CN117955814A

CN117955814A - Message processing method and related equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117955814A
Application number: CN202211625229.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张亚伟; 张建东; 郝建武; 董杰
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-28
Filing date: 2022-12-16
Publication date: 2024-04-30
Also published as: WO2024087691A1

Abstract

The application discloses a message processing method and related equipment, wherein a corresponding protection slice is configured for a main slice of a service, when network equipment discovers that the main slice of the service is faulty, the network equipment can guide the traffic of the service into the protection slice corresponding to the main slice, and the traffic of the service is forwarded through the protection slice. In this way, by dividing the protection slice for the main slice carrying the service in advance, the resources on the protection slice are isolated resources, and when the main slice fails, the traffic of the service can be transmitted through the resources on the protection slice corresponding to the main slice, and since the protection slice has the isolated resources, the service quality of the service can be ensured when the main slice fails.

Description

Message processing method and related equipment

The present application claims priority from the chinese patent application filed at 28, 10, 2022, filed with the chinese national intellectual property agency under application number 202211336208.1, entitled "method for network inter-slice protection and related devices", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and related device for processing a message.

Background

Typically, multiple slices are deployed on the interface of the network device, and sufficient resources are reserved for each slice to ensure that the network can well carry traffic. In the process of forwarding the traffic, the traffic carries slice identification (SLICE IDENTITY, slice ID), and the network device forwards the traffic by using the resources reserved for the slice corresponding to the slice ID, so as to ensure the service quality of the traffic. However, when the slice corresponding to the slice ID in the traffic fails, the traffic is switched to the public channel according to the default mode, and the public channel forwards the traffic by using the remaining resources after the resources are allocated to the network slice, so that the service quality of the traffic cannot be guaranteed, and the service experience is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the above, the application provides a message processing method and related equipment, which can switch the flow to the protection slice of the slice when the slice fails, and solve the problem of service guarantee in the slice failure scene.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for processing a message, where the method may include: the network equipment obtains a first message comprising first slice information and second slice information, wherein the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice; and when the first network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice. In this way, by dividing the protection slice for the main slice carrying the service in advance, the resources on the protection slice are isolation resources, the slice identifier of the protection slice allocated for the main slice in advance is carried in the message, when the network equipment determines that the main slice is faulty, the slice information for indicating the protection slice can be conveniently obtained from the message, and the message is forwarded by adopting the resources on the protection slice corresponding to the main slice.

Where a first network slice "fails," may refer to the first network slice being unavailable or the first network slice being congested. "first network slice failure" may refer to a failure of a primary slice (i.e., a first network slice) on a primary interface of a first packet on a network device on a forwarding path of the first packet determined by the network device. In another case, to improve the reliability of the network, at least one backup path may be configured for each primary path in the network, and when the determined primary path of the first packet fails, the first packet may be imported to the backup path corresponding to the primary path to ensure that the service is normally provided, where "the failure of the first network slice" may also refer to that the network device determines that the primary path of the first packet fails, and the first packet is imported to one backup path of the primary path, where the first network slice is not deployed on the backup path, or where the first network slice deployed on the backup path fails.

In some implementations, before the network device obtains the first message, the method may further include: the network equipment obtains a second message comprising first slice information and second slice information, wherein the destinations of the first message and the second message are the same; if the first network slice is normal, the network equipment determines a first outgoing interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information; thus, the network device sends a second message from the first egress interface to the first next hop. As an example, when determining that the first network slice fails, the network device forwards the first packet using the second network slice may include: the network equipment determines a second outgoing interface and a second next hop according to the second slice information; thus, the network device sends the first message from the second egress interface to the second next hop. The second next hop and the first next hop may be the same or different, and the first outgoing interface and the second outgoing interface may be the same or different. Therefore, the messages with the same destination and the included slice information can be effectively forwarded, and the service quality during message forwarding is correspondingly ensured.

In some implementations, the first message may be a sixth version of internet protocol based segment routing (Segment Routing Internet Protocol version, srv 6) message, and the first message may carry the second slice information through a sixth version of internet protocol (Internet Protocol version, ipv 6) extension header.

As an example, the first message may carry the second slice information through a hop-by-hop (HBH) header. For example, the first message may carry the second slice information through a virtual transport network Option (Virtual TransportNetwork Option, VTN Option) of the HBH header. For another example, the first packet may also carry the second slice information through VTN Protection Option of the HBH header extension.

As another example, the first message may carry the second slice information through a slice protection option (Slice Protection Option) extended by a destination option header (Destination Options Header, DOH).

In other implementations, the first message may be a multiprotocol label switching based segment routed (Segment RoutingMulti-Protocol Label Switching, SRMPLS) message.

As an example, the first message may carry the second slice information through an MPLS label, e.g., the first message may carry the second slice information through VTN Protection ID of MPLS VTN extension header (ExtensionHeader).

As another example, the first packet may also carry the second slice information through an extension header after the MPLS label stack. For example, after a Label Stack (MPLS Label Stack) in the first packet includes a plurality of usable Extension headers, the first packet may carry the second slice information using any unoccupied ExtensionHeader.

In some implementations, before the network device obtains the first message, the method may further include a process for the network device to obtain the first slice information and the second slice information.

As an example, the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, which may be configured locally by the network device.

As another example, the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, or the network device receives a control message sent by the control entity, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information. Wherein the control message is a border gateway protocol update (Border Gateway Protocol update, BGPupdate) message or a path computation element communication protocol (Path Computation Element Communication Protocol, PCEP) message. If the control message is BGPupdate packets, the control entity may extend the BGPupdate packets containing forwarding path related information of the first Slice information (such as Slice ID of the first network Slice), for example, add a protection Slice information (such as Protection Slice ID) field in the BGP update packet, and carry the second Slice information in the protection Slice information field. If the control message is a PCEP message, the control entity may extend the PCEP message containing forwarding path related information of the first Slice information (such as Slice ID of the first network Slice), for example, add Protection Slice ID fields to the PCEP message and carry the second Slice information in Protection Slice ID fields.

As an example, after the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, the manner in which the network device creates the protection slice (i.e., the second network slice) corresponding to the first network slice may include: in one way, resources of the protection slice are pre-allocated, i.e. after the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, the network device allocates resources for the second network slice before using the second network slice. The second mode is that resources of the protection slice are dynamically triggered and deployed, namely, after the network equipment obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, only the second network slice is deployed without allocating resources for the second network slice, and after the first network slice protected by the second network slice is determined to be faulty, the resources are dynamically triggered and allocated for the second network slice; and after the first network slice is repaired by fault, recovering the resources of the second network slice. In the first mode, resources are allocated to the protection slice in advance, so that the service can be timely imported to the protection slice when the main slice fails, and sufficient preparation is provided for guaranteeing the service quality of the service. The method is characterized in that the method dynamically allocates resources for the protection slice, the corresponding resources are allocated for the protection slice only when the active slice fails, and the resources allocated for the protection slice are returned after the active slice is recovered to be normal, so that the purpose of allocating the resources according to the needs is achieved, and the resource utilization rate is improved.

In some implementations, a mechanism to set multi-level protection may be provided, for example, setting the second network slice as a protection slice for the first network slice and the third network slice as a protection slice for the second network slice. Then, the first message may further include third slice information, the third slice information indicating a third network slice. Thus, upon determining that the first network slice fails, the network device forwards the first message using the second network slice, which may include, for example: and when the first network slice fault and the second network slice fault are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting a third network slice. Therefore, the slicing network can more reliably ensure the service quality of the service through a multistage protection mechanism.

In some implementations, to better utilize resources, mutual protection relationships between network slices may also be set. For example, the second network slice and the first network slice are protection slices of each other. Then, the method may further comprise: the network equipment obtains a third message, wherein the third message comprises first slice information and second slice information, and a second network slice in the third message is a main slice; and when the second network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the third message by adopting the first network slice. Thus, the service quality of the service borne by each network slice can be guaranteed, and the resource utilization rate can be improved to a certain extent.

In some implementations, to better utilize resources, a same protection slice may be allocated to multiple active slices (e.g., multiple active slices belonging to the same tenant) that are eligible, e.g., the second network slice is not only the protection slice of the first network slice but also the protection slice of the fourth network slice. The method may further comprise: the network equipment obtains a fourth message, wherein the fourth message comprises fourth slice information and second slice information, and the fourth slice information indicates a fourth network slice; and when the fourth network slice fault is determined, the network equipment forwards the fourth message by adopting the second network slice. Therefore, the probability of simultaneous failure of the first network slice and the fourth network slice is low, so that the service quality of the service borne by each network slice can be guaranteed, and the resource utilization rate is improved to a certain extent.

Wherein the protected network slice may be at the same level as the protection slice, e.g., both a main slice or a sub-slice; or the protected network slice may also be a sub-slice of the protected slice, e.g., the first network slice is a sub-slice of the second network slice.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a method for processing a message, where the method may include: the network equipment obtains a first message comprising first slice information, wherein the first slice information indicates a first network slice; when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network equipment determines second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relation, wherein the mapping relation comprises a corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates the second network slice; the network device forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice. In this way, by dividing the protection slice for the main slice carrying the service in advance, the resources on the protection slice are isolated resources, and the packet of the service does not need to be expanded to carry the slice information of the protection slice, but the purpose of forwarding the packet by adopting the protection slice when the network equipment determines that the main slice fails is realized through the corresponding relation between the slice information of the main slice and the slice information of the protection slice.

In some implementations, in order to enable the protection scheme of the network slice provided by the embodiment of the present application to be more flexible, the packet received by the network device may further include indication information. If the first packet is SRv packets and is used to carry the VTN Option of the HBH header in the SRv packets for the first slice information, the first flag bit may be any undefined flag bit in the VTN Option of the HBH header, such as any one of the undefined 7 flag bits in the Flags of the VTN Option, or any one bit in the Reserved field of the VTN Option.

In some implementations, the indication information is used to indicate whether to slice protect the first network slice.

As an example, the indication information in the first packet may include a first value of a first flag bit, where the first flag bit is used to indicate whether slice protection needs to be performed, and the first flag bit is the first value used to indicate that slice protection needs to be performed. Then, when determining the first network slice fault, the network device determines the second slice information according to the first slice information and the mapping relation, which may include: the network equipment determines that slice protection is required to be executed based on a first value of a first zone bit in the first message; the network equipment obtains a second network slice corresponding to the first slice information from the locally stored mapping relation.

As another example, the indication information in the message received by the network device may further include a fourth value of the first flag bit, where the primary slice of the message is the first network slice, and the protection slice is the second network slice, and when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network device may direct the first message to the public channel for subsequent transmission based on the current implementation manner.

In some implementations, the indication information may also be used to indicate whether to refresh slice information.

As an example, the indication information in the first packet may further include a second flag bit, where the second flag bit is used to indicate whether slice information needs to be refreshed, the second flag bit is a second value and used to indicate that slice information needs to be refreshed, and the second flag bit is a third value and used to indicate that slice information does not need to be refreshed. In this case, if the second flag bit in the first packet is the second value, the network device forwards the first packet by using the second network slice, which may include: the network equipment replaces the first slice information in the first message with the second slice information to obtain a second message; and the network equipment forwards the second message by adopting the second network slice. In another case, if the second flag bit in the first packet is the third value, the network device forwards the first packet by using the second network slice, which may include: and if the indication information in the first message obtained by the network equipment determines that the indication information indicates that slice protection is needed for the first network slice but slice information is not needed to be refreshed, forwarding the first message by using the second network slice.

In some implementations, before the network device obtains the first message, the method may further include: the network equipment obtains first slice information and second slice information of the network equipment; the network device stores the correspondence between the first slice information and the second slice information in the mapping relationship. The network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, which may be the first slice information and the second slice information obtained by configuration on the network device, or may also be a control message sent by a control entity received by the network device, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information. The control message may be BGPupdate packets or PCEP packets.

As an example, after the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, the manner in which the network device creates the protection slice (i.e., the second network slice) corresponding to the first network slice may include: in one way, resources of the protection slice are pre-allocated, i.e. after the network device obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, the network device allocates resources for the second network slice before using the second network slice. The second mode is that resources of the protection slice are dynamically triggered and deployed, namely, after the network equipment obtains the first slice information and the second slice information, only the second network slice is deployed without allocating resources for the second network slice, and after the first network slice protected by the second network slice is determined to be faulty, the resources are dynamically triggered and allocated for the second network slice; and after the first network slice is repaired by fault, recovering the resources of the second network slice.

In some implementations, a mechanism to set multi-level protection may be provided, for example, setting the second network slice as a protection slice for the first network slice and the third network slice as a protection slice for the second network slice.

In some implementations, to better utilize resources, mutual protection relationships between network slices may also be set. For example, the second network slice and the first network slice are protection slices of each other.

In some implementations, to better utilize resources, a same protection slice may be allocated to multiple active slices (e.g., multiple active slices belonging to the same tenant) that are eligible, e.g., the second network slice is not only the protection slice of the first network slice but also the protection slice of the fourth network slice.

In a third aspect, the present application further provides a packet processing apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to a network device, and the apparatus may include, for example: a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit is used for obtaining a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information and second slice information, the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice; and the sending unit is used for forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice when the first network slice is determined to be faulty.

In some implementations, the apparatus further comprises: and a processing unit. The receiving unit is further configured to obtain a second message before the first message is obtained, where the second message includes the first slice information and the second slice information, and destinations of the first message and the second message are the same; the processing unit is used for determining a first output interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information; and the sending unit is further used for sending the second message from the first output interface to the first next hop.

In some implementations, the sending unit is specifically configured to: determining a second output interface and a second next hop according to the second slice information; and sending the first message from the second output interface to the second next hop.

In some implementations, the first message is SRv6 messages, and the first message carries the second slice information through an IPv6 extension header.

As an example, the first message carries the second slice information through VTN Option of the HBH header; or the first message carries the second slice information through VTN Protection Option of the HBH header.

As another example, the first packet carries the second slice information through Slice Protection Option of the DOH.

In some implementations, the first packet is an SR MPLS packet. As an example, the first packet carries the second slice information through an MPLS label, or the first packet carries the second slice information through an extension header after passing through an MPLS label stack.

In some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to, before obtaining the first packet, receive a control message sent by a control entity, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information. Wherein, the control message is BGPupdate message or PCEP message.

In some implementations, the apparatus further comprises: and a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to allocate resources to the second network slice after receiving the control message sent by the control entity and before forwarding the first message by using the second network slice when determining that the first network slice fails.

In some implementations, the sending unit is specifically configured to: and when the first network slice is determined to be faulty, allocating resources for the second network slice, and forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice.

In some implementations, the first packet further includes third slice information, where the third slice information indicates a third network slice, and the sending unit is specifically configured to: and when the first network slice fault and the second network slice fault are determined, forwarding the first message by adopting the third network slice.

In some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to obtain a third packet, where the third packet includes the first slice information and the second slice information; and the sending unit is further used for forwarding the third message by adopting the first network slice when the second network slice is determined to be faulty.

In some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to obtain a fourth packet, where the fourth packet includes fourth slice information and the second slice information, and the fourth slice information indicates a fourth network slice; and the sending unit is further used for forwarding the fourth message by adopting the second network slice when the fourth network slice is determined to be faulty.

Wherein the first network slice is a sub-slice of the second network slice.

It should be noted that, the specific implementation manner and the achieved technical effect of the device provided by the present application may refer to the method provided by the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a packet processing apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to a network device, and the apparatus may include: a receiving unit, a processing unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit is used for obtaining a first message, the first message comprises first slice information, and a first slice identifier indicates a first network slice; the processing unit is used for determining second slice information according to the first slice information and the mapping relation when determining the first network slice fault, wherein the mapping relation comprises the corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates the second network slice; and the sending unit is used for forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice.

In some implementations, the first message further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate slice protection for the first network slice.

As an example, the indication information includes a first value of a first flag bit, where the first flag bit is used to indicate whether slice protection needs to be performed, and the first flag bit is the first value and is used to indicate that slice protection needs to be performed.

In some implementations, the processing unit is specifically configured to: determining that slice protection is required to be executed based on a first value of the first flag bit in the first message; and obtaining the second network slice corresponding to the first slice information from the locally stored mapping relation.

In some implementations, the indication information is further used to indicate whether to refresh slice information.

As an example, the indication information further includes a second flag bit, where the second flag bit is used to indicate whether slice information needs to be refreshed, the second flag bit is a second value and used to indicate that slice information needs to be refreshed, and the second flag bit is a third value and used to indicate that slice information does not need to be refreshed.

As another example, if the second flag bit in the first packet is the second value, the sending unit is specifically configured to: replacing the first slice information in the first message with the second slice information to obtain a second message; and forwarding the second message by adopting the second network slice.

The first message may be SRv messages, where the first message carries the indication information through VTN Option of the HBH header.

In some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to, before obtaining the first packet, receive a control message sent by a control entity, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information; and the processing unit is also used for storing the corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information in the mapping relation. The control message may be BGPupdate packets or PCEP packets.

It should be noted that, the specific implementation manner and the achieved technical effect of the device provided by the present application may refer to the method provided by the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a network device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being for storing instructions or program code, the processor being for invoking and executing the instructions or program code from the memory to perform the method of the first aspect, any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, a program or code which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect, any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, the application provides a computer program product which, when run on a network device, causes the network device to perform the method of the first aspect, any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings for those of ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a slice network according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2a is a diagram illustrating a message processing operation performed in one embodiment of the present application in the scenario of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a first possible implementation of one of the scenarios of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2c is a schematic diagram of a second possible implementation of one of the scenarios of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3a is a diagram illustrating a message processing operation performed in another scenario in the scenario in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram of a first possible implementation in another scenario in the scenario in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3c is a schematic diagram of a second possible implementation in the scenario of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a message processing method 100 according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 5a is a schematic diagram of a format of a BGP update message in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5b is a schematic diagram of a format of a PCEP message in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6a is a schematic diagram of a format of VTN Option in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 6b is a schematic diagram of VTN Protection Option in a format according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6c is a schematic diagram of a Slice Protection Option format according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7a is a schematic diagram of a MPLS VTN Extension Header format in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7b is a schematic diagram illustrating a format of a first message according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another message processing method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9a is a schematic diagram of a format of VTN Option according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9b is a schematic diagram of another format of VTN Option in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a message processing apparatus 1000 according to the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message processing apparatus 1100 according to another embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 1200 according to the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of another network device 1300 according to the present application.

Detailed Description

Network slicing refers to a technique of separating a plurality of virtual end-to-end networks based on a network topology to achieve on-demand networking, each virtual end-to-end network may be referred to as a network slice, and the separated networks may be referred to as slice networks. And deploying a plurality of network slices in the network, reserving enough resources for each network slice, and ensuring the service quality of the service borne on each network slice. For example, VTN is a network slicing technology, enough resources can be reserved for each VTN Slice according to the resource requirement of the VTN Slice, so that by carrying a VTN identifier (VTN ID or Slice ID) in the traffic of the service, the network device forwards the traffic of the service by using the reserved resources for the Slice corresponding to the VTN ID or Slice ID, so as to ensure that the processing of the traffic of the service can meet the resource requirement of the service, and thus ensure the service quality of the service corresponding to the traffic of the service. The resource may refer to an index on which the traffic of the network device processing the traffic in the slice network needs to depend, for example, may include, but not limited to: bandwidth or scheduling priority. When the resource is bandwidth, the larger the reserved bandwidth value is, the larger the reserved resource is represented; when the resource is a scheduling priority, the reserved scheduling priority value indicates that the reserved resource is scheduled more preferentially, and the reserved resource is characterized to be larger. For convenience of description, the resource is hereinafter described as a bandwidth.

Currently, when the network device determines that the active slice of the service (i.e. the network slice carrying the traffic of the service) fails, the network device directs (steer) the traffic of the service into a common channel according to a default mode, where the common channel removes a forwarding channel corresponding to the remaining resources of the active interface of the service on the network device after the active slice has been allocated with slice resources, and the resources on the common channel are not exclusive resources for a certain service but are channels for carrying conventional traffic, where conventional traffic may include, but is not limited to: internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) traffic and low-value traffic that is formed by the routes. When the active slice of the service fails, the network device switches the traffic of the service carried on the active slice to a common channel, which cannot guarantee the service quality of the service.

The main interface of the service on the network device may refer to a physical interface when the network device determines that the traffic of the service is transmitted on the network device based on a routing searching manner. At least one network slice may be deployed on the primary interface, each network slice corresponding to one logical interface (also referred to as a subinterface) on the primary interface. The network device guides the traffic to be transmitted through the corresponding network slice by maintaining the route and the corresponding relation of the slice information, the sub-interfaces and the next hop on each main interface, wherein the slice information is used for uniquely identifying the network slice. For example, the processing procedure of the network device on the traffic of the received service can be understood as: firstly, the network equipment determines a main interface of the traffic flow by a route searching mode, then determines a sub-interface and a next hop corresponding to slice information of a main slice of the traffic in a corresponding relation of slice information, sub-interfaces and the next hop on the main interface, and then forwards the traffic flow to the next hop through the determined sub-interfaces.

Based on this, the embodiment of the application provides a message processing method, in which a corresponding protection slice is configured for a main slice of a service, when a network device finds that the main slice of the service fails, the network device can introduce the traffic of the service into the protection slice corresponding to the main slice, and forward the traffic of the service through the protection slice. Therefore, by dividing the protection slices for the main slices carrying the service in advance, the resources on the protection slices are isolation resources, and when the main slices fail, the traffic of the service can be transmitted through the resources on the protection slices corresponding to the main slices.

In the embodiment of the present application, in one case, the determination of "active slice failure" by the network device may refer to determining, by the network device, that an active slice failure occurs on a primary interface of a service on the network device on a forwarding path of the traffic. In another case, to improve the reliability of the network, each active path in the network may be configured with at least one standby path, and when the active path fails, the traffic flow of the service may be led into the standby path corresponding to the active path, so as to ensure that the service is normally provided. Then, the network device determines that the active slice fails, which may also mean that the network device determines that the active path of the service fails, and directs the traffic of the service onto a standby path of the active path, where the active slice is not deployed on the standby path, or that the active slice deployed on the standby path fails.

In the embodiment of the application, the failure of the main slice can refer to the unavailability of the main slice or the congestion of the main slice.

In a first possible implementation manner, in a process of forwarding a message through a slice network, a service carries at least two slice information in a message belonging to the service, where the at least two slice information includes slice information for indicating a primary slice and at least one slice information for indicating a protection slice, and in a process of forwarding the message, when a network device determines that the primary slice of the message fails, the message can be forwarded continuously by adopting the protection slice of the primary slice. For example, the network device receives a first message including first slice information indicating a first network slice and second slice information indicating a second network slice; and when the first network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice. Therefore, through carrying the slice identification of the protection slice which is allocated for the main slice in advance in the message, when the network equipment determines that the main slice has a fault, the network equipment can conveniently obtain slice information for indicating the protection slice from the message and forward the message by adopting the protection slice, so that the network equipment can provide service quality meeting the service requirement for the service to which the message belongs, and service experience is ensured.

In a second possible implementation manner, after obtaining the correspondence between the active slice and the protection slice, each network device in the slice network may locally maintain the mapping relationship between the active slice and the protection slice, and when the network device determines that the active slice indicated by the slice information in the received packet is faulty, the protection slice corresponding to the active slice may be determined in the locally maintained mapping relationship, so that the packet is forwarded continuously by using the determined protection slice. For example, a network device receives a first message including first slice information, the first slice identity indicating a first network slice; when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network device determines second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relation, wherein the mapping relation at least comprises a corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates the second network slice; then the network device forwards the first message using the second network slice. Therefore, the message of the service does not need to be expanded to carry the slice information of the protection slice, but the purpose of forwarding the message by adopting the protection slice when the network equipment determines that the main slice fails is realized through the corresponding relation between the slice information of the main slice and the slice information of the protection slice which are maintained locally, so that the network equipment can provide the service quality meeting the service requirement for the service to which the message belongs, and the service experience is ensured.

In order to make the method provided by the embodiment of the present application clearer, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to the slicing network shown in fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1, the slicing network may include: the primary path 1 and the standby path 1 corresponding to the primary path 1, wherein the network devices included in the primary path 1 are in turn: network device 1, network device 2, network device 3, and network device 4, the network devices included in standby path 1 are in order: network device 1, network device 2, network device 5, and network device 4. The slicing network may further comprise a control entity 6, the control entity 6 being arranged to control the network devices in the slicing network. Assuming that the main slice of the service 1 is slice 1, the protection slice of the service 1 is slice 2, the network device 2 is connected with the network device 3 through the main interface 1, the network device 2 is also connected with the network device 5 through the main interface 2, the main interface 1 comprises slice 1 and slice 2, and the main interface 2 comprises slice 2. Assuming that the resource requirement of service 1 is 10 megabits per second (Mbps), slices 1 and 2 each reserve 10Mbps of bandwidth, and the total bandwidths of main interface 1 and main interface 2 are 25Mbps and 50Mbps, respectively. If the message 1 of the service 1 enters the slicing network from the network device 1, the destination node in the slicing network is the network device 4, and the method provided by the embodiment of the application is described below by taking the example that the network device 2 determines that the network device 2 to the network device 3 have the fault of the main slice 1.

In one case, assume that the processing policy of the network device 2 for the message 1 after determining that the active slice 1 fails includes: preferentially checking whether a protection slice of the main slice 1 exists on the main path 1, if so, continuing to forward the message 1 by adopting the protection slice of the main slice 1 on the main path 1, and if not, importing the message 1 into the standby path 1.

In this case, after the network device 2 receives the packet 1 including the slice information 1 for indicating the active slice 1, after determining that the active slice 1 fails, according to the current manner, the network device 2 directs the packet 1 onto the common channel 1 of the primary interface 1, where the resource of the common channel 1 is the remaining resource (i.e. 25Mbps-10 mbps=5 Mbps) after the resources of the primary interface 1 are removed from the resources of the slice 1, and the resource of the common channel 1 is not an isolated resource, and needs to carry the conventional traffic such as the IP traffic formed by the route on the primary interface 1 and the low-value traffic, so that the common channel 1 cannot meet the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the traffic 1.

Based on the method provided by the first possible implementation manner in the embodiment of the present application, the manner in which the network device 2 processes the packet 1 is shown in fig. 2b, where the packet 1 may include slice information 1 and slice information 2, the slice information 1 indicates slice 1, the slice information 2 indicates slice 2, and the network device 2 parses the packet 1 to obtain slice information 1 and slice information 2, so that the packet 1 is imported onto the slice 2 indicated by the slice information 2 on the main interface 1, and resources of the slice 2 are 10Mbps, so that the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the service 1 can be satisfied.

Based on the method provided by the second possible implementation manner in the embodiment of the present application, the manner in which the network device 2 processes the packet 1 is shown in fig. 2c, where the packet 1 may include slice information 1, the slice information 1 indicates slice 1, each network device in the slice network includes a mapping relationship, the mapping relationship includes a correspondence 1 between slice information 1 and slice information 2, the slice information 2 indicates slice 2, the network device 2 parses the packet 1 to obtain slice information 1, searches the correspondence 1 matched with the slice information 1 from the mapping relationship, and obtains slice information 2 from the correspondence 1, so that the packet 1 is imported onto the slice 2 indicated by the slice information 2 on the main interface 1, and resources of the slice 2 are 10Mbps, so as to meet the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the service 1.

In another case, it is assumed that the processing policy of the network device 2 for the message 1 after determining that the active slice 1 fails includes: the service 1 is preferentially switched from the main path 1 to the standby path 1, whether the main slice 1 exists in the standby path 1 is checked, if so, the main slice 1 is adopted to forward the message 1 on the standby path 1, and if not, the message 1 is imported into the protection slice 2 of the main slice 1 on the standby path 1, and the message 1 is forwarded by adopting the slice 2.

In this case, after the network device 2 receives the packet 1 including the slice information 1 for indicating the active slice 1, after determining that the active slice 1 fails, according to the current manner, the network device 2 directs the packet 1 onto the common channel 2 of the primary interface 2, where the resource of the common channel 2 is the remaining resource (i.e. 50Mbps-10 mbps=40 Mbps) after the resource of the primary interface 2 is removed, and the resource of the common channel 2 is not an isolated resource, and needs to bear the conventional traffic such as the IP traffic formed by the route on the primary interface 2 and the low-value traffic, so that the common channel 2 cannot meet the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the traffic 1.

Based on the method provided by the first possible implementation manner in the embodiment of the present application, the manner in which the network device 2 processes the packet 1 is shown in fig. 3b, where the packet 1 may include slice information 1 and slice information 2, the slice information 1 indicates the slice 1, the slice information 2 indicates the slice 2, the network device 2 parses the packet 1 to obtain the slice information 1 and the slice information 2, and determines that the slice 1 is not deployed on the primary interface 2 corresponding to the standby path 1, so that the packet 1 is imported onto the slice 2 indicated by the slice information 2 on the primary interface 2, and resources of the slice 2 are 10Mbps, so that the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the service 1 can be satisfied.

Based on the method provided by the second possible implementation manner in the embodiment of the present application, the manner in which the network device 2 processes the packet 1 is shown in fig. 3c, where the packet 1 may include slice information 1, the slice information 1 indicates slice 1, each network device in the slice network includes a mapping relationship, the mapping relationship includes a correspondence 1 between slice information 1 and slice information 2, the slice information 2 indicates slice 2, the network device 2 analyzes the packet 1 to obtain slice information 1, determines that no slice 1 is deployed on the primary interface 2 corresponding to the standby path 1, so as to find a correspondence 1 matched with the slice information 1 from the mapping relationship, and obtain slice information 2 from the correspondence 1, so that the packet 1 is imported onto the slice 2 indicated by the slice information 2 on the primary interface 2, and resources of the slice 2 are 10Mbps, so as to meet the bandwidth requirement of 10Mbps of the service 1.

As can be seen from the description of the above scene embodiments, compared with the current solution, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application can well ensure the service quality of the service, so that the stable bearer service of the slicing network is possible.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device and the node refer to the same meaning, and may be understood and used interchangeably. The network device may refer to a communication device having a message forwarding function, such as a switch, a router, a virtual routing device, or a virtual forwarding device.

It should be noted that, in one case, the control entity in the embodiment of the present application may be a controller, a network manager or a Route Reflector (RR) that are independently set; in another case, the network device may also have a function of a control entity in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the control entity may be an entry node of the slice network, and for example, the control entity may also be a network device other than the slice network.

The foregoing is a description of embodiments of the application in the form of example embodiments, and the detailed description of embodiments of the application follows with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a message processing method 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 100 corresponds to a first possible implementation provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method 100, the network device refers to a network device that determines that the active slice (i.e., the first network slice described below) fails, that is, the network device is an entry node of a failed link, corresponding to the slice network shown in fig. 1, and the network device may be the network device 2 in the slice network shown in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, the method 100 may include, for example, the following S101 to S102:

S101, the network equipment obtains a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information and second slice information, the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice.

As an example, prior to S101, the control entity may send a control message to each network device comprised by the slicing network, the control message comprising the first slicing information and the second slicing information, such that each network device comprised by the slicing network may deploy a network slice based on the control message. Each network device included in the slice network includes the network device in S101.

The control message may be a message that the control entity sends a forwarding path to the slicing network, or may be another control message associated with a message carrying the forwarding path. The forwarding path may be a Segment Routing (SR) path, for example, a segment routing (Segment Routing Internet Protocol version, srv 6) tunnel based on the sixth version of internet protocol or a segment routing (Segment Routing Multi-Protocol Label Switching, SR MPLS) tunnel based on multiprotocol label switching. The forwarding path mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be denoted as SR policy (policy).

The control message may be, for example, BGPupdate messages or PCEP messages.

If the control message is BGPupdate packets, the control entity may extend the BGPupdate packets containing forwarding path related information of the first Slice information (such as Slice ID of the first network Slice), for example, add a protection Slice information (such as Protection Slice ID) field in the BGP update packet, and carry the second Slice information in the protection Slice information field. As an example, in the BGP update message according to the embodiment of the present application, a Protection Slice ID field may be added by extending a network resource partition subtype Length Value (Network Resource Partition Sub TYPE LENGTH Value, NRP Sub-TLV), where the NRP Sub-TLV includes a Type (Type) field, a Length (Length) field, a flag bit (Flags), a Reserved (Reserved) field, and a Value (Value) field, where the Value of the Type field is used to indicate that the NRP Sub-TLV carries slice information of the forwarding path, the Value of the Length field is used to indicate the Length of the NRP Sub-TLV, the Value field may include an NRP ID field and an extended Protection Slice ID field, the NRP ID field carries slice information of a main slice, the Protection Slice ID field carries slice information of a protection slice of the main slice, for example, the NRP ID field carries first slice information, and the Protection Slice ID field carries second slice information. Wherein, the BGP update message can be seen in BGP SR Policy Extensions forNetwork Resource Partition draft-dong-idr-sr-policy-nrp-01.

If the control message is a PCEP message, the control entity may extend the PCEP message containing forwarding path related information of the first Slice information (such as Slice ID of the first network Slice), for example, add Protection Slice ID fields to the PCEP message and carry the second Slice information in Protection Slice ID fields. As an example, the format of the PCEP packet in the embodiment of the present application may be seen in fig. 5b, where Protection Slice ID fields are added by extending in the VTN TLV, where the VTN TLV includes a Type field, a Length field, a VTN ID field, a Protection Slice ID field, a Flags, reserved field, and an optional subtype Length value (Optional sub-TLV (s)) field. The VTN ID field carries slice information of the main slice, the Protection Slice ID field carries slice information of a protection slice of the main slice, for example, the VTN ID field carries first slice information, and the Protection Slice ID field carries second slice information. Wherein, the PCEP message can be seen in Support for Virtual Transport Network(VTN)in the Path Computation Element Communication Protocol(PCEP)draft-dong-pce-pcep-vtn-01.

After the network device receives the control message, the manner in which the network device creates the protection slice (i.e., the second network slice) corresponding to the first network slice may include: in one way, resources of the protection slice are pre-allocated, i.e. after the network device receives the control message, the network device allocates resources for the second network slice before using the second network slice. The second mode is to dynamically trigger the deployment of resources of the protection slice, namely, after the network equipment receives the control message, only the second network slice is deployed without allocating resources for the second network slice, and after determining that the first network slice protected by the second network slice fails, the second network slice is dynamically triggered to allocate resources for the second network slice; and after the first network slice is repaired by fault, recovering the resources of the second network slice. The method has the advantages that firstly, by means of pre-distributing resources for the protection slice, the service can be timely imported into the protection slice when the main slice fails, so that sufficient preparation is provided for guaranteeing the service quality of the service; the method is characterized in that the method dynamically allocates resources for the protection slice, the corresponding resources are allocated for the protection slice only when the active slice fails, and the resources allocated for the protection slice are returned after the active slice is recovered to be normal, so that the purpose of allocating the resources according to the needs is achieved, and the resource utilization rate is improved.

If the network device is an ingress node of a slice network, S101 may include: the network equipment processes the message entering the slicing network to obtain a first message. The network device processes the message entering the slicing network, which may be that the network device determines that the main slice of the network device is a first network slice based on a routing checking mode, and the protection slice of the first network slice includes a second network slice, and then adds the first slice information and the second slice information in the message entering the slicing network to obtain the first message.

If the network device is an intermediate node of the slice network, S101 may include: the network device receives a first message. The first message may be obtained by processing, by an ingress node of the slicing network, a message that enters the slicing network.

The first Slice information may be information for indicating the first network Slice, and may be, for example, a Slice ID of the first network Slice. The second Slice information may be information for indicating the second network Slice, for example, a Slice ID of the second network Slice.

An exemplary description of the manner in which the first message carries the second slice information in various scenarios is provided below.

In some implementations, if the first message is SRv messages, the first message may carry the second slice information through a sixth version of the internet protocol (Internet Protocol version, ipv 6) extension header.

As an example, the IPv6 extension header carrying the second slice information may be a hop-by-hop (HBH) header in the first message. For example, the first packet may carry the second Slice information through VTN Option of the HBH Header, and the format of the VTN Option may be shown in fig. 6a, where the VTN Option may include a Next Header Type (Next Header) field, an extension Header length (Hdr Ext Len) field, an Option Type (Option Type) field, an Option data length (OptionDateLen) field, a flag bit (Flags), a Reserved (Reserved) field, a Slice ID field, and a Protection Slice ID field, and the Slice ID field carries the first Slice information, and the Protection Slice ID field carries the second Slice information. For another example, the first packet may also carry the second slice information through VTN Protection Option of the HBH Header, VTN Protection Option may be a newly added Option in the HBH Header, and the VTN Protection Option may be shown in fig. 6b, where the VTN Protection Option may include a Next Header field, an Hdr Ext Len field, an Option Type field, a OptionDateLen field, and a Protection Slice ID field, and the Protection Slice ID field carries the second slice information, in which case the first slice information may be carried in VTN Option of the HBH Header of the first packet, where the VTN Option is only Protection Slice ID fields less than the VTN Option shown in fig. 6a.

As another example, the IPv6 extension header carrying the second slice information may be a destination option header (Destination Options Header, DOH) in the first message. For example, the first packet may carry the second slice information through Slice Protection Option of the DOH, the format of Slice Protection Option may be shown in fig. 6c, the Slice Protection Option may include a Next Header field, an Hdr Ext Len field, an Option Type field, a OptionDateLen field, and a Protection Slice ID field, and the Protection Slice ID field carries the second slice information, in which case the first slice information may be carried in VTN Option of the HBH Header of the first packet, which is only Protection Slice ID fields less than the VTN Option shown in fig. 6 a.

The above-mentioned fields or Option for carrying the second slice information, which are added in addition to the extension of the embodiment of the present application in FIGS. 6a to 6c, can be seen in Carrying Virtual Transport Network(VTN)Information in IPv6Extension Header draft-ietf-6man-enhanced-vpn-vtn-id-02.

In other implementations, if the first packet is an SR MPLS packet, the first packet may carry the second slice information through an MPLS label or an extension header.

As an example, carrying the second slice information may be an MPLS label in the first message. For example, the first packet may carry the second slice information through VTN Protection ID of MPLS VTN Extension Header, the format of MPLS VTN Extension Header may be shown in fig. 7a, the MPLS VTN Extension Header may include a Next Header (also referred to as NH) field, a Header length (also referred to as HLEN) field, flags, reserved field, a VTN ID field and VTN Protection ID field, the VTN ID field carrying the first slice information, and the VTN Protection ID field carrying the second slice information. In FIG. 7a, other contents than the VTN Protection ID field added by the extension of the embodiment of the present application can be seen Carrying Virtual Transport Network(VTN)Information in MPLS Packet draft-li-mpls-enhanced-vpn-vtn-id-03.

As another example, the second slice information may be an extension header after the MPLS label stack in the first packet. For example, as shown in fig. 7b, after MPLS Label Stack in the first packet, the format of the first packet includes a plurality of usable Extension headers (Extension headers), and the first packet may use any one of the unoccupied Extension headers to carry the second slice information. The structure of the first message in FIG. 7b can be seen in MPLS Network Actions using Post-Stack Extension HEADERS DRAFT-song-mpls-Extension-header-11.

S102, when the first network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice.

The network device determining that the first network slice is malfunctioning may refer to the network device determining that the first network slice is unavailable or that the first network slice is congested. Or the network device determines that the first network slice is faulty, or the network device determines that the active path is faulty, and determines that the first network slice is not deployed or the first deployed network slice is unavailable or congestion occurs on the first network slice deployed on the primary interface corresponding to the standby path of the active path on the network.

In some implementations, prior to S101, the method 100 may further include: the network equipment obtains a second message which also comprises the first slice information and the second slice information, and the destination of the second message is the same as that of the first message in S101; when the first network slice is determined to be normal, the network equipment determines a first outgoing interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information; and the network device sends the second message from the first outgoing interface to the first next hop. Whereas for the first packet obtained in S101, S102 may include, for example: the network equipment determines a second outgoing interface and a second next hop according to the second slice information; and the network device sends the first message from the second output interface to the second next hop. The second next hop and the first next hop may be the same or different, and the first outgoing interface and the second outgoing interface may be the same or different. For example, in the scenario shown in fig. 2b, when the first network slice corresponds to slice 1, the second network slice corresponds to slice 2, and the second message corresponds to message 1, the first outgoing interface is the main interface 1, and the first next hop is the network device 3; when the first message corresponds to the message 1, the second output interface is the main interface 1, and the second next hop is the network device 3. For another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 3b, when the first network slice corresponds to slice 1, the second network slice corresponds to slice 2, and the second message corresponds to message 1, the first output interface is the main interface 1, and the first next hop is the network device 3; when the first message corresponds to the message 1, the second output interface is the main interface 2, and the second next hop is the network device 5.

An exemplary description of possible slice protection modes is provided below.

In some implementations, one protection slice may be assigned to one master slice when assigning protection slices for network slices. In S101 to S102 of the method 100, the first network slice is a master slice, and the second network slice is a protection slice of the first network slice.

As an example, since the protection slice is usually in an idle state under the condition that the active slice is normal, for better utilization of resources, two network slices may also be set to be in a protection relationship with each other, for example, the first network device is a protection slice of the second network slice, and the second network device is a protection slice of the first network slice. Then, in the above S101 to S102, the first packet is a packet with the first network slice as the main slice, and the first packet can be imported into the second network slice after determining that the first network slice fails, and similarly, for the third packet with the second network slice as the main slice, the method 100 may further include: the network equipment receives a third message comprising the first slice information and the second slice information, and when the second network slice fault is determined, the network equipment forwards the third message by adopting the first network slice. Thus, the service quality of the service borne by each network slice can be guaranteed, and the resource utilization rate can be improved to a certain extent.

As another example, since the protection slice is typically in an idle state in the case where the active slice is normal, then the same protection slice may be allocated for a plurality of active slices (e.g., a plurality of active slices belonging to the same tenant) that are eligible, e.g., the second network slice is not only the protection slice of the first network slice but also the protection slice of the fourth network slice. Then, in the above S101 to S102, the first packet is a packet with the first network slice as the main slice, and the first packet can be imported into the second network slice after determining that the first network slice fails, and similarly, for the fourth packet with the fourth network slice as the main slice, the method 100 may further include: the network equipment receives a fourth message comprising fourth slice information and second slice information, and when determining that the fourth network slice is faulty, the network equipment forwards the fourth message by adopting the second network slice. Therefore, the probability of simultaneous failure of the first network slice and the fourth network slice is low, so that the service quality of the service borne by each network slice can be guaranteed, and the resource utilization rate is improved to a certain extent.

In other implementations, when allocating protection slices for a network slice, multiple protection slices may be allocated for a primary slice, where multiple protection slices may have a protection priority relationship.

As an example, in the method 100, the first network slice is a primary slice, the second network slice is a protection slice of the first network slice, and further protection slices may be allocated to the first network slice, where the further protection slices may include a third network slice. Then, the first message may include third slice information in addition to the first slice information and the second slice information, the third slice information indicating a third network slice. The manner in which the first packet carries the third slice information may be referred to the manner in which the first packet carries the second slice information. Assuming that the second network slice has a higher priority than the third network slice among the protection slices of the first network slice, S102 may include: if the first network device determines that the first network slice is faulty, it can check whether the second network slice is faulty, if the second network slice is not faulty, the second network slice is used to forward the first message, and if the second network slice is faulty, the third network slice is used to forward the first message. In this way, by protecting the network slices in at least two levels, the service quality of the service carried by each network slice can be more reliably ensured.

The plurality of network slices with the protection relationship may be the same level of network slices, or may also be network slices with the sub-slice relationship. For example, the first network slice, the second network slice may be slice 1 and slice 2 in fig. 1, respectively; as another example, the first network slice may be a sub-slice of slice 1 in fig. 1, and the second network slice may be slice 1 or slice 2; as another example, the first network slice may be a sub-slice of slice 2 in fig. 1, and the second network slice may be slice 1 or slice 2.

Therefore, in the method 100, the message is carried with the slice information of the main slice and the slice information of the protection slice, so that the message encounters the fault condition of the main slice when transmitted in the slice network, the message can be timely and accurately imported into the protection slice based on the slice information of the protection slice carried in the message, and the resource of the protection slice is adopted to transmit the message, thereby ensuring the service quality requirement of the service to which the message belongs when the main slice is faulty.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a message processing method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 8 illustrates, for a more clear description, a method 200 provided by an embodiment of the present application, in a manner that a control entity and a network device interact in a network. The method 200 corresponds to a second possible implementation provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method 200, the network device refers to a network device that determines that the active slice (i.e., the first network slice described below) fails, that is, the network device is an entry node of a failed link, and corresponds to the slice network shown in fig. 1, and the network device may be the network device 2 in the slice network shown in fig. 1; the control entity may correspond to the control entity 6 in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 8, the method 200 may include, for example, the following S201 to S206:

s201, the control entity sends a control message to the network device, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information.

And S202, the network equipment receives the control message sent by the control entity.

It should be noted that, the control message, the first slice information, the second slice information, and the manner in which the control message carries the first slice information and the second slice information may be referred to the description in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

And S203, the network equipment stores the corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information in the mapping relation.

In the embodiment of the application, in order to save transmission resources of a network, slice information corresponding to a protection slice of a main slice is not carried in a message, and corresponding relations among slice information of network slices with protection relations are required to be maintained locally in network equipment, wherein a set of the corresponding relations is called a mapping relation, and the mapping relation can be embodied as a mapping relation table in the network equipment.

When the method is concretely implemented, after the network equipment receives the control message, the first slice information and the second slice information are obtained through analyzing the control message, so that the corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information is stored in the mapping relation, and the preparation is made for a scene of slicing protection by using the corresponding relation subsequently.

S204, the network equipment obtains a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information, and the first slice information indicates a first network slice.

In some implementations, in order to enable the protection scheme of the network slice provided by the embodiments of the present application to be more flexible, the first packet transmitted in the slice network may include, in addition to slice information indicating the primary slice (i.e., first slice information indicating the first network slice), indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate whether to perform slice protection on the first network slice. If the indication information in the first message obtained by the network device indicates that slice protection is required for the first network slice, the following S205 to S206 are executed; if the indication information in the first message obtained by the network device indicates that slice protection is not required for the first network slice, when the network device determines that the first network slice is faulty, the network device may introduce the first message into the public channel for subsequent transmission based on the current implementation manner.

As an example, the indication information may include a first flag bit, and different contents indicated by the indication information are expressed by different values of the first flag bit, and the first flag bit may be denoted as Local Protection (LP). For example, LP = first value, indicating that slice protection is required for the first network slice; LP = fourth value, indicating that slice protection is not required for the first network slice. Wherein the first value may be, for example, 1 and the fourth value may be, for example, 0.

For example, if the first packet is SRv packets and the first slice information is VTN Option of HBH header in SRv packets, LP may be any undefined flag bit in VTN Option. In VTN Option of HBH header in SRv message shown in fig. 9a, LP may be any one of the 7 flag bits not defined in Flags, for example, or LP may be any one bit in Reserved field, for example.

In other implementations, the indication information possibly included in the first packet is used to indicate whether to perform slice protection on the first network slice, and may also indicate whether to refresh slice information in a case where slice protection on the first network slice is indicated. If the indication information in the first packet obtained by the network device indicates that slice protection is required for the first network slice and slice information needs to be refreshed, after S205 is executed, the slice information carried in the first packet can be refreshed and then transmitted based on the indication information and the slice information of the determined protection slice in S206, so that the network device on the subsequent transmission path is more reliable and service quality of the service is better ensured under the condition that the resource of the protection slice is more stable. If the indication information in the first message obtained by the network device indicates that slice protection is required for the first network slice, but slice information does not need to be refreshed, the following steps S205 to S206 are directly executed.

As an example, the indication information may include a second flag bit, and different contents indicated by the indication information are expressed by different values of the second flag bit, which may be denoted as Slice Update (SU). For example, su=a second value, indicating that slice information needs to be refreshed; su=third value, indicating that slice information does not need to be refreshed. Wherein the second value may be, for example, 1 and the third value may be, for example, 0.

For example, if the first packet is SRv packets and the first slice information is VTN Option of HBH header in SRv packets, SU may be any undefined flag bit in VTN Option. In VTN Option of HBH header in SRv message shown in fig. 9b, SU may be any one of the 7 flag bits not defined in Flags, or SU may be any one bit in Reserved field, for example.

It should be noted that, if the indication information includes LP and SU, the LP and SU may be carried by different flag bits of the first packet; the same field of the first message may also carry, and different values of the fields carrying LP and SU correspond to different indications of LP and SU.

It should be noted that, the indication information may include only LP and no SU, so it may be determined by configuration of default setting whether slice information in the message needs to be refreshed after performing slice protection, for example, the default setting indicates that slice information needs to be refreshed, and even if the indication information of the message does not include SU, slice information may be automatically refreshed after performing slice protection; for another example, if the default setting indicates that slice information does not need to be refreshed, then when SU is not included in the indication information of the message, slice information is not refreshed after slice protection is performed. Or the indication information may only include that the SU does not include the LP, then it may be determined whether slice protection is required through configuration of a default setting, for example, the default setting indicates that slice protection is required, and then slice protection may be performed after determining that the primary slice fails even if the indication information of the message does not include the LP; for another example, if the default setting indicates that slice protection is not required, if LP is not included in the indication information of the message, slice protection is performed even if the main slice failure is determined. Still alternatively, the indication information may include LP and SU, and then the indications of the LP and SU do not interfere with each other, and the correlation operation may be performed based on the respective indications of the values.

S205, when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network device determines second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relationship, where the mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates the second network slice.

In some implementations, the network device may default to slice protection for messages transmitted in the slice network based on the locally maintained mapping relationship. Then, after the network equipment obtains the first message, the main slice of the first message is obtained by analyzing the first message to be a first network slice; when the network equipment determines that the first network slice is faulty, the corresponding relation matched with the first slice information is searched from the mapping relation maintained locally, and a second network slice is determined according to the second slice information in the matched corresponding relation. In this way, the network device determines the protection slice of the primary slice of the first message, and prepares for the subsequent transmission of the first message with quality.

In other implementations, where the first message includes the LP, S205 may include: when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network equipment determines that slice protection is required to be executed based on the value of the LP; then, the network device obtains a second network slice corresponding to the first slice information from the locally stored mapping relationship. When the first network slice fault is determined, if the network equipment determines that slice protection is not required to be executed based on the value of the LP, the network equipment guides the first message into the public channel for subsequent transmission. In this way, the slice network is more flexible in processing the first message by carrying the LP in the first message.

S206, the network device forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice.

In some implementations, the network device may default to whether to refresh slice information in the message after slice protection. If the protection slice in the network is considered more reliable after the slice protection, then the default slice information in the refresh-after-slice protection message is set, and after S205 is executed, S206 may include: the network device refreshes the first slice information in the first message into second slice information to obtain a second message, and then the network device forwards the second message by adopting the second network slice. If the network device' S own behavior is considered after the slice protection, the subsequent network device does not need to switch the corresponding network slice for the message, then the default is set so as not to refresh the slice information in the message after the slice protection is performed, and after S205 is performed, S206 may include: the network equipment keeps slice information of the main slice in the first message as first slice information, and then the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice. In this way, the network device can configure its default setting according to the actual requirement, which provides a basis for the execution of S206.

In other implementations, where the first message includes a SU, S206 may include: if the network equipment determines that slice information is required to be refreshed based on the value of SU, the network equipment refreshes the first slice information in the first message into second slice information to obtain a second message, and then the network equipment forwards the second message by adopting the second network slice; if the network device determines that the slice information does not need to be refreshed based on the value of SU, the network device keeps the slice information of the main slice in the first message as the first slice information, and then the network device forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice. In this way, the SU is carried in the first message, so that the slicing network can process the first message more flexibly after slicing protection is performed.

In this method 200, the method 100 may be referred to for a description of a manner of creating a protection slice corresponding to the main slice, a slice protection mode, and the like by the network device.

In the method 200, a mapping relationship is locally maintained by the network device, and the mapping relationship includes a corresponding relationship between slice information with a protection relationship, so that a message encounters a situation of a failure of a main slice when transmitted in a slice network, and a protection slice of the main slice can be determined based on the slice information of the main slice carried in the message and the locally maintained mapping relationship, so that the message is accurately imported into the protection slice, and the message is transmitted by adopting resources of the protection slice, thereby ensuring the service quality requirement of a service to which the message belongs when the main slice fails, avoiding carrying the slice information of the protection slice in the transmitted message, and saving the transmission resources of the network to a certain extent.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the application also provides a message processing device 1000, and the device 1000 is applied to a network device, as shown in fig. 10. The apparatus 1000 may include: a receiving unit 1001 and a transmitting unit 1002. Wherein:

the receiving unit 1001 is configured to obtain a first packet, where the first packet includes first slice information and second slice information, the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice. The reception unit 1001 may perform S101 shown in fig. 4.

The sending unit 1002 is configured to forward the first packet by using the second network slice when determining that the first network slice fails. The transmission unit 1002 may perform S102 shown in fig. 4.

In some implementations, the apparatus 1000 further includes: and a processing unit. The receiving unit 1001 is further configured to obtain a second packet, where the second packet includes the first slice information and the second slice information, and destinations of the first packet and the second packet are the same; the processing unit is used for determining a first output interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information; the sending unit 1002 is further configured to send the second packet from the first outgoing interface to the first next hop.

In some implementations, the sending unit 1002 is specifically configured to: determining a second output interface and a second next hop according to the second slice information; and sending the first message from the second output interface to the second next hop.

In some implementations, the receiving unit 1001 is further configured to receive, before obtaining the first packet, a control message sent by a control entity, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information. Wherein, the control message is BGPupdate message or PCEP message.

In some implementations, the apparatus 1000 further includes: and a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to allocate resources to the second network slice after receiving the control message sent by the control entity and before forwarding the first message by using the second network slice when determining that the first network slice fails.

In some implementations, the sending unit 1002 is specifically configured to: and when the first network slice is determined to be faulty, allocating resources for the second network slice, and forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice.

In some implementations, the first packet further includes third slice information, where the third slice information indicates a third network slice, and the sending unit 1002 is specifically configured to: and when the first network slice fault and the second network slice fault are determined, forwarding the first message by adopting the third network slice.

In some implementations, the receiving unit 1001 is further configured to obtain a third packet, where the third packet includes the first slice information and the second slice information; the sending unit 1002 is further configured to forward the third packet using the first network slice when determining that the second network slice fails.

In some implementations, the receiving unit 1001 is further configured to obtain a fourth packet, where the fourth packet includes fourth slice information and the second slice information, and the fourth slice information indicates a fourth network slice; the sending unit 1002 is further configured to forward the fourth packet with the second network slice when determining that the fourth network slice fails.

Wherein the first network slice is a sub-slice of the second network slice.

It should be noted that, the specific implementation manner and the achieved technical effect of the apparatus 1000 provided by the present application may be referred to the related description of the method 100 shown in fig. 4.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the application also provides a message processing device 1100, and the device 1100 is applied to a network device, as shown in fig. 11. The apparatus 1100 may include: a receiving unit 1101, a processing unit 1102, and a transmitting unit 1103.

Wherein:

The receiving unit 1101 is configured to obtain a first message, where the first message includes first slice information, and a first slice identifier indicates a first network slice. The receiving unit 1101 may perform S204 shown in fig. 8.

The processing unit 1102 is configured to determine, when determining that the first network slice fails, second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relationship, where the mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates the second network slice. The processing unit 1102 may perform S205 shown in fig. 8.

A sending unit 1103, configured to forward the first message by using the second network slice. The transmission unit 1103 may execute S206 shown in fig. 8.

In some implementations, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to: determining that slice protection is required to be executed based on a first value of the first flag bit in the first message; and obtaining the second network slice corresponding to the first slice information from the locally stored mapping relation.

As another example, if the second flag bit in the first packet is the second value, the sending unit 1103 is specifically configured to: replacing the first slice information in the first message with the second slice information to obtain a second message; and forwarding the second message by adopting the second network slice.

In some implementations, the receiving unit 1101 is further configured to, before obtaining the first packet, receive a control message sent by a control entity, where the control message includes the first slice information and the second slice information; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to store a correspondence between the first slice information and the second slice information in the mapping relationship. The control message may be BGPupdate packets or PCEP packets. In this implementation, the receiving unit 1101 may perform S201 to S202 shown in fig. 8, and the processing unit 1102 may perform S203 shown in fig. 8.

It should be noted that, the specific implementation manner and the achieved technical effect of the apparatus 1100 provided by the present application may be referred to the related description of the method 200 shown in fig. 8.

Referring to fig. 12, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device 1200 (which may also be referred to as a communication device 1200). The network device 1200 may be a network device in any of the above embodiments, for example, each network device in fig. 1; and may be, for example, a network device in method 100 or may be, for example, a network device in method 200. The network device 1200 may implement the functions of the various network devices in the above-described embodiments. Or the network device 1200 may be a control entity in any of the embodiments described above, for example, the control entity 6 in fig. 1, or for example, a control entity in the method 100, or for example, a control entity in the method 200. The network device 1200 may implement the functions of the control entities in the above embodiments. The network device 1200 includes at least one processor 1201, a bus system 1202, a memory 1203, and at least one communication interface 1204.

The network device 1200 is a device with a hardware structure, and may be used to implement the functional modules in the packet processing device 1000 shown in fig. 10. For example, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processing unit in the message processing apparatus 1000 shown in fig. 10 may be implemented by the at least one processor 1201 invoking code in the memory 1203. Or the network device 1200 is a hardware structure device that may be used to implement the functional modules in the message processing apparatus 1100 shown in fig. 11. For example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the processing unit 1102 in the message processing apparatus 1100 shown in fig. 11 may be implemented by the at least one processor 1201 invoking code in the memory 1203.

Optionally, the network device 1200 may also be used to implement the functions of the network device in any of the embodiments described above.

Alternatively, the processor 1201 may be a general purpose central processing unit (centralprocessingunit, CPU), network processor (networkprocessor, NP), microprocessor, application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

The bus system 1202 may include a path that communicates information between the components.

The communication interface 1204 is used for communicating with other devices or communication networks.

The memory 1203 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (ELECTRICALLY ERASABLE PROGRAMMABLE READ-only memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disc storage, a compact disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be stand alone and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

The memory 1203 is used for storing application program codes for executing the scheme of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1201. The processor 1201 is configured to execute application program code stored in the memory 1203 to perform the functions of the method of the present application.

In a particular implementation, the processor 1201 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 12, as one embodiment.

In a specific implementation, the network device 1200 may include multiple processors, such as processor 1201 and processor 1207 in fig. 10, as an embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or may be a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device 1300 (may also be referred to as a communication device 1300) provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the network device 1300 may be a network device or a control entity in any of the foregoing embodiments, and may be each network device or control entity 6 in fig. 1; and may also be, for example, a network device or a control entity in method 100; and may also be, for example, a network device or a control entity in method 200. The network device 1300 may implement the functions of the various network devices or control entities in the above-described embodiments.

The network device 1300 includes: a main control board 1310 and an interface board 1330.

The main control board 1310 is also called a main processing unit (main processing unit, MPU) or a routing processing card (route processor card), and the main control board 1310 controls and manages various components in the network device 1300, including routing computation, device management, device maintenance, and protocol processing functions. The main control board 1310 includes: a central processor 1311 and a memory 1312.

Interface board 1330 is also referred to as a line interface unit card (line processing unit, LPU), line card, or service board. The interface board 1330 is used to provide various service interfaces and to implement forwarding of data packets. The service interfaces include, but are not limited to, ethernet interfaces, such as Flexible Ethernet service interfaces (Flexible ETHERNET CLIENTS, FLEXE Clients), POS (Packet over SONET/SDH) interfaces, and the like. The interface board 1330 includes: a central processor 1331, a network processor 1332, forwarding table entry memory 1334, and physical interface cards (ph 8SICAL INTERFACE CARD, PIC) 1333.

The central processor 1331 on the interface board 1330 is used to control and manage the interface board 1330 and communicate with the central processor 1311 on the main control board 1310.

The network processor 1332 is configured to implement forwarding of the message. The network processor 1332 may be in the form of a forwarding chip. Specifically, the processing of the uplink message includes: processing a message input interface and searching a forwarding table; and (3) processing a downlink message: forwarding table lookup, etc.

The physical interface card 1333 is used to implement the docking function of the physical layer, from which the original traffic enters the interface board 1330, and the processed messages are sent out from the physical interface card 1333. Physical interface card 1333 includes at least one physical interface, also referred to as a physical port, and physical interface card 1333 corresponds to FlexE physical interfaces in the system architecture. A physical interface card 1333, also referred to as a daughter card, may be mounted on the interface board 1330 and is responsible for converting the optical signals into messages and forwarding the messages to the network processor 1332 for processing after a validity check is performed on the messages. In some embodiments, the central processor 1331 of the interface board 1330 may also perform the functions of the network processor 1332, such as implementing software forwarding based on a general purpose CPU, so that the network processor 1332 is not required in the physical interface card 1333.

Optionally, the network device 1300 includes a plurality of interface boards, for example, the network device 1300 further includes an interface board 1340, the interface board 1340 including: a central processor 1341, a network processor 1342, a forwarding table entry memory 1344, and a physical interface card 1343.

Optionally, the network device 1300 further comprises a switch mesh 1320. Switch board 1320 may also be referred to as a switch board unit (switch fabric unit, SFU). In the case of a network device having a plurality of interface boards 1330, the switch board 1320 is used to complete data exchange between the interface boards. For example, interface board 1330 and interface board 1340 may communicate with each other via switch web board 1320.

The main control board 1310 is coupled to the interface board 1330. For example. The main control board 1310, the interface board 1330 and the interface board 1340 are connected to the system back board through a system bus to implement intercommunication. In one possible implementation, an inter-process communication protocol (inter-process communication, IPC) channel is established between the main control board 1310 and the interface board 1330, and communication is performed between the main control board 1310 and the interface board 1330 through the IPC channel.

Logically, network device 1300 includes a control plane including a main control board 1310 and a central processor 1331, and a forwarding plane including various components that perform forwarding, such as a forwarding table entry memory 1334, a physical interface card 1333, and a network processor 1332. The control plane performs the functions of router, generating forwarding table, processing signaling and protocol messages, configuring and maintaining the status of the device, etc., and the control plane issues the generated forwarding table to the forwarding plane, where the network processor 1332 forwards the message received by the physical interface card 1333 based on the forwarding table issued by the control plane. The forwarding table issued by the control plane may be stored in forwarding table entry memory 1334. In some embodiments, the control plane and the forwarding plane may be completely separate and not on the same device.

If network device 1300 is configured as a network device, network processor 1332 may trigger physical interface card 1333 to obtain a first message including first slice information indicating a first network slice and second slice information indicating a second network slice; the network processor 1332 may also trigger the physical interface card 1333 to forward the first message using the second network slice upon determining that the first network slice is malfunctioning. Optionally, the network processor 1332 may trigger the physical interface card 1333 to obtain a second packet before obtaining the first packet, where the second packet includes the first slice information and the second slice information, and the destinations of the first packet and the second packet are the same; the central processor 1311 may determine a first outgoing interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information; the network processor 1332 may also trigger the physical interface card 1333 to send the second message from the first egress interface to the first next hop.

It should be understood that the receiving unit 1001, the transmitting unit 1102, and the communication interface 1204 in the network device 1200 in the packet processing apparatus 1000 may correspond to the physical interface card 1333 or the physical interface card 1343 in the network device 1300; the processing unit in the packet processing apparatus 1000 and the processor 1201 in the network device 1200 may correspond to the central processor 1311 or the central processor 1331 in the network device 1300.

It should be understood that the operations on the interface board 1340 are identical to the operations on the interface board 1330 in the embodiment of the present application, and are not repeated for brevity. It should be understood that the network device 1300 of the present embodiment may correspond to the packet processing apparatus 1000 or the network device 1200 in the foregoing embodiments, and the main control board 1310, the interface board 1330, and/or the interface board 1340 in the network device 1300 may implement the functions and/or the steps implemented in the packet processing apparatus 1000 or the network device 1200 in the foregoing embodiments, which are not described herein for brevity.

If network device 1300 is configured as a network device, network processor 1332 may trigger physical interface card 1333 to obtain a first message that includes first slice information, the first slice identifier indicating a first network slice; the central processor 1311 may determine, when determining that the first network slice fails, second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relationship, the mapping relationship including a correspondence between the first slice information and the second slice information, the second slice information indicating the second network slice; the network processor 1332 may also trigger the physical interface card 1333 to forward the first message using the second network slice.

It should be understood that the receiving unit 1101, the transmitting unit 1103, and the communication interface 1204 in the network device 1200 in the packet processing apparatus 1100 may be equivalent to the physical interface card 1333 or the physical interface card 1343 in the network device 1300; the processing unit 1102 in the packet processing apparatus 1100 and the processor 1201 in the network device 1200 may correspond to the central processor 1311 or the central processor 1331 in the network device 1300.

It should be understood that the operations on the interface board 1340 are identical to the operations on the interface board 1330 in the embodiment of the present application, and are not repeated for brevity. It should be understood that the network device 1300 of the present embodiment may correspond to the packet processing apparatus 1100 or the network device 1200 in the foregoing embodiments, and the main control board 1310, the interface board 1330, and/or the interface board 1340 in the network device 1300 may implement the functions and/or the steps implemented in the packet processing apparatus 1100 or the network device 1200 in the foregoing embodiments, which are not described herein for brevity.

It should be understood that the master control board may have one or more pieces, and that the master control board may include a main master control board and a standby master control board when there are more pieces. The interface boards may have one or more, the more data processing capabilities the network device is, the more interface boards are provided. The physical interface card on the interface board may also have one or more pieces. The switching network board may not be provided, or may be provided with one or more blocks, and load sharing redundancy backup can be jointly realized when the switching network board is provided with the plurality of blocks. Under the centralized forwarding architecture, the network device may not need to exchange network boards, and the interface board bears the processing function of the service data of the whole system. Under the distributed forwarding architecture, the network device may have at least one switching fabric, through which data exchange between multiple interface boards is implemented, providing high-capacity data exchange and processing capabilities. Therefore, the data access and processing power of the network devices of the distributed architecture is greater than that of the devices of the centralized architecture. Alternatively, the network device may be in the form of only one board card, i.e. there is no switching network board, the functions of the interface board and the main control board are integrated on the one board card, and the central processor on the interface board and the central processor on the main control board may be combined into one central processor on the one board card, so as to execute the functions after stacking the two, where the data exchange and processing capability of the device in this form are low (for example, network devices such as a low-end switch or a router). Which architecture is specifically adopted depends on the specific networking deployment scenario.

In some possible embodiments, each of the above-described network devices or network devices may be implemented as virtualized devices. For example, the virtualized device may be a Virtual Machine (VM) running a program for sending message functions, the Virtual Machine deployed on a hardware device (e.g., a physical server). Virtual machines refer to complete computer systems that run in a completely isolated environment with complete hardware system functionality through software emulation. The virtual machine may be configured as each network device or control entity in embodiments of the present application. For example, each network device or network devices may be implemented based on a generic physical server in combination with network function virtualization (Network Functions Virtualization, NFV) technology. Each network device or network device is a virtual host, a virtual router, or a virtual switch. By reading the present application, a person skilled in the art can virtually combine the NFV technology to obtain each network device or network device with the above functions on the general physical server, which is not described herein.

It should be understood that the network devices in the above various product forms have any function of each network device or communication device in the above method embodiment, and are not described herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used for receiving the instruction and transmitting the instruction to the processor; a processor, which may be, for example, a specific implementation form of a packet processing device in the embodiment of the present application, may be used to perform the routing method described above. Wherein the processor is coupled to a memory for storing programs or instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the system-on-a-chip to implement the method of any of the method embodiments described above.

Alternatively, the processor in the system-on-chip may be one or more. The processor may be implemented in hardware or in software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general purpose processor, implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

Alternatively, the memory in the system-on-chip may be one or more. The memory may be integral with the processor or separate from the processor, and the application is not limited. The memory may be a non-transitory processor, such as a ROM, which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately provided on different chips, and the type of memory and the manner of providing the memory and the processor are not particularly limited in the present application.

The chip system may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Chip (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (networkprocessor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DIGITAL SIGNAL processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip, for example.

In addition, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, where a program code or an instruction is stored, when the program code or the instruction runs on a computer, to cause the computer to execute the method in any implementation manner of the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 8.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the implementations of the method 100 or the method 200 described above.

It should be understood that references to "determining B based on a" in embodiments of the present application are not meant to be a determination of B based on a alone, but B may also be determined based on a and/or other information.

The "first" in the names of the "first message", "first clip information" and the like in the present application is only used for name identification, and does not represent the first in sequence. The rule applies equally to "second" etc.

From the above description of embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps of the above described example methods may be implemented in software plus general hardware platforms. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a storage medium, such as a read-only memory (ROM)/RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network communication device such as a router) to perform the method according to the embodiments or some parts of the embodiments of the present application.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and identical and similar parts of each embodiment are all referred to each other, and each embodiment mainly describes differences from other embodiments. In particular, for system embodiments and apparatus embodiments, since they are substantially similar to method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, with reference to the description of method embodiments in part. The above-described apparatus and system embodiments are merely illustrative, in which the modules illustrated as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, i.e., may be located in one place, or may be distributed across multiple network elements. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and implement the present invention without undue burden.

The foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. It should be noted that modifications and adaptations to the present application may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from its scope.

Claims

1. A method for processing a message, the method comprising:

The network equipment obtains a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information and second slice information, the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice;

and when the first network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the network device obtaining the first message, the method further comprises:

the network equipment obtains a second message, wherein the second message comprises the first slice information and the second slice information, and the destinations of the first message and the second message are the same;

The network equipment determines a first outgoing interface and a first next hop according to the first slice information;

The network device sends the second message from the first outgoing interface to the first next hop.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the network device forwarding the first message with the second network slice upon determining that the first network slice failed comprises:

the network equipment determines a second outgoing interface and a second next hop according to the second slice information;

And the network equipment sends the first message from the second output interface to the second next hop.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first message is a sixth-version internet protocol based segment routing SRv message, and the first message carries the second slice information through a sixth-version internet protocol IPv6 extension header.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first message carries the second slice information via a virtual transport network option VTNOption of a hop-by-hop HBH header; or the first message carries the second slice information through a virtual transport network protection option VTNProtectionOption of the HBH header.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first message carries the second slice information via a slice protection option SliceProtectionOption of the destination header DOH.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first message is a multiprotocol label switching based segment routing SRMPLS message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first message carries the second slice information through an MPLS label or an extension header after the first message passes through an MPLS label stack.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein before the network device obtains the first message, the method further comprises:

The network device receives a control message sent by a control entity, wherein the control message comprises the first slice information and the second slice information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the control message is a border gateway protocol update message or a path computation element communication protocol PCEP message.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein after the network device receives the control message sent by the control entity, before the network device forwards the first message using the second network slice when determining that the first network slice is faulty, the method further comprises:

the network device allocates resources for the second network slice.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the network device forwarding the first message with the second network slice upon determining that the first network slice is faulty, comprising:

And when the first network slice is determined to be faulty, the network equipment allocates resources for the second network slice, and forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice.

13. The method of any of claims 1-12, wherein the first message further includes third slice information, the third slice information indicating a third network slice, the network device forwarding the first message with the second network slice upon determining that the first network slice failed, comprising:

and when the first network slice fault and the second network slice fault are determined, the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the third network slice.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, further comprising:

The network equipment obtains a third message, wherein the third message comprises the first slice information and the second slice information;

and when the second network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the third message by adopting the first network slice.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, further comprising:

The network equipment obtains a fourth message, wherein the fourth message comprises fourth slice information and the second slice information, and the fourth slice information indicates a fourth network slice;

And when the fourth network slice faults are determined, the network equipment forwards the fourth message by adopting the second network slice.

16. The method of any of claims 1-15, wherein the first network slice is a sub-slice of the second network slice.

17. A method for processing a message, the method comprising:

The method comprises the steps that network equipment obtains a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information, and the first slice information indicates a first network slice;

When determining that the first network slice is faulty, the network device determines second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relation, wherein the mapping relation comprises a corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice;

And the network equipment forwards the first message by adopting the second network slice.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first message further comprises indication information, the indication information being used to indicate slice protection for the first network slice.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the indication information includes a first value of a first flag bit, the first flag bit being used to indicate whether slice protection is required, the first flag bit being the first value used to indicate that slice protection is required.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the network device determining second slice information based on the first slice information and a mapping relationship when determining the first network slice failure comprises:

The network equipment determines that slice protection is required to be executed based on a first value of the first zone bit in the first message;

And the network equipment obtains the second network slice corresponding to the first slice information from the mapping relation stored locally.

21. The method according to any of claims 18-20, wherein the indication information is further used to indicate whether to refresh slice information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the indication information further comprises a second flag bit, the second flag bit being used to indicate whether slice information needs to be refreshed, the second flag bit being of a second value to indicate that slice information needs to be refreshed, and the second flag bit being of a third value to indicate that slice information does not need to be refreshed.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein if the second flag bit in the first message is the second value, the network device forwarding the first message using the second network slice comprises:

the network equipment replaces the first slice information in the first message with the second slice information to obtain a second message;

And the network equipment forwards the second message by adopting the second network slice.

24. The method according to any of claims 18-23, wherein the first message is a sixth version of internet protocol based segment routing SRv message, and the first message carries the indication information via a hop-by-hop HBH header virtual transport network option VTNOption.

25. The method according to any of claims 17-24, wherein before the network device obtains the first message, the method further comprises:

The network equipment receives a control message sent by a control entity, wherein the control message comprises the first slice information and the second slice information;

And the network equipment stores the corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information in the mapping relation.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the control message is a border gateway protocol update message or a path computation element communication protocol PCEP message.

27. A message processing apparatus, for use with a network device, the apparatus comprising:

The receiving unit is used for obtaining a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information and second slice information, the first slice information indicates a first network slice, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice;

And the sending unit is used for forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice when the first network slice is determined to be faulty.

28. A message processing apparatus, for use with a network device, the apparatus comprising:

the receiving unit is used for obtaining a first message, wherein the first message comprises first slice information, and the first slice identifier indicates a first network slice;

The processing unit is used for determining second slice information according to the first slice information and a mapping relation when determining that the first network slice fails, wherein the mapping relation comprises a corresponding relation between the first slice information and the second slice information, and the second slice information indicates a second network slice;

and the sending unit is used for forwarding the first message by adopting the second network slice.

29. A network device comprising a memory and a processor;

The memory is used for storing instructions;

The processor being configured to execute the instructions in the memory and to perform the method of any of claims 1-26.

30. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the preceding claims 1-26.