CN116057865A

CN116057865A - Method and equipment for adjusting physical interface in flexible Ethernet group

Info

Publication number: CN116057865A
Application number: CN202080102324.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙洪亮; 林涛; 朱澍
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-31
Filing date: 2020-07-31
Publication date: 2023-05-02
Also published as: WO2022021409A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group. The method comprises the following steps: writing a code block received through a first physical interface into a first cache queue; reading the code blocks in the first cache queue according to a first reading speed; receiving information for indicating adding a second physical interface to transmit traffic data in the first flexible ethernet group; when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, slowing down the reading of the code blocks in the first cache queue until the number of the code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the normal reading speed; writing a first overhead header and a subsequent code block subsequently received over a second physical interface into a second buffer queue from a particular overhead code block of the first overhead frame received over the first physical interface; when the overhead header of the second overhead frame is read from the first buffer queue, reading the code block in the second buffer queue at the first read speed is started.

Description

Method and equipment for adjusting physical interface in flexible Ethernet group

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group.

Background

In the history of ethernet evolution, there is often a need to solve the contradiction between the increase in ethernet interface rate and the increase in traffic bandwidth. The interface rate increases are, in turn, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE), 40GE,100GE, and so on. The increase of service flow bandwidth is from 100GE to 400GE, 1 Ethernet (TE) and the like, and because the industry is stepped in Ethernet interface standard formulation and product development, the gap between service data transmission requirements and actual equipment interface capacity is necessarily present.

In order to solve the problem of matching service traffic bandwidth and interfaces, the optical internet forum (optical internet forum, OIF) flexible ethernet (flexible ethernet, flexE) standard technology creates an adaptation layer of medium access control (medium access control, MAC) and physical coding sub-layer (physical coding sublayer, PCS), bundles a plurality of low-rate (e.g. 100 GE) physical interfaces (PHYs) into a flexible ethernet group (FlexE group), and realizes greater transmission performance of the device, so that a plurality of service data streams can be converged to one or more PHYs for transmission, and the ethernet interface rate and service traffic bandwidth can be flexibly matched.

When a PHY needs to be added or deleted in an established FlexE group, the established FlexE group needs to be deleted and then a new FlexE group is built. Corresponding PHYs are added or deleted in the new FlexE group. Thus, by deleting the established FlexE group, a new FlexE group is reassembled to add or delete PHY schemes, which can affect ongoing data transfer traffic of the established FlexE group; moreover, deletion and reconstruction of the FlexE group take a long time (in the order of 50 ms), and the user communication experience is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and equipment for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible Ethernet group, which can adjust the physical interface in the flexible Ethernet group under the condition of not influencing the service data transmission of the flexible Ethernet group.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group, configured to receive a data service through the first flexible ethernet group, where the method includes: receiving a code block through a first physical interface, and writing the code block of the first physical interface into a first cache queue according to a first writing speed, wherein the first flexible Ethernet group comprises the first physical interface; reading the code blocks in the first cache queue according to a first reading speed, wherein the first reading speed is equal to the first writing speed; receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating adding a second physical interface to transmit service data in a first flexible Ethernet group; discarding the code blocks received through the second physical interface; determining the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface; when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and restoring the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed, wherein K is a positive integer; after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K, writing a first overhead header and a subsequent code block received through a second physical interface into a second buffer queue from a specific overhead code block of the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface, wherein the first overhead frame is the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K; when the overhead header of the second overhead frame is read from the first buffer queue, the code blocks in the second buffer queue are started to be read at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead frame is the second overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of the code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K.

That is, it is possible to add PHY to the FlexE group without deleting the established FlexE group, and to achieve overhead alignment to add PHY and existing PHY in the FlexE group on the receiving side.

In this method, the code blocks received through the second physical interface are discarded, which may specifically mean that the code blocks are not written into the cache.

In one possible implementation manner, the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface may be determined by determining whether the overhead transmitted by the first physical interface is received first or whether the overhead transmitted by the second physical interface is received first; if the overhead transmitted by the first physical interface is received, determining that the transmission delay of the second physical interface is greater than that of the first physical interface; if the overhead header transmitted by the second physical interface is received first, it may be determined that the transmission delay of the first physical interface is greater than the transmission delay of the second physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, the magnitude relation of the transmission delays of the two physical interfaces can be determined by simply determining which of the two physical interface transmissions has the overhead of the transmission first reaching the receiving side.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: determining a delay difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface; determining the value of K according to the time delay difference, the speed of the first physical interface and the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface; wherein the value of K is proportional to the delay difference, proportional to the rate of the first physical interface, and inversely proportional to the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, in the case where the transmission delay of the second physical interface is greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, that is, in the case where the overhead of the transmission of the second physical interface is late, the number of code blocks that need to be stacked in a buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the first physical interface may be determined so as to subsequently achieve read alignment of the second physical interface and the first physical interface.

In one possible implementation manner, when it is determined that the transmission delay of the second physical interface is greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, reducing the reading speed of the first buffer queue to the second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue increases by K, and restoring the reading speed of the first buffer queue to the first reading speed includes: and when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than that of the first physical interface and the difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface is determined to be less than a preset threshold, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed.

That is, in this implementation, when it is determined that the delay difference between the second physical interface and the first physical interface meets the delay requirement between different physical interfaces in the same FlexE group, the read speed of the first buffer queue may be reduced to the second read speed, so as to implement the read alignment subsequently.

In one possible implementation, the difference of the first read speed minus the second read speed is less than the clock jitter requirement.

That is, in this implementation, the magnitude of the decrease in the reading speed is smaller than the clock jitter requirement, so that the first flexible ethernet group can be prevented from cutting off the data transmission service being transmitted, and the user communication experience is improved.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, writing a first overhead and a subsequent code block received through the second physical interface into the second cache queue; when a second overhead header is read from the first cache queue, reading of code blocks in the second cache queue at the first read speed is started, the second overhead header being received after the first overhead header by the first overhead header received through the first physical interface.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information is a message generated after overheads on the transmitting sides of the first physical interface and the second physical interface are aligned.

That is, in this implementation, after the overhead alignment of the transmitting sides of the first physical interface and the second physical interface is performed, the receiving device is notified to add the second physical interface to the first flexible ethernet group, so that the overhead alignment of the receiving side is facilitated.

In one possible implementation, the first indication message is a message sent by the sending device, and the first indication message is information in a FlexE group number field in an overhead frame transmitted by the second physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, the sending device may instruct the receiving device to add a physical interface to the flexible ethernet group by altering the content in the FlexE group number field.

In one possible implementation, the first indication message is a message sent by the sending device, and the first indication message is information in a PHY map field in an overhead frame transmitted by the second physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, the transmitting device may instruct the receiving device to add a physical interface to the flexible ethernet group by altering the content in the PHY map field.

In one possible implementation, the first indication message is a message sent by the network management device, and the first indication message includes an identification of the second physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, the network management device may instruct the receiving device to add a physical interface to the flexible ethernet group.

In one possible implementation, determining the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface includes: determining the size relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface according to the first moment of receiving the overhead transmitted by the first physical interface in the first time period and the second moment of receiving the overhead transmitted by the second physical interface; the start point of the first time period is the moment of receiving the ith overhead code block of the fourth overhead frame, and the end point is the moment of receiving the jth overhead code block of the fifth overhead frame; the fourth overhead frame and the fifth overhead frame are two adjacent overhead frames transmitted by the first physical interface, and the fifth overhead frame is positioned after the fourth overhead frame; when the first moment is larger than the second moment, determining that the transmission delay of the first physical interface is larger than the transmission delay of the second physical interface; and when the first moment is smaller than the second moment, determining that the transmission delay of the first physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the second physical interface.

That is, in this implementation, the magnitude relation of the transmission delays of the two physical interfaces may be determined by comparing the time when the overhead header transmitted by the two physical interfaces reaches the receiving side.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for receiving data traffic over a first flexible ethernet group, the device comprising: a processor, a memory, a transceiver; the memory is used for storing computer instructions; when the communication device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions, causing the communication device to perform: receiving a code block through a first physical interface, and writing the code block of the first physical interface into a first cache queue according to a first writing speed, wherein the first flexible Ethernet group comprises the first physical interface; the method comprises the steps of reading code blocks in a first cache queue according to a first reading speed, wherein the first reading speed is equal to a first writing speed; receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating adding a second physical interface to transmit service data in a first flexible Ethernet group; discarding the code blocks received through the second physical interface; determining the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface; when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and restoring the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed, wherein K is a positive integer; after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K, writing a first overhead header and a subsequent code block received through a second physical interface into a second buffer queue from a specific overhead code block of the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface, wherein the first overhead frame is the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K; when the overhead header of the second overhead frame is read from the first buffer queue, the code blocks in the second buffer queue are started to be read at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead frame is the second overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of the code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K.

In one possible implementation, the computer instructions are executed by a processor to cause a communication device to further perform: determining a delay difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface; determining the value of K according to the time delay difference, the speed of the first physical interface and the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface; wherein the value of K is proportional to the delay difference, proportional to the rate of the first physical interface, and inversely proportional to the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface.

In one possible implementation, the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the communication device to further perform: and when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than that of the first physical interface and the difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface is determined to be less than a preset threshold, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed.

In one possible implementation, the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the communication device to further perform: when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, writing the first overhead and the following code blocks received through the second physical interface into a second cache queue; when a second overhead header is read from the first cache queue, the code blocks in the second cache queue begin to be read at the first read speed, the second overhead header being the first overhead header received over the first physical interface after the first overhead header is received.

In one possible implementation, the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the communication device to further perform: determining the size relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface according to the first moment of receiving the overhead transmitted by the first physical interface in the first time period and the second moment of receiving the overhead transmitted by the second physical interface; the start point of the first time period is the moment of receiving the ith overhead code block of the fourth overhead frame, and the end point is the moment of receiving the jth overhead code block of the fifth overhead frame; the fourth overhead frame and the fifth overhead frame are two adjacent overhead frames transmitted by the first physical interface, and the fifth overhead frame is positioned after the fourth overhead frame; when the first moment is larger than the second moment, determining that the transmission delay of the first physical interface is larger than the transmission delay of the second physical interface; and when the first moment is smaller than the second moment, determining that the transmission delay of the first physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the second physical interface.

The technical effects of the method provided in the first aspect may be referred to the description of the technical effects of the method provided in the first aspect, which is not repeated here.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group, configured to send a data service through a first flexible ethernet group, where the method includes: determining that a second physical interface needs to be added to the first flexible Ethernet group; setting the sending time of the overhead of the second physical interface according to the sending time of the overhead of the first physical interface so as to realize the overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the second physical interface on a sending side; and sending a first indication message to the receiving device, wherein the first indication message is used for indicating that the second physical interface is added to the first flexible Ethernet group, so that the receiving device performs overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the second physical interface on the receiving side.

That is, in this method, the transmission timing of the overhead header of the PHY to be added can be determined according to the transmission timing of the overhead header of the existing PHY in the FlexE group, thereby realizing overhead alignment of the existing PHY and the PHY to be added on the transmission side.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for sending data traffic through a first flexible ethernet group, the device including: a processor, a memory, a transceiver; the memory is used for storing computer instructions; when the communication device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions, causing the communication device to perform: determining that a second physical interface needs to be added to the first flexible Ethernet group; setting the sending time of the overhead of the second physical interface according to the sending time of the overhead of the first physical interface so as to realize the overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the second physical interface on a sending side; and sending a first indication message to the receiving device, wherein the first indication message is used for indicating that the second physical interface is added to the first flexible Ethernet group, so that the receiving device performs overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the second physical interface on the receiving side.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group, configured to send a data service through a first flexible ethernet group, where the first flexible ethernet group corresponds to a preset reference overhead phase; the method comprises the following steps: determining that a first physical interface needs to be added to a first flexible Ethernet group; determining the sending time of the overhead of the first physical interface according to the reference overhead phase; and sending a first indication message to the receiving device, wherein the first indication message is used for indicating that the first physical interface is added into the first flexible Ethernet group, so that the receiving device performs overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the existing physical interfaces in the first flexible Ethernet group on the receiving side.

That is, in this method, the transmission timings of the existing PHY and the overhead of the PHY to be added in the FlexE group can be set according to the reference overhead phase, thereby realizing overhead alignment of the existing PHY and the PHY to be added on the transmission side.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, configured to send a data service through a first flexible ethernet group, where the first flexible ethernet group corresponds to a preset reference overhead phase; the apparatus includes: a processor, a memory, a transceiver; the memory is used for storing computer instructions; when the communication device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions, causing the communication device to perform: determining that a first physical interface needs to be added to a first flexible Ethernet group; determining the sending time of the overhead of the first physical interface according to the reference overhead phase; and sending a first indication message to the receiving device, wherein the first indication message is used for indicating that the first physical interface is added into the first flexible Ethernet group, so that the receiving device performs overhead alignment of the first physical interface and the existing physical interfaces in the first flexible Ethernet group on the receiving side.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip system, including: a processor and interface circuitry coupled to execute instructions to cause a communication device on which the chip system is mounted to perform the method provided in the first aspect or the method provided in the third aspect or the method provided in the fifth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a communications device, cause the communications device to perform the method provided in the first aspect or the method provided in the third aspect or the method provided in the fifth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising program code which, when executed by a processor in a communication device, implements the method provided in the first aspect or the method provided in the third aspect or the method provided in the fifth aspect.

According to the method and the device for adjusting the physical interface in the flexible Ethernet group, the PHY in the FlexE group can be adjusted under the condition that service data transmission of the FlexE group is not affected, nondestructive adjustment of the PHY in the FlexE group is achieved, and user communication experience is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a flexible Ethernet architecture;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a transmitting device structure based on a flexible Ethernet protocol;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a receiving device structure based on a flexible Ethernet protocol;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a code block transmitted by a transmitting device based on a flexible Ethernet protocol;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of an overhead frame based on a flexible Ethernet protocol;

fig. 5A is a schematic diagram of an alignment window on the receiving device side;

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a buffer queue of a receiving device;

FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram of a buffer queue of a receiving device;

fig. 6A is a schematic diagram of an alignment window on the receiving device side;

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a buffer queue of a receiving device;

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of a buffer queue of a receiving device;

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

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application.

Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the application. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and the like in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments" unless expressly specified otherwise.

Wherein, in the description of the present specification, "/" means or is meant unless otherwise indicated, for example, a/B may represent a or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association relationship describing an association object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "plurality" means two or more than two.

In the description of this specification, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise.

Fig. 1 shows a flexible ethernet system. Wherein four PHY interfaces may be bundled into one flexible ethernet group (FlexE group). The data of each of a plurality of flexible ethernet protocol clients (flexeclent) may be transmitted over a designated time slot(s) of the flexible ethernet group. One flexible ethernet protocol client corresponds to one user traffic data stream (e.g., a media access control client). FlexE interlayers (shim), i.e. adaptation layers between the MAC layer and the PCS layer, are used to map data of flexible ethernet protocol clients onto PHY interfaces in the flexible ethernet group.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a FlexE transmitting device. As shown in fig. 2, the transmitting device may transmit data of a plurality of FlexE clients (e.g., flexE client #1, flexE client #2, flexE client #m, etc.). The transmitting device may perform a client process (client processing) on the data of each FlexE client, e.g. 64B/66B encoding, resulting in a stream of code blocks. The sending device may perform idle code block addition/deletion (idle insert/delete) in the code block stream, and perform rate adaptation for FlexE clients and FlexE groups. The transmitting device may map the rate-adapted code block stream to a slot (slot) of the FlexE interlayer, and then allocate the slot to each PHY according to the corresponding relationship between the slot and each PHY in the FlexE group, so as to transmit the code block stream. As shown in fig. 2, when a slot is allocated to each PHY, an Overhead (OH) code block may be inserted between slots corresponding to each PHY, so as to obtain an overhead frame. The overhead frame is then transmitted. That is, the PHY transmits overhead frames carrying data for FlexE clients. The overhead frames will be described in detail below and are not described in detail herein.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a FlexE receiving device. As shown in fig. 3, the receiving device may receive the overhead frame transmitted by each PHY in the FlexE group, and after implementing data alignment according to the delay deviation supplement performed on the overhead boundary in the overhead frame, may extract, according to the mapping table, the data of the FlexE client from the data carried by the overhead frame. And (3) performing idle code block addition/deletion on the extracted data of the FlexE client to adapt to the rate of the FlexE client, so that an upper layer module (such as a MAC module) can further process the data of the FlexE client.

Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram of a code block structure of PHY transmission. The time domain resource of the PHY is divided into 20 slots, and data is transmitted and received with the 20 slots as one period. In each of these 20 slots, the PHY's transmit and receive rate is 5Gbps. A data code block may be transmitted or received in one slot. One overhead code block may be inserted every 1023×20 slots. Illustratively, at a PHY bandwidth of 100G, adjacent overhead code blocks occur at a time interval of about 13.1 microseconds.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the data code block and the overhead code block may be collectively referred to as a code block. That is, one data code block is one code block, and one overhead code block is one code block. When referring to a code block hereinafter, it may refer to a data code block, and may refer to an overhead code block.

In the embodiments of the present application, "front" refers to "front" in time sequence or transmission sequence unless otherwise specified. Accordingly, "post" refers to "post" in time sequence or transmission sequence.

Eight adjacent overhead code blocks and the data code blocks following each overhead code block constitute an overhead frame, which may also be referred to as an overhead frame.

Fig. 4B is a schematic diagram of the structure of eight overhead code blocks in one overhead frame. Wherein the first overhead code block of an overhead frame, namely overhead code block 1, may be referred to as the overhead header or overhead boundary of the overhead frame. The overhead header is a boundary between two overhead frames, the overhead header belonging to a subsequent one of the two overhead frames, a preceding code block of the overhead header belonging to a preceding one of the two overhead frames.

Referring to fig. 4B, overhead code block 1 in the overhead frame may include a FlexE group number (FlexE group number) field. The FlexE group number field is used to indicate FlexE groups, different FlexE groups having different FlexE group numbers. Overhead code block 1 may also include a C field, an overhead multi-frame indicator (overhead multiframeindicator, OMF) field, etc. Wherein the C field is used to indicate the currently used slot allocation table (calendar configuration in use).

With continued reference to fig. 4B, the overhead code block 2 in the overhead frame may include fields such as a C field, a PHY map (PHY map) field, a FlexE instance number (FlexE instance number) field, and the like.

The PHY map field is used to indicate the members of the FlexE group, that is to say the PHY map field is used to indicate which PHYs belong to the FlexE group. Specifically, the PHY map field has a plurality of bits, and each PHY in the FlexE group may be mapped to one bit (bit) of the plurality of bits, where the bit position in the PHY map field corresponds to the position of the FlexE instance number of the corresponding PHY. For example, if the PHY with FlexE instance number 0 and the PHY with FlexE instance number 4, the bit value of the first bit and the bit value of the second bit in the PHY map field are set to 1.

The FlexE instance number is used to indicate the PHY, with different PHYs having different FlexE instance numbers.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PHY in the FlexE group may be an independent PHY or a slice (slice) of a PHY. The slice may also be referred to as a network slice (network slice). According to the flexe2.0 protocol, a PHY may be cut into two or more network resources that are logically independent or isolated from each other. Wherein each network resource may be referred to as a slice of the PHY.

Illustratively, for PHYs at rates of 100Gbps and below, it may be considered as one PHY in the FlexE group. For a PHY with a rate of n×100Gbps, it may be divided into N slices, with a rate of 100Gbps for one slice.

When one PHY A1 in the FlexE group is specifically a slice of one PHY a, the PHY number (PHY number) of the PHY A1 is composed of the instance number of the PHY a and the slice number (slice number) of the PHY a. When one PHY in the FlexE group is an independent PHY, its PHY number is identical to its instance number.

With continued reference to fig. 4B, overhead code block 3 in the overhead frame may include a C field, a client slot allocation table A (client calendar A) field, a client slot allocation table B (client calendar B) field, a slot allocation table switch request (calendar switch request, CR) field, a slot allocation table switch acknowledgement (calendar switch acknowledge, CA) field.

As described above, the C field is used to indicate the currently used client slot allocation table. Illustratively, when the bit value in the C field is 0, it may indicate that the client slot allocation table a is currently in use. When the bit value in the C field is 1, it may indicate that the client slot allocation table B is currently used.

When the FlexE transmitting device and the FlexE receiving device need to switch the client slot allocation table, they can complete the negotiation through the CR, CA fields. For example, after determining the FlexE group to be switched to, the transmitting device may set or update the slot allocation table B according to the FlexE group to be switched to. Then, the transmitting device may set the bit value in the CR field to 1, and the receiving device may perform handover preparation (e.g., perform read alignment, etc.) after receiving the overhead code block with the bit value of 1 in the CR field. After the receiving device makes a handover preparation, an overhead code block with a bit value of 1 in the CA field may be transmitted to the transmitting device. The transmitting device, after receiving the overhead code block with the bit value of 1 in the CA field, may set the bit value of the C field in the overhead code block of the overhead frame to be transmitted later to 1. After the transmission of the C field with bit value set to 1, the data stream is transmitted according to the slot allocation table B, starting at the frame header of the next overhead frame. .

With the above arrangement, MAC traffic having a rate greater than a single PHY bandwidth can be transmitted through the FlexE group, for example, the FlexE group having 4 PHYs bundled (each PHY having a bandwidth of 100 Gbps) can transmit MAC traffic having a rate of 400 Gbps. It is also possible to simultaneously transmit a plurality of MAC traffic having a rate smaller than the bandwidth of the FlexE group or a single PHY bandwidth through the FlexE group, for example, the FlexE group in which 2 PHYs (each PHY has a bandwidth of 100 Gbps) are bundled, and to simultaneously transmit one MAC traffic having a rate of 150Gbps and one MAC traffic having a rate of 50 Gbps.

Thus, there may be two cases as follows.

In case 1, the client service needs a higher transmission rate, the bandwidth of the PHY in the FlexE group does not meet the bandwidth requirement of the client service, and one or more PHYs need to be added to meet the requirement of the transmission rate of the client service. For example, 2 100G PHYs are bound in the FlexE group, and in the scene of increasing the traffic data volume, the bandwidth requirement of the client service exceeds 200G, so that a physical PHY needs to be added in the FlexE group, thereby achieving the purpose of capacity expansion of the FlexE group. Therefore, a solution is needed that can add PHY to FlexE groups without disconnecting traffic transmission.

Case 2, the transmission rate required for customer traffic is reduced, no larger bandwidth is required or no larger bandwidth is required for certain periods of time. For example, flexE group binds 2 100G PHYs, and in the scenario of traffic data volume reduction, the bandwidth requirement of customer traffic does not exceed 100G. If the FlexE group with the bandwidth 200G is continuously used for data transmission, network resources are wasted, and therefore, one PHY needs to be reduced in the FlexE group. Because, a scheme is needed that can delete PHY from FlexE group without disconnecting traffic transmission.

The embodiment of the application provides a PHY adjusting method in a FlexE group, which can adjust PHYs in the FlexE group under the condition that the established FlexE group is not deleted.

Next, in different embodiments, a specific description will be given of a PHY adjustment method in the FlexE group provided in the embodiments of the present application.

In some embodiments, the transmitting device may determine that it is necessary to add a PHY in FlexE group #1 that is performing a data transmission service. The FlexE group #1 that is performing data transmission service can also be understood as that an existing PHY in the FlexE group #1 is performing data transmission service or is in an operating state.

For convenience of description, in the present embodiment, the PHY that is intended or to be added to FlexE group #1 may be referred to as a PHY to be added.

In one illustrative example, the transmitting device may determine that PHY needs to be added in FlexE group #1 in response to the PHY add indication. The transmitting device may receive the network management device control. The network management device can display a network management interface, and a network administrator can perform related operations on the network management interface to trigger the network management device to send a PHY increase instruction to the sending device, so as to instruct the sending device to increase the PHY in the FlexE group # 1. Thus, the transmitting device can determine to add PHY in FlexE group # 1. In one example, the PHY add indication may include a PHY identification (e.g., instance number) to indicate which PHY is the PHY to be added.

In one illustrative example, the transmitting device may determine whether to add a PHY in FlexE group #1 based on a change in FlexE client traffic. Specifically, the transmitting device may determine how much data is to be transmitted by the MAC layer, and when the data is to be transmitted by the MAC layer and is greater than or equal to a threshold C1 (the threshold C1 may be determined by a bandwidth of the FlexE group #1, for example, the threshold C1 may be equal to a bandwidth of the FlexE group #1 plus 100G), it may be determined that the bandwidth of the FlexE group #1 cannot meet a transmission requirement of FlexE client service data, and it is necessary to add a PHY in the FlexE group # 1. The transmitting device may also determine the PHY to be added to FlexE group #1 from one or more PHYs, i.e., determine the PHY to be added. The one or more PHYs are PHYs other than FlexE group #1 capable of transmitting data between a transmitting device and a receiving device. In one example, the generating device may randomly determine one PHY from the one or more PHYs as the PHY to be added.

In one illustrative example, one PHY in FlexE group #1 may be set to be removed from FlexE group #1 due to a fiber failure. When the transmitting device determines that the optical fiber failure of the PHY is released through a Local Failure (LF) or a Remote PHY Failure (RPF), it may be determined that the PHY is added in FlexE group #1, that is, that the PHY is to be added.

The transmit side overhead alignment operation may be performed when or after the transmitting device can determine that PHY needs to be added in FlexE group #1, and specifically which PHY to add.

In the embodiment of the present application, overhead alignment on the transmitting side means that the transmission time of the overhead of the PHY to be added is consistent with the transmission time of the overhead of the existing PHY in FlexE group # 1. Accordingly, the overhead alignment operation on the transmitting side is to align the transmission timing of the overhead of the PHY to be added with the transmission timing of the overhead of the PHY already in FlexE group # 1. In addition, it can be understood that the overhead alignment of the transmitting side is already implemented between the PHYs in the existing PHYs in the FlexE group #1, for example, the overhead alignment of the transmitting side between the PHYs in the existing PHYs may be implemented when the FlexE group #1 is constructed, and the description of the prior art may be specifically referred to, and will not be repeated herein.

In one illustrative example, PHY #2 may be set as the PHY to be added, PHY #1 belonging to an existing PHY in FlexE group # 1. It will be understood that the transmitting device inserts the overhead code block into the slot (data code block) corresponding to the PHY according to a fixed period and transmits the overhead code block, so that the transmitting device may predict the transmission time of the overhead header of one non-transmitted overhead frame of the PHY #1, and insert the overhead header into the slot corresponding to the PHY #2 according to the predicted transmission time, so that the transmission time of the overhead header is the same as the pre-stored transmission time. Then, overhead code blocks are inserted every 1023×20 slots. Thus, overhead alignment of PHY #2 and PHY #1 is achieved.

In one illustrative example, flexE group #1 may correspond to a preset reference PHY, with the transmission time of the overhead of the existing PHY in FlexE group #1 being the same as the transmission time of the overhead of the reference PHY. The transmitting device may perform overhead alignment operation of the PHY to be added and the reference PHY to align a transmission time of an overhead header of the PHY to be added and a transmission time of the reference PHY, so as to implement overhead alignment of the PHY to be added and an existing PHY in FlexE group # 1. To increase the overhead alignment operations of PHY and reference PHY, reference may be made to the description of the alignment operations of PHY #2 and PHY #1 above, and will not be repeated here.

The reference PHY is a preset virtual PHY which is not used for data transmission, and a preset reference overhead phase is adopted. The reference overhead phase is understood to be an overhead control rule that specifies the transmission instants of overhead headers. In the embodiment of the present application, different reference overhead phases may be generated or preset for PHYs with different rates. That is, different rates of PHY correspond to different reference overhead phases, or different rates of PHY correspond to different reference PHYs. It will be appreciated that the rates of the PHYs in one FlexE group are typically the same, and thus the reference PHY or reference phase overhead corresponding to the PHYs in the FlexE group may be referred to as the FlexE group corresponding reference PHY or reference phase overhead.

Therefore, through the scheme, overhead alignment of the transmitting side can be realized.

In some embodiments, the receiving device may be informed of the need to add PHY in FlexE group #1 and which PHY to add when or after the transmitting device may complete overhead alignment on the transmitting side.

In one illustrative example, PHY #2 may be set as the PHY to be added. The transmitting device may populate the group number of FlexE group #1 in the FlexE group number field in the first overhead code block (i.e., overhead header) of the overhead frame of PHY # 2. That is, the contents of the FlexE group number field of PHY #2 may be set to coincide with the contents of the FlexE group number field of an existing PHY in FlexE group # 1.

When the receiving device receives the overhead header of phy#2, the FlexE group number field in the overhead header may be detected, and further, according to the group number of FlexE group#1 in the FlexE group number field, it may be determined that phy#2 is the PHY to be added of FlexE group#1. Specifically, the receiving device may generate an alarm when detecting that the content of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header has changed. It will be appreciated that PHY #2, prior to adding to FlexE group #1, does not have the original contents of the FlexE group number field in its overhead and the group number of FlexE group #1 in agreement. When the receiving device detects that the content of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #2 (which has been modified to the group number of FlexE group # 1) and the original content are different, an alarm may be generated. The receiving device may respond to the alarm by looking up the contents of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #2, and may obtain that the contents of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #2 is the group number of FlexE group # 1. In one example, the transmitting device may also transmit a PHY add notification to the receiving device to notify the receiving device that the content change of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #2 is for PHY add operation, rather than an exception, to avoid an exception repair operation by the receiving device due to an alarm.

In one illustrative example, PHY #2 may be set as the PHY to be added. The transmitting device may set the bit value in the PHY map field in the second overhead code block of the overhead frame of PHY #2 based on the PHY #2 instance number (instance number) and the existing PHY instance number of FlexE group # 1. Specifically, the bit value of the bit in the PHY map field corresponding to the PHY #2 instance number may be set, and the bit value of the bit in the PHY map field corresponding to the existing PHY instance number may be set. For example, the bit value of the bit in the PHY map field corresponding to the PHY #2 instance number may be set to 1, the bit value of the bit in the PHY map field corresponding to the existing PHY instance number may be set to 1, and the other bits in the PHY map field may be set to 0. For convenience of description, the contents of the PHY map field after being set may be referred to as bit indication information B1.

When the receiving device receives the second overhead code block of the overhead frame of phy#2, the PHY map field in the second overhead code block may be detected, and further, according to the bit value of each bit in the PHY map field, it may be determined that phy#2 is the PHY to be added of FlexE group#1.

Specifically, the receiving device may generate an alert upon detecting a change in the contents of the PHY map field in the second overhead code block. It will be appreciated that PHY #2 is different from the original content and bit indication information B1 in the PHY map field in the second overhead code block of its overhead frame before adding to FlexE group # 1. An alarm may be generated when the receiving device detects that the content of the PHY map field (which has been modified to bit indication information B1) in the overhead frame of PHY #2 is different from the original content. The receiving device may look at the content of the PHY map field of PHY #2 in response to the alert, and may obtain the content of the PHY map field as bit indication information B1. In one example, the transmitting device may also send a PHY add notification to the receiving device to notify the receiving device that the content of the PHY map field in the overhead frame of PHY #2 is changed in order to perform the PHY add operation, rather than an exception, so as to avoid an exception repair operation by the receiving device due to an alarm.

In some embodiments, the receiving device may determine that PHY needs to be added in FlexE group #1 in response to the PHY addition indication. The receiving device may receive the network management device control. For example, when or after the transmitting device completes the overhead alignment of the transmitting side, a notification message may be sent to the network management device, where the notification message is used to notify the network management device that the overhead alignment of the transmitting side is completed. The network management device may display a network management interface for managing the receiving device when or after receiving the notification message. The network administrator may perform a related operation at the network management interface to trigger the network management device to send a PHY add instruction to the receiving device, so as to instruct the receiving device to add the PHY in FlexE group # 1. Thus, the receiving device can determine to add PHY in FlexE group # 1. In one example, the notification message sent by the sending device to the network management device may include a PHY identifier (e.g., instance number), where the PHY corresponding to the PHY identifier is a PHY to be added, and the sending device has completed overhead alignment of the PHY to be added and the existing PHY in FlexE group # 1. The network management device may carry the PHY identity in an add indication to instruct the receiving device which PHY to add specifically to FlexE group # 1.

Thus, in the above manner, the receiving device can determine which PHY needs to be added to FlexE group #1 and which PHY to add.

It will be appreciated that the PHYs of FlexE group #1 have already achieved transmit side overhead alignment, but that a delay skew may be generated after the code blocks transmitted by the transmitting device are transmitted through the PHYs of FlexE group # 1. Therefore, in order to be able to correctly recover FlexE client data from a code block, the receiving device performs a delay offset compensation (deskew) operation on different PHYs when delay offsets occur in the code blocks transmitted by the different PHYs.

The delay skew compensation operation performed by the receiving device may also be referred to as a receiving side overhead alignment operation. It will be appreciated that in network transmission, when the code blocks arrive at the receiving device, they may be written into the buffer of the receiving device first, and then the receiving device reads the code blocks from the buffer in a first-in-first-out order for data extraction. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the receiving-side overhead alignment operation may be understood as a read alignment operation of the code block. More specifically, the receiving-side overhead alignment operation may be understood as an overhead header read alignment operation of an overhead frame.

Next, in various embodiments, the implementation of the overhead read alignment operation will be described. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, an overhead header of an overhead frame corresponding to a PHY may be simply referred to as an overhead header of the PHY. The overhead frame corresponding to the PHY refers to an overhead frame transmitted through the PHY. PHY #2 may be set as PHY to be added and PHY #1 is one existing PHY in FlexE group # 1.

Before performing overhead read alignment operation, the receiving device needs to determine whether the delay difference between the delay of phy#2 and the delay of the existing PHY in FlexE group #1 is greater than the delay offset compensation capability of the receiving device. The delay offset compensation capability is typically specified by the FlexE standard, which may be, for example, 10 microseconds.

Illustratively, the receiving device may determine a reception time T1 of the overhead header of PHY #2 received by the receiving device during the period T1, and determine a reception time T2 of the overhead header of PHY #1 received by the receiving device during the period T1. The time period T1 is a time period starting from the reception time of the ith overhead code block in the overhead frame O1 in which the receiving device receives PHY #1 and ending at the reception time of the jth overhead code block in the overhead frame O2 in which the receiving device receives PHY # 1. Wherein, the overhead frame O1 and the overhead frame O2 are adjacent, and the overhead frame O2 is located after the overhead frame O1. I is more than 1 and less than or equal to 8, j is more than 1 and less than or equal to 8, and i and j are natural numbers. In one example, i may be 5,j may be 2.

It will be appreciated that the transmission speed of the optical signal in the optical fibre may reach 20 km/s, whereas the FlexE protocol specifies that the length of the optical fibre between the transmitting device and the receiving device is typically not longer than 10 km. If the transmission times of the two overhead heads are identical, the delay difference between the transmission delays of the two overhead heads does not exceed the time interval between two adjacent code blocks at most (about 13 microseconds). Therefore, one overhead header of PHY #2 and one overhead header of PHY #1 are both received within time period T1, which can be explained that the transmission timings of these two overhead headers are the same. Thus, the delay size relationship between PHY #2 and PHY #1 can be determined from the reception time of the overhead header of PHY #2 received in time period T1 and the reception time of the overhead header of PHY #1 of the overhead header of PHY #2 received in time period T1.

It can be determined whether the time difference between t1 and t2 is less than the delay skew compensation capability. If only one PHY in FlexE group #1 (i.e., PHY # 1) is present, when the time difference between t1 and t2 is less than or equal to the delay skew compensation capability, it may be determined that the delay difference between the delay of PHY #2 and the delay of the PHY in FlexE group #1 is not greater than the delay skew compensation capability of the receiving device. When there are multiple PHY in the FlexE group #1, the determining manner of the delay difference between the delay of the PHY #2 and the delay of other existing PHY except the PHY #1 may refer to the determining manner of the delay difference between the delay of the PHY #2 and the delay of the PHY #1, which is not described herein. When the delay difference between the delay of PHY #2 and the delay of each existing PHY in FlexE group #1 is less than or equal to the delay skew compensation capability of the receiving device, it may be determined that the delay difference between the delay of PHY #2 and the delay of the existing PHY in FlexE group #1 is not greater than the delay skew compensation capability of the receiving device.

If the delay difference between the delay of phy#2 and the delay of the existing PHY in FlexE group#1 is greater than the delay deviation compensation capability of the receiving device, it may be determined that phy#2 cannot be added to FlexE group#1, and this time PHY addition to FlexE group#1 fails.

If the delay difference between the delay of PHY #2 and the delay of the existing PHY in the FlexE group is smaller than the delay skew compensation capability of the receiving device, it can be determined that PHY #2 can be added to FlexE group # 1.

Upon or after determining that PHY #2 may be added to FlexE group #1, the receiving device may determine whether the time when the overhead header of PHY #2 reaches the receiving device is later than the time when the overhead header of PHY #1 reaches the receiving device. That is, the receiving device may determine whether its time to receive the overhead of PHY #2 is later than the time to receive the overhead of PHY # 1.

Illustratively, as described above, the receiving device may determine the reception time T1 of the overhead header of PHY #2 received in period T1, and the reception time T2 of the overhead header of PHY #1 received in period T1. Thereby, the receiving apparatus can determine whether the reception time t1 is later than the reception time t2. If the reception time t1 is later than the reception time t2, it is explained that the reception device can determine that the time at which it receives the overhead of PHY #2 is later than the time at which it receives the overhead of PHY # 1. If the reception time t1 is earlier than the reception time t2, it is explained that the reception device can determine that the time at which it receives the overhead of PHY #2 is earlier than the time at which it receives the overhead of PHY # 1.

Next, an overhead header read alignment operation in a scenario where the timing at which the receiving device receives the overhead header of PHY #2 is later than the timing at which the overhead header of PHY #1 is received (i.e., an overhead header late to scenario of PHY to be added) is described. The description will be given taking PHY #2 as an example in which PHY #1 is one existing PHY in FlexE group #1, as PHY to be added.

It will be appreciated that each PHY corresponds to a buffer queue at the receiving device side. For example, phy#2 may be set to correspond to cache line #1, phy#1 corresponding to cache line #2. In a state where the FlexE group is operating normally (i.e., the FlexE is not in a PHY-adjusted state, or when the receiving device does not perform an overhead alignment operation), the receiving device may write the code block of PHY #1 received by the receiving device into the cache queue #2, and then read the code block in the cache queue #2 using the reading speed V1, so as to perform subsequent data extraction. The read speed V1 is equal to the write speed of the code blocks to the cache queue #2, and therefore a fixed number of code blocks to be read can be maintained in the cache queue #2. The number of code blocks to be read in the cache queue #2 may be set to n.

The code block of PHY #2 received by the receiving device is not written to the buffer queue #1, but is dropped directly before the receiving device receives the overhead header of PHY #2 within the alignment window. The alignment window will be described below and will not be described in detail here.

When or after the receiving device determines that the timing at which it receives the overhead of PHY #2 is later than the timing at which it receives the overhead of PHY #1, the receiving device reads the code blocks in the cache queue #2 at the reading speed V2. The read speed V2 is slower than the read speed V1, and the write speed of the cache queue #2 is unchanged, so that the code block to be read in the cache queue #2 gradually increases, i.e. the cache depth of the cache queue #2 increases.

It will be appreciated that for PHY #1, typically the receiving device receives a code block that is written to the cache queue. The code blocks are transmitted by optical signals or electrical signals, the propagation rate of which is fixed, and thus the time interval between the moments when the receiving device receives two adjacent code blocks is fixed. That is, the rate at which the receiving device receives the code blocks is typically fixed. Accordingly, the write speed of the cache queue #2 is also fixed.

It will be appreciated that FlexE group #1 is executing a data transfer service, and that the speed difference (V1-V2) between the read speed V2 and the read speed V1 is less than the ethernet clock jitter requirement in order to avoid data transfer service interruption. Typically, the Ethernet clock jitter requirement is 100ppm. Therefore, the speed difference between the reading speed V2 and the reading speed V1 may be less than 100ppm. In one example, the read speed v2=read speed V1-50ppm may be set.

The receiving device may monitor the number of code blocks to be read in cache queue # 2. The receiving device may record a time when the number of code blocks to be read in the cache queue #2 reaches m, and set the time as time t3. Wherein m=n+k, and a time difference between a reception time of a first code block and a reception time of a kth code block of k consecutive code blocks is greater than or equal to a delay deviation between two PHYs of the receiving apparatus.

The value of k may be determined by the delay difference between the delay of PHY #2 and the delay of PHY #1 (i.e., the time difference between time t1 and time t 2), the rate of PHY #1 (or the rate of PHY # 2. It is understood that the rate of PHY #1 = the rate of PHY # 2), the bit length of the code block transmitted by PHY #1 (or PHY # 2). Phy#1 may be a PHY with a rate of 100GGbps, a PHY with a rate of 50GGbps, or the like, which is not listed here. The code block may be 66 bits long. In one example, it can be appreciated that the time interval between transmissions of adjacent code blocks is fixed, and thus, the delay difference can be characterized by the number of code blocks.

Illustratively, k' is determined by equation (1).

k' =delay difference×rate of PHY ≡bit length of code block. Wherein when k 'is an integer, k=k' is set; when k 'is not an integer, the value obtained by rounding up k' is set to k.

For example, the rate of PHY and the bit length of the code block are fixed values in general, and thus, the correspondence table between different delay differences and different k may be preset. When the time delay difference is determined in specific application, the corresponding k can be determined from the corresponding relation table between different time delay differences and different k.

At time t3, the receiving apparatus restores the read speed of the read cache queue #2 from the read speed V2 to the read speed V1.

The receiving device starts an alignment window meeting PHY alignment requirements according to time t 3. The alignment window is a period starting from the reception time of the ith overhead code block in the overhead frame O3 and ending at the reception time of the jth overhead code block of the overhead frame O4. The overhead frame O3 is the first overhead frame of PHY #1 received by the receiving device after time t3, or the overhead header of overhead frame O3 is the first overhead header of PHY #1 received by the receiving device after time t 3. Overhead frame O3 and overhead frame O4 are adjacent, and overhead frame O4 is after overhead frame O3. I is more than 1 and less than or equal to 8, j is more than 1 and less than or equal to 8, and i and j are natural numbers. The overhead frame O4 is an overhead frame of PHY # 1. In one example, i may be 5,j may be 2.

When the receiving device receives the overhead header of PHY #2 within the alignment window, the overhead header is written to cache queue #1, and from the overhead header, the code blocks subsequent to the overhead header are written to cache queue #1. In addition, the receiving apparatus does not read the code block to be read in the cache queue #1. When to begin reading the code blocks to be read in cache queue #1 will be described below.

While the receiving device reads the overhead header of the overhead frame O4 at the read speed V1, the receiving device starts reading the code block to be read in the buffer queue #1 at the read speed V1. From the above, it is clear that the top of the cache queue #1 is the overhead of PHY #2 received within the alignment window. That is, when the receiving device starts reading the overhead header and the subsequent code block of the overhead frame O4 at the reading speed V1, the receiving device starts reading the overhead header and the subsequent code block of the PHY #2 received within the alignment window also at the reading speed V1.

When the existing PHY in the FlexE group #1 further includes other PHYs except the PHY #1, the reading manner of the code block to be read in the buffer queue for the other PHYs may refer to the description of the reading manner of the code block to be read in the buffer queue #2, which is not described herein.

Thus, overhead header read alignment is achieved in a scenario where the overhead header of the PHY to be added is late.

Next, in connection with fig. 5A, 5B, and 5C, in one specific example, overhead header read alignment in a scenario where the overhead header of the PHY to be added is late is illustrated.

Referring to fig. 5A, it may be configured that the PHY A1 and the PHY A2 are configured as one FlexE group a, and a specific configuration manner may be described with reference to an existing FlexE protocol, which is not described herein. PHY A3 is the PHY to be added of FlexE group a.

When the receiving device performs the overhead alignment operation, an alignment window may be opened, and the alignment window may be described with reference to the foregoing description, which is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 5A, the overhead header a11 of the PHY A1, the overhead header a21 of the PHY A2, and the overhead header a31 of the PHY A3 may appear within the alignment window in the alignment window. In other words, within the alignment window, the receiving device may receive the overhead header a11 of PHY A1, the overhead header a21 of PHY A2, the overhead header a31 of PHY A3. Wherein the receiving device receives the receiving time of the overhead pin a31 later than the receiving time of the receiving device receiving the overhead pin a11 and the receiving time of the receiving overhead pin a 21.

Referring to fig. 5B, when the receiving device receives the overhead header a11, the overhead header a21, and writes the overhead header a11, the overhead header a21 to the cache, the receiving device may not have received the overhead header a31 yet. When the code block transmitted by PHY A3 reaches the receiving device before overhead header a31, it is not written into the buffer by the receiving device, but is discarded directly.

Referring to fig. 5C, when the receiving device receives overhead header a31, it starts writing the code block transmitted by PHY A3 into the buffer. That is, the receiving device writes the overhead header a31 and the code blocks following it to the cache, while the code blocks preceding the overhead header a31 are not written to the cache.

When the receiving device reads the overhead header a11 and the overhead header a21 in the order of first-in first-out reading in the buffer (when the PHY A1 and the PHY A2 are organized into the FlexE group a, overhead alignment of the receiving end has been performed on the PHY A1 and the PHY A2, and thus, the timing at which the receiving device reads the overhead header a11 and the timing at which the overhead header a21 are read are identical), the receiving device starts to read the overhead header a31. Thereby, read alignment between the PHY to be added and the existing PHYs in the FlexE group is achieved.

The receiving device can read at a relatively slow speed (in order to avoid traffic data interruption, a relatively slow reading speed is used instead of reading, while the code blocks transmitted by PHY A1 and PHY A2 are still written in (not discarded), so that the buffer queues for buffering the code blocks transmitted by PHY A1 and the buffer queues for buffering the code blocks transmitted by PHY A1 are buffered for a relatively short time, when the buffer queues corresponding to PHY A1 and PHY A2 reach a sufficient depth or the buffered code blocks are sufficiently large enough, the receiving device can read at a normal speed.

Next, in connection with fig. 6A, 6B, and 6C, in one specific example, overhead header read alignment for the early arrival scenario of overhead header of the PHY to be added is illustrated.

Referring to fig. 6A, it may be configured that the PHY B1 and the PHY B2 are configured as one FlexE group B, and a specific configuration manner may be described with reference to an existing FlexE protocol, which is not described herein. PHY B2 is the PHY to be added of FlexE group B.

As shown in fig. 6A, the overhead header B11 of the PHY B1, the overhead header B21 of the PHY B2, and the overhead header B31 of the PHY B3 may appear within the alignment window in the alignment window. In other words, within the alignment window, the receiving device may receive the overhead header B11 of PHY B1, the overhead header B21 of PHY B2, and the overhead header B31 of PHY B3. Wherein the receiving device receives the receiving moment of the overhead pin B31 earlier than the receiving moment of the receiving device receiving the overhead pin B11 and the receiving moment of the receiving overhead pin B21.

Referring to fig. 6B, when the receiving device receives overhead header B31, it starts writing the code block transmitted by PHY B3 into the buffer. That is, the receiving device writes the overhead header B31 and the code blocks following it into the cache, while the code blocks preceding the overhead header B31 are not written into the cache. After writing the overhead header B31 into the cache, the receiving device does not immediately start reading the overhead header B31, but waits for the reading timings of the overhead header B11 and the overhead header B21. When the receiving device reads the overhead header B11 and the overhead header B21 (when the PHY B1 and the PHY B2 are built as the FlexE group B, the overhead alignment of the receiving end has been performed for the PHY B1 and the PHY B2, and therefore, the timing at which the receiving device reads the overhead header B11 and the timing at which the overhead header B21 are read are identical), the reading of the overhead header B31 can be started. In other words, the receiving device may read the different buffer queues in parallel, and when the receiving device reads the overhead header B11 in the buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B1, the receiving device overhead reads the code blocks in the buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B3 in the order of first-in first-out, and the overhead header B31 is the first code block in the buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B3. Thus, the receiving device reads the overhead pin B11 and also reads the overhead pin B31. Thereby, read alignment between the PHY to be added and the existing PHYs in the FlexE group is achieved.

With continued reference to fig. 6B and 6C, overhead header B31 arrives at the receiving device earlier than overhead header B11 and overhead header B21. The overhead B31 and its subsequent code blocks may be written into the cache after reaching the receiving device. Before the overhead header B11 is read, the overhead header B31 is not read, and subsequent code blocks continue to be written into the buffer, so that the buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B3 buffers more code blocks or is deeper. In contrast, the buffer queue for buffering code blocks transmitted by PHY B1 buffers fewer code blocks. The receiving device performs parallel reading on different cache queues. The buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by PHY B3 buffers more code blocks so that the code blocks transmitted by PHY B3 need to stay in the buffer for a longer time before they can be read. The buffer queue for buffering the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B1 is longer, and the code blocks transmitted by the PHY B1 stay in the buffer for a short time and can be read. Thus, although the code block transmitted by PHY B3 reaches the receiving device earlier than the code block transmitted by PHY B1, the reading timing can be kept uniform. PHY B2 is the same.

Thus, by the method, the read alignment of the overhead can be realized under the condition that the delay deviation exists between the PHY to be added and the existing PHY in the FlexE group.

When the receiving device realizes overhead header read alignment, it can confirm that the PHY to be added is added to the FlexE group, and notify the transmitting device, so that the subsequent transmitting device and receiving device perform data transmission through the updated FlexE group (the PHY to be added is added).

Next, taking PHY #2 as FlexE group #1 to be added as an example, a scheme in which the receiving device notifies the transmitting device of data transmission using the updated FlexE group will be described as an example.

In some embodiments, the transmitting device and the receiving device may be configured to use the client slot allocation table a for data transmission via FlexE group # 1. When or after the transmitting device determines that the PHY to be added is PHY #2, the client slot allocation table B may be updated according to the slots of PHY #2 and the slots of the existing PHY in FlexE group # 1. When the transmitting device completes the transmitting-side overhead alignment operation, the transmitting device may set a bit value of the CR field in the overhead frame transmitted to the receiving device to 1. The receiving device may set the CA field in the overhead frame sent to the sending device to 1 after the overhead header read alignment and other handover preparations on the receiving side are achieved. After receiving the overhead frame with the bit value of the CA field being 1, the transmitting device may set the bit value of the C field in the overhead code block of the overhead frame that the transmitting device subsequently transmits to the receiving device to be 1. After the transmission of the C field with bit value set to 1, the data stream is transmitted according to the slot allocation table B, starting at the frame header of the next overhead frame. Thereby, data transmission between the transmitting device and the receiving device using the updated FlexE group #1 can be achieved. For a more specific procedure of switching between the client slot allocation table a and the client slot allocation table B reference is made to the description of the FlexE existing protocol, which will not be described in any way.

Through the scheme, PHYs can be added into the FlexE group under the condition that service data transmission of the FlexE group is not affected, nondestructive addition of the PHYs in the FlexE group is achieved, and user communication experience is improved.

Next, an example introduces a scheme to delete PHY from FlexE group.

In some embodiments, the transmitting device may determine that PHY needs to be deleted from FlexE group # 2.

For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a PHY that is intended or to be deleted from the FlexE group may be referred to as a PHY to be deleted.

In one illustrative example, the transmitting device may determine that PHY needs to be deleted from FlexE group #2 in response to the PHY deletion indication. The transmitting device may receive the network management device control. The network management device can display a network management interface, and a network administrator can perform related operations on the network management interface to trigger the network management device to send a PHY deletion instruction to the sending device, so as to instruct the sending device to delete the PHY from the FlexE group # 2. Thus, the transmitting device can determine to delete PHY from FlexE group # 2. In one example, the PHY deletion indication may include a PHY identification (e.g., instance number) to indicate which PHY is the PHY to be deleted.

In one illustrative example, the transmitting device may determine whether to delete the PHY from FlexE group #2 based on changes in FlexE client traffic. Specifically, the transmitting device may determine how much data is to be transmitted by the MAC layer, and when the data is to be transmitted by the MAC layer is lower than or equal to a preset threshold C2 (the threshold C2 may be determined by the bandwidth of the FlexE group #2, for example, the threshold C2 may be equal to the bandwidth of the FlexE group #2 minus 100G), it may be determined that the bandwidth of the FlexE group #2 is far higher than the transmission requirement of FlexE client service data. To avoid network resource waste, PHY needs to be deleted from FlexE group # 2. The transmitting device may determine the PHY to be deleted from the existing PFY of FlexE group # 2. For example, the transmitting device may randomly determine one PHY as the PHY to be deleted from the existing PHYs of FlexE group # 2.

In one illustrative example, one PHY in FlexE group #2 may be set to need to be removed from FlexE group #2 due to a fiber failure. The transmitting device may determine the PHY in which the optical fiber failure occurs through a Local Failure (LF) or a Remote PHY Failure (RPF), so that it is regarded as the PHY to be deleted.

In some embodiments, when or after the transmitting device determines that the PHY is to be deleted, the receiving device may be notified that the PHY is to be deleted in FlexE group # 2.

In one illustrative example, PHY #3 may be set as the PHY to be deleted. The transmitting device may modify the contents of the FlexE group number field in the PHY #3 overhead to indicate information B2, indicating that message B2 is different from the group number of FlexE group # 2.

When the receiving device receives the overhead header of PHY #3, the FlexE group number field in the overhead header may be detected, and it may be found that the content in the FlexE group number field is not the group number of FlexE group #2, so that PHY #3 may be determined as the PHY to be deleted.

Specifically, when the receiving device detects the content of the FlexE group number field (which has been modified to the indication information B2) and the group number of FlexE group #2 in the overhead header of PHY #3, an alarm may be generated. The receiving device may respond to the alert by looking at the contents of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #3, and may obtain that the contents of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #3 are not already the group number of FlexE group # 2. In one example, the transmitting device may also send a PHY deletion notification to the receiving device to notify the receiving device that the content change of the FlexE group number field in the overhead header of PHY #3 is for PHY deletion operation, rather than occurrence of an anomaly, so as to avoid an anomaly repair operation by the receiving device due to an alarm.

In one illustrative example, PHY #3 may be set as the PHY to be deleted. The transmitting device may set a bit value in the PHY map field of PHY #3 such that the contents of the PHY map field indicate only PHY #3. That is, the PHY map field is made to include only the indication information of PHY #3. For example, the bit value of the bit corresponding to PHY #3 instance number in the PHY map field of PHY #3 may be set to 1, and the bit values of the other bits set to 0.

When the receiving device receives the second overhead code block of the overhead frame of PHY #3, the PHY map field in the second overhead code block may be detected, and it may be found that the PHY map field includes only the indication information of PHY #3, and it may be determined that PHY #3 is the PHY to be deleted.

Specifically, the receiving device may generate an alert upon detecting a change in the contents of the PHY map field in the second overhead code block. It will be appreciated that PHY #3 is presently an existing PHY in FlexE group # 2. The PHY #3 field is used to indicate all existing PHYs in FlexE group #2 before modification by the transmitting device. And the PHY #3 field is used only to indicate PHY #3 after modification by the transmitting device. Therefore, the receiving device can detect that the content of the PHY map field of PHY #3 is changed, thereby generating an alarm. The receiving device may look at the contents of the PHY map field of PHY #3 in response to the alert, and may derive that the contents of the PHY map field indicate only PHY #3. In one example, the transmitting device may also send a PHY delete notification to the receiving device to notify the receiving device that the content of the PHY map field in the overhead frame of PHY #3 is changed to perform the PHY delete operation instead of the occurrence of an anomaly, thereby avoiding an anomaly repair operation by the receiving device due to the alarm.

In some embodiments, the receiving device may determine that PHY #3 needs to be deleted from FlexE group #2 in response to the PHY deletion indication. The receiving device may receive the network management device control, and the network administrator may perform a related operation on the network management interface to trigger the network management device to send a PHY deletion instruction to the receiving device, so as to instruct the receiving device to delete PHY #3 from FlexE group # 2. In one example, the notification message sent by the sending device to the network management device may include a PHY identification (e.g., instance number) of PHY #3 to indicate PHY #3 as the PHY to be deleted.

Thus, in the above manner, the receiving device can determine that PHY #3 needs to be deleted from FlexE group # 2.

When or after the receiving device determines that PHY #3 needs to be deleted from FlexE group #2, the receiving device may turn off the write buffer function of PHY #3, i.e., not write the code blocks transmitted by PHY #3 into the buffer.

When or after the receiving device turns off the write buffer function of PHY #3, the receiving device may notify the transmitting device that PHY #3 has been deleted from FlexE group #2 so that the subsequent transmitting device and receiving device perform data transmission through the updated FlexE group (PHY #3 deleted).

Next, taking phy#3 as an example of deletion in FlexE group#3, an example description will be given of a scheme in which a receiving device notifies a transmitting device of data transmission using an updated FlexE group.

In some embodiments, the transmitting device and the receiving device may be configured to use the client slot allocation table a for data transmission via FlexE group # 2. When or after the transmitting device determines that the PHY to be deleted is PHY #3, the client slot allocation table B may be updated according to the slots of the existing PHYs except PHY #3 in FlexE group # 2. The transmitting device may set the bit value of the CR field in the overhead frame transmitted to the receiving device to 1. The receiving device may set the CA field in the overhead frame sent to the transmitting device to 1 when or after the write buffering function of PHY #3 is turned off. After receiving the overhead frame with the bit value of the CA field being 1, the transmitting device may set the bit value of the C field in the overhead code block of the overhead frame that the transmitting device subsequently transmits to the receiving device to be 1. After the transmission of the C field with bit value set to 1, the data stream is transmitted according to the slot allocation table B, starting at the frame header of the next overhead frame. Thereby, data transmission between the transmitting device and the receiving device using the updated FlexE group #2 can be achieved. For a more specific procedure of switching between the client slot allocation table a and the client slot allocation table B reference is made to the description of the FlexE existing protocol, which will not be described in any way.

By the scheme, the PHY can be deleted from the FlexE group under the condition that service data transmission of the FlexE group is not affected, nondestructive deletion of the PHY in the FlexE group is realized, and user communication experience is improved.

Referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 700. Communication device 700 may include a processor 710, a memory 720, and a transceiver 730. Stored in memory 720 are instructions that are executable by processor 710. When executed by the processor 710, the communication device 700 may perform the operations performed by the receiving device or the transmitting device in the method embodiments described above, such as the operations performed by the receiving device in fig. 5A-5C or fig. 6A-6C. In particular, processor 710 may perform data processing operations and transceiver 730 may perform data transmission and/or reception operations.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system 800. Chip system 800 includes: a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. The processor 810 is coupled to the interface circuit 820 for performing operations performed by the receiving device or the transmitting device in the above-described method embodiments, such as the operations performed by the receiving device in fig. 5A-5C or fig. 6A-6C.

In some embodiments, the chip system 800 may also include a memory 830. Stored in memory are instructions that are executable by processor 810. The instructions, when executed by the processor 810, may cause the chip system 800 to perform operations performed by the receiving device or the transmitting device in the method embodiments described above, such as operations performed by the receiving device in fig. 5A-5C or fig. 6A-6C.

It is to be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, it may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory (random access memory, RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable EPROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produces a flow or function in accordance with embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted across a computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

A method for adjusting a physical interface in a flexible ethernet group, configured to receive a data service through a first flexible ethernet group, the method comprising:

receiving a code block through a first physical interface, and writing the code block of the first physical interface into a first cache queue according to a first writing speed, wherein the first flexible Ethernet group comprises the first physical interface;

reading the code blocks in the first cache queue according to a first reading speed, wherein the first reading speed is equal to the first writing speed;

receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating adding a second physical interface to transmit service data in the first flexible Ethernet group;

discarding the code blocks received through the second physical interface;

determining the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface;

when the transmission time delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission time delay of the first physical interface, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed, wherein K is a positive integer;

After the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K, writing a first overhead header and a subsequent code block received through the second physical interface into a second buffer queue from a specific overhead code block of a first overhead frame received through the first physical interface, wherein the first overhead frame is the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K;

and when the overhead header of the second overhead frame is read from the first buffer queue, starting to read the code blocks in the second buffer queue at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead frame is the second overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of the code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a delay difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface;

determining the value of K according to the delay difference, the speed of the first physical interface and the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface; wherein the value of K is proportional to the delay difference, proportional to the rate of the first physical interface, and inversely proportional to the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when it is determined that the transmission delay of the second physical interface is greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, reducing the read speed of the first buffer queue to the second read speed until the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue increases by K, recovering the read speed of the first buffer queue to the first read speed includes:

and when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface and the difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface is determined to be less than a preset threshold, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed.
A method according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that the difference of the first read speed minus the second read speed is smaller than a clock jitter requirement.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

When the transmission delay of the second physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, writing a first overhead and a subsequent code block received through the second physical interface into the second cache queue;

when a second overhead header is read from the first cache queue, starting to read code blocks in the second cache queue at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead header is the first overhead header received through the first physical interface after the first overhead header is received.
The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first indication information is a message generated after the overhead alignment of the transmitting sides of the first physical interface and the second physical interface.
A communication device for receiving data traffic over a first flexible ethernet group, the communication device comprising: a processor, a memory, a transceiver;

the memory is used for storing computer instructions;

when the communication device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the communication device to perform:

receiving a code block through a first physical interface, and writing the code block of the first physical interface into a first cache queue according to a first writing speed, wherein the first flexible Ethernet group comprises the first physical interface;

The method comprises the steps of reading code blocks in a first cache queue according to a first reading speed, wherein the first reading speed is equal to the first writing speed;

receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating adding a second physical interface to transmit service data in the first flexible Ethernet group;

discarding the code blocks received through the second physical interface;

determining the magnitude relation between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface;

when the transmission time delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission time delay of the first physical interface, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed, wherein K is a positive integer;

after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K, writing a first overhead header and a subsequent code block received through the second physical interface into a second buffer queue from a specific overhead code block of a first overhead frame received through the first physical interface, wherein the first overhead frame is the first overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K;

And when the overhead header of the second overhead frame is read from the first buffer queue, starting to read the code blocks in the second buffer queue at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead frame is the second overhead frame received through the first physical interface after the number of the code blocks in the first buffer queue is increased by K.
The communication device of claim 7, wherein the processor executes the computer instructions such that the communication device further performs:

determining a delay difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface;

determining the value of K according to the delay difference, the speed of the first physical interface and the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface; wherein the value of K is proportional to the delay difference, proportional to the rate of the first physical interface, and inversely proportional to the bit length of the code block transmitted by the first physical interface.
The communication device of claim 7 or 8, wherein the processor executes the computer instructions such that the communication device further performs:

and when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is determined to be greater than the transmission delay of the first physical interface and the difference between the transmission delay of the second physical interface and the transmission delay of the first physical interface is determined to be less than a preset threshold, reducing the reading speed of the first cache queue to a second reading speed until the number of code blocks in the first cache queue is increased by K, and recovering the reading speed of the first cache queue to the first reading speed.
The communication device of any of claims 7-9, wherein the difference of the first read speed minus the second read speed is less than a clock jitter requirement.
The communication device of claim 8, wherein the processor executes the computer instructions such that the communication device further performs:

when the transmission delay of the second physical interface is smaller than the transmission delay of the first physical interface, writing a first overhead and a subsequent code block received through the second physical interface into the second cache queue;

when a second overhead header is read from the first cache queue, starting to read code blocks in the second cache queue at the first reading speed, wherein the second overhead header is the first overhead header received through the first physical interface after the first overhead header is received.
The communication device according to any of claims 7-11, wherein the first indication information is a message generated after alignment of the transmission side overheads of the first physical interface and the second physical interface.
A computer storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-7.
A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises a program code which, when executed by a processor in a communication device, implements the method of any of claims 1-7.