JP2002016643A - Router device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a router device which enables a manager to easily perform connection management and guarantees the communication quality of each connection. SOLUTION: This router device 1 decides communication quality requested in packet communication from protocol information, application identification information and priority information set in a received packet, transmits a control packet with the information of the decided communication quality set therein to the other router devices included in the same connection and meanwhile, applies such traffic control (preferential processing, etc., of packet) as to satisfy communication quality shown by the information of a transmitted or received control packet to the packet of the connection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a router for relaying communication between networks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A router device connects a plurality of networks and relays a packet sent over the connected networks. Further, in order to guarantee the communication quality of the connection between the communicating terminals, the router device performs traffic control for processing a specific packet preferentially.

There is a system in which this traffic control is performed according to management information registered in a router device by a network administrator. In this system, for example,
For terminals that require communications that require real-time
Management information for instructing priority processing of a packet communicated by the terminal is registered in the router device in advance. However, when registering a certain connection, the administrator must register the same management information for all routers through which a packet of the connection passes.

On the other hand, standardization of a protocol (resource reservation protocol) that allows a user of a network to designate traffic control (allocation of a communication band) to a router device is being promoted. In a system to which this protocol is applied, a program that enables communication of the protocol is provided in all terminals in the system. At the start of communication, the transmission source terminal specifies a communication bandwidth or the like in the communication of the resource reservation protocol to the communication partner terminal and the router device that relays the communication. The router device is
Traffic control is performed so as to satisfy the specified communication bandwidth. For details of the above protocol,
It is described in Nikkei Communication No. 209 (November 1, 1995).

[0005]

In a system in which an administrator registers management information indicating the content of traffic control in a router, the same content is registered in all routers through which a packet passes for each connection. There is a need. If the number of router devices that relay is large, this registration imposes a heavy burden on the administrator.

In a system in which the contents of traffic control can be specified by a user using a resource reservation protocol, it is necessary to install a program enabling communication of the resource reservation protocol in all terminals. Is big. Also, in this system, since all users can individually specify the communication bandwidth of their own connection, a certain connection occupies the communication bandwidth and the processing capacity of the router device, and other connections are opened and communication quality is improved. Guarantee may not be possible.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a router device which facilitates management of connections by an administrator and guarantees the communication quality of each connection.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a router device of the present invention interconnects a plurality of networks each connected to one or more communication terminals or other router devices. A router device that manages a connection between communication terminals communicating via the plurality of networks as a connection, receiving means for receiving a packet from the plurality of networks, and content of the packet received by the receiving means, A connection recognizing means for recognizing a connection for communicating the packet, a transmitting means for transferring the received packet to the network corresponding to the connection recognized by the connection recognizing means, and a local router without passing through another router device. For each connection of the communication terminal connected to the device, perform this connection A management table in which information indicating the contents of Rahikku control is registered, when the packet received by the receiving device is a packet not yet established connection,
A management packet including information indicating the connection and information indicating the content of the traffic control registered in the management table corresponding to the connection is generated, and the generated management packet is included in the connection. Connection management means for transmitting from the transmission means to all other router devices to be transmitted, information indicating the connection used to generate the management packet and information indicating the content of the traffic control, or the reception means Communication control means for opening the connection based on information included in the management packet received from the router device and performing traffic control on a packet transferred by the transmission means for the connection, and a predetermined management Registering means for updating the registered contents of the management table in accordance with an instruction. And wherein the Rukoto.

This router device restricts the contents of the traffic control performed for each connection in accordance with, for example, the contents registered in a management table registered by a network administrator using a management command. It is possible to allocate the capabilities appropriately and guarantee the communication quality of each connection. In addition, this router device needs to register the management table only for the connection of the communication terminal directly connected without passing through another router device, so that the administrator can easily manage each connection.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a router device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The processing of the router device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a packet receiving process for receiving a packet for each quality class and discarding the packet if necessary, a packet relaying process for selecting a packet to be transferred according to the quality class, and a forwarding process. It is roughly classified into a packet transmission process for transmitting a packet selected as a target according to a quality class. The router device 1 guarantees the communication quality of each connection by managing and restricting transmission / reception and discarding (traffic control) of packets according to the quality class for each connection.

In FIG. 1, the router device 1 includes a packet receiving unit 2 for receiving a packet and storing it in a buffer, a packet discriminating unit 3Rx for judging the quality class of the received packet, It has a connection management table 4Rx used for quality class determination, a buffer management unit 5 for managing the buffer, and a quality class queue 6Rx in which received packets are stored for each quality class. Further, a packet discriminating unit 3Tx, a connection management table 4Tx, a quality class-specific queue 6Tx, and a packet transmitting unit 11 are provided as components related to packet transmission processing. Further, the router device 1 includes a communication quality management unit 7 for managing packet transmission processing and packet reception processing, a permission list 8 and a mapping table 9 used for the management, and a packet relay unit 10 for performing packet relay processing. Have.

The packet transmitted to the router device 1 through the network is received by the packet receiving unit 2 and stored in a free area of the buffer. The packet determination unit 3Rx checks whether the connection of the packet is registered in the connection management table 4Rx, and if registered, determines the quality class of the packet based on the information in the mapping table 9, and according to the quality class Quality Queue 6
Store in Rx. If the connection is not registered in the connection management table 4Rx, the communication quality management unit 7 determines from the information in the permission list 8 whether or not the traffic control of the connection is permitted. If the communication quality parameter is permitted, the communication quality parameter indicating the content of the traffic control is searched in the mapping table 9, and a control packet in which the searched communication quality parameter is set is transmitted. The packet relay unit 10 preferentially extracts a packet from a queue having a high quality class in the quality class queue 6Rx, determines whether the packet can be relayed based on the destination address of the extracted packet, and determines whether the packet is relayable. The packet is passed to the packet discriminating unit 3Tx. The packet discriminating unit 3Tx compares the quality class of the passed packet with the connection management table 4
Tx is checked and determined, and stored in the corresponding quality class queue 6Tx. The packet transmitting unit 11 preferentially extracts a packet of a high quality class from the quality class queue 6Tx and sends it to the network.

FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the router device 1.

In FIG. 2, the router device 1 includes a CPU 20 and
It comprises a main memory 21, a buffer memory 22, a network controller 23, and an internal bus 24 connecting these components 20 to 23. One network controller 23 is provided for each network connected to the router device 1. The packet receiving unit 2 of FIG.
The packet transmission unit 11 is realized by a process performed by the network controller 23 and the CPU 20 in cooperation. The packet discriminating units 3Rx and 3Tx, the buffer managing unit 5, the communication quality managing unit 7, and the packet relay unit 10 in FIG.
Is realized by the CPU 20. Queues 6Rx and 6Tx by quality class and connection management tables 4Rx and 4 in FIG.
The Tx, the permission list 8, and the mapping table 9 are realized by the buffer memory 22, and the storage positions are managed by pointers stored in the main memory 21.

FIG. 3 shows a format of a packet transmitted and received by the router device 1.

In FIG. 3, the packet 30 is composed of a header part 31 and a data part 32. The header section 31 includes priority information 33 indicating the priority requested by the source terminal,
Protocol information 34 indicating the type of protocol, source address information 35 indicating the source terminal, destination address information 36 indicating the destination terminal, and port number information 37 indicating the application of the terminal involved in communication are set. Is done. In the data section 32, communication data generated by an application of the terminal and the like are set.

The packet 30 is used as a control packet when reserving communication resources and as a data packet during data communication. The control packet is generated by processing of the resource reservation protocol, and includes a reservation information packet sent from the source terminal or the router device 1 and a reservation request packet returned from the called terminal or the router device 1. There is one. In the reservation information packet, the above-described protocol information 34, destination address information 36, and port number information 37 are set. The reservation request packet includes the protocol information 3 of the received reservation information packet.
4, destination address information 36 and port number information 37 are set, and a communication quality parameter is set in the data section 32.

In addition, the router device 1 also receives a management packet sent from a management terminal operated by a network administrator. The administrator can update the registration contents of the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 of an arbitrary router device 1 by transmitting the management packet.

The above four types of packets also include information for identifying the type of the packet. The port number information 37 indicates that the received packet 30
Is identified, the terminal on the receiving side transmits packets 3 of different applications.
0 can be received and identified in parallel for each application. Here, the protocol information 34, the destination address information 36, and the port number information 37 used for specifying the connection are collectively referred to as connection information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the setting information of the connection management table 4. As shown in FIG. 4, in the connection management table 4, connection information (destination address information, protocol information, port number information) and pointer information to the mapping table 9 are registered as a set. The connection registered in the connection management table 4 is an established connection, and is stored in the quality class queue 6 according to the contents of the mapping table 9 specified by the corresponding pointer information.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the setting information of the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the permission list 8, source address information, destination address information, permission flags, and pointer information to the mapping table 9 are set as a set. The permission flag of a connection for which traffic control is permitted is set to “ON”, and the permission flag of a connection for which traffic control is not permitted is set to “OFF”. One permission list 8 is provided for each network controller 23 (for each reception interface) of the router device 1, and the above-mentioned information on terminals directly connected to the network controller 23 without passing through another router device is set. . In the pointer information, a plurality of identifiers (described later) of the mapping table 9 can be set.

In the mapping table 9, an identifier, a protocol type, a port number, and a communication quality parameter are set as a set. A plurality of communication quality parameters are set corresponding to the value of the priority information of the packet 30, the priority class of the process is indicated by four levels (0 is the lowest, and 3 is the highest), and the discard level is two levels ("D"). Can be disposed of,
"N" cannot be discarded). The mapping table 9 is
There are a plurality of permission lists 8 set in the router device 1
Are commonly pointed to by the pointer information. here,
The quality class is set to four levels, and the priority class of the process is used as it is as the quality class. That is, a packet having a processing priority level of 3 also has a quality class of 3, and is processed with the highest priority in packet relay processing and transmission processing.

In the example of FIG. 5, all packets of <protocol A, port number w> can be discarded, and their processing priority classes are 0 when priority information is 0 to 3, and 1 when priority information is 4 or more. Low. That is, this packet is suitable for retransmission by discarding the packet and communication of a batch type application where transmission delay is allowed. The packet <B, x> is always processed with the highest priority regardless of the priority information, and cannot be discarded. This packet is suitable for communication of a core business application that performs online processing. <C,
Both the packets y> and <C, z> are processed with the highest priority when the priority information is 2 or more. The disposal level is <
C, z> are all impossible, while <C, y> can be discarded if the priority information is 3 or less. That is,
The <C, y> packet is suitable for transferring data (for example, voice information) that requires real-time transfer and that can tolerate a certain reduction in transmission quality. <C, z
Packets> are suitable for transferring data (for example, moving image information) in which real-time transfer is required and deterioration in transmission quality is more permissible.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the quality class-specific queues 6Rx and 6Tx.

Each of the quality class-specific queues 6Rx and 6Tx is
The queue of received packets is stored for each quality class and each connection. FIG. 6 shows a state where queue rows of three connections are stored in a certain quality class n. Each quality class has, for each connection, a connection pointer section 82 and a queue (connection queue) of a queue storage buffer 84. The connection pointer unit 82 includes a pointer 82a indicating the connection pointer 82 to be relayed next, and a pointer 82b indicating the connection pointer 82 to be discarded next.
And a pointer 82c indicating the first and last queue storage buffers 84 for the own connection. Processing connection list 85 by pointer 82a
Is formed, and a discarded connection list 86 is formed by the pointer 82b. In the queue storage buffer 84,
The packet and pointers to the queue storage buffers 84 before and after the packet are stored. Here, the unprocessed packet with the oldest reception time is stored in the first queue storage buffer 84, and thereafter, the packet whose reception time is close to the current time is stored in the last queue storage buffer 84. The connection pointer portions 82 to be relayed and discarded are indicated by the processing connection pointer 80 and the discarded connection pointer 81, respectively.

When a connection subject to traffic control is newly registered, a connection pointer 82 is added, and a packet belonging to the connection is stored in the connection queue of the added connection pointer 82. In the processing in each quality class, one packet is processed for each connection. This prevents, when a large number of connections exist in the same quality class, only packets of a certain connection from being processed, and enables fair processing for all connections. Note that the packet for which processing has been completed is deleted from the connection queue.

Hereinafter, the processing of the router device 1 will be described using a processing flow.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flow of the packet reception processing.

Upon receiving the packet, the packet receiving section 2 of the router device 1 stores the packet in an empty area of the buffer memory 22 designated by the buffer management section 5 (100). The buffer management unit 11 constantly monitors the capacity of the free area of the buffer memory 22, and determines whether the capacity is equal to or more than a certain value (101). If the value is less than the predetermined value, packet discard processing is performed (103). If the capacity of the free area of the buffer memory 22 is equal to or more than a certain value, and after the processing of step 102, the packet discriminating processing (103) is performed and the processing is terminated.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flow of the packet discarding process 102. The communication quality management unit 7 includes a buffer memory 22
The degree of congestion is determined on the basis of the capacity of the free area, and one of two discarding controls is performed. If the capacity of the free area of the buffer memory 22 is equal to or larger than a predetermined minimum value, (20
0), the first discard control is performed (201), and if less than the predetermined minimum value, the second discard control is performed (202). That is, the first discard control is performed when the degree of congestion is low (that is, there is room in the free space of the reception buffer), and the second discard control is performed when the degree of congestion is high.

FIG. 9 shows a processing flow of the first disposal processing. In the first discarding process, the communication quality management unit 7 selects a quality class in the queue 6Rx for each quality class in which the total number of stored packets is the largest, as a target of discard control (210). Then, a connection queue that can be discarded in the selected quality class is selected (211). FIG.
As indicated by, the discard connection pointer 81 indicating the connection to be discarded is stored in the quality class queue 6Rx. It is checked whether a packet exists in the connection queue indicated by this pointer (212), and if it exists, the packet is discarded. When discarding a packet from a terminal (or an application) that performs a packet retransmission process, discarding a packet having a long reception time stored at the head of a connection queue, all packets after the discarded packet are discarded. Retransmission may cause congestion. However, in the communication of packets that require real-time processing, old packets that have passed a certain time are not required, and it is desirable to discard as old packets as possible. For this reason, in this processing, when discarding a packet, it is determined whether or not the packet has been retransmitted (213). If the packet is retransmitted, the last packet in the connection queue is discarded. If the packet is not retransmitted, the packet at the head of the connection queue is discarded (215). Since whether or not a packet is to be retransmitted can be determined by the protocol used, it is possible to make a determination in step 213 by adding a flag indicating whether or not retransmission is performed to the queue pointer unit 82 in the packet discrimination processing or the quality management processing. Become. In packet discarding, one packet is discarded for each connection of the selected quality class.
When the packet of the connection indicated by the discarded connection pointer 81 is discarded, the presence or absence of an unprocessed connection is checked in the next connection queue indicated by the discarded connection list 85 (216). If there is, the connection is registered in the discarded connection pointer. do it,
Return to step 212. When the discard process is completed for all discard connection queues of the selected quality class,
The free space of the buffer memory 22 is checked (217). If it is less than the predetermined value, it is checked whether or not there is a packet that can be discarded (219). If there is, the process returns to step 210, and a quality class having the largest total number of registered packets is selected. repeat. If there is no discardable packet in step 218, the process ends.

FIG. 10 shows a processing flow of the second disposal processing. In this process, similarly to the first discard control, the communication quality management unit 7 selects a quality class having the largest total number of bytes of the stored packet as a discard control target (230), and is indicated by the discard connection pointer 81. The connection queue is selected as a discard target (231). Then, all the packets registered in the selected connection queue are discarded (232). If there is a packet that has not been discarded in the quality class (233), the connection queue indicated by the discarded connection list 86 is selected as a discard target (234), and the process returns to step 232. If all the packets of the above quality class are discarded (233),
It is checked whether or not the capacity of the free area of the buffer memory 22 is equal to or more than a certain value (234). If the capacity is not less than the certain value, the second discard control is terminated (235). If the value is less than the predetermined value, it is checked whether a discardable packet exists in another connection (236). If there is, the process returns to step 230, and the discard process is repeated with the quality class having the largest total number of bytes as the discard target.

FIG. 11 shows a processing flow of the packet discrimination processing (103).

In this process, the packet discriminating unit 3Rx judges whether the received packet is a data packet (110), and if it is not a data packet, judges whether it is a control packet or a management packet (step 110). 11
8). In the case of a control packet, a resource reservation process (see below 11)
Perform 1) and end the process. In the case of the management packet addressed to the own router device 1, the registration contents of the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 are updated according to the setting information, and the process is terminated. If it is determined in step 110 that the packet is a data packet, connection information (destination address information, protocol information, port number information) is extracted from the packet (112), and whether or not the information is registered in the connection management table 4Rx Check (11
3). If registered, the priority information is extracted from the packet (115), and the connection management table 4
The quality class of the packet corresponding to the extracted priority information is determined in the mapping table 9 indicated by the pointer information registered as a pair in Rx (116). Then, the packet is stored in the quality class queue 6Rx of the determined quality class, a pointer indicating the storage position is registered (117), and the process is terminated. Step 1
In 13, if not registered in the connection management table 4Rx, a communication quality management process (114 described later) is performed and the process ends.

FIG. 12 shows a processing flow of the quality control management processing (114). This process is performed on data packets not registered in the connection management table 4Rx. In this process, the communication quality management unit 7 determines whether or not the received data packet is permitted to perform the communication quality assurance control by using the permission list 8 based on the source and destination address information 35 and 36 set in the packet. Check (1
30). If the corresponding permission flag is set to "ON", the protocol information 34 and the port number information 37 of the packet are extracted (131), and if the same information is set in the corresponding mapping table 9, (13
2) The reservation information packet including the connection information of the packet is transmitted to the receiving side (133). Step 13
If it is 0, and the permission flag is “OFF”, the process ends.

FIG. 13 shows a processing flow of the resource reservation processing (111). This process is performed on the received control packet. First, it is determined whether it is necessary to check the source and destination address information of the received control packet (150). If the address check is unnecessary, it is determined whether the control packet is a reservation information packet or a reservation request packet (151). If the packet is a reservation information packet, a resource reservation protocol process is performed (15).
2) The connection information included in the reservation information packet is extracted (153), and it is checked whether the extracted information is registered in the permission list 8 (154). If registered, the communication quality parameter is determined by the corresponding mapping table 9 (155). Then, the router device 1 (or terminal) that has generated a reservation request packet using the determined communication quality parameter and transmitted the reservation information packet
Then, the generated reservation request packet is transmitted (156).
Then, in the communication of the connection specified by the reservation information packet, the information of the reservation information packet is registered in the connection management table 4 so that the traffic control based on the communication quality parameter is performed thereafter (157), and the process ends. .

In step 154, if the connection information is not registered in the permission list 8, the reservation information packet is transferred (160), and the process ends. In step 151, if the received control packet is a reservation request packet, it is checked whether a reservation information packet having the same content as the connection information set in the reservation request packet has been transmitted (161). If the reservation information packet has been transmitted, protocol processing is performed on the reservation request packet (162), registration is performed in the connection management table 4 based on the setting information of the reservation request packet (157), and the processing is terminated. I do. Step 150
If it is necessary to check the address of the received control packet, the source and destination address information 35 and 36 of the control packet are extracted, and it is checked whether or not it is registered in the permission list 8 (158). If it is registered, resource reservation protocol processing is performed (159), the received control packet is transferred to the destination router 1 (or terminal) (160), and the processing is terminated. When the connection is not registered in the permission list 8, it is determined that the connection for which the communication quality assurance control is not permitted is a control packet, and the process ends without performing any processing.

Next, the packet relay processing and the packet transmission processing of the router device 1 will be described.

FIG. 14 shows a processing flow of the packet relay processing. In this process, the packet relay unit 10 selects a packet to be relayed by a quality control process described later (1).
70). Enables relay with the network controller 23 used for transmission based on the destination address information of the selected packet /
It is determined that the packet cannot be relayed (171), and the above-described packet discrimination processing (FIG. 8) is performed on the packet that is relayable (103). However, in this processing, the generation and transmission of the reservation information packet and the reservation request packet are not performed.

FIG. 15 shows a processing flow of the packet transmission processing. In this process, the packet transmitting unit 11 selects a packet to be transmitted by the quality control process described later (17).
0), and transmits the selected packet (175).

FIG. 16 shows a processing flow of the quality control processing (170).

In this process, the number of bytes that can be processed continuously for each quality class in the quality class queue 6 is limited, so that when a large number of packets of high quality class are continuously received, packets of low quality class are received. To prevent it from being processed. Also, when packets of a certain quality class are processed continuously, selecting one packet for each connection prevents processing of only packets of a certain connection.

First, a maximum value Mi (i = 0, 1, 2, 3) of the number of processing bytes for each quality class is set (191). The counter for obtaining the total number Bi of the processed bytes for each quality class is set to 0 (180). The variable n indicating the quality class to be processed is set to 3 indicating the highest quality class (181). It is checked whether there is a packet in the queue of the nth quality class (182). If there is, it is checked whether or not the number of processing bytes Bn of the n-th quality class exceeds the maximum value Mn of the quality class (18).
3). If not, the connection queue registered most recently in the nth quality class is determined (18).
4). One packet is extracted from the determined connection queue (185), and the counter adds the number of bytes of the extracted packet to the number of processed bytes Bn (186). Check the connection list and store the connection queue to be processed next. If the number of processing bytes Bn exceeds the maximum value Mn in step 183, packets of a lower quality class are processed. That is, if n is not 0 (188), n is decremented (189),
Return to step 182. If n is 0, the number of bytes to be processed for each quality class is set to 0, and the process returns to step 181.

The router device 1 performs the quality control process (17) in both the packet relay process and the packet transmission process.
0) is performed, but communication quality can be assured also when communication quality assurance control is performed only by packet transmission processing. Further, by adding the network controller 23, three or more networks can be connected and communication can be performed.

Next, a network system using the router device 1 will be described.

FIG. 17 shows a configuration example of a network system. The network system shown in FIG. 17 includes four networks 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15Z.
B and 15C are connected to the network 15Z via the router devices 1 (1A, 1B and 1C), respectively. Network 15A, 15
B, 15C, each one or more terminals 16A, 16B, 16C are connected,
The network 15Z is connected to a network management terminal 17 that performs line fault management of the network system, fault management of the router, setting of configuration definition information, and collection of management information. The network management terminal 17 can make settings in the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 of the router device 1 by using a management packet generated by processing of a network management protocol (or remote access). With this function, connection information including source address information indicating the terminal 16A of the network 15A and destination address information indicating the terminal 16B of the network 15B is set in the permission list 8 of the router devices 1A and 1B, and the corresponding information is set. The permission flag is set to “ON”. The connection information is not set in the permission list 8 of the router devices 1AZ and 1BZ.

With no connection registered,
When a data packet is transmitted from terminal 16A to terminal 16B,
Since the permission flag of the permission list 8 corresponding to the address information of the packet is “ON”, the router 1A generates a reservation information packet from the connection information of the packet and transmits the reservation information packet to the terminal 16B. The router 1B receiving this packet determines the quality parameter based on the setting information of the reservation information packet since the address information of the received reservation information packet is registered in the permission list 8 of the router 1B. Register the connection in the management table 4. Then, a reservation request packet including the determined quality parameter and connection information is transmitted to terminal 16A. The router 1A registers the connection in the connection management table 4 because the connection information indicated by the received reservation request packet matches the connection information of the reservation information packet previously transmitted by the router 1A. The other router devices 1AZ and 1BZ that relay these control packets do not set the connection in the permission list 8, and therefore normally process and transfer all the received control packets. As a result, the terminal
For communication between 16A and terminal 16B, traffic control according to the above-mentioned quality parameters is performed.

On the other hand, when the terminals 16A and 16B have the processing function of the resource reservation protocol, the connection registration and the traffic control are also performed by transmitting and receiving the control packets of the terminals 16A and 16B. In this case, the communication quality parameter is determined by the terminal 16A or 16B, and the router devices 1A and 1B perform traffic control according to the communication quality parameter.

By setting the permission flag of the permission list 8 of the routers 1A and 1C for the connection over the networks 15A and 15C to "OFF", the traffic control of the communication between the networks 15A and 15C is not performed. . In this case, the control packet transmitted from terminal 16C to terminal 16A or 16B is discarded by router device 1C.

As described above, the router device 1
Based on the contents of the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 registered by the administrator, the communication quality of each connection can be assured by restricting the contents of the traffic control applied to the establishment of each connection and the communication of each connection. .

When a packet of a connection that has not been opened is transmitted, the router device 1 determines the content of the traffic control required for the communication of the packet from the content of the mapping table 9 and transmits it to the connection. Therefore, it is possible to open a connection and perform appropriate traffic control even for a terminal that does not have a resource reservation protocol function.

Further, since the router 1 needs to register the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 only for the connection of the terminal directly connected without passing through another router, all the routers included in the connection are required. This makes it easier for the administrator to manage the connection as compared with the conventional technique that requires registration to the administrator.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 18 shows a hardware configuration of a router device 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The router device 2 includes a CPU 60 that specializes in management of each unit of the router device 2, a memory 61 that stores programs and management data of the CPU 60, and a plurality of memory cards 62.
And an internal bus 66 for connecting these units 60 to 62. One memory card 62 exists for each network connected to the router device 2, and includes a CPU 63, a memory 64, and a network controller 65.

The router device 2 has the same function (see FIG. 1) as the router device 1 of the first embodiment. That is,
In the router device 2, the packet receiving unit 2 in FIG. 1 is realized by a network controller 65 and a CPU 63 built in the interface card 62 that has received the packet. The packet discriminating unit 3Rx and the packet relay unit 10 communicate with the interface card 6 that has received the packet.
2 is realized by the CPU 63 incorporated in the CPU 2. The packet discriminating unit 3Tx is realized by the CPU 63 built in the interface card 62 for transmitting a packet, and the packet transmitting unit 11 is realized by the CPU 63 and the network controller 65 built in the interface card 62 for transmitting the packet. Queue 6 by quality class
Rx is stored in the memory 64 incorporated in the interface card 61 that has received the packet,
Tx is realized by a memory 64 incorporated in the interface card 61 for transmitting a packet. The connection management tables 4Rx and 4Tx are realized by memories built in the respective interface cards 62 for transmitting and receiving packets. The communication quality management unit 7 is realized by the CPU 60, and the permission list 8 and the mapping table 9 are realized by the memory 61. The mapping table 9 may be realized by the memory 64 of each interface card 62.

Next, the processing of the router device 2 will be described. The packet discrimination process and the quality control management process are the same as those in FIGS. In the resource reservation process, FIG.
In the process of 3, the connection information of the packet to be subjected to traffic control is registered in the connection management information table 4 of the interface card 62 that receives the packet. In the packet relay process, in the process of FIG. 14, the interface card 62 used for transmission is determined, and the packet is transferred there. 7 and FIG.
The same processing as in step 5 is performed.

According to this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, the processing load in the packet transmission / reception processing and the relay processing is reduced by the plurality of CPUs 63 and 6.
Since it is distributed to zero or a plurality of network controllers 65, it is possible to increase the processing capacity as compared with the first embodiment.

[0060]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a router device which makes it easy for a manager to manage connections and guarantees the communication quality of each connection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a router device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a router device.

FIG. 3 is a format example of a packet handled by a router device.

FIG. 4 is a connection management table.

FIG. 5 shows a permission list and a mapping table set in the router device.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of a quality class-specific queue.

FIG. 7 is a processing flow of a packet receiving process.

FIG. 8 is a processing flow of a packet discarding process.

FIG. 9 is a processing flow of a first disposal processing.

FIG. 10 is a processing flow of a second disposal processing.

FIG. 11 is a processing flow of a packet determination processing.

FIG. 12 is a processing flow of quality control management processing.

FIG. 13 is a process flow of a resource reservation process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a packet relay process.

FIG. 15 is a processing flow of a packet transmission processing.

FIG. 16 is a process flow of a quality control process.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a network system.

FIG. 18 is a hardware configuration diagram of a router device according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Router apparatus, 2 ... Packet reception part, 3 ... Packet discrimination part, 4 ... Connection management table, 5 ... Buffer management part, 6 ... Quality class queue, 7 ... Communication quality management part, 8 ... Permission list, 9 ... Mapping table,
10: packet relay unit, 11: packet transmission unit, 20
... CPU, 22 ... buffer memory, 23 ... network controller, 30 ... packet, 33 ... priority information, 34 ... protocol information, 35 ... source address information, 36 ... destination address information, 37 ... port number information.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Naoya Ikeda 810 Shimoimaizumi, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi Systems, Ltd.Office Systems Division (72) Inventor Masashi Kamagaya 12 shares of 890 Kashimada, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 5K030 HB11 HD03 JA05 KX29 LA03 LB19 LC01 LC18

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of networks each connected to one or more communication terminals or other router devices are connected to each other, and a connection between communication terminals communicating via the plurality of networks is managed as a connection. A receiving device for receiving a packet from the plurality of networks; a connection recognizing device for recognizing a connection for communicating the packet based on the content of the packet received by the receiving device; A transmission unit for transferring the received packet to the network corresponding to the recognized connection; and a connection for each connection of the communication terminal connected to the own router without passing through another router. A management table in which information indicating the content of the traffic control is registered; When the packet received by the receiving means is a packet of an unestablished connection, the management includes information indicating the connection and information indicating the content of the traffic control registered in the management table corresponding to the connection. A connection management unit that generates a management packet, and transmits the generated management packet from the transmission unit to all the other router devices included in the connection, and a connection used to generate the management packet. Information and information indicating the content of traffic control, or
Communication control means for opening the connection based on information contained in the management packet received by the receiving means from another router device and performing traffic control on a packet transferred by the transmission means for the connection; and A router for updating the registered contents of the management table in accordance with a predetermined management command. 2. The router device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic control performed by the communication control means includes a control for discarding a part of the packets to be transferred and a control for changing a transfer order of the packets to be transferred. A router device characterized in that the content of the traffic control for each connection registered in the management table indicates whether the packet of the connection can be discarded and the priority of the transfer order of the packet. 3. The router device according to claim 1, wherein the management table also stores, for each connection, information indicating permission or non-permission of establishment of the connection. A router device for discarding a management packet sent for an unauthorized connection without processing. 4. The router according to claim 1, wherein said connection recognizing means also recognizes a type of said received packet, and said management table contains information indicating the content of traffic control for each connection. The generation of the management packet by the connection management unit is registered for each type of the packet, and the traffic control registered in the management table corresponding to the connection and the type of the packet recognized by the connection recognition unit. Characterized in that information indicating the content of the router is used. 5. The router device according to claim 4, wherein the packet indicates protocol information indicating a protocol used in communication of the packet, and an application of the communication terminal that processes the contents of the packet. The router device includes application information, and the recognition of the type of the packet performed by the connection recognition unit is performed based on the protocol information and the application information. 6. The router device according to claim 5, wherein the packet includes priority information indicating a priority of processing of the packet desired by a terminal transmitting the packet, and The router device, wherein the recognition of the type of the packet performed by the recognition means is also performed based on the priority information. 7. A network system comprising: a plurality of networks each connected to one or more communication terminals; and a plurality of routers according to claim 1, interconnecting the plurality of networks. The communication terminal includes a communication terminal that is operated by a network administrator and transmits a registration packet, which is the predetermined management instruction, and updates the registration contents of the management table by the registration unit of the router device. A network system for receiving the registration packet received by the receiving unit. 8. A network system comprising: a plurality of networks each connected to one or more communication terminals; and a plurality of routers according to claim 3, interconnecting the plurality of networks. A network system, wherein the communication terminal includes a communication terminal having a function of generating the management packet.