the method includes the following steps:

401. the network device obtains a first data message.

In the SRv6 service chain network, the network device may be the head node, the middle node, or the tail node, that is, the present scheme may be described in the following two cases.

Case a: when the network device is a head node, the head node may receive a second data packet transmitted from the network, and determine a second segment identification list according to packet feature matching data packet features of the second data packet based on the obtained packet classification rule. The head node may then encapsulate the second segment identifier list into an SRH extension header of the second data packet to generate a first data packet including the second segment identifier list, and the network device may obtain the first data packet.

The message classification rules may be sent by the centralized orchestrator or may be configured in the network device. The message classification rule is used to represent the association relationship between the second segment identifier list and the data message features, that is, when the network device receives a message with which message features, the message needs to be encapsulated and forwarded according to the forwarding path indicated by the second segment identifier list. The second segment identification list may be used to include the order of the target service functions that the data message needs to use during the message forwarding process. In one example, the second segment identification list may include a first service SID and a second service SID, where the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the second service SID is used to enable the network device to perform the step of determining the first SF SID according to the first service SID. For example, the second segment id list encapsulated in the SRH extension header of the first data packet may be SRH1, where SRH1 may be { S3_1 SID, S2_1 SID, S1_1 SID, S0_1 SID } or { S3_ 2SID, S2_2SID, S1_ 2SID, S0_ 2SID }, that is, the service SID may be S3_1 SID, S2_1 SID, S1_1 SID or S0_1 SID, where a specific forwarding path specified by SRH1 may be determined by data packet characteristics, and the service SID in SRH1 may be an id of BSID type.

Optionally, the message classification rule may be configured in the head node in advance by the centralized orchestrator, or may be obtained from the centralized orchestrator after the network device receives the second data message, which is not limited in this application.

Case B: when the network device is an intermediate node or a tail node, the network device may receive a first data packet sent by a node device on the network device, where the first data packet includes a second segment identifier list.

The second segment identification list also includes a second service SID, and the second service SID is the SID of the network device and is adjacent to the first service SID. In one example, when the second segment identification list is { S3_1 SID, S2_1 SID, S1_1 SID, S0_1 SID }, the S3_1 SID may be considered as the second service SID, the S2_1 SID may be considered as the first service SID, and in order, the S3_1 SID may be considered as the first performed SID, and the S2_1 SID may be the second performed SID.

The network device determines a service SID adjacent to the service SID after determining that the SID indicated by the Segment Left (SL) in the segment identifier list is the service SID of the network device or the destination address in the first data packet is the service SID of the network device, and further determines the first SF SID corresponding to the service SID.

402. And the network equipment determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID.

Each second segment ID list is preset with corresponding index requirements, and illustratively, the index requirements such as the computing power requirement of { S3_1 SID, S2_1 SID, S1_1 SID, S0_1 SID } can be fixedly set to 100, and the computing power requirement of { S3_ 2SID, S2_2SID, S1_ 2SID, S0_ 2SID } can be fixedly set to 400.

Based on the above situation a, the data packet received by the head node SC may have various types, that is, the forwarding path of the data packet may have various types. In one example, after receiving the packet, the head node determines the segment identifier list corresponding to the data packet according to the correspondence between the packet features in the packet classification rule and the segment identifier list and the index requirement. If the message characteristic and the computational power requirement are 100, the corresponding segment identifier list is determined to be { S3_1 SID, S2_1 SID, S1_1 SID, S0_1 SID }. In this segment identification list, only Service SIDs indicating traffic functions are included, but SF SIDs explicitly performing a specific traffic function are not required. The SF SID corresponding to each Service SID is determined by the network equipment which forwards the message, so that the calculation pressure of the centralized organizer can be reduced.

Based on the above case B, the network device includes the determined segment identifier list in the received data packet, where the segment identifier list includes the service SID.

By combining the above two cases, the network device may determine, according to the second service SID indicated by the Segment Left (SL) in the segment identifier list in the first data packet, the SF SID corresponding to the service SID adjacent to the Segment Left (SL). In one example, the second service SID indicated by the SL in the message is the service SID of the network device, and the network device performs determining, according to the indication of the second service SID, an SF SID corresponding to the service SID (i.e., the first service SID) adjacent to the network device, such as the S1 SID.

The network device may determine, through the first relationship, an SF SID corresponding to a first service SID corresponding to an indicator requirement corresponding to the second segment identifier list. As shown in fig. 5, the network device determines an effort requirement ratio between the plurality of SF SIDs based on the effort requirement, which in one example is a distributed orchestration calculation performed by a distributed orchestration system of the network device. For example, it can be assumed that the total power requirement SUM of the first service SID is S, which corresponds to 4 SF SIDs, respectively, such as: a1, a2, A3 and a 4. Suppose the calculated force values of A1-A4 are denoted by S1-S4 for CP 100, CP 200, CP 300, and CP 400, respectively. The network device may determine the computation force ratio between the computation force values corresponding to the SF SIDs according to the sharing terms, which may be, for example, weight 1, weight 2, weight 3, and weight 4, respectively, and then determine the corresponding SF SID according to the fitting variance minimum: S1/S < - > Weigth1, S2/S < - > Weigth2, S3/S < - > Weigth3 and S4/S < - > Weigth 4. For the first service SID carried in the second segment ID list, the paths A1-A4 can be tried in turn and calculated similarly as above, and the SF SID with the minimum fitting variance is selected as the first SF SID. In one example, that is, the network device may determine that the first SF SID corresponding to the first service SID included in the second segment identifier list with the computational demand of 100 is a1 SID, and the first SF SID corresponding to the first service SID included in the second segment identifier list with the computational demand of 400 is a4 SID.

Before determining the SF SID corresponding to the first service SID, the network device further obtains a first relationship. The case where the network device obtains the first relationship is as follows:

the network device may obtain a first relationship corresponding to the first target service function indicated by the first service SID sent by the other device. The first relationship may include a plurality of SF SIDs including the first SF SID, and an index parameter corresponding to each SF SID of the plurality of SF SIDs.

The method for obtaining the first relationship by the network device may refer to the detailed description in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 3, which is not described herein again.

Next, the first relationship obtained by the network device is exemplarily described. The index parameter may include a computation value or other index for identifying performance, such as time delay, packet loss rate, throughput, etc., which is not limited in this application, and this example takes the computation value as an example.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 6, the management plane diagram provided by the embodiment of the present application, the centralized orchestrator is connected to the head nodes SC, SFF1, SFF2, and TAIL, respectively, SFF1 is connected to SF instances a1, a2, and A3, SFF2 is connected to SF instances a4 and SF instances B1, and TAIL includes C1 function (not shown). The centralized orchestrator may send the computed values corresponding to the service SID, SF SID, and SF SID directly to SFF1, SFF2, and TAIL.

Illustratively, the service SID may include S1 SID, S2 SID, and S3 SID, and the SF SID includes a1 SID, a 2SID, A3 SID, a4 SID, B1 SID, and C1 SID, and the corresponding calculation value CP: 100. 200, 300, 400, 500, 1500. Taking the first service SID as S1 SID as an example, the representation of the first relationship of the first service SID may be as shown in table 3 below.

TABLE 3

403. The network device updates the first data packet.

After determining the first SF SID, the network device may execute an operation of inserting an SRH header corresponding to the second service SID, and encapsulate the first SF SID in a first segment identifier list of the SRH2 of the first data packet. Illustratively, the head node performs an operation corresponding to the S0_1 SID in the second segment id list with the computation requirement of 100, that is, SF SID: the A1 SID is inserted into the SRH2 of the first data packet.

404. And the network equipment sends a first data message to the first service function equipment according to the first SF SID.

After determining the first SF SID according to the first service SID, the network device may send the first data packet to the first service function device indicated by the first SF SID according to the indication of the first SF SID.

Before sending the first data packet, the network device may execute step 403, or may not execute the operation of updating the first data packet shown in step 403. That is, the network device may not update the first SF SID into the first data packet, but send the first data packet to the corresponding first service function device after determining the first SF SID. That is, the above step 403 is an optional step.

After sending the first data packet to the first service function device, the network device may also receive the first data packet sent by the first service function device. In an example, the first data packet includes the SF SID, and the network device may further perform an operation of stripping the SRH header corresponding to the SF SID, and update the first data packet.

Thus, the device on the path indicated by the second segment identifier list included in the first data packet determines the final transmission path of the packet according to the way of determining the corresponding SF SID by the service SID.

Exemplarily, by a method of determining a corresponding SF according to a service SID of each device in the network device, a final forwarding route of a packet satisfying the characteristic a and having a network index parameter of 100 is transmitted via an SC, an SFF1, an a1, an SFF2, a B1, and a TAIL, as shown by a path 61 in fig. 6; the packet forwarding route satisfying the characteristic B and the network index parameter 400 is shown as a path 62 in fig. 6, and is transmitted through SC, SFF1, a4, SFF2, B1, and TAIL.

The network equipment determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID in the received first data message, and does not need a controller to calculate a complete forwarding path of the data message, thereby reducing the calculation pressure of a service chain.

Furthermore, through an SRv6 service chain method for distributing and arranging SF instances, SF instances are shared according to user information, and meanwhile, the complexity of SRv6 service chain centralized arrangement is reduced.

The method shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 or fig. 4 of the present application is introduced above, and the network device of the present application is introduced below, and the network device introduced below has any function of the network device in the method shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 or fig. 4 described above.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the network device 700 includes: an obtaining module 701, configured to perform step 401, a determining module 702, configured to perform step 402, an updating module 703, configured to perform step 403, a sending module 704, configured to perform step 404, a first receiving module 705, configured to perform, before step 401, a step of receiving a second data packet and perform, before step 402, a step of receiving a first IGP packet or receiving a second IGP packet and a third IGP packet, a generating module 706, configured to perform, after the step of receiving the second IGP packet and the third IGP packet, a step of generating a first relationship, and a second receiving module 707, configured to perform, before step 401, a step of receiving the first data packet.

The network device 700 corresponds to the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4, and each module and the other operations and/or functions in the network device 700 are respectively for implementing various steps and methods implemented by the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4, and for details, reference may be made to the method shown in fig. 4, and details are not described herein again for brevity.

When the network device 700 processes a packet, the above-mentioned division of each functional module is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above-mentioned function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the network device 700 is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above-mentioned functions. In addition, the network device 700 provided by the foregoing embodiment belongs to the same concept as the method shown in fig. 4, and the specific implementation process is detailed in the method shown in fig. 4, which is not described again here.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 8, the network device 800 includes: a receiving module 801, configured to perform step 201, and a generating module 802, configured to perform step 202.

The network device 800 corresponds to the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, and each module and the other operations and/or functions in the network device 800 are respectively for implementing various steps and methods implemented by the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, and specific details may refer to the method shown in fig. 2, which are not described herein again for brevity.

When the network device 800 processes a packet, the above-mentioned division of each functional module is merely used for illustration, and in practical applications, the above-mentioned function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the network device 800 is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above-mentioned functions. In addition, the network device 800 provided in the foregoing embodiment belongs to the same concept as the method shown in fig. 2, and the specific implementation process thereof is shown in the method shown in fig. 2, which is not described again here.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 9, the network device 900 includes: a generating module 901 for executing the step 301, and a sending module 902 for executing the step 302.

The network device 900 corresponds to the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3, and each module and the other operations and/or functions in the network device 900 are respectively for implementing various steps and methods implemented by the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3, and for details, reference may be made to the method shown in fig. 3, and details are not described herein again for brevity.

When the network device 900 processes a packet, the division of the functional modules is merely illustrated, and in practical applications, the function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the network device 900 is divided into different functional modules, so as to complete all or part of the functions described above. In addition, the network device 900 provided in the foregoing embodiment belongs to the same concept as the method shown in fig. 3, and the specific implementation process thereof is shown in fig. 3 for details, which is not described herein again.

Corresponding to the method embodiment and the virtual device embodiment provided by the present application, a network device is also provided in the present application embodiment, and a hardware structure of the network device is introduced below.

The network device 1000 or the network device 1100 described below corresponds to the network device in the foregoing method embodiment, and the hardware, the module, and the other operations and/or functions in the network device 1000 or the network device 1100 are respectively for implementing various steps and methods implemented by the network device 1000 or the network device 1100 in the method embodiment, and for details, specific details may be referred to the foregoing method embodiment for how the network device 1000 or the network device 1100 implements the micro-segmentation based on the IPv6, and for brevity, no further description is provided here. The steps of the methods shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 or fig. 4 are performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in a processor of the network device 1000 or the network device 1100. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

The network device 1000 or the network device 1100 corresponds to the network device 800, the network device 900, or the network device 1000 in the virtual appliance embodiment described above, and each functional module in the network device 800, the network device 900, or the network device 1000 is implemented by software of the network device 1000 or the network device 1100. In other words, the network device 800, the network device 900, or the network device 1000 includes functional modules that are generated by a processor of the network device 1000 or the network device 1100 reading program code stored in a memory.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network device 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, where the network device 1000 may be implemented by a general bus architecture.

Network device 1000 includes at least one processor 1001, a communication bus 1002, memory 1003, and at least one communication interface 1004.

The processor 1001 may be a general purpose CPU, NP, microprocessor, or may be one or more integrated circuits such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or a combination thereof for implementing aspects of the present disclosure. The PLD may be a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a General Array Logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

A communication bus 1002 is used to communicate information between the above components. The communication bus 1002 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The Memory 1003 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only Memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only Memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only Memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, 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 1003 may be separate and coupled to the processor 1001 via a communication bus 1002. The memory 1003 may also be integrated with the processor 1001.

The communication interface 1004 uses any transceiver or the like for communicating with other devices or a communication network. The communication interface 1004 includes a wired communication interface, and may also include a wireless communication interface. The wired communication interface may be an ethernet interface, for example. The ethernet interface may be an optical interface, an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. The wireless communication interface may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) interface, a cellular network communication interface, or a combination thereof.

In particular implementations, processor 1001 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in fig. 10, as one embodiment.

In particular implementations, network device 1000 may include multiple processors, such as processor 1001 and processor 1005 shown in fig. 10, for one embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-Core Processor (CPU) or a multi-Core Processor (CPU). A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In a specific implementation, the network device 1000 may further include an output device 1006 and an input device 1007, as an embodiment. An output device 1006, in communication with the processor 1001, may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 1006 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 1007 is in communication with the processor 1001 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 1007 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

In some embodiments, the memory 1003 is used to store program code 1010 for implementing aspects of the present application, and the processor 1001 may execute the program code 1010 stored in the memory 1003. That is, the network device 1000 may implement the method shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 or fig. 4 provided by the method embodiment through the processor 1001 and the program code 1010 in the memory 1003.

The network device 1000 of the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the network device in each method embodiment described above, and the processor 1001, the communication interface 1004, and the like in the network device 1000 may implement the functions of the network device in each method embodiment described above and/or various steps and methods implemented. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

The obtaining module 701 and the sending module 704 in the network device 700 correspond to the communication interface 1004 in the network device 1000; the determination module 702 and the update module 703 in the network device 700 may correspond to the processor 1001 in the network device 1000.

The receiving module 801 in the network device 800 corresponds to the communication interface 1004 in the network device 1000; the generation module 802 in the network device 800 may correspond to the processor 1001 in the network device 1000.

The transmitting module 902 in the network device 900 corresponds to the communication interface 1004 in the network device 1000; the generating module 901 in the network device 900 may correspond to the processor 1001 in the network device 1000.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 1100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, where the network device 1100 includes: a main control board 1110 and an interface board 1130.

The main control panel 1110 is also called a Main Processing Unit (MPU) or a route processor card (route processor card), and the main control panel 1110 is used for controlling and managing each component in the network device 1100, including routing computation, device management, device maintenance, and protocol processing functions. The main control panel 1110 includes: a central processor 1111 and a memory 1112.

The interface board 1130 is also called a Line Processing Unit (LPU), a line card (line card), or a service board. Interface board 1130 is used to provide various service interfaces and to implement packet forwarding. The service interfaces include, but are not limited to, Ethernet interfaces, such as Flexible Ethernet services interfaces (FlexE Ethernet Clients), POS (Packet over SONET/SDH) interfaces, and the like. The interface board 1130 includes: a central processor 1131, a network processor 1132, a forwarding table entry memory 1134, and a Physical Interface Card (PIC) 1133.

The central processor 1131 on the interface board 1130 is used for controlling and managing the interface board 1130 and communicating with the central processor 1111 on the main control board 1110.

The network processor 1132 is configured to implement a forwarding process of the packet. The network processor 1132 may take the form of a forwarding chip. Specifically, the network processor 1132 is configured to forward the received message based on the forwarding table stored in the forwarding table entry memory 1134, and if a destination address of the message is an address of the network device 1100, send the message to a CPU (e.g., the central processing unit 1111) for processing; if the destination address of the message is not the address of the network device 1100, the next hop and the outbound interface corresponding to the destination address are found from the forwarding table according to the destination address, and the message is forwarded to the outbound interface corresponding to the destination address. The processing of the uplink message comprises the following steps: processing a message input interface and searching a forwarding table; and (3) downlink message processing: forwarding table lookups, and the like.

The physical interface card 1133 is used to implement the interfacing function of the physical layer, from which the original traffic enters the interface board 1130, and the processed messages are sent out from the physical interface card 1133. The physical interface card 1133, also called a daughter card, may be installed on the interface board 1130 and is responsible for converting an optical signal into a message, performing validity check on the message, and forwarding the message to the network processor 1132 for processing. In some embodiments, a central processor may also perform the functions of network processor 1132, such as implementing software forwarding based on a general purpose CPU, so that network processor 1132 is not required in physical interface card 1133.

Optionally, the network device 1100 includes a plurality of interface boards, for example, the network device 1100 further includes an interface board 1140, the interface board 1140 includes: a central processor 1141, a network processor 1142, a forwarding table entry memory 1144, and a physical interface card 1143.

Optionally, the network device 1100 further comprises a switch board 1120. The switch board 1120 may also be called a Switch Fabric Unit (SFU). In the case of a network device having a plurality of interface boards 1130, the switch board 1120 is used to complete data exchange between the interface boards. For example, interface board 1130 and interface board 1140 may communicate via switch board 1120.

A main control board 1110 and an interface board 1130 are coupled. For example. The main control board 1110, the interface board 1130, the interface board 1140, and the switch board 1120 are connected to the system backplane through a system bus to implement intercommunication. In one possible implementation, an inter-process communication (IPC) channel is established between the main control board 1110 and the interface board 1130, and the main control board 1110 and the interface board 1130 communicate with each other through the IPC channel.

Logically, the network device 1100 includes a control plane including the main control panel 1110 and the central processor 1131, and a forwarding plane including various components performing forwarding, such as a forwarding entry memory 1134, a physical interface card 1133, and a network processor 1132. The control plane performs functions such as a router, generating a forwarding table, processing signaling and protocol packets, and configuring and maintaining the state of the device, and issues the generated forwarding table to the forwarding plane, and in the forwarding plane, the network processor 1132 looks up the table of the packet received by the physical interface card 1133 based on the forwarding table issued by the control plane and forwards the table. The forwarding table issued by the control plane may be stored in a forwarding table entry store 1134. In some embodiments, the control plane and the forwarding plane may be completely separate and not on the same device.

The obtaining module 701 and the sending module 704 in the network device 700 correspond to the physical interface card 1133 in the network device 1100; the determination module 702 and the update module 703 in the network device 700 may correspond to the network processor 1132 or the central processor 1111.

The receiving module 801 in the network device 800 corresponds to the physical interface card 1133 in the network device 1100; the generation module 802 in the network device 800 may correspond to the network processor 1132 or the central processor 1111.

The transmit module 902 in the network device 900 corresponds to the physical interface card 1133 in the network device 1100; the generation module 901 in the network device 900 may correspond to the network processor 1132 or the central processor 1111.

The operations of the interface board 1140 in the embodiment of the present application are the same as those of the interface board 1130, and therefore, for brevity, are not described again. The network device 1100 of this embodiment may correspond to the network devices in the foregoing method embodiments, and the main control board 1110 and the interface boards 1130 and/or 1140 in the network device 1100 may implement the functions and/or various steps implemented by the network devices in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again for brevity.

It should be noted that there may be one or more main control boards, and when there are more main control boards, the main control boards may include a main control board and a standby main control board. The interface board may have one or more blocks, and the stronger the data processing capability of the network device, the more interface boards are provided. There may also be one or more physical interface cards on an interface board. The exchange network board may not have one or more blocks, and when there are more blocks, the load sharing redundancy backup can be realized together. Under the centralized forwarding architecture, the network device does not need a switching network board, and the interface board undertakes the processing function of the service data of the whole system. Under the distributed forwarding architecture, the network device can have at least one switching network board, and the data exchange among a plurality of interface boards is realized through the switching network board, so that the high-capacity data exchange and processing capacity is provided. Therefore, the data access and processing capabilities of network devices in a distributed architecture are greater than those of devices in a centralized architecture. Optionally, the form of the network device may also be only one board card, that is, there is no switching network board, and the functions of the interface board and the main control board are integrated on the one board card, at this time, the central processing unit on the interface board and the central processing unit on the main control board may be combined into one central processing unit on the one board card to perform the function after the two are superimposed, and the data switching and processing capability of the device in this form is low (for example, network devices such as a low-end switch or a router, etc.). Which architecture is specifically adopted depends on the specific networking deployment scenario, and is not limited herein.

In some possible embodiments, the network device may be implemented as a virtualized device.

For example, the virtualized device may be a Virtual Machine (VM) running a program for sending messages, and the VM is deployed on a hardware device (e.g., a physical server). A virtual machine refers to a complete computer system with complete hardware system functionality, which is emulated by software, running in a completely isolated environment. The virtual machine may be configured as a network device. For example, Network devices may be implemented based on general purpose physical servers in conjunction with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology. The network device is a virtual host, a virtual router or a virtual switch. Through reading the application, a person skilled in the art can combine the NFV technology to virtually simulate a network device with the above functions on a general physical server. And will not be described in detail herein.

For example, a virtualization appliance may be a container, which is an entity for providing an isolated virtualization environment, e.g., a container may be a docker container. The container may be configured as a network device. For example, a network device may be created by a corresponding mirror, for example, 2 container instances, namely, container instance proxy-container1, container instance proxy-container2, container instance proxy-container1 as a network device or a computing device, and container instance proxy-container2 as a network device or a computing device, may be created for proxy-container by a mirror of proxy-container (a container providing proxy service). When the container technology is adopted for implementation, the network device can be operated by utilizing the inner core of the physical machine, and a plurality of network devices can share the operating system of the physical machine. Different network devices can be isolated by container technology. The containerized network device may run in a virtualized environment, such as a virtual machine, or may run directly in a physical machine.

For example, the virtualization device may be Pod, and Pod is kubernets (kubernets is a container arrangement engine of google open source, abbreviated as K8s in english) which is a basic unit for deploying, managing and arranging containerized applications. The Pod may include one or more containers. Each container in the same Pod is typically deployed on the same host, so each container in the same Pod can communicate through the host and can share the storage resources and network resources of the host. The Pod may be configured as a network device. For example, a Pod as a service (hereinafter, referred to as a container as a service, which is a container-based PaaS service) may be specifically instructed to create a Pod, and provide the Pod as a network device.

Of course, the network device may also be other virtualization devices, which are not listed here.

In some possible embodiments, the above-described apparatus may also be implemented by a general-purpose processor. For example, the general purpose processor may be in the form of a chip. Specifically, the general-purpose processor implementing the network device includes a processing circuit, and an input interface and an output interface connected and communicated with the processing circuit, where the processing circuit is configured to execute the message generating step in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments through the input interface, the processing circuit is configured to execute the receiving step in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments through the input interface, and the processing circuit is configured to execute the sending step in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments through the output interface. Optionally, the general-purpose processor may further include a storage medium, and the processing circuit is configured to execute the storage steps in the above-described method embodiments through the storage medium. The storage medium may store instructions for execution by a processing circuit that executes the instructions stored by the storage medium to perform the various method embodiments described above.

The present application provides a computer program product, which when running on a network device, causes the network device to execute the method shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 or fig. 4 in the above method embodiments.

The network devices in the above various product forms respectively have any functions of the network devices in the above method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various method steps and elements described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the steps and elements of the various embodiments have been described above generally in terms of their functionality in order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software. 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 application.

It can be clearly understood by 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, the disclosed system, apparatus and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the unit is only one logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. 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 also be an electric, mechanical or other form of connection.

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 embodiments of the present application.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application 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 integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in 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 in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive various equivalent modifications or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and these modifications or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer program instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produce, in whole or in part, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the application. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wire or wirelessly. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that includes one or more of the available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, tapes), optical media (e.g., Digital Video Disks (DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid state disks), among others.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware, and the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

The above description is intended only to be an alternative embodiment of the present application, and not to limit the present application, and any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A message forwarding method is applied to a service chain network, and comprises the following steps:

the network equipment obtains a first data message, wherein the first data message comprises a first service segment identification service SID, and the first service SID is used for indicating a first target service function;

the network equipment determines a first service function segment identifier (SF SID) according to the first service SID, wherein the first SF SID comprises an identifier of first service function equipment for executing the first target service function;

and the network equipment sends the first data message to the first service function equipment according to the first SF SID.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the network device sending the first data packet, the method further comprises:

and the network equipment updates the first data message, wherein the first data message comprises a first segment identification list, and the first segment identification list comprises the first SF SID.

3. The message forwarding method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the obtaining, by the network device, the first data message comprises:

the network equipment receives a second data message;

the network equipment determines a second section identification list according to the second data message and a message classification rule, wherein the first data message meets the message classification rule, and the second section identification list corresponds to the message classification rule;

the network device generates the first data packet according to the second data packet, where the first data packet includes the second segment identifier list, the second segment identifier list includes the first service SID and a second service SID, the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, and the second service SID is used to enable the network device to execute a step in which the network device determines the first SF SID according to the first service SID.

4. The packet forwarding method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determining, by the network device, the first SF SID according to the first service SID includes:

the network device obtains a first relationship corresponding to the first service SID, where the first relationship includes multiple SF SIDs and an index parameter corresponding to each SF SID in the multiple SF SIDs, and the multiple SF SIDs include the first SF SID;

and the network equipment determines the first SF SID according to the index requirement corresponding to the second section of the identification list and the first relation.

5. The packet forwarding method according to claim 4, wherein the obtaining, by the network device, the first relationship corresponding to the first service SID includes:

the network equipment receives a first Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) message, wherein the first IGP message comprises the first service SID and the first relation; or the like, or, alternatively,

the network device receives a second IGP packet and a third IGP packet, where the second IGP packet includes the first service SID, the first SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, the third IGP packet includes the first service SID, a fourth SF SID, and a fourth index parameter corresponding to the fourth SF SID, and the network device generates the first relationship according to the second IGP packet and the third IGP packet.

6. The message forwarding method according to claim 3, wherein the determining, by the network device, a second segment identifier list according to the second data message and the message classification rule comprises:

the network equipment receives the message classification rule sent by the centralized orchestrator, wherein the message classification rule comprises the association relation between the data message characteristic and the second segment identification list;

and the network equipment determines the second section identification list according to the matching of the message characteristics of the second data message and the data message characteristics.

7. The message forwarding method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by the network device, the first data message comprises:

the network device receives the first data message, where the first data message includes a second service SID, the second service SID is the SID of the network device, the second service SID is adjacent to the first service SID, and the network device determines the first SF SID corresponding to the first service SID according to an indication of the second service SID.

8. A message forwarding method is applied to a service chain network, and comprises the following steps:

a network device receives a first notification message, where the first notification message includes a first service segment identifier service SID, a first service function segment identifier SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device used to execute the first target service function;

the network device generates a first relationship according to the first service SID, the first SF SID and the first index parameter, where the first relationship is used for enabling the network device to determine the first SF SID according to the index requirement corresponding to a segment identifier list and the first index parameter, where the segment identifier list includes the first service SID, and the segment identifier list corresponds to a packet classification rule.

9. The message forwarding method according to claim 8, wherein the first relationship further includes a second SF SID corresponding to the first service SID, and a second index parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, the second SF SID includes an identifier of a second service function device for executing the first target service function, and the first index parameter is different from the second index parameter.

10. The message forwarding method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the advertisement message is an IGP message, and the first advertisement message comprises an intermediate system to intermediate system ISIS routing protocol or an open shortest path first OSPF routing protocol.

11. A message forwarding method is applied to a service chain network, and comprises the following steps:

a network device generates a first notification message, where the first notification message includes a first service segment identifier service SID, a first service function segment identifier SF SID, and a first index parameter corresponding to the first SF SID, the first service SID is used to indicate a first target service function, and the first SF SID includes an identifier of a first service function device used to execute the first target service function;

and the network equipment sends the first notification message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first advertisement packet further includes a second SF SID and a second indicator parameter corresponding to the second SF SID, the second SF SID includes an identifier of a second service function device for performing the first target service function, and the first indicator parameter is different from the second indicator parameter.

13. The packet forwarding method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first advertisement packet includes a first SF SID TLV, and the first SF SID TLV includes the first SF SID and the first indicator parameter.

14. A network device, comprising: a processor, a memory, and a communication interface,

the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform the method of any of claims 1-7.

15. A network device, comprising: a processor, a memory, and a communication interface,

the processor is configured to execute the stored instructions to cause the network device to perform the method of any of claims 8 to 10.

16. A network device, comprising: a processor, a memory, and a communication interface,

the processor is configured to execute the stored instructions to cause the network device to perform the method of any of claims 11 to 13.