JP2012054819A - Packet relay device, packet relay method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress waste in throughput capacity of a packet processing part provided in a packet relay device.SOLUTION: The packet relay device includes: a plurality of packet processing parts having physical ports; a logical port setting part; a distribution destination determination part for determining a distribution destination packet processing part to be a distribution destination of a multicast packet on the basis of flow information when the multicast packet is received; a packet distribution part; an output port determination part for determining an output port on the basis of the flow information; a packet output part; and an output determination part. In the case of determining that the multicast packet is not outputted from the distribution destination packet processing part, the distribution destination determination part receives the multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet which is not outputted, and determines the distribution destination packet processing part from the other packet processing parts excluding the distribution destination packet processing part from which the multicast packet is not outputted.

Description

  The present invention relates to a packet relay device.

  Conventionally, layer 3 switches, routers, and the like have been used to relay layer 3 (third layer in the OSI reference model) packets. Packet relay devices having a function called link aggregation are known as packet relay devices such as layer 3 switches and routers. The link aggregation function realizes expansion of bandwidth and securing of redundancy by handling a plurality of physical ports provided in the packet relay device as one logical port.

  As a packet relay device with a link aggregation function, it has multiple packet processing units with multiple physical ports, and when multicast packets are received, distributes the packets to each packet processing unit and outputs the packets at each packet processing unit A packet relay device that determines a physical port to output and outputs a packet has been proposed (Patent Document 1). In this packet relay device, a plurality of physical ports of a plurality of packet processing units are handled as one logical port, and one physical port is output from a plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port in each packet processing unit. Determined as a port.

JP 2005-20492 A

  According to the above-described technology for determining a physical port that outputs a packet in each packet processing unit, when each packet processing unit determines a physical port of another packet processing unit as an output port, Since the packet is not output from the port, the received packet is discarded. Therefore, even in a packet processing unit that does not output a packet, wasteful processing such as route search and determination of an output port is performed, so that there is a problem in that the processing capability of each packet processing unit is wasted.

  The above problem may occur not only in a packet relay device that relays layer 3 packets, but also in a packet relay device that relays layer 2 frames.

  An object of the present invention is to suppress waste of processing capacity of a packet processing unit included in a packet relay device.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

Application Example 1 A packet relay device,
A plurality of packet processing units having physical ports;
A logical port setting unit that sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units;
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A distribution destination determination unit that determines a distribution destination packet processing unit that is a distribution destination of the multicast packet;
A packet distribution unit for distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for determining an output port for outputting the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports configuring the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet A decision unit;
A packet output unit for outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output determination unit that determines whether or not the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
The distribution destination determination unit is the same as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output from the distribution packet processing unit as a result of the determination by the output determination unit When receiving a multicast packet having flow information, among the plurality of packet processing units, the distribution destination packet processing unit from among other packet processing units excluding the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet was not output Determine the packet relay device.

  In the packet relay apparatus according to the application example 1, when a multicast packet is not output, the other packet processing units except for the packet processing unit that did not output the multicast packet for the multicast packet having the same flow information. Since the distribution destination packet processing unit is determined, distribution of the multicast packet to the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet can be suppressed. Therefore, in the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet, it is possible to suppress execution of useless processing such as reception of the multicast packet and determination of the output port, and it is possible to suppress waste of processing capacity. In addition, since the multicast packet distribution destination is automatically set by feeding back that the packet is not output, the flow destination is assumed in advance, and the distribution destination is manually set according to each flow information. Compared to the work load on the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is not output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, it is automatically assigned to the appropriate distribution destination. Since multicast packets can be distributed, the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

[Application Example 2] In the packet relay device according to Application Example 1,
The flow information includes a hash value obtained based on at least one of a transmission source address, a destination address, a protocol number, a transmission source port number, and a destination port number, a transmission source address, and a destination address. A packet relay device consisting of

  With this configuration, the flow information can be information indicating a combination of a transmission source and a destination.

Application Example 3 In the packet relay device according to Application Example 1 or Application Example 2,
The flow information is associated with the packet processing unit that is the distribution destination packet processing unit, and includes a distribution destination determination table that is referred to when the distribution destination determination unit determines the distribution destination packet processing unit,
The distribution destination determination table includes, as a default entry, information indicating that any value may be used as the flow information, and an entry in which a predetermined packet processing unit is associated as the distribution destination packet processing unit,
When it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, the distribution destination determination unit is a new entry in the distribution destination determination table, and is output as the flow information. The flow information of the multicast packet that did not exist is set, and the distribution destination packet processing unit that did not output the multicast packet from the distribution destination packet processing unit set in the default entry as the distribution destination packet processing unit A packet relay device that adds a new entry excluding the message to the distribution destination determination table.

  With such a configuration, when a multicast packet is not output, when a multicast packet having the same flow information is received after the next time by a simple method of adding a new entry in the distribution destination determination table, Distribution of multicast packets to packet processing units that did not output multicast packets last time can be suppressed. Therefore, the process in the packet relay apparatus of the present invention can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost and running cost of the packet relay apparatus can be suppressed. In addition, since the distribution destination determination table has a default entry, when a multicast packet having new flow information arrives at the packet relay device, the multicast packet is sent to each packet processing unit using the default entry. Can be distributed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the workload of the administrator as compared with a configuration in which flow information is assumed in advance and a packet processing unit as a distribution destination is manually set according to each flow information.

Application Example 4 A packet relay device,
A plurality of packet processing units having physical ports;
A logical port setting unit that sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units;
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A distribution destination determination unit that determines a distribution destination packet processing unit that is a distribution destination of the multicast packet;
A packet distribution unit for distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for outputting the multicast packet is specified based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet, and the distribution port when the output port is the logical port An output port specifying unit that executes physical port specifying processing for specifying one physical port as the output port from among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port, based on the flow information of the multicast packet that is generated,
A packet output unit for outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output determination unit that determines whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
The output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit. A packet relay device that specifies the physical port from which the multicast packet has been output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process.

  In the packet relay device according to the application example 4, when a multicast packet is output, the output port is determined by the output port specifying unit without executing the physical port specifying process for the multicast packet having the same flow information. Is done. Therefore, since the physical port specifying process can be omitted in the packet processing unit (distribution destination packet processing unit), waste of processing capacity can be suppressed. In addition, since the output port is automatically set by feeding back that the packet has been output, compared to a configuration in which flow information is assumed in advance and the distribution destination is set manually according to each flow information , Can reduce the workload of the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, an appropriate output port is automatically set. Can be set, so the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

Application Example 5 In the packet relay device according to Application Example 4,
The flow information includes a hash value obtained based on at least one of a transmission source address, a destination address, a protocol number, a transmission source port number, and a destination port number, a transmission source address, and a destination address. A packet relay device consisting of

  With this configuration, the flow information can be information indicating a combination of a transmission source and a destination.

Application Example 6 In the packet relay device according to Application Example 4 or Application Example 5,
An output port table in which the flow information, the logical port, and the physical port included in the logical port are associated with each other;
The output port table includes, as a default entry, information indicating that any value may be used as the flow information, a predetermined logical port as the logical port, and all of the predetermined logical port as the physical port And has an entry associated with the physical port of
The output port specifying unit is a first new entry in the output port table when the multicast packet is determined to be output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the output information is the output information. The flow information of the multicast packet is set, the logical port including the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is set as the logical port, and only the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is set as the physical port Adding the first new entry made to the output port table;
When the output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet, the output port specifying unit refers to the output port table and based on the first new entry, the output port A packet relay device that identifies a port.

  With this configuration, when a multicast packet is output, when a multicast packet having the same flow information is received from the next time onward by the simple method of adding the first new entry in the output port table when the multicast packet is output In addition, the output port can be specified without executing the physical port specifying process in the packet processing unit that previously output the multicast packet. Therefore, the process in the packet relay apparatus of the present invention can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost and running cost of the packet relay apparatus can be suppressed. In addition, since the output port table has a default entry, when a multicast packet having new flow information arrives at the packet relay apparatus, the output port of the multicast packet is determined using the default entry. Can do. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the workload of the administrator as compared with the configuration in which the flow information is assumed in advance and the output port is manually set according to each flow information.

[Application Example 7] In the packet relay device according to any one of Application Example 4 to Application Example 6,
A packet length determination unit for determining whether the packet length of the multicast packet satisfies a predetermined MTU length limit set in advance in the output port;
The packet output unit does not output the multicast packet from the output port when the packet length of the multicast packet does not satisfy the predetermined MTU length limit,
The output port specifying unit has the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the Packet relay that, when a multicast packet having the same packet length as the output multicast packet is received, specifies the physical port from which the multicast packet is output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process apparatus.

  With this configuration, when a multicast packet is output, when a multicast packet having the same flow information and the same packet length is received in the next and subsequent times, the packet processing unit that output the multicast packet last time specifies the physical port. The output port can be determined without executing processing. Even if the flow information is the same multicast packet, if the packet length does not satisfy the MTU length limit, the multicast packet is not output. In such a case, since a new entry is not added to the output port table, an increase in the number of entries in the output port table can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a necessary entry from being added due to a lack of empty entries in the output port table.

Application Example 8 In the packet relay device according to any one of Application Example 4 to Application Example 7,
The output port identification unit is a second new entry in the output port table when the multicast packet is not output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the flow information is the flow information. The flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output is set, the logical port is set as not corresponding to any logical port, and the physical port is set as not set as any physical port Add a new entry to the output port table,
When the output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output, the output port specifying unit refers to the output port table and, based on the second new entry, A packet relay device that does not specify an output port.

  With this configuration, when a multicast packet is not output, when a multicast packet having the same flow information is received after the next time by a simple method of adding a second new entry in the output port table In addition, for this multicast packet, the processing for specifying the output port including the physical port specifying processing is not executed, so that waste of processing capacity of the packet processing unit can be suppressed. In addition, even if the physical port to which no packet is output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, an appropriate output port automatically Can be set, so the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

Application Example 9 A packet relay method in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
(A) When the packet relay apparatus receives a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the packet relay apparatus is information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of the source and destination of the multicast packet A step of determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet among the plurality of packet processing units,
(B) The packet relay device distributes the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
(C) The packet relay apparatus outputs the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit. Determining an output port for;
(D) the packet relay device outputs the multicast packet from the output port;
(E) The packet relay apparatus determines, in the distribution destination packet processing unit, whether the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
In the step (c), when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of the step (e), the packet relay device has the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output. When receiving a multicast packet having the distribution packet, the distribution destination is selected from among the plurality of packet processing units other than the packet processing unit that is the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet has not been output. A packet relay method for determining a packet processing unit.

  In the packet relay method of the application example 9, when a multicast packet is not output, the other packet processing units other than the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet are output for the multicast packet having the same flow information. Since the distribution destination packet processing unit is determined, distribution of the multicast packet to the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet can be suppressed. Therefore, in the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet, it is possible to suppress execution of useless processing such as reception of the multicast packet and determination of the output port, and it is possible to suppress waste of processing capacity. In addition, since the multicast packet distribution destination is automatically set by feeding back that the packet is not output, the flow destination is assumed in advance, and the distribution destination is manually set according to each flow information. Compared to the work load on the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is not output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, it is automatically assigned to the appropriate distribution destination. Since multicast packets can be distributed, the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

Application Example 10 A packet relay method in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
(F) When the packet relay device receives a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the packet relay device is information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of the source and destination of the multicast packet A step of determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet among the plurality of packet processing units,
(G) The packet relay device distributes the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
(H) The packet relay device specifies an output port for outputting the multicast packet based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit, and the output port A physical port specifying process for specifying one physical port as the output port from the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet when the port is a logical port; A process to perform;
(I) The packet relay device outputs the multicast packet from the output port;
(J) the packet relay device determines, in the distribution destination packet processing unit, whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
In the step (h), when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the step (J), the packet relay apparatus has the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet. A packet relay method, wherein when receiving a multicast packet, the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is specified as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process.

  In the packet relay method of Application Example 10, when a multicast packet is output, an output port is determined by the output port specifying unit without executing physical port specifying processing for the multicast packet having the same flow information. Is done. Therefore, since the physical port specifying process can be omitted in the packet processing unit (distribution destination packet processing unit), waste of processing capacity can be suppressed. In addition, since the output port is automatically set by feeding back that the packet has been output, compared to a configuration in which flow information is assumed in advance and the distribution destination is set manually according to each flow information , Can reduce the workload of the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, an appropriate output port is automatically set. Can be set, so the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

Application Example 11 A program for relaying a packet in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A function for determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet,
A function of distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
A function of determining an output port for outputting the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit; ,
A function of outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
A function of determining whether the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
Is a computer program for causing a computer to realize
The function of determining the distribution destination packet processing unit is that when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of determining whether or not the multicast packet has been output from a physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit. Upon receiving a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output, other than the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet has not been output among the plurality of packet processing units A computer program including a function of determining the distribution destination packet processing unit from among the packet processing units.

  In the computer program of the application example 11, when a multicast packet is not output, a multicast packet having the same flow information is selected from other packet processing units other than the packet processing unit that has not output the multicast packet. Since the distribution destination packet processing unit is determined, distribution of the multicast packet to the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet can be suppressed. Therefore, in the packet processing unit that does not output the multicast packet, it is possible to suppress execution of useless processing such as reception of the multicast packet and determination of the output port, and it is possible to suppress waste of processing capacity. In addition, since the multicast packet distribution destination is automatically set by feeding back that the packet is not output, the flow destination is assumed in advance, and the distribution destination is manually set according to each flow information. Compared to the work load on the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is not output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, it is automatically assigned to the appropriate distribution destination. Since multicast packets can be distributed, the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

Application Example 12 A program for relaying a packet in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A function for determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet,
A function of distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for outputting the multicast packet is specified based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet, and the distribution port when the output port is the logical port A function of executing physical port specifying processing for specifying one physical port as the output port from among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the multicast packet that has been generated;
A function of outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
A function of determining whether the multicast packet is output from a physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
Is a computer program for causing a computer to realize
The function of specifying the output port is output when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of determining whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit. A function of specifying the physical port from which the multicast packet is output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process when a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet is received Including computer programs.

  In the computer program of Application Example 12, when a multicast packet is output, the output port is determined by the output port specifying unit without executing the physical port specifying process for the multicast packet having the same flow information. The Therefore, since the physical port specifying process can be omitted in the packet processing unit (distribution destination packet processing unit), waste of processing capacity can be suppressed. In addition, since the output port is automatically set by feeding back that the packet has been output, compared to a configuration in which flow information is assumed in advance and the distribution destination is set manually according to each flow information , Can reduce the workload of the administrator. Even if the physical port to which a packet is output changes due to a change in the configuration of the packet relay device itself or a change in the configuration of the network to which the packet relay device is connected, an appropriate output port is automatically set. Can be set, so the workload of the administrator can be reduced.

  [Application Example 13] A computer-readable recording medium on which the computer program according to Application Example 11 or Application Example 12 is recorded.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to cause a computer to read a program using such a recording medium and realize each function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the packet relay apparatus as one Example of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the detailed structure of the 1st dispersion | distribution process part shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the setting content of the distribution destination determination table shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the setting content of an output port table typically. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing setting contents of the LAG table shown in FIG. 2. Explanatory drawing which shows the detailed structure of the control unit shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the setting content of the multicast route table shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the setting content of the logical interface conversion table shown in FIG. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the initialization process of the distribution destination determination table in 1st Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the initial setting process of the output port table in 1st Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the receiving side packet relay process in 1st Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in 1st Example. The 1st explanatory view showing the relay result of a multicast packet typically. The 2nd explanatory view showing the relay result of a multicast packet. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the distribution destination determination table update process in 1st Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the distribution destination determination table after an update. Explanatory drawing which shows the relay result of the multicast packet after a distribution destination determination table update. The 3rd explanatory view showing the relay result of a multicast packet. FIG. 10 is a fourth explanatory diagram illustrating a relay result of a multicast packet. The 5th explanatory view showing the relay result of a multicast packet. Explanatory drawing which shows the distribution destination determination table after the relay result of the multicast packet shown in FIG. 13, FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the setting content of the output port table in 2nd Example. The 1st flowchart which shows the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in 2nd Example. The 2nd flowchart which shows the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in 2nd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the relay result of the multicast packet in 2nd Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the output port table update process in 2nd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the output port table after an update. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the relay result of the multicast packet after output port table update. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the setting content of the output port table in 3rd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of the packet length identifier set to the output port table of 3rd Example. The 1st flowchart which shows the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in 3rd Example. The 2nd flowchart which shows the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in 3rd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the relay result of the multicast packet in 3rd Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the output port table update process in 3rd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the output port table after an update.

A. First embodiment:
A1. Device configuration:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a packet relay apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. The packet relay device 10 is a so-called layer 3 switch and has a link aggregation function. The link aggregation (LAG) function is a function that allows a plurality of physical ports to be bundled and handled as a single logical port (LAG port), which can increase bandwidth and ensure redundancy. it can.

  The packet relay apparatus 10 includes a control unit 100, a crossbar switch 300, five distributed processing units (a first distributed processing unit 201, a second distributed processing unit 202, a third distributed processing unit 203, a fourth distributed processing unit 204, A fifth distributed processing unit 205).

  The control unit 100 is a functional unit that controls the entire packet relay apparatus 10, and is connected to the crossbar switch 300 and each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 via an internal bus.

  The crossbar switch 300 is a switching circuit that relays packets in accordance with instructions from the control unit 100 and the distributed processing units 201 to 205.

  The first distributed processing unit 201 includes a plurality of physical ports (# 1, # 2,... "#N"), and transmits and receives packets. It has the same configuration as that of the first distributed processing unit 201, and transmits and receives packets in the same manner as the first distributed processing unit 201.

  As shown in FIG. 1, four VLANs (Virtual LANs) are connected to the packet relay device 10. Specifically, VLAN 1 is connected via the physical port # 1 of the first distributed processing unit 201. Hereinafter, the physical port #m of the nth distributed processing unit is represented as “physical port n / m”. The VLAN 2 is connected via the physical port # 1 (physical port 2/1) and the physical port # 2 (physical port 2/2) of the second distributed processing unit 202. Also, the physical port # 3 (physical port 2/3) of the second distributed processing unit 202, the physical port # 1 (physical port 3/1) of the third distributed processing unit 203, and the physical of the fourth distributed processing unit 204 The VLAN 3 is connected via the port # 1 (physical port 4/1) and the physical port # 1 (physical port 5/1) of the fifth distributed processing unit 205. The VLAN 4 is connected via the physical port # 2 (physical port 5/2) of the fifth distributed processing unit 205.

  As described above, the packet relay device 10 is connected to the VLAN via a plurality of physical ports because one logical port is formed using the ring aggregation function. For example, one logical port (LAG3) is formed by two physical ports 2/1, 2/2 for connection with VLAN2. Similarly, one logical port (LAG4) is formed by four physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1 for connection to VLAN3. In a link in which a logical port by the link aggregation function is configured in this way, when a packet is output from the packet relay apparatus 10 toward the VLAN, one physical port is selected from a plurality of physical ports configuring the logical port. The packet is output from this physical port. Hereinafter, a logical port formed by the link aggregation function is referred to as a “LAG port”, and a process for selecting a packet output port from a plurality of physical ports forming one LAG port is referred to as a “LAG process”.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a detailed configuration of the first distributed processing unit shown in FIG. The first distributed processing unit 201 includes a reception side processing unit 210 and a transmission side processing unit 220 in addition to the plurality of physical ports described above.

  The reception side processing unit 210 includes a packet reception unit 212, a reception side route search unit 216, and a reception side table storage unit 214. The packet receiving unit 212 is connected to the crossbar switch 300 and the control unit 100 shown in FIG. Similarly, the transmission side processing unit 220 is connected to the crossbar switch 300 and the control unit 100, respectively. Each functional unit includes a circuit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  The packet receiving unit 212 is connected to each of the physical ports # 1 to #n and the reception side route search unit 216, assembles a packet based on a signal received via the physical port, and outputs the packet to the reception side route search unit 216. To do.

  The reception side table storage unit 214 stores a distribution destination determination table TB. The distribution destination determination table TB is a table for determining to which distribution processing unit the packet is relayed by the crossbar switch 300 when a multicast packet is received.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the distribution destination determination table shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the setting contents of the distribution destination determination table TB in the initial setting state. In the distribution destination determination table TB, there are an entry number (#), information (EN) indicating whether the entry is valid, flow information, and information indicating whether a packet is relayed to each distribution processing unit. It is associated.

  The entry number means the identification number of each entry (record) in the distribution destination determination table TB. As information (EN) indicating whether the entry is valid, “*” or “1” can be set. An EN of “*” indicates that an entry whose hash value described later may be any value (hereinafter referred to as “default entry”) is valid. An EN of “1” indicates that an entry in which a specific value different from “*” is set as a hash value to be described later is valid. Details of the hash value will be described later.

  The flow information means information for identifying a flow (a combination of a packet transmission source and a destination). In the distribution destination determination table TB, as a flow information, a hash value, address information (a transmission source address, a destination address), and Is set.

  As information indicating the presence / absence of packet relay to each distributed processing unit, “1” is assigned to each identifier (first distributed processing unit 201: # 1 to fifth distributed processing unit 205: # 5) indicating each distributed processing unit. Or “0” is set. “1” means that the packet is relayed, and “0” means that the packet is not relayed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the initial setting state, only one entry with the entry number “1” is set in the distribution destination determination table TB. The entry with the entry number “1” is a default entry, and “*” is set as EN, “*” is set as a hash value, “SA1” is set as a source address, and “GA1” is set as a destination address. ing. The address “SA1” indicates a source IP address, and the address “GA1” indicates a destination multicast group address. Further, as information indicating whether or not the packet is relayed to each distributed processing unit, “0” is displayed in the first distributed processing unit 201 (# 1), and the other distributed processing units 202 to 205 (# 2 to # 5) are displayed. “1” is set. In the other distributed processing units 202 to 205, the same contents as the distribution destination determination table TB shown in FIG. 3 are set. An initial setting method of the distribution destination determination table TB will be described later.

  The reception side route search unit 216 shown in FIG. 2 is connected to the packet reception unit 212 and the reception side table storage unit 214, respectively. When receiving the packet from the packet receiving unit 212, the receiving side route searching unit 216 refers to the distribution destination determination table TB to determine the distribution processing unit to be the relay destination of the packet, and information indicating the determined distribution processing unit and The received packet is transmitted to the crossbar switch 300.

  The transmission side processing unit 220 includes a transmission side table storage unit 226, a transmission side route search unit 222, an output monitoring unit 227, and a packet output unit 228.

  The transmission side table storage unit 226 stores an output port table TP and a LAG table TL.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the output port table. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, the output port table TP set in the second distributed processing unit 202, the third distributed processing unit 203, the fourth distributed processing unit 204, and the fifth distributed processing unit 205 in the initial setting state. Is described. The first level shows the output port table TP2 of the second distributed processing unit 202 in the initial state. The second row shows the output port table TP3 of the third distributed processor 203 in the initial state, the third row shows the output port table TP4 of the fourth distributed processor 204 in the initial state, and the fourth row shows the initial value. The output port table TP5 of the fifth distributed processing unit 205 in the state is shown. The output port table TP set in the first distributed processing unit 201 is the same as the output port tables TP2 to TP5 set in the other distributed processing units 202 to 205.

  The output port table TP is a table for associating flow information with physical ports that are candidates for output ports. Specifically, in the output port table TP, address information, an output port list, and information indicating a physical port are associated with each other. In the output port table TP, a source address and a destination address are set as address information. In the output port list, a LAG port or a physical port is set as a port for outputting a packet. As information indicating the physical port, an identifier of the distributed processing unit and an identifier of the physical port in each distributed processing unit are set.

  Specifically, for example, in the initial state, in the output port table TP2, the source address “SA1”, the destination address “GA1”, and the output port lists “LAG3” and “LAG4” indicate physical ports. As information, each physical port forming LAG3 (physical port 2/1, 2/2) and each physical port forming LAG4 (2/3, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1) are respectively Is set. In the other output port tables TP3 to TP5, each value is set similarly. An initial setting method for these output port tables TP2 to TP5 will be described later.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the LAG table shown in FIG. The LAG table TL is a table for associating LAG ports, the number of paths, and physical ports. Each LAG port (LAG1 to LAG4) to which the packet relay apparatus 10 is connected is set as the LAG port. The number of paths indicates the number of physical ports that form each LAG port. As the physical ports, physical ports constituting each LAG port are set for each LAG port shown in FIG. In the other distributed processing units 202 to 205, the same contents as the LAG table TL shown in FIG. 5 are set.

  The transmission side route search unit 222 shown in FIG. 2 includes an output port search unit 223 and a physical port selection unit 224. Based on the packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300, the output port search unit 223 searches for a port that is a candidate for an output port by referring to the output port table TP. The port hit by the search of the output port search unit 223 is a LAG port or a physical port. The physical port selection unit 224 selects a physical port that actually outputs a packet from the candidate output ports found by the output port search unit 223. At this time, if the port hit by the search of the output port search unit 223 is a LAG port, the physical port selection unit 224 obtains a hash value by a method described later, and refers to the LAG table TL based on the obtained hash value. Select the physical port that will be the output port.

  The output monitoring unit 227 is connected to the transmission side route search unit 222 and the packet output unit 228, and determines whether or not the packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300 to the transmission side processing unit 220 is actually output from the physical port. Monitor. When the packet is not output, the output monitoring unit 227 notifies the control unit 100 of the fact that the packet has not been output and the flow information associated with the packet.

  The packet output unit 228 transmits a packet to the physical port selected as the output port by the physical port selection unit 224.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a detailed configuration of the control unit shown in FIG. The control unit 100 includes a control unit 105, a distribution destination determination table setting unit 110, an output port table setting unit 120, a discard processing management unit 130, and a table storage unit 140.

  The control unit 105 controls each functional unit included in the control unit 100. Further, the control unit 105 provides a setting user interface such as a Web base to a management computer connected via a network. By using this user interface, the administrator can set a table related to the route.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 is connected to the control unit 105, the discard processing management unit 130, and the table storage unit 140, respectively. The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 generates and updates the distribution destination determination table TB included in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205.

  The output port table setting unit 120 is connected to the control unit 105 and the table storage unit 140, respectively. The output port table setting unit 120 generates and updates the output port table TP included in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205.

  The discard processing management unit 130 is connected to the control unit 105 and the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110, respectively. The discard processing management unit 130 receives information notified from the output monitoring unit 227 of each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205 (such as the fact that a packet has not been output), and sends it to the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110. Instructs the update of the decision table.

  The table storage unit 140 is connected to the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 and the output port table setting unit 120, and includes a multicast route table TM, a logical interface conversion table TC, a master LAG table TLm, and a master distribution destination determination table. TBm and master output port table TPm are stored.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the multicast route table shown in FIG. The multicast route table TM is a table for determining a logical interface (VLAN) to output a packet when a multicast packet is received. Specifically, in the multicast route table TM, address information (source address, destination address) and output destination logical interface are associated with each other. In FIG. 7, “VLAN2, VLAN3, VLAN4” is set as the logical interface of the output destination for the address information of the source address “SA1” and the destination address “GA1”. The multicast route table TM is set by an administrator using a user interface provided by the control unit 105.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the logical interface conversion table shown in FIG. The logical interface conversion table TC is a table for determining an output port used when outputting a packet to each logical interface (VLAN). Specifically, in the logical interface conversion table TC, a logical interface is associated with an output port (LAG port or physical port). In FIG. 8, “physical port 1/1” is associated with VLAN 1 as an output port. Further, “LAG3” is associated with VLAN2, “LAG4” is associated with VLAN3, and “physical port 5/2” is associated with VLAN4 as output ports. The logical interface conversion table TC is set by the administrator using a user interface provided by the control unit 105.

  A master LAG table TLm illustrated in FIG. 6 is a table serving as a reference for the LAG table TL included in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205. The master LAG table TLm is distributed to each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, and is stored in the transmission side table storage unit 226 as the LAG table TL in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205. Therefore, the setting contents of the master LAG table TLm are the same as those of the LAG table TL shown in FIG. The master LAG table TLm is set by an administrator using a user interface provided by the control unit 105.

  The master distribution destination determination table TBm illustrated in FIG. 6 is a table that serves as a reference for the distribution destination determination table TB included in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205. The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 distributes the master distribution destination determination table TBm to each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205, and the distribution processing units 201 to 205 store the master distribution destination determination table TBm in the reception side table storage unit 214 as the distribution destination determination table TB. . Therefore, the setting contents of the master distribution destination determination table TBm in the initial setting state are the same as the distribution destination determination table TB shown in FIG.

  The master output port table TPm illustrated in FIG. 6 is a table serving as a reference for the output port table TP included in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, and includes five tables corresponding to a total of five tables included in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205. Consists of tables. The output port table setting unit 120 distributes the master output port table TPm to each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, and the distributed processing units 201 to 205 store the master output port table TPm in the transmission side table storage unit 226 as the output port table TP. Accordingly, the setting contents of the master output port table TPm in the initial setting state are the same as the output port tables TP2 to TP5 shown in FIG. 4 except for the table for the first distributed processing unit 201.

  The five distributed processing units 201 to 205 described above correspond to a plurality of packet processing units in the claims. Further, the receiving side route searching unit 216 is used as a distribution destination determining unit in the claims, the crossbar switch 300 is used as a packet distributing unit in the claims, and the transmitting side route searching unit 222 is used as an output port determining unit and an output port specifying unit. The output monitoring unit 227 is the output determination unit in the claims, the packet output unit 228 is the packet length determination unit in the claims, the distribution destination determination table TB is the distribution destination determination table in the claims, and the LAG process is the physical in the claims. In the port specifying process, the control unit 105 corresponds to a logical port setting unit in the claims.

A2. Initial setting process for each table:
A2-1. Initial setting processing of distribution destination determination table:
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the initial setting process of the distribution destination determination table in the first embodiment. When the administrator uses the user interface provided by the control unit 105 to instruct the start of processing, the packet relay apparatus 10 starts the initial setting processing of the distribution destination determination table.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 illustrated in FIG. 6 initializes the master distribution destination determination table TBm stored in the table storage unit 140 (step S105). Specifically, all entries set in the master distribution destination determination table TBm are deleted, and a default entry (EN = *, hash value is set for each set flow with reference to the multicast route table TM. = *) Is generated. At this time, “0” is set for all the distributed processing units as information indicating the presence / absence of relay of the packet to each distributed processing unit. As shown in FIG. 7, since only the flow of the source address “SA1” and the destination address “GA1” is set in the multicast route table TM, the default entry for this flow is the master distribution destination in step S105. It is set in the decision table TBm. When this step is executed for the first time, a new master distribution destination determination table TBm having a default entry is generated.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 searches the multicast route table TM using the address information (source address and destination address) as a key, and obtains a list of corresponding logical interfaces (step S110). As shown in FIG. 7, in the multicast route table TM, VLAN2, VLAN3, VLAN4 are set as output destination logical interfaces for the address information (SA1, GA1). Accordingly, the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 acquires a list including these VLAN2, VLAN3, and VALN4.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 searches the logical interface conversion table TC using all the logical interfaces obtained in step S110 as keys, and acquires a list of all corresponding output ports (step S115). As described above, when the list including VLAN2, VLAN3, and VLAN4 is obtained, the logical interface conversion table TC shown in FIG. 8 is searched to obtain the list of output ports as LAG port LAG3, LAG port LAG4, A list of physical ports 5/2 is obtained.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 determines whether each port constituting the output port list obtained in step S115 is a LAG port (step S120).

  In step S120, for a port that is determined not to be a LAG port (that is, determined to be a physical port), the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 performs distribution processing to which the port belongs in the master distribution destination determination table TBm. “1” is set in the field corresponding to the part (step S125). For example, since the physical port 5/2 is determined not to be a LAG port, the field “# 5” of the master distribution destination determination table TBm corresponding to the fifth distribution processing unit 205 to which this physical port belongs is set to “ 1 "is set.

  On the other hand, for the ports determined to be LAG ports in step S120, the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 refers to the master LAG table TLm using the LAG port identifier as a key, and all of the ports belonging to the port. A list of physical ports is acquired (step S130). For example, for the aforementioned LAG port LAG3, the master LAG table TLm (FIG. 5) is referred to, and a list composed of physical ports 2/1, 2/2 is obtained. For the LAG port LAG4, the master LAG table TLm is referred to, and a list composed of physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1 is obtained.

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 sets “1” in the field corresponding to the distribution processing unit to which each physical port obtained in step S130 belongs (step S135). For example, for the above-described physical ports 2/1, 2/2, “1” is set in the field “# 2” of the master distribution destination determination table TBm corresponding to the second distribution processing unit 202 to which these physical ports belong. The For the physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1, the second distributed processing unit 202, the third distributed processing unit 203, and the fourth distributed processing unit to which these four physical ports belong. 204, and “# 2”, “# 3”, “# 4”, and “# 5” corresponding to the fifth distributed processing unit 205 are set to “1”, respectively. As described above, since “# 2” and “# 5” are already set to “1”, the values do not change.

  After step S125 and step S135 described above are executed, the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 determines whether or not processing has been performed for all the output ports listed in step S115 (step S140). If the processing has not been completed for all output ports (step S140: NO), the process returns to step S120, and the processes of steps S120 to S140 are executed for the remaining output ports. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing has been completed for all output ports (step S140: YES), the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 applies to all the flows targeted when initialized in step S105. It is then determined whether or not the process has been performed (step S145).

  If the processing has not been completed for all the flows (step S145: NO), the process returns to step S110, and the processes of steps S110 to S145 are executed for the remaining flows. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing has been completed for all the flows (step S145: YES), the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 transmits the master distribution destination determination table TBm to each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205. Then, the distribution destination determination table TB is set in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205 (step S150). If the distribution destination determination table TB is already set in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205 before the distribution destination determination table initial setting process is started, the master distribution transmitted from the control unit 100 in step S150. The setting contents of the existing distribution destination determination table TB are overwritten by the destination determination table TBm.

  As a result of the initial setting processing of the distribution destination determination table, “1” is set in the field corresponding to the second distribution processing units 202 to 205 in the master distribution destination determination table TBm. The setting contents of the distribution destination determination table TB to be set are the contents shown in FIG.

A2-2. Output port table initialization process:
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the initial setting process of the output port table in the first embodiment. When the administrator instructs the start of processing using the user interface provided by the control unit 105, the packet relay device 10 starts the output port table initial setting processing.

  The output port table setting unit 120 shown in FIG. 6 initializes the master output port table TPm stored in the table storage unit 140 (step S205). Specifically, all entries set in the master output port table TPm are deleted. When this step is executed for the first time, a new master output port table TPm having no entry is generated.

  The subsequent steps S210 to S220 are the same as steps S110 to S120 of the distribution destination determination table update process shown in FIG.

  In step S220, for the port determined not to be a LAG port (that is, determined to be a physical port), the output port table setting unit 120 sets the output port table TP of the distributed processing unit to which the physical port belongs to the output port table TP. The physical port is set (step S225). For example, since the physical port 5/2 is determined not to be a LAG port, as shown in the output port table TP5 in the fourth row in FIG. 4, the fifth distributed processing unit 205 to which this physical port belongs. In the distribution destination determination table TB, the physical port 5/2 is set as information indicating the output port list and the physical port.

  On the other hand, for the port determined to be a LAG port in step S220, the output port table setting unit 120 refers to the master LAG table TLm using the LAG port identifier as a key, and sets all the ports belonging to the port. A list of physical ports is acquired (step S230). This process is the same as step S130 shown in FIG. Thus, for example, for LAG port LAG3, a list consisting of physical ports 2/1, 2/2 is obtained, and for LAG port LAG4, physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1 are obtained. A list consisting of

  In the output port table TP of the distributed processing unit to which each physical port obtained in step S230, the output port table setting unit 120 obtains the LAG port as an output port list and information obtained as the information indicating the physical port in step S230. Each physical port is set (step S235). For example, for the LAG port LAG3 determined as the LAG port in step S220 described above, LAG3 is output as an output port list in the output port table TP of the second distributed processing unit 202 to which the physical ports 2/1, 2/2 belong. As information indicating the physical port, physical ports 2/1 and 2/2 are set, respectively. For the LAG port 4, the second distributed processing unit 202, the third distributed processing unit 203, the fourth distributed processing unit 204, to which the physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1 belong, In each of the output port tables TP2, TP3, TP4, and TP5 of the 5 distributed processing unit 205, LAG4 is the output port list, and physical ports 2/3, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1 are the information indicating the physical ports. , Respectively. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the output port tables TP2 to TP5 are set.

  Subsequent steps S240 and S245 are the same as steps S140 and S145 shown in FIG.

  When the processing in steps S210 to S240 is completed for all output ports of all flows (step S245: YES), the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 transmits the master output port table TPm to the processing units 201 to 205. Then, the output port table TP is set in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 (step S250). If the output port table TP has already been set in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 before the output port table initialization process is started, the master output port table transmitted from the control unit 100 in step S250. The setting contents of the existing output port table TP are overwritten by TPm.

  As a result of the above-described output port table initial setting processing, the setting contents of the output port tables TP2 to TP5 in the master output port table TPm and the distributed processing units 202 to 205 are set in the output port tables TP2 to TP5 shown in FIG. It becomes the same as the contents.

A3. Packet relay processing:
A3-1. Receiver side packet relay processing:
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the reception side packet relay process in the first embodiment. When the receiving side processing unit 210 of each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 receives a packet via the physical port, the receiving side packet processing is started.

  The receiving side route search unit 216 shown in FIG. 2 performs a predetermined hash calculation using the flow information of the received packet to obtain a hash value (step S305). The flow information used in step S305 is a source IP address, a destination IP address, a protocol number, a destination port number, and a source port number.

Further, as the predetermined hash calculation, for example, the following calculation can be adopted.
(1) First, the source IP address and the destination IP address are each divided into 8 bits, and each is added. However, carry is ignored.
(2) A protocol number (8 bits) is added to the obtained addition value. However, carry is ignored.
(3) The destination port number and the source port number are each divided into 8 bits, added together, and further added to the added value obtained in (2). However, carry is ignored. The hash value obtained by this calculation method is 0 to 255.

  The reception-side route search unit 216 refers to the distribution destination determination table TB, and the hash value obtained in step S216 matches the address information (destination IP address and source IP address), and EN is “1”. The entry is searched (step S310), and it is determined whether or not the entry is found (step S315).

  When the entry is not found (step S315: NO), the receiving side route search unit 216 transmits information on the distributed processing unit set in the default entry and the received packet to the crossbar switch 300 (step S320). . When the distribution destination determination table TB is in the initial setting state shown in FIG. 3, only the entry (default entry) of entry number # 1 is set in the distribution destination determination table TB. When a multicast packet of “SA1” and destination address “GA1” is received, information on the distributed processing unit set in this default entry (that is, a bitmap of “0, 1, 1, 1, 1”) and The packet is transmitted to the crossbar switch 300.

  If it is determined in step S315 that an entry has been found (step S315: YES), the reception-side route search unit 216 cross-switches the information on the distributed processing unit set in the found entry and the received packet. It transmits to 300 (step S325).

  When the crossbar switch 300 receives information (bitmap) about a distributed processing unit and a packet from any of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the received packet is sent to the distributed processing unit specified by the received bitmap. Copy and relay. For example, when the bitmap “0, 1, 1, 1, 1” and the packet (the multicast packet with the source IP address “SA1” and the destination address “GA1”) are received as information regarding the distributed processing unit, the crossbar switch 300 The packet is relayed to a total of four distributed processing units of the second distributed processing unit 202 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205.

A3-2. Sending side packet relay processing:
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in the first embodiment. When the transmission side processing unit 220 of each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 receives a packet from the crossbar switch 300, it starts transmission side packet relay processing.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the output port search unit 223 shown in FIG. 2 is set in the transmission side processing unit 220 to which it belongs, using the address information (source address and destination address) of the received packet as a key. The output port table TP is searched, and all corresponding output port lists are acquired (step S405).

  For example, when the output port table TP2 is in the initial setting state illustrated in FIG. 4, the four distributed processing units of the second distributed processing unit 202 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205 have the transmission source IP address “SA1” and the destination, respectively. When the multicast packet with the address “GA1” is received, the second distribution processing unit 202 acquires the output port list (LAG3, LAG4). The third distributed processing unit 203 outputs an output port list (LAG4), the fourth distributed processing unit 204 outputs an output port list (LAG4), and the fifth distributed processing unit 205 outputs an output port list (LAG4, 5/2). , Get each.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 performs a predetermined hash calculation using the flow information of the received packet to obtain a hash value (step S410). The flow information used in step S410 is a destination IP address, a source IP address, a protocol number, a destination port number, and a source port number, as in step S305 described above.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 refers to the LAG table TL based on the hash value obtained in step S410, and outputs a packet for each port described in the output port list. A physical port (output port) is determined (step S415). Specifically, when the port described in the output port list is a LAG port, the physical port selection unit 224 divides the hash value obtained in step S410 by the number of paths of the LAG port to obtain a remainder. Ask for. Based on the obtained remainder, the physical port is determined with reference to the LAG table TL. When the remainder is “0”, the physical port described at the head of the physical ports forming each LAG port of the LAG table TL is determined as the output port. Similarly, when the remainder is “1”, the physical port described second among the physical ports configuring each LAG port of the LAG table TL is determined as the output port. When the port described in the output port list is a physical port, the physical port is determined as a packet output port.

  For example, when the hash value obtained from the flow information of the above-described packet (the multicast packet with the source IP address “SA1” and the destination address “GA1”) is “0”, the LAG table TL illustrated in FIG. Based on this, the second distributed processing unit 202 determines “physical port 2/1” for LAG3 and “physical port 2/3” for LAG4. Further, in the third distributed processing unit 203, “physical port 2/3” is determined for LAG4. In the fourth distributed processing unit 204, “physical port 2/3” is determined for LAG4. The fifth distributed processing unit 205 determines “physical port 2/3” for LAG4 and “physical port 5/2” for physical port 5/2.

  Subsequently, in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 determines whether or not the distributed processing unit to which the physical port selection unit 224 belongs has the physical port determined in step S415 (step S420). If it has a physical port (step S420: YES), the packet output unit 228 outputs a packet from the physical port (step S425), and the transmission side packet relay processing ends. On the other hand, when the physical port is not included (step S420: NO), the packet output unit 228 discards the packet received from the crossbar switch 300 (step S430).

  For example, as described above, “physical port 2/1” is determined for LAG3, “physical port 2/3” is determined for LAG4, and “physical port 5/2” is determined for physical port 5/2. Since the second distributed processing unit 202 has physical ports (physical ports 2/1, 2/3) determined as physical ports (output ports) that output packets, physical ports 2/1, 2 / 3, each packet is output. Similarly, the fifth distributed processing unit 205 has a physical port (physical port 5/2) determined as an output port, and therefore outputs a packet from the physical port 5/2. On the other hand, since the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204 do not have an output port, the received packet is discarded.

  When the above-described step S430 is executed and the packet is discarded, the output monitoring unit 227 indicates that the packet is discarded, the flow information of the discarded packet, the hash value calculated for the discarded packet, and the packet discard Is notified to the discard processing management unit 130 of the control unit 100 (step S435), and the transmission side packet relay processing ends. For example, as described above, when the third distribution processing unit 203 and the fourth distribution processing unit 204 discard a packet, in addition to the fact that the packet discard has occurred, the flow information “SA1, GA1” and the hash value The discard processing management unit 130 is notified of “0” and the identifier “# 3, 4” of the distributed processing unit.

  FIG. 13 is a first explanatory diagram schematically illustrating a relay result of a multicast packet. FIG. 14 is a second explanatory diagram illustrating a relay result of a multicast packet. FIGS. 13 and 14 both show the relay result when the multicast packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” first arrives at the packet relay device 10. Is shown.

  In FIG. 13, the output port tables TP2 to TP5 are shown on the left side, and the output results are shown on the right side. In the output result, “◯” means that it has been output, and “x” means that it has not been output. As shown in FIG. 13, for multicast packets belonging to the flow with the hash value “0”, packets are output from the physical ports 2/1, 2/3, and 5/2, but are not output from other physical ports. Therefore, no packets are output from the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204.

  In FIG. 14, the outline of processing executed in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 is represented, and the packet flow is represented by a thick solid line arrow. In the first distribution processing unit 201, the distribution destination is determined by referring to the distribution destination determination table TB, and the packet is transmitted to the crossbar switch 300. The crossbar switch 300 relays the packet to a total of four distributed processing units including the second distributed processing unit 202 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205.

  In the second distributed processing unit 202, the output port table TP2 is referred to obtain LAG3 and LAG4 as an output port list, LAG processing is performed for each LAG port, and the physical ports 2/1, 2/3 are output ports. As determined. Packets are output from these output ports.

  In the third distributed processing unit 203, the output port table TP3 is referred to obtain LAG4 as an output port list, LAG processing is performed on LAG4, and the physical port 2/3 is determined as the output port. However, since the physical port 2/2 that is the output port is not a physical port that the physical port 2/2 has, no packet is output. In the fourth distributed processing unit 204, the same processing as that of the third distributed processing unit 203 is executed.

  In the fifth distributed processing unit 205, the physical port 5/2 is obtained as an output port list by referring to the output port table TP5, and this physical port 5/2 is determined as the output port. Then, a packet is output from the physical port 5/2.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204 perform unnecessary processing such as reference to the output port table TP and LAG processing in spite of not outputting a packet. The processing capability of each distributed processing unit 203, 204 is wasted. However, in the packet relay apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, waste of processing capacity of each of the first distributed processing unit 201 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205 is suppressed by performing an update process of the distribution destination determination table described later. Can do.

A4. Distribution destination determination table update processing:
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the distribution destination determination table update process in the first embodiment. When the packet relay apparatus 10 is activated, the distribution destination determination table update process is started.

  The discard processing management unit 130 of the control unit 100 stands by until notified that the packet has been discarded (step S505). When the output monitoring unit 227 of any of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 notifies the fact that the packet discard has occurred, the flow information, the hash value, and the identifier of the distributed processing unit (step S505: YES), the distribution destination The decision table setting unit 110 is notified of the flow information, the hash value, and the identifier of the distribution processing unit, and instructed to update the master distribution destination decision table TBm (step S510).

  In accordance with the notified update instruction, the distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 copies the default entry in the master distribution destination determination table TBm, and sets the field corresponding to the identifier of the distribution processing unit notified in the copied entry to “0”. Then, the updated new entry is added to EN as “1” and the hash value as “hash value calculated for the discarded packet” (step S515).

  The distribution destination determination table setting unit 110 transmits the master distribution destination determination table TBm to each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205, and updates the distribution destination determination table TB of each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205 (Step S520).

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the distribution destination determination table after update. In FIG. 16, after the packets with the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” are discarded by the third distribution processing unit 203 and the fourth distribution processing unit 204 as described above. The updated distribution destination determination table TB is shown.

  In addition to the fact that packet discard has occurred, the discard processing management unit 130 receives the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the identifier “# 3, 4” of the distributed processing unit. Since the notification is sent to the management unit 130, as shown in FIG. 13, EN “1”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, presence / absence of packet relay in the distributed processing units # 1, 3, 4 An entry (entry # 2) set with information “0” indicating “” is added.

  As shown in FIG. 16, since the distribution destination determination table TB included in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205 is updated, when a packet of the same flow arrives at the packet relay device 10 next, the packet relay processing is performed. This is different from the previous processing.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the relay result of the multicast packet after the distribution destination determination table is updated. FIG. 17 shows a relay result when a multicast packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” arrives for the second time or later.

  As described above, as a result of the multicast packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” being relayed by the packet relay device 10 for the first time, each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 is obtained. As shown in FIG. 16, entry # 2 is added to each TB distribution destination determination table TB. Therefore, when a multicast packet of the same flow arrives at the packet relay apparatus 10, such entry # 2 is found in step S310 of the reception side packet relay process shown in FIG. Therefore, step S325 is executed, and the packet is relayed from the crossbar switch 300 only to the second distributed processing unit 202 and the fifth distributed processing unit 205 for which “1” is set in entry # 2 of FIG. The

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, since no packet is relayed to the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204, reference to the output port tables TP3 and TP4 shown in FIG. The LAG process in 203 and the LAG process in the fourth distributed processing unit 204 are not executed. Therefore, in the distributed processing units 203 and 204 that do not output packets, wasteful processing is not performed, so that waste of processing capacity is suppressed.

  FIG. 18 is a third explanatory diagram illustrating a relay result of the multicast packet. FIG. 19 is a fourth explanatory diagram showing a multicast packet relay result. FIG. 20 is a fifth explanatory diagram illustrating a relay result of the multicast packet. FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a distribution destination determination table after the multicast packet relay results shown in FIGS. 13 and 18 to 20 are obtained.

  FIG. 18 shows a relay result when the flow of the multicast packet to be relayed is a flow with the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “1”. 19 shows a relay result when the flow of the multicast packet to be relayed is a flow with the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “2”, and FIG. The relay results when the multicast packet flow to be transmitted is a flow with the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “3” are shown respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 18, when the hash value is “1”, “physical port 2/2” is determined as the output port for LAG3. For LAG4, “physical port 3/1” is determined as the output port. For the physical port 5/2, “physical port 5/2” is determined as the output port. Accordingly, packets are output from the second distributed processing unit 202, the third distributed processing unit 203, and the fifth distributed processing unit 205, and no packets are output from the fourth distributed processing unit 204. Therefore, entry # 3 shown in FIG. 21 is added to the distribution destination determination table TB based on the relay result. This entry # 3 is the same as the default entry (entry # 1) except that only the fields of the hash value “1” and the identifier # 4 of the distributed processing unit are “0”. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “1” is received next time, the packet is sent from the crossbar switch 300 to the fourth distribution processing unit 204. Is not relayed, waste of processing capacity of the fourth distributed processing unit 204 is suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 19, when the hash value is “2”, “physical port 2/1” is determined as the output port for LAG3. For LAG4, “physical port 4/1” is determined as the output port. For the physical port 5/2, “physical port 5/2” is determined as the output port. Accordingly, packets are output from the second distributed processing unit 202, the fourth distributed processing unit 204, and the fifth distributed processing unit 205, and no packets are output from the third distributed processing unit 203. Therefore, entry # 4 shown in FIG. 21 is added to the distribution destination determination table TB based on the relay result. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “2” is received next time, the packet is sent from the crossbar switch 300 to the third distribution processing unit 203. Is not relayed, waste of processing capacity of the third distributed processing unit 203 is suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 20, when the hash value is “3”, “physical port 2/2” is determined as the output port for LAG3. For LAG4, “physical port 5/1” is determined as the output port. For the physical port 5/2, “physical port 5/2” is determined as the output port. Accordingly, packets are output from the second distributed processing unit 202 and the fifth distributed processing unit 205, and no packets are output from the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204. Therefore, entry # 5 shown in FIG. 21 is added to the distribution destination determination table TB based on the relay result. Therefore, the next time when a packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “3” is received, the third distribution processing unit 203 and the fourth distribution are transmitted from the crossbar switch 300. Since the packet is not relayed to the processing unit 204, waste of processing capacity of the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204 is suppressed.

  In the packet relay apparatus 10 of the first embodiment described above, when the multicast packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300 is not output in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the same flow (hash) as the packet that has not been output. A new entry that is determined not to be relayed to the distributed processing unit that did not output the first packet when a packet belonging to the combination of the source and destination determined by the value, source address, and destination address) arrives after the next time Is added to the distribution destination determination table TB. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the same flow is received thereafter, the packet is relayed in the crossbar switch 300 based on the new entry added to the distribution destination determination table TB, so that the distributed processing unit in which the packet was not output Relay of packets to can be suppressed. Since each distributed processing unit determines an output port based on information (hash value, source IP address, destination IP address) obtained from the packet, the same physical port is determined as the output port for packets belonging to the same flow. The Therefore, since it is possible to suppress relaying the packet to the distributed processing unit that does not output the packet, it is possible to suppress execution of useless processing (referring to the output port table TP and execution of the LAG processing) in the distributed processing unit, Waste of processing capacity in the distributed processing unit can be suppressed.

  In addition, in the crossbar switch 300, the relay of the packet to the distributed processing unit to which no packet is output is suppressed, so that the waste of the switching capability of the crossbar switch 300 can be suppressed.

  In the distribution destination determination table TB, since a default entry is set in the initial setting state, even when a packet belonging to a new flow arrives at the packet relay device 10, a packet is transmitted using the default entry. It can be relayed to each distributed processing unit.

B. Second embodiment:
The packet relay apparatus according to the second embodiment executes the setting items in the distribution destination determination table and the output port table, the procedure of the transmission side packet relay processing, and the output port table update processing instead of the distribution destination determination table update processing. However, unlike the packet relay apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment described above, the distribution destination determination table TB is updated in response to the packet discard (the packet was not output) in each of the distribution processing units 201 to 205. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the output port table TP is updated when the packet is discarded. In the second embodiment, the output port is set to an STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) blocked port (a physical port predetermined as a port that does not relay a packet in order to suppress a permanent loop of the packet). As a result, the packet is discarded.

  The distribution destination determination table TB of the second embodiment is different from the distribution destination determination table TB of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the like in that it does not have an “EN” field and a “hash value” field. Is the same as in the first embodiment.

B1. Output port list configuration:
FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the output port table in the second embodiment. In FIG. 22, similarly to FIG. 4, in the initial setting state, the output port table TP2a set in the second distributed processing unit 202, the output port table TP3a set in the third distributed processing unit 203, and the fourth distributed An output port table TP4a set in the processing unit 204 and an output port table TP5a set in the fifth distributed processing unit 205 are shown.

  Each of the output port tables TP2a to TP5a shown in FIG. 22 is the output of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 in that information (EN) indicating whether the entry is valid and a hash value are added. Unlike the port tables TP2 to TP5, other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. Information (EN) indicating whether or not the entry in FIG. 22 is valid has the same meaning as EN in the distribution destination determination table TB of the first embodiment. Further, the hash value in FIG. 22 has the same meaning (value obtained by the same calculation method) as the hash value in the distribution destination determination table TB of the first embodiment.

  In the initial setting state, “*” is set as EN and “*” is set as the hash value, and the meaning of these values “*” is set in the default entry of the distribution destination determination table TB in the first embodiment. It has the same meaning as “*”. That is, default entries are set in the output port tables TP2a to TP5a in the initial state. The EN “*” and the hash value “*” in each default entry are automatically given to the entry set by the output port table initial setting process shown in FIG. Note that the output port table TP included in the first distributed processing unit 201 also has the same fields as the output port tables TP2a to TP5a illustrated in FIG.

B2. Sending side packet relay processing:
FIG. 23 is a first flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in the second embodiment. FIG. 24 is a second flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in the second embodiment.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the output port search unit 223 performs a predetermined hash calculation using the flow information of the received packet to obtain a hash value (step S600). The flow information used in step S600 is a destination IP address, a source IP address, a protocol number, a destination port number, and a source port number.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the output port search unit 223 uses the address information and the hash value obtained in step S600 as a key in the output port table TP set in the transmission side processing unit 220 to which it belongs. An entry having “1” and a hash value “the hash value of the received packet” (that is, the hash value obtained in step S600) is searched (step S605), and it is determined whether or not the entry is found (step S610).

  When no entry is found (step S610: NO), in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the output port search unit 223 acquires all output port lists of the default entry (step S635). For example, in the second distributed processing unit 202, the output port table TP2a is in the initial setting state shown in FIG. 22, and receives the multicast packet having the hash value “0”, the source IP address “SA1”, and the destination address “GA1”. In such a case, the output port search unit 223 of the second distributed processing unit 202 acquires the output port list (LAG3, LAG4).

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, when the output port search unit 223 obtains the output port list in step S635, the received packet is subjected to filter processing and QoS (for each port described in the output port list). Quality of Service) processing is executed in the pipeline (step S640). At this time, when the port described in the output port list is a LAG port, the output port search unit 223 refers to the LAG table TL to determine the physical port that constitutes each LAG port, and each physical port Filter processing and QoS processing are executed in the pipeline every time. When the port described in the output port list is a physical port, the output port search unit 223 executes filter processing and QoS processing on the physical port in a pipeline.

  The above-described filter processing means processing for separating packets that are permitted to be relayed by the packet relay device 10 and packets that are prohibited from being relayed, and can be executed according to a predetermined filter policy set in advance by the user, for example. . As the predetermined policy, for example, when the combination of the protocol number, the transmission source port number, and the destination port number matches a specific combination, a policy that prohibits relaying by the packet relay device 10 can be adopted.

  The QoS process means a process of relaying a packet according to a predetermined process priority for each flow. For example, a packet belonging to a flow with a higher priority is assigned to a packet belonging to a flow with a lower priority. Means that relay processing is performed first. Specifically, a high-priority memory (queue) and a low-priority memory (queue) are prepared. Based on the flow information included in the packet, the priority of the packet is determined. The process of determining and storing the packet in the corresponding queue can be adopted as the QoS process.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 refers to the LAG table TL based on the hash value obtained in step S600 and outputs a packet for each port described in the output port list. A physical port (output port) is determined (step S645). The processing in step S645 is the same as the processing in step S415 shown in FIG.

  In each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 determines whether or not the distributed processing unit to which the physical port selection unit 224 belongs has the physical port determined in step S645 (step S650). The process in step S650 is the same as the process in step S420 shown in FIG.

  If it is determined that the distributed processing unit to which the self belongs does not have the physical port determined in step S645 (step S650: NO), in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the packet output unit 228 performs the filtering process. And the packet after executing the QoS process is discarded (step S680). The output monitoring unit 227 indicates that the packet discard has occurred, the flow information of the discarded packet, the hash value calculated for the discarded packet, and the number of the physical port where the packet discard has occurred. The management unit 130 is notified (step S685), and the transmission side packet relay processing is terminated.

  When it is determined that the distributed processing unit to which the self belongs belongs in step S645 (step S650: YES), in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the physical port selection unit 224 The packet output unit 228 is notified of the packet after the execution of the process and the QoS process and the output port (physical port) number determined in step S645 (step S655).

  As shown in FIG. 24, in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the packet output unit 228 determines whether or not the physical port (output port) notified in step S655 is set as an STP blocked port ( Step S660). In the packet relay apparatus 10, it is assumed that any physical port can be set as a blocked port in advance, and in the following, the physical port 5/2 is set as a blocked port.

  When the output port is set as an STP blocked port (step S660: YES), the above-described steps S680 and S685 are executed, and the transmission-side packet relay processing ends. On the other hand, when the output port is not set as an STP blocked port (step S660: NO), the packet output unit 228 outputs a packet from the physical port notified in step S655 (step S670). The output monitoring unit 227 notifies the discard processing management unit 130 of the control unit 100 of the fact that the packet has been output, the flow information of the output packet, the hash value calculated for the output packet, and the output port number. Then (step S675), the transmission side packet relay processing is terminated.

  When an entry is found in the above-described step S610 (step S610: YES), in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the output port search unit 223 sets the output port list to “0” (none) in the found entry. It is determined whether it is set (step S615).

  When the output port list is set to “0” (step S615: YES), the transmission side packet relay process ends.

  If the output port is not set to “0” in step S615 described above (step S615: NO), the filtering process and the QoS process are piped on the received packet for each port set in the entry. This is executed on the line (step S625). At this time, if the port described in the output port list is a LAG port, the output port search unit 223 refers to the LAG table TL, determines the physical port that constitutes each LAG port, and determines each physical port. Filter processing and QoS processing are executed in a pipeline for each port. When the port described in the output port list is a physical port, the output port search unit 223 performs filter processing and QoS processing on the physical port in a pipeline. After step S630 is executed, the processing after step S655 described above is executed.

  FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a relay result of the multicast packet in the second embodiment. FIG. 25 shows a relay result when a multicast packet belonging to a flow having a source IP address “SA1”, a destination IP address “GA1”, and a hash value “0” first arrives at the packet relay device 10. 25 shows the relay result when the distribution destination determination table TB is in the initial setting state shown in FIG. 3 and the output port tables TP2 to TP5 of the distribution processing units 202 to 205 are in the initial setting state shown in FIG. Is shown.

  The multicast packet received by the first distribution processing unit 201 is relayed to the distribution processing units 202 to 205 as shown in FIG. 22 based on the distribution destination determination table TB shown in FIG.

  In the second distributed processing unit 202, since the output port table TP2 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry whose EN is “1”, Steps S635 to S655 are executed, and the physical port 2/1 determined as the output port , 2/3 and the packet after the filter process and the QoS process are transmitted to the packet output unit 228. Since none of the physical ports 2/1, 2/3 is an STP blocked port, steps S660 to S675 are subsequently executed, and packets are output from the physical ports 2/1, 2/3.

  In the third distributed processing unit 203, since the output port table TP3 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry whose EN is “1”, steps S635 to S650 are executed. As in the first embodiment, since the output port (physical port 2/3) determined for LAG4 is not a physical port of the third distributed processing unit 203, steps S680 and S685 are executed, and the packet is discarded. The The processing in the fourth distributed processing unit 204 is the same as the processing in the third distributed processing unit 203 described above, and the packet is discarded.

  In the fifth distributed processing unit 205, since the output port table TP2 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry in which EN is “1”, Steps S635 to S655 are executed, and the physical port 5/2 determined as the output port And the packet after the filtering process and the QoS process are transmitted to the packet output unit 228. However, since the physical port 5/2 is an STP blocked port (step S660: YES), steps S680 and S685 are executed, and the packet is discarded.

  As shown in FIG. 25, in the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204, as a result of the LAG processing, packet discard due to the fact that the physical port that the own distributed port is not determined as an output port (hereinafter, “ Called “LAG Discard”). Therefore, as in the first embodiment, useless processing such as reference to the output port table TP and LAG processing is performed, and the processing capabilities of the distributed processing units 203 and 204 are wasted. Also in the fifth distributed processing unit 205, packet discard (hereinafter referred to as “STP discard”) occurs due to the physical port determined as the output port being set as a blocked port in the STP. Therefore, referring to the output port table TP5 is a wasteful process. In the distributed processing units 202 to 205, the filtering process and the QoS process are executed for all the physical ports constituting the LAG port, so that these processes executed for the other physical ports except the output port are wasted. The processing capability of each of the distributed processing units 202 to 205 is wasted. However, in the packet relay apparatus of the second embodiment, waste of processing capacity of each of the first distributed processing unit 201 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205 can be suppressed by performing an output port table update process described later.

B3. Output port table update processing:
FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of output port table update processing in the second embodiment. With the activation of the packet relay apparatus of the second embodiment, the distribution destination determination table update process is started.

  The discard processing management unit 130 of the control unit 100 waits until notified that the packet has been output or that the packet has been discarded (step S705). Then, when any of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 notifies that the packet has been output or that the packet has been discarded (step S705: YES), the discard processing management unit 130 notifies the notified flow information, The hash value and the output port (physical port) number are notified to the output port table setting unit 120 and the master output port table TPm is instructed to be updated (step S710).

  The output port table setting unit 120 determines whether or not the notification from the discard processing management unit 130 is that a packet has been output (step S715). If the packet is output (step S715) S715: YES), the default entry is copied in the master output port table TPm, and in the copied entry, the output port list field is set to the port to which the notified output port belongs (when the output port is a part of the LAG port). Updated the LAG port, the physical port if the output port is not part of the LAG port), EN to “1”, and the hash value to “the hash value calculated for the output packet”. A new entry is added (step S720). If an entry having the same value in each field is already set, the entry is overwritten.

  When the notification from the discard processing management unit 130 does not indicate that the packet has been output (that is, that the packet has been discarded) (step S715: NO), the output port table setting unit 120 determines that the master output port In the table TPm, the default entry is copied, and in the copied entry, the output port list field is set to “0” (none), the EN is set to “1”, and the hash value is set to “the hash value calculated for the discarded packet”. Each updated new entry is added (step S725). If an entry having the same value in each field is already set, the entry is overwritten.

  After the process of step S720 or S725 is completed, the output port table setting unit 120 transmits the master output port table TPm to each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, and the output port table of each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205. TP is updated (step S730).

  FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the updated output port table. In FIG. 27, as described above, the packet having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” is first relayed to each of the distributed processing units 202 to 205 and then updated. The output port tables TP2a to TP5a are shown.

  The fact that a packet has been output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the second distributed processing unit 202 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the output port “physical port” 2/1, 2/3 "is notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27, the output port table TP2a includes EN “1”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, output port list “LAG3, LAG4”, and corresponding physical port “physical”. An entry (entry # 2) in which ports 2/1, 2/3 "are respectively set is added.

  The packet was discarded from the output monitoring unit 227 of the third distributed processing unit 203 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the packet was discarded. The physical port “2/3” is notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27, EN “1”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, and output port list “0” (none) are set in the output port table TP3a. An entry (entry # 2) is added.

  The output monitoring unit 227 of the fourth distributed processing unit 204 outputs a packet to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the packet discard occurs. The physical port “2/3” is notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27, EN “1”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, and output port list “0” (none) are set in the output port table TP4a. An entry (entry # 2) is added.

  The fact that a packet was output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the fifth distributed processing unit 205 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and packet discarding occurred. The physical port “5/2” is notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27, EN “1”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, and output port list “0” (none) are set in the output port table TP5a. An entry (entry # 2) is added.

  As shown in FIG. 27, since the distribution destination determination table TB included in each of the distribution processing units 202 to 205 is updated, when a packet of the same flow arrives at the packet relay apparatus of the second embodiment, the packet This relay process is different from the previous process.

  FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a relay result of the multicast packet after the output port table is updated. FIG. 28 shows a relay result when a multicast packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” arrives for the second time or later.

  As described above, as a result of the multicast packet belonging to the flow having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, and the hash value “0” being relayed by the packet relay device 10 for the first time, the output port tables TP2a to TP5a As shown in FIG. 22, entry # 2 is added to each. Therefore, for example, in the second distributed processing unit 202, it is determined that “entry exists” in step S610 shown in FIG. 23, and steps S615, S625, S655, S660, S670, and S675 are executed. Therefore, unlike the case where the packet belonging to the flow is received first, the output port is determined without executing the LAG process (step S645), so that waste of processing capacity of the second distributed processing unit 202 can be suppressed. In addition, the entry found in step S605 describes only one physical port as a physical port corresponding to each LAG port. Accordingly, since the number of physical ports that perform the filtering process and the QoS process for each LAG port is suppressed to the minimum number “1”, it is possible to suppress the waste of processing capacity in the second distributed processing unit 202.

  Further, in the third distributed processing unit 203, entry # 2 is hit with reference to the output port table TP3a, and “0” is set in the output port list in this entry. Therefore, LAG processing, filter processing, QoS The transmission side packet relay processing ends without executing the processing or the like. Therefore, waste of the processing capacity of the third distributed processing unit 203 for executing these processes can be suppressed. Note that, in the fourth distributed processing unit 204, as in the third distributed processing unit 203, waste of processing capacity can be suppressed.

  Similarly to the second distributed processing unit 202, the fifth distributed processing unit 205 determines that “entry exists” in step S610, and executes steps S615, S625, S655, S660, S670, and S675. The waste of the processing capacity of the five distributed processing units 205 can be suppressed.

  In the packet relay apparatus according to the second embodiment described above, when the multicast packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300 is not output in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the same flow (hash value) as the packet that has not been output. When the packet belonging to the combination of the transmission source and the destination determined by the transmission source IP address and the transmission destination IP address) arrives after the next time, the distributed processing unit that did not output the first packet does not perform LAG processing or the like. Discarded. Therefore, it is possible to suppress waste of processing capacity in the distributed processing unit from which the first packet has not been output.

  In addition, in the packet relay apparatus of the second embodiment, when the multicast packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300 is output in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, the packet belonging to the same flow as the output packet is next time The output port table is updated so that the output port can be determined without performing LAG processing when it arrives thereafter. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the same flow arrives after the next time, the LAG process can be omitted, and the filter process and the QoS process in a port that is not determined as an output port can be omitted. Therefore, waste of processing capability in the distributed processing unit from which the first packet is output can be suppressed.

  Further, in the packet relay apparatus of the second embodiment, when an STP discard occurs, the fact of the occurrence of the STP discard is fed back and the output port table is updated. Therefore, when the blocked port of the STP is changed, the distributed processing unit having the physical port newly set as the blocked port can be automatically set not to execute the LAG processing or the like. Therefore, the administrator does not have to change the output port table or the like in accordance with the change of the blocked port in the STP, so that the work load on the administrator can be reduced.

C. Third embodiment:
The packet relay apparatus according to the third embodiment differs from the packet relay apparatus according to the second embodiment in the setting items in the output port table, the transmission packet relay processing procedure, and the output port table update processing procedure. The configuration is the same as in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the packet is discarded when the output port is set as an STP blocked port. However, in the third embodiment, the MTU limit is set for each physical port. Packets that do not meet this MTU limit are discarded. The MTU restriction means that a packet is discarded when the packet length is longer than MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit: maximum size of data that can be transmitted at one time). In the following description, it is assumed that 750 bytes is set as the MTU limit for the physical port 5/2, and 1500 bytes is set as the MTU limit for the other physical ports.

C1. Output port list configuration:
FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the setting contents of the output port table in the third embodiment. 29, similarly to FIG. 4, in the initial setting state, the output port table TP2b set in the second distributed processing unit 202, the output port table TP3b set in the third distributed processing unit 203, and the fourth distributed An output port table TP4b set in the processing unit 204 and an output port table TP5b set in the fifth distributed processing unit 205 are shown.

  Each output port table TP2b to TP5b shown in FIG. 29 is different from the output port tables TP2a to TP5a of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 22 in that it has a “packet length (PL)” field. It is the same as the port tables TP2a to TP5a. In the packet length field (PL) in FIG. 29, three types of packet length identifiers corresponding to the packet length are set.

  FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the packet length identifier set in the output port table of the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 30, in the third embodiment, three packet length identifiers are set according to the packet length. Specifically, a packet length identifier “a” is set for a packet length of less than 750 bytes. A packet length identifier “b” is set for a packet length of 750 bytes or more and less than 1500 bytes, and a packet length identifier “c” is set for a packet length of 1500 bytes or more. Further, “*” is set as a default setting value regardless of the size of the packet length.

  As shown in FIG. 29, in the initial setting state, entry # 1 (default entry) is set in each of the output port tables TP2b to TP5b. In this default entry, “*” is set as the EN and “*” is set as the packet length identifier. The EN “*” and the packet length “*” in each default entry are automatically given to the entry set by the output port table initial setting process shown in FIG. Note that the output port table TP included in the first distributed processing unit 201 also has the same fields as the output port tables TP2b to TP5b illustrated in FIG.

C2. Sending side packet relay processing:
FIG. 31 is a first flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in the third embodiment. FIG. 32 is a second flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission side packet relay process in the third embodiment. In the transmission side packet relay processing in the third embodiment, step S602 is newly executed, step S605a is executed instead of step S605, step S660a is executed instead of step S660, and step S675a is executed instead of step S675. Unlike the transmission side packet relay processing in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the other procedures are the same as those in the second embodiment in that step S685a is executed instead of step S685.

  In the third embodiment, after obtaining the hash value (after step S600), the output port search unit 223 of each of the first distributed processing units 201 to 205 determines a packet length identifier based on the packet length of the received packet. (Step S602).

  The output port search unit 223 of each of the first distributed processing units 201 to 205 sets the address information, the hash value obtained in step S600, and the packet length obtained in step S602 as a key in the transmission side processing unit 220 to which it belongs. In the output port table TP, the EN “1”, the hash value “the hash value of the received packet” (that is, the hash value obtained in step S600), the packet length “the packet length identifier of the packet length of the received packet” ( That is, an entry that is the packet length identifier obtained in step S602) is searched (step S605a).

  After the process of step S655 shown in FIG. 31 (that is, the process of notifying the packet output unit 228 of the packet after execution of the filtering process and the QoS process and the number of the output port determined) is executed. ˜205, the packet output unit 228 determines whether or not the packet to be output satisfies the MTU limit set in the physical port (output port) notified in step S655, as shown in FIG. (Step S660a).

  If the packet to be output does not satisfy the MTU limit (step S660a: NO), steps S680 and S685a shown in FIG. 31 are executed. In step S685a, the output monitoring unit 227 indicates that the packet discard has occurred, the flow information of the discarded packet, the hash value calculated for the discarded packet, and the physical port number where the packet discard has occurred. The packet processing unit 130 of the control unit 100 is notified of the packet length of the discarded packet.

  If the packet to be output satisfies the MTU limit (step S660b: YES), steps S670 and S765a are executed as shown in FIG. In step S675a, the output monitoring unit 227 indicates that the packet has been output, the flow information of the output packet, the hash value calculated for the output packet, and the output port number, The packet length is notified to the discard processing management unit 130 of the control unit 100.

  FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a relay result of the multicast packet in the third embodiment. In FIG. 33, a multicast packet belonging to a flow having a source IP address “SA1”, a destination IP address “GA1”, and a hash value “0”, and a packet having a packet length of 1000 bytes is first sent to the packet relay apparatus 10. The relay result when it arrives is shown. 33 shows the relay result when the distribution destination determination table TB is in the initial setting state shown in FIG. 3 and the output port tables TP2b to TP5b of the distribution processing units 202 to 205 are in the initial setting state shown in FIG. Is shown.

  The multicast packet received by the first distributed processing unit 201 is relayed to the distributed processing units 202 to 205 as shown in FIG. 33 based on the distribution destination determination table TB shown in FIG.

  In the second distributed processing unit 202, since the output port table TP2 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry whose EN is “1”, Steps S635 to S655 are executed, and the physical port 2/1 determined as the output port , 2/3 and the packet after the filter process and the QoS process are transmitted to the packet output unit 228. Since both the MTU limits of the physical ports 2/1, 2/3 are 1500 bytes, the packets to be output (packet length: 1000 bytes) satisfy the MTU limit, and thereafter, Steps S670 and S675a are executed. Packets are output from the ports 2/1, 2/3.

  In the third distributed processing unit 203, since the output port table TP3 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry whose EN is “1”, steps S635 to S650 are executed. As in the first embodiment, since the output port (physical port 2/3) determined for LAG4 is not a physical port of the third distributed processing unit 203, steps S680 and S685a are executed, and the packet is discarded. The The processing in the fourth distributed processing unit 204 is the same as the processing in the third distributed processing unit 203 described above, and the packet is discarded.

  In the fifth distributed processing unit 205, since the output port table TP2 is in the initial setting state and there is no entry in which EN is “1”, Steps S635 to S655 are executed, and the physical port 5/2 determined as the output port And the packet after the filtering process and the QoS process are transmitted to the packet output unit 228. However, since the MTU limit of the physical port 5/2 is 750 bytes, the packet to be output (packet length: 1000 bytes) does not satisfy the MTU limit. Therefore, steps S680 and S685a are executed and the packet is discarded.

  As shown in FIG. 33, LAG discard occurs in the third distributed processing unit 203 and the fourth distributed processing unit 204. Therefore, as in the first and second embodiments, the processing capabilities of the distributed processing units 203 and 204 are wasted. Also in the fifth distributed processing unit 205, packet discard (hereinafter referred to as “MTU discard”) occurs because the packet does not satisfy the MTU restriction of the physical port determined as the output port. Therefore, referring to the output port table TP5 is a wasteful process. In the distributed processing units 202 to 205, the filtering process and the QoS process are executed for all the physical ports constituting the LAG port, so that these processes executed for the other physical ports except the output port are wasted. The processing capability of each of the distributed processing units 202 to 205 is wasted. However, in the packet relay apparatus of the third embodiment, waste of processing capacity of each of the first distributed processing unit 201 to the fifth distributed processing unit 205 can be suppressed by performing an output port table update process described later.

C3. Output port table update processing:
FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the output port table update process in the third embodiment. With the activation of the packet relay apparatus of the third embodiment, the distribution destination determination table update process is started. The output port table update process in the third embodiment executes step S720a instead of step S720, and executes step S725a instead of step S725. The output port table update process in the second embodiment shown in FIG. Unlike the above, the other procedures are the same as in the second embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, when the notification from the discard processing management unit 130 indicates that a packet has been output (step S715: YES), the output port table setting unit 120 uses the default in the master output port table TPm. Copy the entry, and in the copied entry, set the output port list field to the port to which the notified output port belongs (if the output port is a part of a LAG port, the LAG port, and the output port is a part of the LAG port. If not, this is the physical port), EN is “1”, the hash value is “the hash value calculated for the output packet”, and the packet length is “the packet length corresponding to the packet length of the output packet” Each updated new entry is added to the “identifier” (step S720a). If an entry having the same value in each field is already set, the entry is overwritten.

  When the notification from the discard processing management unit 130 does not indicate that the packet has been output (that is, that the packet has been discarded) (step S715: NO), the output port table setting unit 120 determines that the master output port In the table TPm, the default entry is copied, and in the copied entry, the output port list field is set to “0” (none), the EN is set to “1”, and the hash value is set to “the hash value calculated for the discarded packet”. Each updated new entry is added to the packet length “packet length identifier corresponding to the packet length of the discarded packet” (step S725a). If an entry having the same value in each field is already set, the entry is overwritten.

  FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the updated output port table. In FIG. 35, as described above, the packet having the source IP address “SA1”, the destination IP address “GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the packet length “1000 bytes” is relayed to each of the second distributed processing units 202 to 205. The output port tables TP2b to TP5b updated after being processed.

  The fact that a packet has been output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the second distributed processing unit 202 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and the output port “physical port” 2/1, 2/3 ”and the packet length“ 1000 bytes ”are notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, the output port table TP2b has EN “1”, packet length “b”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, and output port list “LAG3, LAG4”. The entry (entry # 2) in which the corresponding physical port “physical port 2/1, 2/3” is set is added.

  The fact that no packet was output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the third distributed processing unit 203 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and packet discarding occurred. The physical port “2/3” and the packet length “1000 bytes” are notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, the output port table TP3b includes EN “1”, packet length “b”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, output port list “0” (none). However, each set entry (entry # 2) is added.

  The fact that no packet was output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the fourth distributed processing unit 204 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and packet discarding occurred. The physical port “2/3” and the packet length “1000 bytes” are notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, the output port table TP3b has EN “1”, MTU length “b”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, output port list “0” (none). However, each set entry (entry # 2) is added.

  The fact that no packet was output from the output monitoring unit 227 of the fifth distributed processing unit 205 to the discard processing management unit 130, the flow information “SA1, GA1”, the hash value “0”, and packet discarding occurred. The physical port “5/2” and the packet length “1000 bytes” are notified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, the output port table TP5a has EN “1”, MTU length “b”, hash value “0”, flow information “SA1, GA1”, output port list “0” (none). However, each set entry (entry # 2) is added.

  As shown in FIG. 35, since the distribution destination determination table TB included in each of the distribution processing units 202 to 205 is updated, when a packet of the same flow arrives at the packet relay apparatus of the third embodiment, the packet This relay process is different from the previous process. Specifically, the same result as the relay result shown in FIG. 28 of the second embodiment is obtained. Therefore, as in the second embodiment, it is possible to suppress waste of processing capacity in each of the distributed processing units 202 to 205.

  The packet relay device of the third embodiment described above has the same effect as the packet relay device of the second embodiment. In addition, in the packet relay device of the third embodiment, when the multicast packet relayed from the crossbar switch 300 is output in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205, it belongs to the same flow as the output packet, and The output port table is updated so that the output port can be determined without performing the LAG process when a packet having the same size as the output packet arrives after the next time. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the same flow and having the same size arrives from the next time, the LAG process can be omitted, and the filtering process and the QoS process in a port that is not determined as an output port can be omitted. Therefore, waste of processing capability in the distributed processing unit from which the first packet is output can be suppressed.

  In the packet relay apparatus according to the third embodiment, when an MTU discard occurs, the fact that the MTU discard has occurred is fed back and the output port table is updated. When the restriction is changed, the distributed processing unit having such a physical port can be automatically set so as not to execute the LAG processing or the like. Therefore, the administrator does not need to change the output port table or the like in accordance with the change of the MTU restriction, and thus the work burden on the administrator can be reduced.

D. Variations:
In addition, elements other than the elements claimed in the independent claims among the constituent elements in the above embodiments are additional elements and can be omitted as appropriate. The present invention is not limited to the above-described examples and embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the following modifications are possible.

D1. Modification 1:
The configuration of the packet relay device 10 in each embodiment is merely an example and can be variously modified. For example, in the second embodiment, the physical port set as the blocked port of the STP is only the physical port 5/2, but may be set to another physical port. In the third embodiment, 750 bytes are set as the MTU limit for the physical port 5/2 and 1500 bytes are set as the MTU limit for the other physical ports. However, the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. For example, as MTU restrictions, 576 bytes can be set for physical ports 2/1, 2/3, and 1500 bytes can be set for other physical ports.

  In each embodiment, the entries set in each table such as the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP are only entries whose source address is “SA1” and whose destination address is “GA1”. In addition to this, other address information entries can be set. In each embodiment, the number of distributed processing units is five. However, the number is not limited to five and may be any number. In the first embodiment, the multicast packet relay destination by the crossbar switch 300 is determined from the other distributed processing units 202 to 205 except for the first distributed processing unit 201 that has received the multicast packet. Instead, any distributed processing unit including the first distributed processing unit 201 can be determined as a relay destination.

  In each embodiment, the initial setting of the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP executes the distribution destination determination table initial setting process shown in FIG. 9 and the output port table initial setting process shown in FIG. 10, respectively. However, instead of this, the administrator can also set manually.

  In each embodiment, an example in which the packet relay device of the present invention is applied as an L3 switch has been described. However, the packet relay device of the present invention can also be applied as a router instead of the L3 switch. Further, instead of the L3 switch, an L2 switch can be applied to the packet relay apparatus of the present invention. In this configuration, the layer 2 frame corresponds to a packet relayed by the packet relay device of the present invention.

  Further, in combination with each embodiment, when a packet is discarded due to any of LAG discard, STP discard, and MTU discard, the distribution destination determination table TB of each distribution processing unit 201 to 205 is updated, When a packet is output, the output port table TP of each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 can be updated. Note that the cause of packet discard is not limited to the above-described LAG discard, STP discard, and MTU discard, and any reason can be adopted.

D2. Modification 2:
In each embodiment, the distribution processing unit that has received the multicast packet transmits a bitmap specifying the packet and the relay destination (distribution destination) to the crossbar switch 300, and is specified by the crossbar switch 300. Although the packet is relayed to the distributed processing unit, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, information indicating the distributed processing unit serving as a packet and a relay destination so that the receiving side route search unit 216 relays the packet on a one-to-one basis for each distributed processing unit specified by the distribution destination determination table TB. Can be adopted in which the same number of distributed processing units are transmitted to the crossbar switch 300. With such a configuration, even when the crossbar switch 300 cannot execute multicast relay (processing for transmitting one packet to a plurality of distributed processing units in parallel), the same operations and effects as the respective embodiments Can be played.

D3. Modification 3:
In each embodiment, the processing is executed equally for all flows and the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP are updated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When a priority is set for each flow and a packet belonging to a flow with a high priority is received, the processing of each embodiment is executed. When a packet belonging to a flow with a low priority is received, the distribution destination The decision table TB and the output port table TP can be prevented from being updated. In each embodiment, when a packet is discarded or output, a new entry is added to the distribution destination determination table TB or the output port table TP. Therefore, when a packet belonging to various flows is received, many entries are determined as distribution destinations. It is added to the table TB and the output port table TP. Therefore, a large storage capacity is required for the reception-side table storage unit 214 and the transmission-side table storage unit 226 in each of the distributed processing units 201 to 205 and the table storage unit 140 of the control unit 100, which increases the manufacturing cost of the packet relay device. To do. However, by adopting the configuration in which entries are added only for the above-described high-priority flows, the storage capacity of each of the storage units 214, 226, and 140 can be reduced, and the cost of the packet relay device can be reduced. In addition, for a flow with high priority, waste of processing capacity in each distributed processing unit can be suppressed, so that the number of processing packets per unit time can be increased and the throughput of the flow can be improved. As for the priority of the flow, the configuration set by the administrator in advance and the used bandwidth of each flow are monitored. The structure to judge can be employ | adopted.

D4. Modification 4:
In each embodiment, the entry added to the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP is not deleted. Instead, a configuration in which an entry is deleted can be adopted. For example, when an entry is added to the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP, the entry can be deleted when the entry is not referred to within a predetermined period. With such a configuration, it is possible to suppress the useless entry that is not referred to from remaining, so that the storage capacity of each of the storage units 214, 226, and 140 can be reduced. If the entry is not referred to for a long period of time, the configuration of the packet relay device 10 is changed within the period (for example, change of the VLAN to which the packet relay device 10 is connected), and accordingly, the LAG table TL or multicast The route table TM and the logical interface conversion table TC may be changed. In this case, since the physical port determined by the LAG process is also changed, the entries in the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP may become invalid. However, by deleting entries that are not referred to during a predetermined period, entries corresponding to the changed tables TL, TM, and TC can be newly added to the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP.

  It also monitors whether or not the information referred to when determining the entry to be added to the distribution destination determination table TB or the output port table TP has been updated. If such information changes, the information is determined with reference to the changed information. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for deleting the entered entry. For example, the table TL, the multicast route table TM, the logical interface conversion table TC, the blocked port in the STP, and the update of the MTU limit are monitored, and when any table or information is updated, the distribution destination is determined. Other entries excluding the default entry can be deleted from the table TB or the output port table TP. With such a configuration, it is possible to suppress invalid entries from remaining in the distribution destination determination table TB and the output port table TP. Therefore, the storage capacity of each of the storage units 214, 226, and 140 can be reduced, and relaying of packets to an erroneous physical port can be suppressed.

D5. Modification 5:
In the second and third embodiments, the processing to be executed as pipeline processing is filter processing and QoS processing, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in addition to these processes, a process for determining whether or not a packet is a packet that forms a broadcast storm can be executed.

D6. Modification 6:
In the second and third embodiments, when a packet is discarded, an entry of the output port list “0” (none) is added to each output port table TP of the distributed processing unit in which the packet is discarded. However, instead of this, such an entry may not be added. Even in this case, when a packet is output, an entry in which only the output physical port is listed is added to the output port table TP. Therefore, when a packet belonging to the same flow as the output packet arrives from the next time, the output port can be determined without performing the LAG process, so that waste of processing capacity of the distributed processing unit can be suppressed.

D7. Modification 7:
In each embodiment, the information (hash key) on which the hash value is obtained is the destination IP address, the source IP address, the protocol number, the destination port number, and the source port number. It is not limited to this. For example, at least one piece of information among a destination IP address, a source IP address, a protocol number, a destination port number, and a source port number can be used as a basis for obtaining a hash value. Further, in addition to the destination IP address, the source IP address, the protocol number, the destination port number, and the source port number, the source MAC (Media Access Control) address and the receiving side MAC address are used as a basis for obtaining the hash value. It can also be. That is, in general, any information that can be acquired from a packet and that can identify a combination of a transmission source and a destination of a packet can be adopted as flow information in the packet relay device of the present invention.

D8. Modification 8:
In each embodiment, a part of the configuration realized by software may be replaced with hardware. On the contrary, a part of the configuration realized by hardware may be replaced with software.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Packet relay apparatus 100 ... Control unit 201 ... 1st distributed processing part 202 ... 2nd distributed processing part 203 ... 3rd distributed processing part 204 ... 4th distributed processing part 205 ... 5th distributed processing part 300 ... Crossbar switch 210 ... Reception side processing unit 212 ... Packet reception unit 214 ... Reception side table storage unit 216 ... Reception side route search unit 220 ... Transmission side processing unit 222 ... Transmission side route search unit 223 ... Output port search unit 224 ... Physical port selection unit 226 ... Transmission side table storage unit 227 ... output monitoring unit 228 ... packet output unit TB ... distribution destination determination table TL ... LAG table TM ... multicast route table TP ... output port table 105 ... control unit 110 ... distribution destination determination table setting unit 120 ... output Port table setting unit 130 ... Discard processing management unit 140 ... Table notation Part TC ... logic interface conversion table TLm ... master LAG table TBM ... master distribution destination table TPm ... master output port table TP2~TP5, TP2a~TP5a, TP2b~TP5b ... output port table

Claims (13)

A packet relay device,
A plurality of packet processing units having physical ports;
A logical port setting unit that sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units;
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A distribution destination determination unit that determines a distribution destination packet processing unit that is a distribution destination of the multicast packet;
A packet distribution unit for distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for determining an output port for outputting the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports configuring the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet A decision unit;
A packet output unit for outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output determination unit that determines whether or not the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
The distribution destination determination unit is the same as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output from the distribution packet processing unit as a result of the determination by the output determination unit When receiving a multicast packet having flow information, among the plurality of packet processing units, the distribution destination packet processing unit from among other packet processing units excluding the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet was not output Determine the packet relay device. The packet relay device according to claim 1,
The flow information includes a hash value obtained based on at least one of a transmission source address, a destination address, a protocol number, a transmission source port number, and a destination port number, a transmission source address, and a destination address. A packet relay device consisting of The packet relay apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:
The flow information is associated with the packet processing unit that is the distribution destination packet processing unit, and includes a distribution destination determination table that is referred to when the distribution destination determination unit determines the distribution destination packet processing unit,
The distribution destination determination table includes, as a default entry, information indicating that any value may be used as the flow information, and an entry in which a predetermined packet processing unit is associated as the distribution destination packet processing unit,
When it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, the distribution destination determination unit is a new entry in the distribution destination determination table, and is output as the flow information. The flow information of the multicast packet that did not exist is set, and the distribution destination packet processing unit that did not output the multicast packet from the distribution destination packet processing unit set in the default entry as the distribution destination packet processing unit A packet relay device that adds a new entry excluding the message to the distribution destination determination table. A packet relay device,
A plurality of packet processing units having physical ports;
A logical port setting unit that sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units;
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A distribution destination determination unit that determines a distribution destination packet processing unit that is a distribution destination of the multicast packet;
A packet distribution unit for distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for outputting the multicast packet is specified based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet, and the distribution port when the output port is the logical port An output port specifying unit that executes physical port specifying processing for specifying one physical port as the output port from among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port, based on the flow information of the multicast packet that is generated,
A packet output unit for outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output determination unit that determines whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
The output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit. A packet relay device that specifies the physical port from which the multicast packet has been output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process. The packet relay device according to claim 4,
The flow information includes a hash value obtained based on at least one of a transmission source address, a destination address, a protocol number, a transmission source port number, and a destination port number, a transmission source address, and a destination address. A packet relay device consisting of The packet relay device according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising:
An output port table in which the flow information, the logical port, and the physical port included in the logical port are associated with each other;
The output port table includes, as a default entry, information indicating that any value may be used as the flow information, a predetermined logical port as the logical port, and all of the predetermined logical port as the physical port And has an entry associated with the physical port of
The output port specifying unit is a first new entry in the output port table when the multicast packet is determined to be output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the output information is the output information. The flow information of the multicast packet is set, the logical port including the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is set as the logical port, and only the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is set as the physical port Adding the first new entry made to the output port table;
When the output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet, the output port specifying unit refers to the output port table and based on the first new entry, the output port A packet relay device that identifies a port. The packet relay device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising:
A packet length determination unit for determining whether the packet length of the multicast packet satisfies a predetermined MTU length limit set in advance in the output port;
The packet output unit does not output the multicast packet from the output port when the packet length of the multicast packet does not satisfy the predetermined MTU length limit,
The output port specifying unit has the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the Packet relay that, when a multicast packet having the same packet length as the output multicast packet is received, specifies the physical port from which the multicast packet is output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process apparatus. In the packet relay device according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
The output port identification unit is a second new entry in the output port table when the multicast packet is not output as a result of the determination by the output determination unit, and the flow information is the flow information. The flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output is set, the logical port is set as not corresponding to any logical port, and the physical port is set as not set as any physical port Add a new entry to the output port table,
When the output port specifying unit receives a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output, the output port specifying unit refers to the output port table and, based on the second new entry, A packet relay device that does not specify an output port. A packet relay method in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
(A) When the packet relay apparatus receives a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the packet relay apparatus is information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of the source and destination of the multicast packet A step of determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet among the plurality of packet processing units,
(B) The packet relay device distributes the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
(C) The packet relay apparatus outputs the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit. Determining an output port for;
(D) the packet relay device outputs the multicast packet from the output port;
(E) The packet relay apparatus determines, in the distribution destination packet processing unit, whether the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
In the step (c), when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of the step (e), the packet relay device has the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output. When receiving a multicast packet having the distribution packet, the distribution destination is selected from among the plurality of packet processing units other than the packet processing unit that is the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet has not been output. A packet relay method for determining a packet processing unit. A packet relay method in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
(F) When the packet relay device receives a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the packet relay device is information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of the source and destination of the multicast packet A step of determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet among the plurality of packet processing units,
(G) The packet relay device distributes the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
(H) The packet relay device specifies an output port for outputting the multicast packet based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit, and the output port A physical port specifying process for specifying one physical port as the output port from the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet when the port is a logical port; A process to perform;
(I) The packet relay device outputs the multicast packet from the output port;
(J) the packet relay device determines, in the distribution destination packet processing unit, whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
With
In the step (h), when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of the step (J), the packet relay apparatus has the same flow information as the flow information of the output multicast packet. A packet relay method, wherein when receiving a multicast packet, the physical port from which the multicast packet is output is specified as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process. A program for relaying a packet in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A function for determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet,
A function of distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
A function of determining an output port for outputting the multicast packet among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet in the distribution destination packet processing unit; ,
A function of outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
A function of determining whether the multicast packet is output from the physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
Is a computer program for causing a computer to realize
The function of determining the distribution destination packet processing unit is that when it is determined that the multicast packet has not been output as a result of determining whether or not the multicast packet has been output from a physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit. Upon receiving a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet that has not been output, other than the distribution destination packet processing unit from which the multicast packet has not been output among the plurality of packet processing units A computer program including a function of determining the distribution destination packet processing unit from among the packet processing units. A program for relaying a packet in a packet relay device,
The packet relay device sets a logical port by logically bundling a plurality of packet processing units having physical ports and a plurality of physical ports selected from a plurality of physical ports provided by the plurality of packet processing units. A logical port setting unit to
When receiving a multicast packet in any of the plurality of packet processing units, the plurality of packet processing units based on flow information indicating information that can be acquired from the multicast packet and that indicates a combination of a source and a destination of the multicast packet A function for determining a distribution destination packet processing unit to be a distribution destination of the multicast packet,
A function of distributing the multicast packet to the determined distribution destination packet processing unit;
In the distribution destination packet processing unit, an output port for outputting the multicast packet is specified based on the flow information of the distributed multicast packet, and the distribution port when the output port is the logical port A function of executing physical port specifying processing for specifying one physical port as the output port from among the plurality of physical ports constituting the logical port based on the flow information of the multicast packet that has been generated;
A function of outputting the multicast packet from the output port;
A function of determining whether the multicast packet is output from a physical port of the distribution destination packet processing unit in the distribution destination packet processing unit;
Is a computer program for causing a computer to realize
The function of specifying the output port is output when it is determined that the multicast packet is output as a result of determining whether or not the multicast packet is output from a physical port included in the distribution destination packet processing unit. A function of specifying the physical port from which the multicast packet is output as the output port without executing the physical port specifying process when a multicast packet having the same flow information as the flow information of the multicast packet is received Including computer programs.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the computer program of Claim 11 or Claim 12.

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