CN115941621A

CN115941621A - Message processing method, resource allocation method and related equipment

Info

Publication number: CN115941621A
Application number: CN202110864867.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 左少夫; 诺阿姆·佩雷斯; 郜忠华; 陈磊; 曹捷
Original assignee: Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-13
Filing date: 2021-07-29
Publication date: 2023-04-07

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a message processing method, a resource allocation method and related equipment, which are used for reserving a part of resources to be specially used for processing a message related to a first user or a first service, so that the processing efficiency of the message of the part of users or the part of services is improved, the indexes of time delay, jitter, packet loss rate and the like of the services of the part of users are further ensured, and the service level agreement SLA level of the part of users is further improved.

Description

Message processing method, resource allocation method and related equipment

The present application claims priority from the chinese patent application entitled "a data processing method" filed by the chinese patent office at 13/05/2021 under the application number 202110523413.8, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a packet processing method, a resource allocation method, and a related device.

Background

The cloud data center network is a data center network with multiple users sharing resources such as computing, storage and network, and is composed of network cards, routers, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) switches and other network devices.

Currently, network devices in a cloud data center network use a best-effort (best-effort) processing policy when processing a message using a resource. For example, when the resources in a network device are sufficient to process a received message, the network device processes the received message indiscriminately; when the resource in the network device is in short supply, the network device sends a pause indication to the upstream-hop network device, and the message is received temporarily.

However, users who subscribe to the services of the cloud data center network are not indiscriminate, e.g., there may be users of different priority levels. At present, a message processing mechanism of a network device may cause that the network device affects message processing of a user with a high priority when processing a message of a user with a low priority, so that a Service Level Agreement (SLA) of a part of users cannot be guaranteed, which is not beneficial to providing different SLAs for different users.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a message processing method, a resource allocation method and related equipment, which are used for reserving a part of resources to be dedicated to processing a message related to a first user or a first service, so that the processing efficiency of the message of a part of users or a part of services is improved, the indexes of time delay, jitter, packet loss rate and the like of the services of a part of users are further ensured, and the level of SLA of a part of users is further improved.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a message transmission method, in which when a message of a certain user (for example, a first user) needs to be processed by a network device, and a message related to the first user needs to be processed more efficiently, the network device may obtain, by another network device or a centralized management and control node, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a resource for processing the message related to the first user is reserved for the first user, so that the network device can process the message related to the first user by using the resource. In this application, a message related to a first user is referred to as a first message, where the first message is one or more messages carrying a first identifier. In addition, the resource that is indicated to be reserved by the first indication information is referred to as a first resource, and the first resource is used for processing the first packet.

The network device may be any one of a network card, a router, or a switch.

The processing of the first message by the network device may be understood as that the network device directly forwards the first message; it can also be understood that the network device analyzes the first packet, performs deletion or addition on a load carried by the first packet, and then forwards the processed first packet to the next-hop network device according to a predetermined forwarding path. The present application is not limited in particular.

In this embodiment, a network device (e.g., a network device such as an exchanger, a router, and a network card) can reserve a first resource for processing a packet (i.e., a first packet) related to a first user based on the first indication information, so that the network device processes the packet related to the first user by using the first resource, and then the network device can ensure indexes such as a time delay, jitter, and a packet loss rate when processing the first packet, which is beneficial to improving the level of the SLA of the user corresponding to the first packet. In the conventional technology, the network device does not sense the user and the service of the user, which is not beneficial to the network device to improve the SLA level of the user for part of users.

In one possible embodiment, the identification granularity of the first identification may be different. If the identification granularity of the first identification is the user level, the first identification is used for identifying a first user; and if the identification granularity of the first identification is the service level, the first identification is used for identifying the first service of a first user, and the first user is a user who has applied for the first resource.

In an alternative embodiment, the first identifier is used to identify the first user.

In this embodiment, the message related to the first user is the first message, and it is not necessary to distinguish other factors such as the session type to which the message belongs. That is, the message of any service related to the first user may use the aforementioned first resource, that is, the network device may process the message of any service related to the first user using the first resource. Illustratively, the first message may be a message of any session associated with the first user. Such as voice-like sessions, video-like sessions, text-like sessions, etc. The embodiment does not distinguish the session type of the message, thereby being beneficial to saving the identifier and reducing the processing complexity of the network equipment.

In another optional embodiment, the first identifier is used to identify the first service of the first user.

In this embodiment, the message related to the first service of the first user is the first message, and the messages related to other services of the first user may not be the first message. That is, the message related to the first service of the first user may use the first resource, and the other services of the first user cannot use the first resource, that is, the network device may use the first resource to process the message related to the first service of the first user, but cannot process the message related to the other services of the first user. The first service may be a service with a high requirement on processing delay or packet loss rate, for example, a video call service. The embodiment is beneficial to using the first resource for processing the message of the service with more strict requirements on indexes such as time delay and the like, and can improve the utilization efficiency of the resource.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information received by the network device at least includes a configuration amount of the first resource and a first identifier, where the configuration amount of the first resource refers to a resource amount allocated to the network device for processing the first packet, and is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet.

The configuration limit of the first resource may be an initial configuration limit, for example, a resource limit for processing a message related to the first user, which is received by the network device for the first time; the allocation credit of the first resource may also be an updated allocation credit, for example, after the network device receives the initial allocation credit, if the first subscriber modifies the tariff package, the network device may receive an allocation credit, and the newly received allocation credit will replace the initial allocation credit.

In this embodiment, after receiving the first indication information, the network device may reasonably allocate the resource amount for processing the first packet according to the configuration limit of the first resource determined by the first indication information, so as to avoid that the processing efficiency of the first packet is affected by too few resources allocated for processing the first packet, and avoid that resources for processing the first packet are preempted in the process of processing other packets. Therefore, the influence of factors such as unstable resources in the network on the processing efficiency of the first message can be effectively avoided, and the phenomena of congestion or packet loss and the like in the processing process of the first message are slowed down or avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, if a part of the spare first resources still exists in the network device when the network device processes the first packet by using the first resources, the network device may use the part of the spare first resources for processing other packets except the first packet. Illustratively, when the amount of resources occupied by the network device when processing the first message is less than the configuration limit of the first resource, the network device processes a second message by using the first resource, and the second message does not carry the first identifier.

In this embodiment, the network device does not change the configuration limit of the first resource, but the network device may use a part of the first resource for processing other messages. For example, the number of the first messages received by the network device is small, and the resource amount used by the network device to process the first messages may be smaller than the configuration limit of the first resource, at this time, the network device may process other messages (for example, a second message, where the second message does not carry the first identifier) by using the idle first resource. When the number of the first messages received by the network device increases, the network device can recover the first resources for processing other messages, so that the network device can have enough resources for processing the first messages. The embodiment can be used in a prepaid resource selling mode, for example, a mode of prepaid bandwidth or prepaid traffic. The method is favorable for flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages and improving the utilization efficiency of the resources.

In a possible embodiment, if the configured quota of the first resource is an initial configured quota related to the first subscriber, the method further includes: the network device adjusts the initial configuration quota to another configuration quota.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: when the resource occupied by processing the first message is reduced to a first threshold value, the network equipment reduces the configuration limit of the first resource; and/or when the resource occupied by processing the first message rises to a second threshold value, the network equipment increases the allocation limit of the first resource, and the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value. The first threshold and the second threshold are values pre-configured by the network management device, and may also be values determined by parameters pre-configured by the network management device.

In this embodiment, the network device may change the configuration limit of the first resource, and may be used in a postpaid resource selling mode, for example, a postpaid traffic selling mode. Illustratively, the first user determines to use the resource when signing up with the cloud platform, but the amount of the used resource is not completely agreed (e.g., only one initial amount is agreed), and the cloud platform is allowed to instruct the network device or configure the network device to adjust based on the initial amount based on the actual traffic (e.g., the number of messages associated with the first user) of the first user. According to the embodiment, the resource amount for processing the first message can be guaranteed, meanwhile, the flow rate which can be used by the first user can be flexibly adjusted, the first user does not need to pay in advance, and the first user pays according to the used flow rate according to the established price standard. The method is favorable for flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages, improves the utilization efficiency of the resources, and can be suitable for the application scene of the service flow model at random.

In a possible implementation manner, the process of the network device acquiring the first indication information may specifically be: the network device receives a negotiation request message from a previous hop network device, where the negotiation request message is used to negotiate and configure a first resource, and the negotiation request message carries the first indication information and an identifier of the previous hop network device. Then, when the network device determines that the first resource indicated by the first indication information can be reserved, the network device adds the identifier of the network device in the negotiation request message, and sends a negotiation request message carrying the first indication information, the identifier of the previous hop network device, and the identifier of the network device to the next hop network device.

In this embodiment, it is proposed to negotiate resources in an in-band control manner, and the method is suitable for a scenario with a high requirement on configuration timeliness, for example, a scenario requiring that the effective time is at a nanosecond level. The embodiment has small processing time delay, can realize the configuration of the network equipment through the message of the data plane, and is beneficial to improving the configuration efficiency of the first resource. In addition, the embodiment can be used in a resource selling mode of post-payment, and can flexibly adjust the flow rate which can be used by the first user while ensuring the resource amount for processing the first message, so that the first user is not required to pay in advance, and then the first user pays according to the used flow rate and a set price standard. The method is beneficial to flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages, improves the utilization efficiency of the resources, and can be suitable for the application scene of the random service flow model.

In a possible implementation manner, the process of the network device acquiring the first indication information may specifically be: the network device receives first indication information from a centralized management and control node. Optionally, the first indication information is from a cloud platform, that is, the cloud platform determines the first indication information based on an order protocol with the first user, then sends the first indication information to the centralized control node, and then the centralized control node sends the first indication information to the network device.

In the embodiment, the resource negotiation is performed in an out-of-band control mode, and the method is suitable for scenes with low requirements on configuration timeliness. The method can be used in a prepaid resource selling mode, the centralized control node can acquire available resources in each network device in the network in real time, and then the centralized control node determines a transmission path for transmitting the first message. The method and the device not only can ensure that the outbound transmission path and the backhaul transmission path are selected, but also are beneficial to collecting information of each network device. In addition, the network equipment directly obtains the first indication information through the centralized management node without negotiating with other network equipment to reserve resources, and the management efficiency is improved.

In a possible implementation manner, when the last hop of the network device is the source network instance, the acquiring, by the network device, the first packet includes: the network equipment adds the first identifier to a message received from a source network instance to obtain the first message. In this embodiment, the network device is a network card, and the network card has a function of marking a received message.

In a possible implementation manner, when the last hop of the network device is not the source network instance, the acquiring, by the network device, the first packet includes: and the network equipment screens the message carrying the first identifier from the message received by the last hop of network equipment of the network equipment to obtain the first message. In this embodiment, the network device is a router or a switch. Taking the switch as an example, the switch can screen out the message carrying the first identifier from the multiple received messages without adding the first identifier to the first message.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the network device acquires second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first resource is withdrawn.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that when a resource ordered by a first user expires, a network device may receive second indication information for revoking the first resource, where the second indication information may be sent by the cloud platform to the centralized management and control node, and then sent by the centralized management and control node to the network device.

In one possible embodiment, the first resource comprises a bandwidth resource.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a resource allocation method, in which a cloud platform configures a first resource for a network device in an out-of-band control manner. If the first user wants to efficiently process the message related to the first user, so as to ensure the time delay, jitter, packet loss rate and the like of the service of the first user, the first user can apply for resources for processing the message related to the first user from the cloud platform. Specifically, the cloud platform may receive a first resource application from a centralized management and control node or a source network instance corresponding to a first user, where the first resource application is used to request allocation of a first resource for the first user, and the first resource is used for a network device to process a packet related to the first user. Then, the cloud platform determines first indication information according to the first identifier in the first resource application, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is reserved. Then, the cloud platform sends the first indication information to the network devices in the network through the centralized management and control node (or other network nodes).

In this embodiment, the cloud platform may receive the first resource application and determine first indication information based on the first resource application, so that the first indication information may be transmitted to the network device through the centralized management and control node (or another network element), so that the network device may reserve the first resource for processing the packet related to the first user. The cloud platform can provide services for high-priority users (for example, the first user) to ensure indexes such as time delay, jitter, packet loss rate and the like of messages of the first user, and is favorable for improving the level of SLA (service level agreement) of the user corresponding to the first message. In the conventional technology, the network device does not sense the user and the service of the user, which is not beneficial for the network device to improve the level of SLA of the user for part of users.

In a possible implementation manner, the first resource application includes a first identifier, the first identifier is related to the first user, and a message related to the first user is a first message carrying the first identifier.

In this embodiment, since the resource limit determined when the cloud platform signs a contract with the first user is stored in the cloud platform, the first resource application may only include the first identifier, and the cloud platform may determine how much of the first resource is reserved based on the first identifier. The embodiment is beneficial to reducing the complexity of signaling.

In a possible implementation manner, the first resource application further includes a configuration quota of the first resource, where the configuration quota of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied when the network device processes the first packet.

In this embodiment, the first resource application may include the first identifier and the configuration limit of the first resource, and at this time, the cloud platform does not need to search for information when signing a contract with the first user, which is beneficial for the cloud platform to quickly determine the first indication information, and improves the processing efficiency of the cloud platform.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the cloud platform according to the first resource application, the first indication information may specifically be: the cloud platform may first send the first indication information to the centralized control node, and then the centralized control node sends the first indication information to the plurality of network devices, so that each of the plurality of network devices reserves the first resource, and processes the first packet by using the first resource.

In the embodiment, the cloud platform is provided for managing the plurality of network devices through the centralized control node, and the cloud platform can be directly interacted with the network devices without being directly interacted with the network devices, so that the management efficiency of the cloud platform is improved.

In a possible implementation manner, when the first resource expires, the cloud platform sends second indication information to the centralized management and control node, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network device revokes the first resource. Then, the centralized management and control node sends second indication information to the plurality of network devices, so that each of the network devices can release the first resource.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that, when the resource ordered by the first user expires, the cloud platform revokes the first resource through the second indication information, so that the network device releases the first resource, and further causes the network device to process a message of another user or another service by using the released first resource.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a network device, comprising: a receiving and sending module and a processing module. The receiving and sending module is used for acquiring first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that first resources are reserved, the first resources are used for processing a first message, the first message is a message carrying a first identifier, and the first identifier is related to a first user; and the processing module is used for processing the first message by adopting the first resource.

The network device may be any one of a network card, a router, or a switch.

The processing module processes the first message, which can be understood as directly forwarding the first message; it can also be understood that the first packet is analyzed, an action such as deleting or adding the load carried by the first packet is performed, and then the processed first packet is forwarded to the next-hop network device according to the predetermined forwarding path. The present application is not limited in particular.

In this embodiment, when the first identifier is used to identify the first user, the message related to the first user is the first message, and other factors such as the session type to which the message belongs do not need to be distinguished. That is, the message of any service related to the first user may use the aforementioned first resource, that is, the network device may process the message of any service related to the first user using the first resource. Illustratively, the first message may be a message of any session associated with the first user. Such as voice-like sessions, video-like sessions, text-like sessions, etc. According to the embodiment, the session type of the message is not distinguished, so that the identifier is saved, and the processing complexity of the network equipment is reduced.

In this embodiment, when the first identifier is used to identify the first service of the first user, the message related to the first service of the first user is the first message, and the messages related to other services of the first user may not be the first message. That is, the message related to the first service of the first user may use the first resource, and the other services of the first user cannot use the first resource, that is, the network device may use the first resource to process the message related to the first service of the first user, but cannot process the message related to the other services of the first user. The first service may be a service with a high requirement on processing delay or packet loss rate, for example, a video call service. The embodiment is beneficial to using the first resource for processing the message of the service with more strict requirements on indexes such as time delay and the like, and can improve the utilization efficiency of the resource.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes the configuration limit of the first resource and the first identifier, and the configuration limit of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied when the network device processes the first message.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to process a second packet by using the first resource when the resource amount occupied by processing the first packet is smaller than the configuration limit of the first resource, where the second packet does not carry the first identifier.

In a possible implementation, the processing module is further configured to: when the resource occupied by processing the first message is reduced to a first threshold value, reducing the allocation limit of the first resource; and/or when the resource occupied by processing the first message rises to a second threshold value, increasing the allocation limit of the first resource, wherein the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to receive a negotiation request message from a previous hop network device, where the negotiation request message is used to negotiate and configure the first resource, and the negotiation request message carries the first indication information and an identifier of the previous hop network device; the processing module is specifically configured to, when it is determined that the first resource indicated by the first indication information can be reserved, add the identifier of the network device to the negotiation request packet, and send, to the next-hop network device, a negotiation request packet that carries the first indication information, the identifier of the previous-hop network device, and the identifier of the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to receive the first indication information from a centralized management and control node.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to add the first identifier to a packet received from the source network instance, so as to obtain the first packet.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to screen a packet carrying the first identifier from the packet received by the previous hop network device, so as to obtain the first packet.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to acquire second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is revoked.

In one possible embodiment, the first resource comprises a bandwidth resource.

It should be noted that there are various specific other embodiments in the examples of the present application, and specific reference may be made to the specific embodiments of the first aspect and their beneficial effects, which are not described herein again.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a cloud platform, comprising: the device comprises a receiving module and a sending module. The receiving module is configured to receive a first resource application, where the first resource application is used to request allocation of a first resource to a first user, and the first resource is used for a network device to process a message related to the first user; and a sending module, configured to send first indication information according to the first resource application, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is reserved.

In a possible implementation manner, the first resource application includes the configuration limit of the first resource and the first identifier, and the configuration limit of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied when the network device processes the first message.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is specifically configured to send the first indication information to a centralized management and control node, so that the centralized management and control node sends the first indication information to a plurality of network devices, where each of the plurality of network devices is configured to process the first packet.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is further configured to send, to the centralized management and control node, second indication information when the first resource expires, so that the centralized management and control node sends the second indication information to a plurality of the network devices, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network devices revoke the first resource.

It should be noted that there are various specific other embodiments in the embodiments of the present application, and specific reference may be made to the specific embodiment of the second aspect and its beneficial effects, which are not described herein again.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a network device, which includes a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a program, and when the program instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor, the network device is enabled to implement the method as described in any one of the foregoing embodiments of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a cloud platform, which is characterized by comprising a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a program, and when the program instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor, the cloud platform implements the method as described in any one of the foregoing embodiments of the second aspect.

According to the technical scheme, the embodiment of the application has the following advantages:

in the application, a network device (e.g., a network device such as an exchanger, a router, and a network card) can reserve a first resource for processing a packet (i.e., a first packet) related to a first user based on first indication information, so that the network device processes the packet related to the first user by using the first resource, and thus the network device can ensure indexes such as a time delay, jitter, and a packet loss rate when processing the first packet, which is beneficial to improving the level of the SLA of the user corresponding to the first packet.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the description below are only some embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of a cloud data center network architecture suitable for use in the present application;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a CLOS switch fabric;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a message processing method according to the present application;

fig. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a network device processing a packet in the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a resource allocation method of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resource allocation method when in-band control is adopted in the present application;

FIG. 6 is another flow chart of the resource allocation method of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resource allocation method when out-of-band control is used in the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a network device in the present application;

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a network device in the present application;

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a network device of the present application;

FIG. 9C is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a network device in the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a cloud platform in the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments.

The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and claims of this application and in the above-described drawings, if any, 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 following first introduces an application scenario and a system architecture to which the message processing method proposed by the present application is applicable:

the message processing method is applied to a cloud service scene. For example, a user purchases a certain resource from a cloud service provider through a cloud platform, and the cloud platform allocates a network device and a corresponding resource to the user based on the resource purchased by the user, so as to ensure that the network device can reserve sufficient resources for the user to process a message of a related service of the user.

As shown in fig. 1A, the method is an end-to-end cloud data center network architecture applicable to the message processing method of the present application. The system architecture comprises a source network instance, a target network instance, an intermediate node and a centralized management and control node. The source network instance is a transmission starting point of a message of a user, and is a virtual switch corresponding to a service instance (for example, a container, a virtual machine, etc.) of the user; the destination network instance is a transmission destination of the message of the user and is a virtual switch corresponding to another service instance (for example, a container, a virtual machine and the like) of the user; the intermediate node may be a network device, or a combination of multiple network devices, and can forward the packet; the centralized control node can collect information of each intermediate node so as to select a proper transmission path for message transmission between the source network instance and the destination network instance and reserve resources for processing messages in network equipment on the transmission path.

Generally, a CLOS Architecture (CLOS Architecture), which is a typical multi-stage Architecture applied to a cloud data center network, is often adopted for a cloud data center network Architecture. Wherein each stage architecture comprises a plurality of switching units, each switching unit in each stage being connected to all switching units of the next stage. Because the CLOS switching architecture has the characteristics of Non-blocking (Non-blocking), reconfigurable (Re-addressable), scalable (Scalable), and the like, a traditional cloud data center network usually adopts a network based on the CLOS network architecture.

For example, as shown in fig. 1B, the message processing method of the present application may be applied to a three-layer CLOS network architecture. The three-layer CLOS network architecture includes employing access layers (e.g., TOR _1 and TOR _2 layers), convergence layers (e.g., SPINE _1 and SPINE _2 layers), and CORE layers (CORE layers). The TOR _1 layer and the TOR _2 layer include a plurality of switches arranged in a top of rack (TOR) mode, that is, a plurality of TOR switches; the SPINE _1 layer and SPINE _2 layer include switches arranged in a plurality of SPINE architectures (SPINE-Leaf), for example, SPINE switches; the CORE layer contains a plurality of CORE switches. Optionally, the CLOS network architecture may further include a Network Interface Card (NIC) (network card for short).

In the CLOS switch architecture, the message transmission from the source network instance to the destination network instance may be interworking across point of delivery (point). For example, from the source network instance shown in fig. 1B to the destination network instance 1, the message passes from NIC _1 to the network device of the TOR _1 layer, the network device of the spin _1 layer, the network device of the CORE layer, the network device of the spin _2 layer, and the network device of the TOR _2 layer to the destination network instance 1. In the CLOS switch fabric, the transmission of messages from the source network instance to the destination network instance may be interworking with the PoD. For another example, from the source network instance shown in fig. 1B to the destination network instance 2, the message goes from NIC _1 to the network device of the TOR _1 layer, the network device of the spin _1 layer back to another network device of the spin _1 layer, and another network device of the TOR _1 layer to the destination network instance 2. The message processing method provided by the present application may be applicable to any network device related to any message transmission mode, and is not limited herein.

The message processing method provided by the present application may be applied to the system architecture shown in fig. 1A, may also be applied to the system architecture shown in fig. 1B, and may also be applied to other cloud data center network architectures, which are not limited herein specifically.

In addition, the network device related to the present application may be an intermediate node in the system architecture shown in fig. 1A, or may be a network device in the TOR layer (e.g., a TOR switch in the TOR layer), a network device in the spin layer (e.g., a spin switch in the spin layer), a network device in the CORE layer (e.g., a CORE switch in the CORE layer), and the like in the system architecture shown in fig. 1B, which is not limited herein specifically.

The application provides that each network device in the cloud data center network can reserve a proper amount of resources to process a specific message (for example, a message of a high-priority user or service), so that the network device can ensure processing delay and packet loss rate when processing the specific message. In addition, when each network device on the transmission path reserves the resources to process a specific message, the cloud data center network forms a logically lossless network, which is beneficial to ensuring the processing delay and jitter of the services of part of high-priority users and the service level agreement SLA of part of users.

The following introduces the message processing method of the present application with reference to fig. 2:

step 201, a network device obtains first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first resource is reserved, and the first resource is used to process a first packet.

The first indication information is used for indicating the network device to reserve a first resource, so that the network device can process the first message by using the first resource. Specifically, it can be understood that the first indication information indicates that the network device guarantees that a resource with a certain quota (i.e., the first resource determined according to the first indication information) is used for processing the first packet, so as to avoid that the resource used for processing the first packet is preempted in the process of processing other packets, which affects the processing efficiency of the network device on the first packet, and further causes the phenomena of congestion or packet loss in the processing process of the first packet.

The first message is a message carrying a first identifier, the first identifier is related to a first user, and the first user is a user who has applied for the first resource. The first resource is used for processing a first message, which can be understood as that the first resource is used for processing a message related to a first user; it can also be understood that the first resource is used for processing a packet carrying the first identifier.

Furthermore, the first message refers to a certain type of message, not just a certain message. For example, the messages carrying the first identifier may all be the first messages; the message associated with the first user may be the first message. The details are not limited herein.

In addition, the foregoing first identifier may be implemented in various ways:

In this embodiment, the message related to the first user is the first message, and there is no need to distinguish the session type to which the message belongs from other factors. That is, the message of any service related to the first user may use the aforementioned first resource, that is, the network device may process the message of any service related to the first user using the first resource. Illustratively, the first message may be a message of any session associated with the first user. Such as voice-like sessions, video-like sessions, text-like sessions, etc.

In another alternative embodiment, the first identifier is used to identify the first service of the first user.

In this embodiment, the message related to the first service of the first user is the first message, and the messages related to other services of the first user may not be the first message. That is, the message related to the first service of the first user may use the first resource, and the other services of the first user cannot use the first resource, that is, the network device may use the first resource to process the message related to the first service of the first user, but cannot process the message related to the other services of the first user. The first service may be a service with a high requirement on processing delay or packet loss rate, for example, a video call service.

In this embodiment, the first identifier may be implemented by any one of the foregoing embodiments, and is not limited herein.

Optionally, the first indication information includes a configuration amount of the first resource and the first identifier, where the configuration amount of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet. Specifically, after receiving the first indication information, the network device may reasonably allocate the resource amount for processing the first packet according to the configuration limit of the first resource determined by the first indication information, so as to avoid that the processing efficiency of the first packet is affected by too few resources allocated for processing the first packet, and to avoid preempting resources for processing the first packet in the process of processing other packets. Therefore, the influence of factors such as unstable resources in the network on the processing efficiency of the first message can be effectively avoided, and the phenomena of congestion or packet loss and the like in the processing process of the first message are slowed down or avoided.

Optionally, the first resource includes at least one of a bandwidth resource and/or a traffic resource. Optionally, the first resource may further include a processing resource and/or a storage resource. Specifically, the present invention is not limited thereto, and in the following embodiments, the first resource is taken as a bandwidth resource for example.

In addition, the network device may obtain the first indication information in various ways, which will be described below:

in a first mode, the network device obtains the first indication information in an in-band control mode:

specifically, the network device receives a negotiation request message from the previous hop network device, where the negotiation request message is used to negotiate and configure the first resource, and the negotiation request message carries the first indication information and the identifier of the previous hop network device. When the network device determines that the first resource indicated by the first indication information can be reserved, the network device adds the identifier of the network device in the negotiation request message, and sends a negotiation request message carrying the first indication information, the identifier of the previous hop network device and the identifier of the network device to the next hop network device. Optionally, when the network device determines that the first resource indicated by the first indication information cannot be reserved, the network device may send a negative response message to the previous-hop network device to notify the previous-hop network device that the network device cannot reserve the first resource, so that the previous-hop network device sends the negotiation request message to another network device that may be capable of reserving the first resource.

When the next hop network device is the destination network instance, the negotiation request message includes the outbound transmission path information, which includes the identifiers of all network devices that have processed the negotiation request message between the source network instance and the destination network instance.

Illustratively, if a source network instance generates a negotiation request message 0 containing first indication information, and the source network instance sends the negotiation request message 0 to a network device 1; if the network device 1 can reserve the first resource, the network device 1 also encapsulates the identifier of the network device 1 into the negotiation request message 0 to obtain a negotiation request message 1, where the negotiation request message 1 includes the first indication information and the identifier of the network device 1; then, the network device 1 determines to forward the negotiation request message 1 to the network device 2 according to a forwarding rule, wherein the negotiation request message 1 carries the first indication information and the identifier of the network device 1; if the network device 2 can reserve the first resource, the network device 2 also encapsulates the identifier of the network device 2 into the negotiation request message 1 to obtain a negotiation request message 2, and the negotiation request message 2 carries the first indication information, the identifier of the network device 1, and the identifier of the network device 2. And in such a way, transmitting the negotiation request message n to the destination network instance, wherein the negotiation request message n received by the destination network instance comprises first indication information and journey-going transmission path information, and the journey-going transmission path information is the identification of each network device which can reserve the first resource and passes through from the source network instance to the destination network instance.

It should be understood that, network devices capable of reserving the first resource may be found among the aforementioned network devices based on a route discovery protocol, such as a neighbor discovery protocol, and network devices capable of reserving the first resource may also be found based on a preconfigured rule, which is not limited herein.

Subsequently, the destination network instance may reply a negotiation response message to the source network instance, where the negotiation response message is used to indicate whether the source network instance successfully reserves the first resource, and a forward transmission path formed by each network device that successfully reserves the first resource. Optionally, the destination network instance may encapsulate the outbound transmission path information into a negotiation response message, and return the negotiation response message according to the outbound transmission path original route. In this implementation, each network device on the outbound transmission path may receive the outbound transmission path, and the backhaul transmission path is the same as each network device on the outbound transmission path but in the opposite transmission direction. Optionally, the destination network instance may encapsulate the outbound transmission path information into the negotiation response message, but find another transmission path as the backhaul transmission path. Specifically, similar to the manner of reserving the first resource described above, the detailed description is omitted here.

Optionally, when the network device determines that the first resource indicated by the first indication information cannot be reserved, the network device may send the indication information by the centralized management and control node to request the centralized management and control node to select the network device capable of reserving the first resource in an out-of-band control manner.

In a second mode, the network device obtains the first indication information in an out-of-band control mode:

specifically, the network device receives the first indication information from the centralized management and control node. Optionally, the network device receives outbound transmission path information and/or backhaul transmission path information from the centralized management and control node.

The centralized control node can collect the resource use condition of each network device in real time, and can obtain the quota of the first resource reserved by the user. Therefore, the centralized control node can select a plurality of network devices capable of reserving the first resource to form an outbound transmission path between the source network instance and the destination network instance, and respectively send the first indication information to the network devices capable of reserving the first resource. Optionally, the centralized control node further sends the outbound transmission path information to the network device capable of reserving the first resource. Similarly, the centralized management and control node may determine backhaul transmission path information in a similar manner, and instruct each network device on the backhaul transmission path to reserve resources.

In this application, the network device may use any one of the foregoing embodiments to obtain the foregoing first indication information, which is not limited herein.

Step 202, the network device obtains a first packet.

The first message is a message related to a first user, and the first message carries a first identifier. It can be understood that the first packet is a packet that needs to be processed preferentially; it can also be understood that the first packet is a packet for which a processing rate needs to be guaranteed.

In this embodiment, when the locations of the network devices in the network are different, the modes of the network devices acquiring the first packet may be different.

In one possible implementation, the network device is the first intermediate node connected to the source network instance, i.e., the last hop network device of the network device is the source network instance. At this time, the manner of acquiring the first packet by the network device may be: the network device adds the first identifier to the message received from the source network instance to obtain the first message. At this time, the network device may be a network card NIC or the like for adding the first identifier.

In another possible implementation, the network device is not the first intermediate node connected to the source network instance, the last hop network device of the network device is not the source network instance, and a network device that has previously marked a packet with a tag is present in the network device. At this time, the manner of acquiring the first packet by the network device may be: and the network equipment screens the message carrying the first identifier from the message received by the last hop network equipment to obtain the first message. At this time, the network device may be other network devices, such as a switch or a router, in the outbound transmission path besides the network card NIC. Illustratively, the network device may be a TOR switch, a spin switch, a CORE switch, or the like.

Step 203, the network device processes the first packet by using the first resource.

The processing of the first packet by the network device may be understood as that the network device directly forwards the first packet, for example, the network device forwards the first packet to a next-hop network device based on a predetermined forwarding path, and the forwarded packet may include the content of the previous first packet; it can also be understood that the network device analyzes the first packet, performs deletion or addition on a load carried by the first packet, and then forwards the processed first packet to the next-hop network device according to a predetermined forwarding path. The specific process of processing the first packet by the network device is not limited in the present application.

Specifically, the network device may process different types of received packets by multiple processing processes.

In one possible implementation, the network device includes at least two processing processes, including a first processing process and a second processing process. The first processing process in the network device is used for processing the first message, and the second processing process is used for processing the second message. Since the first resource is a resource used by the network device to process the first packet, the first resource may be understood as a resource allocated by the network device to the first processing process, and the first indication information may be understood as a resource used to indicate the network device to reserve the first resource for the first processing process.

It should be understood that the first processing procedure may be created by the network device based on the first indication information, or may exist in the network device. For example, the network device does not originally have the first processing process, and after receiving the first indication information, the network device creates the first processing process according to the first indication information, and configures the reserved resource of the first processing process as the first resource (i.e., configures the amount of the resource that can be used by the first processing process as the quota of the first resource). Illustratively, there is a processing procedure in the network device, except that the processing procedure is not a procedure for processing the first packet, and the resources that the procedure can use are not the first processing resources. After the network device receives the first indication information, the network device sets the processing process as a first processing process dedicated to processing the first message according to the first indication information, and modifies the limit of the reserved resource of the first processing process into the limit of the first resource.

In one possible implementation, each time a network device receives a message, the network device determines whether the message is a first message (e.g., the network device determines whether the message carries a first identifier). When the network device determines that the message carries a first identifier, the network device transmits the message to the first processing process, so that the first processing process processes the first message by using a first resource; and when the network equipment determines that the message does not carry the first identifier, the network equipment transmits the message to the second processing process so that the second processing process processes the second message by adopting other resources.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, when the network device receives the message 1, and the network device recognizes that the message 1 does not carry the first identifier, the network device transmits the message 1 to the second processing process, and the second processing process processes the message 1 by using other resources; meanwhile, the network equipment receives the message 2 again, and if the network equipment identifies that the message 2 carries the first identifier, the network equipment transmits the message 2 to a first processing process, and the message 2 processes the message 2 by using the first resource; similarly, the network device receives the message 3 again, and if the network device recognizes that the message 3 does not carry the first identifier, the network device transmits the message 3 to the second processing procedure. By analogy, the network device processes the message 2, the message 4 and the message 7 by using the first resource through the first processing process, and processes the message 1, the message 3, the message 5 and the message 6 by using the second resource through the second processing process.

Optionally, the at least two processing procedures further include a third processing procedure. The third processing process is used for processing the control plane messages, and the first processing process and the second processing process are used for processing the data plane messages with different priorities. The third processing process may also obtain a portion of resources for processing the control plane packet, and the third processing process obtains the resources with a priority generally higher than that of the first processing process and the second processing process. For example, when resources in the network device are in short supply, the network device may preferentially guarantee the resources used by the third processing process.

It should be understood that, the processing process in the network device mentioned in this embodiment may also be understood as a processing thread in the network device or a processing queue in the network device, and the details are not limited herein.

Step 204, the network device adjusts the resource amount for processing the first packet.

In this embodiment, step 204 is an optional step.

In an alternative embodiment, the network device does not change the configuration quota of the first resource, but the network device may use a part of the first resource for processing other messages. For example, the number of the first messages received by the network device is small, and the resource amount used by the network device to process the first messages may be smaller than the configuration limit of the first resource, at this time, the network device may process other messages (for example, a second message, where the second message does not carry the first identifier) by using the idle first resource. When the number of the first messages received by the network device increases, the network device can recover the first resources for processing other messages, so as to ensure that the network device can have enough resources for processing the first messages.

The embodiment can be used in a prepaid resource selling mode, for example, a mode of prepaid bandwidth or prepaid traffic. For example, a first user subscribes to a certain amount of first resources from the cloud platform, and then the cloud platform may allow each network device in the network to ensure that the resource amount corresponding to the amount of the first resources is used at most when processing a message (i.e., a first message) related to the first user. When the number of the first packets is small, each network device in the network may use a part of the first resources for processing the packets of other users without affecting the processing efficiency, delay, jitter, and other indicators of the first packets. However, when the number of the first packets increases, each network device in the network preferentially ensures the resource amount for processing the first packets, so as to avoid affecting the processing efficiency, delay, jitter, and other indicators of the first packets. The method and the device are favorable for flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages and improving the utilization efficiency of the resources.

In another alternative embodiment, the network device may change the configured quota of the first resource. Optionally, when the resource occupied by processing the first message decreases to a first threshold, the network device reduces the configuration limit of the first resource; and/or when the resource occupied by processing the first message rises to a second threshold value, the network equipment increases the allocation limit of the first resource, and the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value. The first threshold and the second threshold are values pre-configured by the network management device. For example, if the configured quota of the first resource is 10M, the first threshold may be configured to be 3M, and the second threshold may be configured to be 7M. The first threshold and the second threshold may also be values determined by parameters configured in advance by the network management device. For example, the network management device configures a parameter for determining the first threshold to be 30% and a parameter for determining the second threshold to be 70%, and then, when the resource occupied by the network device for processing the first message decreases to 30% of the quota of the first resource, the network device reduces the configured quota of the first resource; when the resource occupied by the network equipment for processing the first message is increased to 70% of the limit of the first resource, the network equipment increases the configuration limit of the first resource. It should be understood that the ratio of the network device increasing or decreasing the configured amount of the first resource may be determined according to the resource schedulable in the actual network device, and the specific application is not limited thereto.

The present embodiment can be used in a postpaid resource vending mode, for example, a postpaid traffic vending mode. Illustratively, the first user determines to use the resource when signing up with the cloud platform, but the amount of the used resource is not completely agreed (e.g., only one initial amount is agreed), and the cloud platform is allowed to instruct the network device or configure the network device to adjust based on the initial amount based on the actual traffic (e.g., the number of messages associated with the first user) of the first user. According to the embodiment, the resource amount for processing the first message can be ensured, the flow rate which can be used by the first user can be flexibly adjusted, the first user does not need to pay in advance, and the first user pays according to the used flow rate and the established price standard afterwards. The method is beneficial to flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages, improves the utilization efficiency of the resources, and can be suitable for the application scene of the random service flow model.

In step 205, the network device obtains second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is revoked.

In step 206, the network device revokes the first resource according to the second indication information.

In this embodiment, step 205 and step 206 are optional steps.

When the first resource purchased by the first user expires, the cloud platform sends second indication information to the centralized control node, and then the centralized control node sends the second indication information to the network device, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first resource is revoked. After the network device receives the second indication information, the network device releases the first resource, so that the first resource becomes a common resource in the network device (i.e., the first resource is no longer dedicated to processing messages related to the first user).

In this embodiment, a network device (e.g., a network device such as an exchanger, a router, and a network card) can reserve a first resource for processing a packet (i.e., a first packet) associated with a first user based on the first indication information, so that the network device can ensure indexes such as a delay, jitter, and a packet loss rate when processing the first packet. In addition, when the network device receives the second indication information, the network device can also release the first resource, so that the resource in the network device can be used for processing other messages. Therefore, the utilization efficiency of resources is improved, and the SLA level of the user corresponding to the first message is improved.

An embodiment of reserving resources for a network device by means of in-band control will be described in detail below based on fig. 4, where indication information 1 and indication information 2 are an implementation manner of the aforementioned first indication information, a message related to user 1 is an implementation manner of the aforementioned first message, and resource 1 and resource 2 are an implementation manner of the aforementioned first resource.

Step 401, the cloud platform configures an initial resource quota for the source network instance.

In this embodiment, after the user 1 orders resources at the cloud platform to process the message related to the user 1, the cloud platform may configure an initial resource limit for the source network instance corresponding to the user 1, where the initial resource limit is used to indicate the resource amount that can be used to process the message related to the user 1. When a source network instance has a message related to the user 1 to be transmitted, the source network instance configures resources, which can be used by each network device in the network and used for processing the message related to the user 1, in a way of associated negotiation.

Wherein the source network instance may be a cloud computing instance. Alternatively, the cloud computing instance may be a Bare Metal Server (BMS), i.e., a physical server that is physically isolated from other users' servers, and the bare metal server has both virtual machine elasticity and physical machine performance. Optionally, the cloud computing instance may also be a virtual machine or a container created by a physical host, which is not limited herein.

Specifically, the cloud platform may send the initial resource quota to the centralized control node or the controller for managing the source network instance, and then the centralized control node or the controller for managing the source network instance is configured to the source network instance.

In step 402, the source network instance sends a negotiation request message 0 to the network device 1.

The negotiation request message 0 carries indication information 1, where the indication information 1 is used to indicate that the network device reserves a resource 1 for processing a trip message for the user 1, so that the network device can process the trip message related to the user 1 using the resource 1. The amount of resource 1 may be determined based on the initial resource amount, for example, the amount of resource 1 is equal to the amount of resource 1.

In step 403, the network device 1 sends a negotiation request message to the next hop network device.

In step 404, the network device n sends a negotiation request message n to the destination network instance.

In particular, the network device 1 may look for network devices capable of reserving the aforementioned resource 1 according to the neighbor discovery protocol or other protocols.

Illustratively, if a source network instance generates a negotiation request message 0 containing indication information 1, and the source network instance sends the negotiation request message 0 to a network device 1; if the network device 1 can reserve the resource 1, the network device 1 also encapsulates the identifier of the network device 1 into the negotiation request message 0 to obtain a negotiation request message 1, wherein the negotiation request message 1 includes the indication information 1 and the identifier of the network device 1; then, the network device 1 determines to forward the negotiation request message 1 to the network device 2 according to a forwarding rule, wherein the negotiation request message 1 carries the indication information 1 and the identifier of the network device 1; if the network device 2 can reserve the resource 1, the network device 2 also encapsulates the identifier of the network device 2 into the negotiation request message 1 to obtain a negotiation request message 2, and the negotiation request message 2 carries the indication information 1, the identifier of the network device 1, and the identifier of the network device 2. And so on until the negotiation request message (n-1) is sent to the network device n. Then, the network device n transmits the negotiation request message n to the destination network instance, where the negotiation request message n received by the destination network instance includes indication information 1 and journey-going transmission path information, where the journey-going transmission path information is an identifier of each network device that can reserve the resource 1 and passes from the source network instance to the destination network instance.

For ease of understanding, the CLOS switch architecture shown in FIG. 5 is used as an example. When a source network instance needs a certain resource to process a message of a user 1, the source network instance sends a negotiation request message to a network card NIC _1, and the negotiation request message requests to reserve a resource with the size of 2M. Then, the network card NIC _1 searches for a TOR switch capable of reserving 2M resources in the TOR _1 layer as a next hop network device according to a predetermined discovery rule. If it is determined that the next-hop network device is the switch a1 and the switch a1 can reserve 2M resources, the switch a1 encapsulates the identifier of the switch a1 into the negotiation request message, and searches for a spin switch capable of reserving 2M resources in the spin _1 layer according to a predetermined discovery rule as the next-hop network device. By analogy, the negotiation request message can sequentially pass through the switch a1 of the TOR _1 layer, the switch a2 of the spin _1 layer, the switch a3 of the CORE layer, the switch a4 of the spin _2 layer, and the switch a5 of the TOR _2 layer, and then reach the network card NIC _2 of the destination network instance side. At this time, the negotiation request message carries an identifier of each network device capable of reserving 2M resources, that is, outbound transmission path information.

In step 405, the destination network instance sends a negotiation response message 0 to the network device n.

The negotiation response message includes indication information 2, where the indication information 2 is used to indicate the network device to reserve resource 2 for processing the backhaul message for user 1, so that the network device can use the resource 2 to process the backhaul message related to user 1.

In step 406, network device n sends a negotiation response message to the next hop network device.

In step 407, the network device 1 sends a negotiation response message n to the source network instance.

In one possible embodiment, the destination network instance determines backhaul transmission path information based on the outbound transmission path information, i.e., using a reverse path of the outbound transmission path as a transmission path for the backhaul. The network device on the backhaul transmission path acts as the network device reserving resource 2.

In another possible embodiment, the destination network instance looks for a network device that can reserve the aforementioned resource 2 based on the neighbor discovery protocol or other protocol.

Illustratively, if the destination network instance generates a negotiation response message 0 containing indication information 2, and the source network instance sends the negotiation response message 0 to the network device n; if the network device n can reserve the resource 2, the network device n also encapsulates the identifier of the network device n into the negotiation response message 0 to obtain a negotiation response message 1, wherein the negotiation response message 1 comprises the indication information 2 and the identifier of the network device n; then, the network device n determines the next hop network device according to the forwarding rule. And so on until the negotiation response message (n-1) is sent to the network device 1. Then, the network device 1 transmits a negotiation response message n to the source network instance, where the negotiation response message n received by the source network instance includes indication information 2 and backhaul transmission path information, and the backhaul transmission path information is an identifier of each network device that can reserve the resource 2 and passes from the source network instance to the destination network instance.

For ease of understanding, the CLOS switch architecture shown in FIG. 5 is used as an example. If the backhaul only needs to reserve 1M resources, the destination network instance sends a negotiation response message to the network card NIC _2, where the negotiation response message is not only used to request reservation of 1M resources, but also carries outbound transmission path information. Then, the network card NIC _2 searches for a TOR switch capable of reserving 1M resources in the TOR _2 layer as a next hop network device according to a predetermined discovery rule. If it is determined that the next hop network device is the switch b1, and the switch b1 can reserve 1M resources, the switch b1 encapsulates the identifier of the switch b1 into the negotiation response message, and searches for a spin switch capable of reserving 1M resources in the spin _2 layer according to a predetermined discovery rule as the next hop network device. By analogy, the negotiation response message can sequentially pass through the switch b1 of the TOR _2 layer, the switch b2 of the spin _2 layer, the switch b3 of the CORE layer, the switch b4 of the spin _1 layer, and the switch b5 of the TOR _1 layer, and then reach the network card NIC _1 of the destination network instance side. At this time, the negotiation response message carries the identifier of each network device capable of reserving 1M resources, i.e., backhaul transmission path information.

After the source network instance receives the negotiation response message n, the source network instance sends a journey-going message related to the user 1 to the destination network instance through the network equipment indicated by the journey-going transmission path information. Meanwhile, the destination network instance may also send a backhaul message related to the user 1 to the source network instance through the backhaul transmission path information.

Step 408, the network device adjusts the resource limit according to the number of messages related to the user 1.

In this embodiment, step 408 is an optional step.

Specifically, when the number of messages received by the network device and associated with user 1 decreases, the amount of resources used by the network device to process the messages associated with user 1 also decreases. When the resource occupied for processing the message related to the user 1 is reduced to the first threshold value, the network device reduces the allocation quota of the resource 1 and/or the allocation quota of the resource 2. When the resource occupied by the message related to the user 1 rises to the second threshold, the network device increases the allocation limit of the resource 1 and/or the allocation limit of the resource 2. Wherein the second threshold is greater than the first threshold. The first threshold and the second threshold are values pre-configured by the network management device. The first threshold and the second threshold may also be values determined by parameters configured in advance by the network management device. Please refer to the related description in step 204.

And step 409, the network equipment feeds back the actual usage amount to the cloud platform.

It should be understood that the network device may adjust the resource amount once or more, and the network device may periodically feed back the resource amount currently used for processing the message of the user 1 to the cloud platform, so that the cloud platform or other charging unit charges based on the amount of the actually used resource.

Specifically, the network device with the adjusted resource quota can directly send the actual use quota to the cloud platform, and also can send the actual use quota to the centralized management and control node, and then the centralized management and control node sends the actual use quota to the cloud platform, and specifically, the actual use quota is not limited here.

The embodiment can be used in a resource selling mode of post-payment, can flexibly adjust the flow rate which can be used by the first user while ensuring the resource amount for processing the first message, does not need the first user to pay in advance, and pays according to the used flow rate and a set price standard afterwards. The method is beneficial to flexibly distributing the resources for processing the messages, improves the utilization efficiency of the resources, and can be suitable for the application scene of the random service flow model.

An embodiment of reserving resources for a network device by means of out-of-band control will be described in detail below based on fig. 6:

step 601, the source network instance sends a first resource application to the cloud platform.

The first resource applies for a resource (i.e., the first resource) for processing a message of a first user. The first resource application may carry a first identifier, where the first identifier may be an identifier of the first user, or an identifier of a certain service of the first user. Please refer to the related description of step 201.

Optionally, the source network instance may also send the first resource application to the centralized control node, and then the centralized control node forwards the first resource application to the cloud platform.

Step 602, the cloud platform determines first indication information according to the first resource application.

Wherein, the first indication information includes the quota of the first resource. Optionally, the first indication information further includes a first identifier.

Specifically, the cloud platform may determine a quota of the first resource according to a service agreement SLA signed with the first user. For example, if a first user has subscribed to 10M resources at the cloud platform, the cloud platform determines that 10M resources can be configured for the first user.

Step 603, the cloud platform sends first indication information to the centralized control node.

Step 604, the centralized control node determines transmission path information according to the resource usage of each network device in the network and the first indication information.

The transmission path information includes outbound transmission path information and backhaul transmission path information.

In this embodiment, the centralized management and control node may obtain the current available resource amount of each network device in the network in real time. Then, the centralized control node selects a plurality of network devices capable of reserving the first resource from the plurality of network devices as intermediate nodes. Then, the centralized management and control node determines transmission path information based on the representation of the plurality of network devices capable of reserving the first resource. The network device capable of reserving the first resource may be understood as that the amount of the idle resource in the network device is greater than the amount of the first resource.

In one possible implementation, the centralized management node determines the identifier of the network device sequentially determined from the source network instance to the destination network instance as the outbound transmission path information. Then, the centralized control node determines a reverse transmission path of the outbound transmission path as a backhaul transmission path.

And then to the network card NIC _2 on the destination network instance side. At this time, the negotiation request message carries an identifier of each network device capable of reserving 2M resources, that is, outbound transmission path information.

In another possible implementation, the centralized management and control node determines outbound transmission path information and backhaul transmission path information respectively, where a network device in the outbound transmission path may coincide with a network device in the backhaul transmission path.

For ease of understanding, the CLOS switch architecture shown in fig. 7 is taken as an example. When a source network instance needs a certain resource to process a message of a user 1, the centralized management and control node respectively collects the idle resource amount of network equipment of a TOR _1 layer, a SPINE _1 layer, a CORE layer, a SPINE _2 layer, the TOR _1 layer and other network layers. Then, the centralized management and control node determines the network devices capable of reserving 2M resources according to the amount of the idle resources of the network devices of the network layers. If the centralized control node determines that the switch a1 of the TOR _1 layer, the switch a2 of the spin _1 layer, the switch a3 of the CORE layer, the switch a4 of the spin _2 layer, and the switch a5 of the TOR _2 layer can reserve 2M resources, the centralized control node determines that the outbound transmission path is the switch a 1-switch a 2-switch a 3-switch a 4-switch a5.

Optionally, the centralized control node may directly determine that the backhaul transmission path is switch a 5-switch a 4-switch a 3-switch a 2-switch a1.

Optionally, the centralized control node may also determine another transmission path as the backhaul transmission path based on the amount of idle resources of the network devices of the TOR _1 layer, the spin _1 layer, the CORE layer, the spin _2 layer, the TOR _1 layer, and other network layers. For example, the backhaul transport path may be switch b 1-switch b 2-switch b 3-switch b 4-switch b5.

Step 605a, the centralized control node sends the forwarding path information to the source network instance.

The outbound transmission path information includes the identification of each network device capable of reserving the first resource from the source network instance to the destination network instance.

Step 605b, the centralized management and control node sends backhaul transmission path information to the source network instance.

The backhaul transmission path information includes an identifier of each network device capable of reserving the first resource from the destination network instance to the source network instance.

Step 606, the centralized control node sends the first indication information and the transmission path information to the network device.

Specifically, the centralized management node sends the first indication information and the transmission path information to each network device on the transmission path.

Step 607, the cloud platform sends the second indication information to the centralized management and control node.

Step 608, the centralized management and control node sends second indication information to the network device.

Specifically, the centralized management node will send the second indication information to each network device on the transmission path.

In this embodiment, when a first resource purchased by a first user expires, the cloud platform or the centralized control node may send second indication information to the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is revoked. After receiving the second indication message, the network device releases the first resource, so that the first resource becomes a common resource in the network device (i.e. the first resource is no longer dedicated to processing messages associated with the first user).

The embodiment can be used in a prepaid resource selling mode, the centralized control node can acquire available resources in each network device in the network in real time, and then the centralized control node determines a transmission path for transmitting the first message. The method and the device not only can ensure that the outbound transmission path and the backhaul transmission path are selected, but also are beneficial to collecting information of each network device. In addition, the network equipment directly obtains the first indication information through the centralized management node without negotiating with other network equipment to reserve resources, and the management efficiency is improved.

The apparatus to which the present application relates is described below:

as shown in fig. 8, a schematic structural diagram of a network device 80 is provided for the embodiment of the present application. The network device 80 may be a network card NIC, a switch, a router, or the like. For example, the network device 80 may be a ToR switch, a Spine switch, a Core switch, or the like. The details are not limited herein. The network devices in the foregoing method embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, fig. 6, and fig. 4 may all be based on the structure of the network device 80 shown in fig. 8.

The network device 80 includes at least one processor 801 and at least one memory 802. It should be understood that fig. 8 only shows one processor 801 and one memory 802.

The processor 801 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a Network Processor (NP), an application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated circuit), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the present disclosure. The processor 801 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. Processor 801 may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions). In addition, the processor 801 may be a single semiconductor chip, or may be integrated with other circuits to form a semiconductor chip, for example, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) with other circuits (such as a codec circuit, a hardware acceleration circuit, or various buses and interface circuits), or may be integrated in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) as an ASIC, which may be packaged separately or may be packaged with other circuits.

In addition, the memory 802 may be a read only memory ROM, another type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory RAM, another type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, and an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), which is not limited herein. The memory 802 may be separate but coupled to the processor 801 as previously described. Optionally, the memory 802 may be integrated with the processor 801. E.g., integrated within one or more chips.

In addition, the memory 802 is also used for storing program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned program codes may be controlled to be executed by the processor 801, and various types of computer program codes to be executed may also be regarded as drivers of the processor 801. Then, the processor 801 may reserve a first resource according to the first indication information, and process the first packet using the first resource. Optionally, the processor 801 may process a second packet by using the first resource when the resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet is less than the configuration limit of the first resource, where the second packet does not carry the first identifier. Optionally, the processor 801 may decrease the allocation limit of the first resource when the resource occupied by processing the first packet decreases to the first threshold; and/or when the resource occupied by processing the first message rises to a second threshold value, increasing the allocation limit of the first resource, wherein the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value.

Optionally, the network device 80 further comprises a communication interface 803, and the communication interface 803 is used for communicating with other servers or network devices so that the network device can receive instructions or data from other devices. For example, the communication interface 803 may receive first indication information from a centralized management and control node or a previous hop network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first resource is reserved, the first resource is used to process a first packet, and the first packet is a packet carrying a first identifier, where the first identifier is associated with a first user. For example, the communication interface 803 is further configured to receive second indication information from the centralized control node or the last hop network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is revoked. For example, the communication interface 803 may receive a negotiation request message from a previous hop network device, where the negotiation request message is used to negotiate configuration of the first resource, and the negotiation request message carries the first indication information and the identifier of the previous hop network device. For example, the communication interface 803 may send a negotiation request message carrying the first indication information, the identifier of the previous hop network device, and the identifier of the network device to the next hop network device.

In one possible implementation, the internal structure of the network device may be as shown in fig. 9A, 9B, or 9C. Wherein the network device includes at least one CPU and at least one ASIC chip. The ASIC chip comprises a control module and a forwarding module, wherein the forwarding module is used for classifying the messages in the inlet queue and transmitting the messages to a certain outlet queue according to a certain rule; and the control module is used for controlling the resources adopted by each exit queue according to the received instruction.

In an alternative embodiment, if an out-of-band control manner is adopted, the internal structure of the network device may be as shown in fig. 9A. The CPU is used for processing instructions or messages from the centralized control node, then processes the instructions or messages, and sends processing results to the control module, so that the control module controls the messages added into the exit queue according to the processing results.

In an alternative embodiment, if in-band control is used, the internal structure of the network device may be as shown in fig. 9B. The negotiation request message or negotiation response message enters the ASIC chip through an entrance queue of the data plane, and the forwarding module forwards the negotiation request message or negotiation response message to the control module for processing, so that the control module controls an exit queue based on the first indication information or the second indication information. The implementation mode is a hardware unloading scheme, is suitable for scenes with high requirement on configuration timeliness (the effective time is at nanosecond level), and is beneficial to configuring, adjusting or revoking resources in real time.

In an alternative embodiment, if in-band control is used, the internal structure of the network device may be as shown in fig. 9C. The negotiation request message or negotiation response message enters the ASIC chip through an inlet queue of the data plane, the forwarding module forwards the negotiation request message or negotiation response message to a CPU outside the ASIC chip for processing, and the CPU feeds back a processing result to the control module so that the control module controls the outlet queue based on the first indication information or the second indication information. Compared with the hardware unloading scheme, the implementation mode is a software and hardware cooperation scheme, all logics are completely solidified in a chip, and the software and hardware cooperation scheme introduces an exchange network element, so that the software implementation flexibility is improved.

In addition, as shown in fig. 10, a schematic structural diagram of a cloud platform provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. The cloud platform 100 may be a server, a large computing device, or a large management device, and is not limited herein. The cloud platform in the method embodiments corresponding to fig. 4 and fig. 6 may be based on the structure of the cloud platform 100 shown in fig. 10.

Among other things, cloud platform 100 may include a processor 1010, memory 1020, and a communication interface 1030. The processor 1010 is coupled to the memory 1020, and the processor 1010 is coupled to the communication interface 1030.

The communication interface 1030 may also be referred to as a network interface. The communication interface 1030 is used to communicate with other servers or network devices so that the cloud platform can receive instructions or data from other devices or servers or so that the cloud platform can send instructions or data to other devices or servers. For example, the communication interface 1030 may be directly or indirectly connected with the centralized management unit, so as to receive a resource application (e.g., the first resource application introduced above) related to the first user from the centralized management node, so as to send indication information (e.g., the first indication information or the second indication information introduced above) to the centralized management unit.

The processor 1010 may be a central processing unit CPU, a network processor NP, or a combination of CPU and NP. The processor may also be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or a combination thereof. 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. The processor 1010 may refer to one processor or may include a plurality of processors.

In addition, the memory 1020 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 1020 may be separate and coupled to the processor 1010. Optionally, the memory 1020 may be integrated with the processor 1010, such as within one or more chips. The memory 1020 can store program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 1010 controls the execution of the program codes, and various executed computer program codes can also be regarded as drivers of the processor 1010. Memory 1020 may include volatile memory (volatile memory), such as random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory (flash memory), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory 1020 may also include a combination of the above types of memory. The memory 1020 may refer to one memory or may include a plurality of memories.

In one implementation, the memory 1020 has stored therein computer-readable instructions comprising a plurality of software modules, such as a sending module 1021, a processing module 1022, and a receiving module 1023. The processor 1010 can perform corresponding operations according to the instructions of the software modules after executing the software modules. In the present embodiment, the operation performed by a software module actually refers to the operation performed by the processor 1010 according to the instruction of the software module.

Illustratively, the receiving module 1023 in the cloud platform 100 receives a first resource application for requesting allocation of a first resource for a first user, where the first resource is used for a network device to process a packet related to the first user. The processing module 1022 generates first indication information based on the first resource application, so that the network device is directly or indirectly instructed to reserve the first resource through the first indication information. The sending module 1021 sends, by the cloud platform according to the first resource application, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is reserved.

Optionally, the first resource application includes a first identifier, the first identifier is related to the first user, and the packet related to the first user is a first packet carrying the first identifier.

Optionally, the first resource application includes the configuration limit of the first resource and the first identifier, and the configuration limit of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet.

For example, the sending module 1021 in the cloud platform 100 sends the first indication information to the centralized control node, so that the centralized control node sends the first indication information to a plurality of network devices, where each of the plurality of network devices is configured to process the first packet.

For example, the sending module 1021 in the cloud platform 100 sends second indication information to the centralized management and control node when the first resource expires, so that the centralized management and control node sends the second indication information to multiple network devices, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network devices revoke the first resource.

Illustratively, the sending module 1021 in the cloud platform 100 sends an initial resource quota to the source network instance, where the initial resource quota is used to determine a first resource, the first resource is used for a network device to process a message related to a first user, and the first user is a user that needs to reserve a resource;

illustratively, the receiving module 1023 in the cloud platform 100 receives an actual resource limit from the network device, where the actual resource limit is an actual amount of resources occupied by the network device for processing the message related to the first user. The message related to the first user is a first message carrying a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first user, or the first identifier is used to identify a first service of the first user.

The rest may refer to the method of the cloud platform in the above embodiment, and details are not repeated here.

Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, where the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method related to the network device as in the foregoing fig. 2, fig. 4, and fig. 6.

Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, which is executed by a processor to implement the cloud platform-related method as in the foregoing fig. 4 and fig. 6.

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

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for packet transmission, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that network equipment obtains first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating reservation of first resources, the first resources are used for processing a first message, the first message is one or more messages carrying a first identifier, and the first identifier is related to a first user;

and the network equipment processes the first message by adopting the first resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first user; or, the first identifier is used to identify a first service of the first user, where the first user is a user who has applied for the first resource.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indication information includes a configuration quota of the first resource and the first identifier, and the configuration quota of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

and when the resource amount occupied by the network equipment when processing the first message is less than the configuration limit of the first resource, the network equipment processes a second message by adopting the first resource, wherein the second message does not carry the first identifier.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the configured amount of the first resource is an initial configured amount related to the first subscriber;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and the network equipment adjusts the initial configuration quota to another configuration quota.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

when the resource occupied by processing the first message is reduced to a first threshold value, the network equipment reduces the allocation limit of the first resource;

and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

and when the resources occupied by processing the first message rise to a second threshold value, the network equipment increases the configuration limit of the first resources, and the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network device acquires the first indication information, including:

the network device receives a negotiation request message from a previous hop network device, wherein the negotiation request message is used for negotiating and configuring the first resource, and the negotiation request message carries the first indication information and the identifier of the previous hop network device;

when the network device determines that the first resource indicated by the first indication information can be reserved, the network device adds the identifier of the network device in the negotiation request message, and sends a negotiation request message carrying the first indication information, the identifier of the previous hop network device and the identifier of the network device to the next hop network device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network device acquires the first indication information, and comprises:

the network device receives the first indication information from a centralized management and control node.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

and the network equipment acquires second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first resource is cancelled.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first resource comprises a bandwidth resource.

11. A method for resource allocation, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a cloud platform receives a first resource application, wherein the first resource application is used for requesting to allocate first resources to a first user;

and the cloud platform sends first indication information according to the first resource application, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating network equipment to reserve the first resource to process the message related to the first user.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first resource application comprises a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is associated with the first user, and wherein the message associated with the first user is a first message carrying the first identifier.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first resource application further includes a configuration quota of the first resource, and the configuration quota of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the cloud platform sending the first indication information according to the first resource application includes:

the cloud platform sends the first indication information to a centralized control node, so that the centralized control node sends the first indication information to a plurality of network devices, and each of the plurality of network devices is used for processing the first packet.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, further comprising:

when the first resource expires, the cloud platform sends second indication information to the centralized control node, so that the centralized control node sends the second indication information to the plurality of network devices, where the second indication information is used to indicate the network devices to revoke the first resource.

16. A network device, comprising:

a transceiver module, configured to obtain first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate reservation of a first resource, where the first resource is used to process a first packet, where the first packet is one or more packets carrying a first identifier, and the first identifier is related to a first user;

and the processing module is used for processing the first message by adopting the first resource.

17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the first identifier is configured to identify the first user; or, the first identifier is used to identify a first service of the first user, where the first user is a user who has applied for the first resource.

18. The network device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the first indication information includes a configuration amount of the first resource and the first identifier, and the configuration amount of the first resource is a maximum value of an amount of resources occupied when the network device processes the first packet.

19. The network device according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the processing module is further configured to process a second packet by using the first resource when an amount of resources occupied during processing of the first packet is smaller than a configuration limit of the first resource, where the second packet does not carry the first identifier.

20. The network device of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the configured quota of the first resource is an initial configured quota associated with the first subscriber;

the processing module is further used for adjusting the initial configuration limit to another configuration limit.

21. The network device of any of claims 16-20, wherein the processing module is further configured to:

when the resource occupied by processing the first message is reduced to a first threshold value, reducing the configuration limit of the first resource;

and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

and when the resource occupied by processing the first message rises to a second threshold value, increasing the allocation limit of the first resource, wherein the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value.

22. The network device according to any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein the transceiver module is specifically configured to receive a negotiation request packet from a previous hop network device, where the negotiation request packet is used to negotiate configuration of the first resource, and the negotiation request packet carries the first indication information and an identifier of the previous hop network device;

the processing module is specifically configured to, when it is determined that the first resource indicated by the first indication information can be reserved, add the identifier of the network device in the negotiation request message, and send, to the next hop network device, a negotiation request message carrying the first indication information, the identifier of the previous hop network device, and the identifier of the network device.

23. The network device according to any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein the transceiver module is specifically configured to receive the first indication information from a centralized management and control node.

24. The network device according to any one of claims 16 to 23, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to obtain second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first resource is revoked.

25. The network device of any of claims 16-24, wherein the first resource comprises a bandwidth resource.

26. A cloud platform, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a first resource application, where the first resource application is used to request allocation of a first resource to a first user;

a sending module, configured to send first indication information according to the first resource application, where the first indication information is used to indicate a network device to reserve the first resource to process a packet related to the first user.

27. The cloud platform of claim 26, wherein the first resource application comprises a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is associated with the first user, and wherein the message associated with the first user is a first message carrying the first identifier.

28. The cloud platform of claim 26 or 27, wherein the first resource application further includes a configuration limit of the first resource, and the configuration limit of the first resource is a maximum value of a resource amount occupied by the network device when processing the first packet.

29. The cloud platform of any one of claims 26 to 28, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to send the first indication information to a centralized management and control node, so that the centralized management and control node sends the first indication information to a plurality of network devices, where each of the plurality of network devices is configured to process the first packet.

30. The cloud platform of any of claims 26 to 29,

the sending module is further configured to send, when the first resource expires, second indication information to the centralized management and control node, so that the centralized management and control node sends the second indication information to the plurality of network devices, where the second indication information is used to indicate the network devices to revoke the first resource.

31. A network device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program, the program instructions stored by the memory when executed by the processor causing the network device to implement the method of any of claims 1 to 10.

32. A cloud platform comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program, the program instructions stored by the memory when executed by the processor causing the cloud platform to implement the method of any of claims 11 to 15.

33. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program which is executable by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 or 11 to 15.

34. A computer program product comprising instructions, the computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 10 or 11 to 15.