JP2002084314A - Priority transfer setting equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide priority transfer setting equipment which can be applied to a large scale network and realize effective priority transfer by a simple operation. SOLUTION: This priority transfer setting equipment 10 of a network consists of plural client apparatuses 27-30, plural server apparatuses 20-23 and plural routers 25, 25a, 26 for mutually connecting the apparatuses, and supplies packets containing priority level data and content data to the routers, which transfer the packets mutually with the priority level set, on the basis of input flow control information, output flow control information and priority level data. A setting changing part is installed, which changes the set priority level of the router 25a, connected with a specific server and transfers a packet, which the specific server transmits to an indicated priority level, after the set priority levels of all routers are set initially as the ordinary priority levels.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a priority transfer setting device, and more particularly to a priority transfer setting device capable of efficiently transferring a packet transmitted from a server to a client.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional IP (Internet Pro
The routers that make up the (tocol) network are best-effort routers that transfer each packet in the order in which they arrive, and cannot perform transfer control with priority on specific packets. Therefore, when congestion occurs in the network, (1) subsequent packets stay in a queue in the router and a delivery delay occurs. (2) When the queue becomes full, the importance of the packet is reduced. Regardless, the following packets are discarded, and the like.

In consideration of these problems, a study on a priority transfer method of an IP network has been conducted by the IETF (Internet).
net Engineering Task Forc
The working group in e). Reso
resource Reservation Setup Pr
RFC (Request for Comment) submitted by the working group (autocoll (rsvp) Working Group)
ts) 2205 is a method of setting a path through a predetermined router between a communicating client and a server, and preferentially transferring a packet passing through the path.

[0004] Then, a working group, Differentiated Service, which is different from the above, is described.
s (diffserv), the TOS (T
type of Service) field to DS (D
A priority transfer method has been proposed (RFC 2474) in which the packet is redefined (referred to as RFC 2474) as an independent services field and the packet is transferred according to the priority of the packet represented by the DS field.
5). The following RFC 2474 and RFC 24
The priority transfer method proposed in 75 will be described.

A router provided in an IP network has an input flow control unit and an output flow control unit. The input flow control unit compares the source address or the destination address of the flowing packet with a specific address according to the input flow control information, and rewrites the priority information of the packet according to the comparison result. For example, if the input flow control information is “the source address is 123.10.10.1, the priority is increased.
Make 4 normal. ", The packet whose source address is 123.10.10.1 is
Write "high" to the priority information. For a packet whose source address is not 123.10.10.1,
"Normal" is written in the priority information.

The output flow control unit performs packet queuing according to the output flow control information. For example, if the output flow control information is "determine the priority of a packet and put it in a queue according to priority", the packet classifier determines the priority information of the flowing packet and places the packet in the queue group. Are stored in queues (queue (high), queue (normal), and queue (low)) corresponding to the priority of.
The packets stored in the queue are sequentially transmitted by the transmission scheduler. At this time, the packets stored in the high-priority queue are transmitted before the packets stored in the lower-priority queue.

As described above, the input flow control unit of the router rewrites the packet priority information based on the input flow control information and the header information. Further, the output flow control unit transfers the packet preferentially according to the priority information written in the packet.

[0008]

The above-mentioned RFC 2205
In the method of setting a path through a predetermined router between a client and a server and preferentially forwarding a packet passing through the path, most paths are formed through a core router in a backbone inside an IP network. Therefore, the maximum number of paths that can be set is limited to the number that can be set in one core router. Therefore, this method cannot be applied to large-scale IP networks. On the other hand, the priority transfer method described in the RFC 2475 defines only the operation of each router that receives a packet, and it is difficult to set effective priority control for a large number of routers in a large-scale network. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a priority transfer setting apparatus which can be applied to a large-scale network and can realize effective priority transfer with a simple operation.

[0010]

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The apparatus comprises a plurality of client devices, a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of routers interconnecting these devices, and supplies a packet containing priority data and content data to the router. Information, output flow control information and a priority transfer setting device of a network for mutually transferring the packets with the priority set based on the priority data, after initial setting the setting priority of all routers to normal priority A setting change unit that changes the setting priority of the router that connects to the specific server and transfers the packet transmitted by the specific server to the specified priority. In addition, it is possible to set a priority change prohibition to a router that connects to a specific server and transfers a packet transmitted by the specific server, and transfers the packet with the priority written by the specific server.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a priority transfer setting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a network to which the priority transfer setting device is applied.
In these figures, 10 is a router priority transfer setting device,
A user interface unit 11 receives a router setting instruction from a network administrator. Reference numeral 12 denotes an edge router initial setting unit that performs an initial setting of the interface flow control information in the edge router after the construction of the network, that is, a process of initializing the priority transfer setting. Reference numeral 13 denotes a core router initial setting unit, which performs initial setting of interface flow control information in the core router after network construction, that is, initialization processing of priority transfer setting of the core router. An edge router setting change unit 14 changes the priority transfer setting of the edge router after constructing the network. Reference numeral 15 denotes a router configuration database, which holds information on routers constituting a network. 1
A router operation command issuing unit 6 generates a router command and sends the generated command to the router.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the network 1. In the figure, 20 to 23 are clients, 2
5 is an edge router connected to a server or a client, and 25a is a server (for example, server 20) that performs priority control
, And 30 to 30 are clients.

The servers 20 to 23 and the clients 27 to 30 are connected to the edge router 25 and communicate by transmitting and receiving packets to and from the edge router 25. Inside the network 1, there is a core router 26 connected to each other, and the edge router 25 is connected to the core router 2.
6 to transfer packets to each other. The router priority transfer setting device 10 connects to all the edge routers 25 and the core routers 26 constituting the network 1 via the network, and sets the priority transfer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the priority transfer setting device, and FIG. 4 is a router table stored in the router configuration database 15. After constructing the network, the priority transfer setting device 10 initializes the priority of each router using the priority transfer setting device. Initial settings of the router include initial settings of the edge router 25 (steps 100 to 102) and initial settings of the core router 26 (steps 103 to 10).
Execute in 5). Next, the priority of, for example, a router connected to a predetermined server is changed according to a request of a system administrator or the like (steps 106 to 109).

First, in step 100, the edge router initial setting unit 12 extracts the first edge router information stored in the router configuration database 15 from the edge router table 61 shown in FIG. In step 101, the flow control information of all interfaces in the edge router is sequentially initialized based on the extracted information as described later. In step 102, it is determined whether or not the initial settings of all edge routers have been completed. If the initial settings of all edge routers have been completed, the process proceeds to step 103.
In step 103, the core router initial setting unit 13
Extracts the first core router information in the core router table 62 shown in FIG. In step 104, the flow control information of all interfaces in the core router is sequentially initialized based on the extracted information as described later. In step 105, it is determined whether or not the initial settings of all edge routers have been completed. If the initial settings of all edge routers have been completed, the process proceeds to step 106. In step 106,
Wait for priority setting request. A request, for example, a specific server (for example, an edge router 25 connected to the server 20) from an administrator of an ASP, a data center, or an enterprise information system.
If there is a request to increase the priority of the communication, the process proceeds to step 107. In step 107,
For example, when increasing the priority of the packet sent from the server 20, the network administrator sets the priority setting information 56 (shown in FIG. 10) including the address of the server 20 and the address of the edge router 25 to which the server 20 is connected. Is input to the user interface unit 11. The edge router setting change unit 14 acquires the priority setting information 56 from the user interface unit 11. In step 108, the edge router setting change unit 14 further analyzes the priority setting information 56 and generates the input flow information 250 shown in FIG. In step 109, the edge router setting change unit 14 changes the input flow control information (initial setting value) of the edge router 25 connected to the server 20 to the input flow information 250 via the router operation command issuing unit 16.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the details of the step 101, that is, the step of initializing the flow control information of the interface in the edge router. First, in step 110, the edge router table 61
Fetch the first edge router information. In step 111, it is determined whether or not the interface in the edge router is connected to the core router. If the interface is connected to the core router, the process proceeds to step 112; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 113. In step 112, the input flow control information of the interface is set to “do not change the priority”. In step 113, the input flow control information of the interface is set to “normalize the priority of all packets”. In step 114, the output flow control information of the interface is set to "determine the priority of a packet and put it in a priority queue". In step 115, it is determined whether or not the setting has been completed for all the interfaces. If all the processes have not been completed, the process proceeds to step 110; otherwise, the process ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the details of the step 104, that is, the step of initializing the flow control information of the interface in the core router. First, in step 116, the first core router information in the core router table 62 is extracted. In step 117, the input flow control information is set to “do not change the priority”. In step 118, the output flow control information is set to "determine the priority of the packet and put it in the priority queue". In step 119, it is determined whether or not the setting has been completed for all the interfaces. If all the processes have not been completed, the process proceeds to step 116; otherwise, the process ends.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an edge router 25a connected to a server (for example, the server 20) for which the priority of communication is set high and which is to be controlled. The input flow control information and the output flow of the interface constituting the router are shown in FIG. This shows a state in which the initial setting of the control information has been completed. As shown in the figure,
“Do not change priority” is set in the input flow control information 206 of the input flow control unit 205 of the interface 32 connected to the core router, and “the priority of the packet is set in the output flow control information 208 of the output flow control unit 207. Judge and put in queue by priority "is set. In addition, “normalize the priority of all packets” is set in the input flow control information 202 of the input flow control unit 201 of the interface 30 not connected to the core router, and the output flow control information 204 of the output flow control unit 203 is "Determine the priority of a packet and put it in a priority queue"
Is set.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an edge router 25 connected to servers and clients other than the server for which priority control is performed. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the initial setting of the input flow control information and the output flow control information of the interface constituting the router is completed. Show. As shown in the figure, “do not change the priority” is set in the input flow control information 216 of the input flow control unit 215 of the interface 35 connected to the core router, and the output flow control information 2 of the output flow control unit 217 is set.
18 is set to “determine the priority of a packet and put it in a priority queue”. Further, “normalize the priority of all packets” is set in the input flow control information 212 of the input flow control unit 211 of the interface 33 not connected to the core router, and the output flow control information 214 of the output flow control unit 213 is "Determine the priority of a packet and put it in a priority queue" is set.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the core router 26, showing a state in which the initial setting of the input flow control information and the output flow control information of the interface constituting the router has been completed. As shown in the figure, “do not change priority” is set in the input flow control information 221 and 226 of the input flow control units 221 and 225 of the interfaces 36 and 38, and the output flow control of the output flow control units 213 and 227 is performed. The information 224 and 228 are set to "determine the priority of a packet and put it in a queue according to priority".

With the above processing, the initialization of all routers is completed. At this stage, the fact that all packets flow with normal priority as in the prior art will be described with reference to FIGS.

For all packets flowing from the servers 20, 21, 22, 23 and clients 27, 28, 29, 30 to the network 1, the edge router 25a
And the input flow control units 201 and 211 write “normal” as the priority information 54 of the input packet according to the input flow control information 202 and 212. The packets for which the priority information 54 is set to “normal” pass through the routing controls 31 and 34 and output flow control units 207 and 217 of the interfaces 32 and 35 that are destinations.
Sent to The output flow control units 207 and 217 send packets to the core router 26 with normal priority according to the output flow control information 208 and 218.

The input flow control unit 221 of the core router 26
The packet arriving at the routing controller 37 does not change the priority according to the input flow control information 222.
Is sent to the output flow control unit 227 via The output flow control unit 227 sends the packet to the next core router 26 with normal priority according to the output flow control information 228.

The packet similarly passes through a plurality of core routers 26 and reaches the input flow control units 205 and 215 of the edge router 25a or 25. Input flow control unit 205,
215 is sent to the output flow control units 203 and 213 of the interfaces 30 and 33 which are destinations via the routing control units 31 and 34 with the packet “do not change the priority” according to the input flow control information 206 and 216. The output flow control units 203 and 213 send packets to the destination server or client with normal priority according to the output flow control information 204 and 214. Therefore, all packets sent from the servers 20, 21, 22, 23 and the clients 27, 28, 29, 30 are transferred to the destination with normal priority.

Next, steps 106 to 10 shown in FIG.
The flow of the packet after the priority transfer setting by No. 9 is completed will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of priority setting information input to the router priority transfer device.

As described above, the priority setting is performed in step 1
At 06, a request for priority setting is awaited. Request, eg A
If there is a request from the SP, the data center, the manager of the enterprise information system, or the like to increase the priority of communication for a specific server (for example, the edge router 25 connected to the server 20), the process proceeds to step 107. Step 1
In step 07, for example, when increasing the priority of the packet sent from the server 20, the network administrator sets the priority setting information 56 (FIG. 10) including the address of the server 20 and the address of the edge router 25 to which the server 20 is connected.
) Is input to the user interface unit 11. The edge router setting change unit 14 acquires the priority setting information 56 from the user interface unit 11. Step 108
In FIG. 7, the edge router setting change unit 14 further analyzes the priority setting information 56, and receives the input flow information 250 shown in FIG.
Generate In step 109, the edge router setting change unit 14 sends the input flow control information (initial setting value) of the edge router 25 connected to the server 20 via the router operation command issuing unit 16 to the input flow information 250.
It is done by changing to

Due to this setting change, the input flow control unit 201 of the edge router 25a writes the priority “high” in the packet sent from the server 20 according to the input flow control information 250, and the output flow control unit 207 Is transmitted to the core router with higher priority. Then, the core router 26 that has received the packet does not change the priority information in the input flow control unit 221, so that the priority of the packet remains “high” and the output flow control unit 227.
Output to the next router with high priority. Finally, when the packet arrives from the core router 26 to the edge router 25, the input flow control unit 215 does not change the priority information, so that the packet remains at “high” priority, and the output flow control unit 213 Output to 27 to 30 with high priority. In this way, packets sent from the server 20 are transferred to the clients 27 to 30 with high priority. On the other hand, the other servers 21, 22,
23 and the packets sent from the clients 27 to 30 are compared with the packets sent from the server 20 because the input flow control units 201 and 211 of the edge router 25 to which they are connected set the priority to “normal”. Lower priority.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a network connecting the server 20 and the client 27. As shown in the figure, for example, information of priority "high" is written by the edge router 25a in the packet transmitted by the server 20, and this packet is transferred to the client 27 with the priority "high". The packet transmitted by the client 27 is written with information of the priority “normal” which is an initial setting value, and this packet is transferred to the server 20 with the priority “normal”.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the flow of a packet when the priority of the packet sent from the server 20 is set high as described above. In the figure, the thick line 41 indicates the flow of the priority “high” of the packet going down from the server 20 to the client 27 to 30, the thin line 42 indicates the flow of the priority “normal” of the packet going up from the client 27 to the server 20, The thin line 43 shows the flow of the priority "normal" of the packet going down from the server 23 to the client 27 to 30, and the thin line 44 shows the flow of the priority "normal" of the packet going up from the client 27 to 30 to the server 23.

Next, a case will be described in which there is a request that the packet from the server 21 besides the server 20 be given a higher priority. In this case, step 106
To 109 are repeated. At this time, when the network administrator inputs, from the user interface unit 11 shown in FIG. 1, the priority setting information 57 indicating the instruction to “increase the priority of the packet sent from the server 20 or 21” shown in FIG. Router setting change unit 14
Changes the input flow control information 250 shown in FIG. 7 to the input flow control information 260 at step 109 via the router operation command issuing unit 16. By changing this setting,
The packet sent from the server 21 is also transferred with a high priority like the packet sent from the server 20.

Next, an example in which the priority is changed for each packet will be described. In this case, the processing of steps 106 to 109 is repeated. At this time, the network administrator does not change the priority of the packet sent from the server 20 shown in FIG.
Priority setting information 58 representing an instruction is input. The edge router setting change unit 14 changes the input flow control information 260 shown in FIG. 7 to the input flow control information 270 at step 109 via the router operation command issuing unit 16. By this setting change, the packet 50 is transferred at the priority written by the server 20 in the packet. Server 2
0, the input flow control unit 201
Does not change the priority information according to the input flow control information 270. Thereafter, since the priority information is not changed even in the core router 26 and the edge router 25 through which the packet passes, the packet is transferred to the client 27 according to the priority written by the server. Thereby, the server 20
Can be set by changing the priority for each packet.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by changing the setting of the priority control for only one edge router connected to the server, the downlink packet flowing from the server to all the clients can be changed. It can be transferred preferentially. In a server that provides information to a client, the number of downstream packets flowing from the server to the client is significantly larger than the number of upstream packets, so this priority control is effective. Therefore, in a content distribution system such as an online stock trading system or music information, a server that distributes stock information and content with a high priority is set up separately from a server that distributes stock information and content with a normal priority, and a setting is made such that priority transfer is performed. Even when network congestion occurs, it is possible to provide a premium service that delivers at a stable speed.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a priority transfer setting device which can be applied to a large-scale network and can realize effective priority transfer with a simple operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a priority transfer setting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a router table stored in a router configuration database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a priority transfer setting device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of steps for initializing flow control information of an interface in an edge router.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of steps for initializing flow control information of an interface in a core router.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an edge router connected to a server that performs priority control.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an edge router connected to a server other than a server that performs priority control.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a core router.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of priority setting information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network connecting a server and a client.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of a packet.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 router priority transfer setting device 11 user interface unit 12 edge router initial setting unit 13 core router initial setting unit 14 edge router setting change unit 15 router configuration database 16 router operation command issuing unit 20-23 client 25, 25a edge router 27-30 client 31, 34, 37 Routing control unit 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38 Interface 201, 205, 212, 215, 221, 225 Input flow control unit 203, 207, 213, 217, 223, 227 Output flow control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] The present invention comprises a plurality of client devices, a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of routers interconnecting these devices, and supplies a packet including priority data and content data to the router. In a priority transfer setting device of a network for mutually transferring the packets at a priority set based on flow control information, output flow control information and the priority data, the priority transfer setting device is a setting priority of all related routers. And a setting change unit that sets a setting priority of a router that connects to a specific server and transfers a packet transmitted by the specific server to a specified priority. Characteristic priority transfer setting device. 2. The priority transfer setting device according to claim 1, wherein the router connected to the specific server writes the specified priority data in a packet transmitted by the specific server. 3. A router comprising a plurality of client devices, a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of routers interconnecting these devices, and supplies a packet containing priority data and content data to the router. In a priority transfer setting device of a network for mutually transferring the packets at a priority set based on flow control information, output flow control information and the priority data, the priority transfer setting device is a setting priority of all related routers. And a setting change unit that connects to a specific server and sets a setting priority of a router that forwards a packet transmitted by the specific server to a setting prohibition. Priority transfer setting device. 4. A server comprising a plurality of client devices, a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of routers interconnecting these devices, and supplies a packet containing priority data and content data to said router. In a priority transfer setting method for a network in which packets are mutually transferred at a priority set based on flow control information, output flow control information and the priority data, the setting priority of all related routers is set to a normal priority. A priority transfer setting method comprising: after initial setting, changing a setting priority of a router that connects to a specific server and transfers a packet transmitted by the specific server to a designated priority. 5. A system comprising a plurality of client devices, a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of routers interconnecting these devices, and supplies a packet containing priority data and content data to said router. In a priority transfer setting method for a network in which packets are mutually transferred at a priority set based on flow control information, output flow control information and the priority data, the setting priority of all related routers is set to a normal priority. A priority transfer setting method, comprising, after initial setting, changing a setting priority of a router for transferring a packet transmitted by the specific server to a setting prohibition.