JP2016213908A - Edge node device, control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform control, such as the setting or deleting of a path, easily by specifying the UNI endpoints of a path from an end to the other end in concealing the configuration of a network or in a device in a communication system that sets a path and provides a communication service.SOLUTION: An edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path comprises: an interface connected to a user device; and signaling control means for performing signaling in a control plane with an opposite edge node device via a relay network in the communication network. The signaling control means performs signaling by using an IP address associated with the interface, and thereby controls a path between the interface and an interface of the opposite edge node device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system for setting a path by signaling between edge devices, and particularly relates to an address used for signaling in an edge device.

  In recent years, server and storage, network virtualization, and application clouding have progressed. In addition, software-defined network (SDN) is a network abstraction concept that allows application software that uses the network to acquire network resources and connectivity through APIs without being aware of the configuration changes of individual network devices. ) Is attracting attention. The problem on the network provider side to cope with these service concepts is how to configure the network when network connectivity and network resources are requested on demand from users and software.

  As one configuration method, each communication device in the network is controlled and managed centrally from the controller or server in accordance with the layer integrated protocol such as Open Flow or GMPLS, thereby meeting the on-demand network request from the user application. There is a configuration method of replying.

  As another configuration method, the network service content requested by the application is input as API data to the edge device (Ingress) of the network, and this edge device (Ingress) performs end-end path generation / deletion / multicast topology change by signaling. Then, there is a method of returning an operation result from the edge device (Ingress) by API.

WO2004 / 086704

  In any of the above configuration methods, when a request is issued from a user to a communication device in a network via a higher-level application for path setting or the like, the content of the request abstracts the actual network or device configuration. It is desired that the contents can be easily understood by the user and the upper application side.

  For example, when the edge device (Ingress) performs path setting for the opposite edge device (Egress) by signaling, the user and the host application include the end point on the user device side of the edge device (Ingress) and the user of the edge device (Egress). It is desirable to be able to request path setting by specifying the end point on the device side. However, the path setting between end points is generally divided into the path setting on the relay network side and the setting to connect the path on the relay network side and the UNI port at the edge device. It was not easy to set the path by specifying the interval.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a communication system that provides a communication service by setting a path, it simply conceals the configuration in the network or device, and specifies the end-end UNI end point of the path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that enables easy control of path setting / deletion.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path,
An interface connected to the user equipment;
Signaling control means for performing signaling in the control plane with the opposite edge node device via the relay network in the communication network,
The edge control device characterized in that the signaling control means controls a path between the interface and the interface of the opposite edge node device by performing signaling using an IP address associated with the interface. Configured as

  The present invention can also be configured as a program for causing a communication method including a control method executed by the edge node device and a computer function to function as each means in the edge node device.

  According to the present invention, in a communication system that provides a communication service by setting a path, a path between UNI end points can be easily set by concealing a configuration in a network or a device, and specifying an end-end UNI end point of an edge device. It is possible to provide a technique that makes it possible to perform control such as setting / deleting.

It is a system configuration diagram for explaining the principle of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the edge apparatus in this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the information stored in a UNI address storage part. It is a block diagram of the communication system in a specific example. It is a figure which shows an example of a multicast tree (P2MP LSP). It is a function block diagram of the Ingress node apparatus in a specific example. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of connection information. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the communication system in a specific example.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is only an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

(Principle of embodiment, outline)
First, the principle and outline of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an overall system configuration diagram for explaining the principle and outline of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which edge devices 100 and 200 are connected to a relay network 300. User devices are connected to the outside of each edge device (the side other than the relay network side), and each edge device transmits and receives data to and from the user device. In the example of FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the edge device 100 is a transmission side and the edge device 200 is a reception side.

  In the present embodiment, data transmitted and received by the user apparatus is non-IP traffic such as video, Ethernet (registered trademark), ATM, SDH, etc., and an interface (input UNI port) connected to the user apparatus of the edge apparatus 100 The interface (referred to as an output UNI port) connected to the user device of the edge device 200 is a non-IP interface that does not perform IP routing by looking up the IP address of the header of the IP packet. In FIG. 1, there is one UNI port of each edge device, but this is for convenience of explanation, and there may actually be a plurality of UNI ports.

  In this embodiment, an IP address is virtually allocated to each of the input UNI port and the output UNI port. This IP address is an IP address that upper application software (API upper layer) can use for End-End designation, and is configured in each edge device, for example.

  For example, if the input / output UNI port is a video port (HD-SDI, DVB-ASI, etc.) or Ethernet port, an IP address is assigned to each port, and if DVB-ASI is PID / CC, PID / CC An IP address is assigned to each unit. For Ethernet vlan, an IP address is assigned to each vlan, and for SDH, an IP address is assigned to each time slot. This IP address is called a UNI address in this embodiment.

  In the relay network 300, a signaling protocol is used for generating / deleting a path for transferring data, changing a multicast topology, and the like. In the present invention, the signaling protocol is not limited to a specific one, but in the present embodiment, it is assumed that MPLS RSVP-TE (RFC3209, FRC3473) is used. Other protocols (LDP, PIM-SM, PIM-SSM, SIP, etc.) can also be applied.

  Note that the positioning of the UNI address in the present embodiment appears as one of a plurality of loopback IF addresses in the edge device from the viewpoint of the device on the relay network side.

  In a signaling control session in the relay network 300, a UNI address is used as an end point. Conventionally, only one loopback IF address for signaling is set in the edge device, and this loopback IF address is used.In this embodiment, the UNI port (UNI resource) specified by End-End by the upper application is used. ) Can be directly mapped to the relay LSP, and the path control in the network can be abstracted and concealed when the UNI address is designated End-End from the upper application.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the edge device 100 uses the UNI address assigned to the input UNI port as the IP address of the source of the signaling session of the control plane, and uses the UNI address assigned to the output UNI port of the control plane. Used as the destination IP address of the signaling session. By performing message transmission / reception based on the signaling protocol between these end points, the cross-connect setting in the apparatus is also performed, and a data transfer path between the input UNI port and the output UNI port is constructed. Note that this path includes a cross-connect between the input UNI port of the edge device 100 and the signaling line path (LSP) endpoint of the edge device 100, the path (LSP) of the LSP endpoint of the edge device 100 and the LSP endpoint of the edge device 200, and It consists of a path (cross-connect) between the LSP end point of the edge device 200 and the output UNI port of the edge device 200. The path (cross-connect) in each edge device is realized as setting data in the transfer table.

  The UNI address configured on the UNI port (non-IP interface) is only used as a communication endpoint in the control plane, and when IP routing that looks up the IP header is not used for data transfer on the data plane ( In the case of MPLS, for example, a UNI address (IP address) is not required in the header. Of course, it can be transferred as an IP packet by IP multicast with the source as a UNI address. In this case, the protocol for realizing multicast is limited to IP multicast (PIM-SM, PIM-SSM, etc.). When a multicast topology is realized by P2MP-LSP using a UNI address for RSVP-TE signaling, an IP address is not required for data transfer on the data plane. An IP address may exist in the header / payload on the data plane.

  As described above, the UNI address is an endpoint IP address for communication in the control plane, but IP routing is possible in the core switch, core router, and LSR (Label Switched Router) of the relay network in terms of signaling protocol execution and maintenance. It is supposed to be. In this embodiment, Ping, Traceroute, LSP-Ping, LSP-Traceroute, BFD, etc. can be executed for the UNI address of the non-IP interface, and route advertisement can be made to OSPF and PCE. This greatly increases the operability of the network.

  Note that IP routing in the relay network 300 is not indispensable if explicit routing (ERO designation) is completely performed from the transmission-side edge device 100, but IP routing is supported so that signaling can be executed without ERO. Is going to do.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the internal functional configuration of the edge devices 100 and 200 in the system shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the edge device 100 includes an input UNI port 101, a signaling control unit 102, a data transfer control unit 103, a data transfer information storage unit 104, a UNI address storage unit 105, and an instruction interpretation execution unit 106. The edge device 200 includes an output UNI port 201, a signaling control unit 202, a data transfer control unit 203, a data transfer information storage unit 204, a UNI address storage unit 205, and an instruction interpretation execution unit 206. Hereinafter, the same functional units in the edge devices 100 and 200 will be described together.

  As described above, the input UNI port 101 and the output UNI port 201 are non-IP interfaces connected to the user apparatus.

  The data transfer information storage units 104 and 204 are functional units that store data transfer information in the data plane. The data transfer control unit 103 of the transmission-side edge device 100 refers to the data transfer information storage unit 104 to send the data received from the input UNI port 101 to the path of the relay network, and receives the reception-side edge device 200. The data transfer control unit 203 transfers the data received from the relay network path to the output UNI port 201 by referring to the data transfer information storage unit 204.

  The UNI address storage units 105 and 205 store an IP address assigned to each UNI port. An example of table information stored in the UNI address storage units 105 and 205 is shown in FIG. This example is a one-way communication example. When the UNI port is bidirectional communication such as Ethernet, the input port and the output port are not distinguished.

  Signaling control units 102 and 202 shown in FIG. 2 are functional units that perform signaling processing and the like in the control plane. In this embodiment, the signaling control unit 102 of the transmission-side edge device 100 sets the UNI address between end points. In response to the designated instruction, signaling for path setting / deleting is started. This instruction includes reservation information and the like in addition to a real-time path setting instruction. The reservation information will be described in the section “<Reservation information and connection information>” described later.

  The signaling control units 102 and 202 transmit and receive signaling messages using the IP addresses of the endpoints (IP address corresponding to the input UNI port and IP address corresponding to the output UNI port) included in the path setting instruction or the like. That is, the signaling control unit 102 of the transmission-side edge device 100 performs transmission and reception of signaling messages using the IP address corresponding to the input UNI port as the IP address of the source (connection source), and the signaling control unit of the reception-side edge device 200 202 transmits / receives a signaling message by associating the IP address of the destination (connection destination) of the signaling message with the output UNI port.

  For example, when the path setting signaling is completed and the path of the relay network 300 is established (the label table is set in each node), the signaling control unit 102 of the transmitting edge device 100 uses the signaling Data for referring to the UNI address storage unit 105 based on the IP address of the source (connection source), grasping the input UNI port corresponding to the IP address, and connecting the UNI port and the path of the relay network set by signaling The transfer information is stored in the data transfer information storage unit 104. Further, the signaling control unit 202 of the receiving edge device 200 refers to the UNI address storage unit 205 based on the IP address of the destination (connection destination) used for signaling, grasps the output UNI port corresponding to the IP address, Data transfer information for connecting the grasped output UNI port and the relay network path is stored in the data transfer information storage unit 204.

  The instruction interpretation execution units 106 and 206 are functional units that interpret and execute an instruction for connectivity confirmation or the like specifying an IP address (UNI address) assigned to a UNI port. When the command interpretation execution units 106 and 206 receive a status confirmation command specifying an IP address from the operation system or a device in the route, the command interpretation execution unit 106 and 206 grasps the UNI port corresponding to the IP address and includes the UNI port. You can check the path status.

  As an example, for example, when the command interpretation execution unit 106 receives a Ping command that specifies a UNI address between the end points (your own IP address and the destination IP address), as in the case of a normal IP Ping, IP connectivity from the output interface of the control plane on the side (a part of the signaling control unit 102) to the input interface of the control plane on the relay network side of the destination edge device 200 (a part of the signaling control unit 202) You can perform the process of checking.

  Also, for example, when the instruction interpretation execution unit 106 receives a path connectivity test command (an example of a status confirmation command) that specifies a UNI address between end points, the UNI address storage unit 105, the data transfer information storage unit 104, and the like By referencing, the input UNI port 101 corresponding to the UNI address on the transmission side and the path (LSP) of the relay network 300 are grasped, and the IP protocol stack of the UNI address assigned to the input UNI port 101 In the edge device 200 that has received the test message, the instruction interpretation execution unit 206 confirms that the test message has been received in the IP protocol stack of the UNI address assigned to the output UNI port 201. Is returned to the edge device 100 side, and the command is received by the sending edge device 100. Execution unit 106, that has received the confirmation message, can confirm the normality of the paths between UNI port endpoints.

  Note that the above-described processing content is merely an example, and the instruction interpretation execution units 106 and 206 can perform processing for confirming various states including the UNI port at the end point by grasping the UNI port from the UNI address. . That is, the instruction interpretation execution units 106 and 206 according to the present embodiment have means for performing at least arrival confirmation tests such as ICMP Ping, Traceroute, LSP-Ping, and LSP-Traceroute by using a UNI address. .

  For IP addresses that support UNI ports, maintenance operability is improved by issuing and responding to ICMP pings and traceroutes as an arrival confirmation (communication) test function. When the data transfer control units 103 and 203 have an arrival confirmation (communication) test function related to the IP address stored in the UNI address storage units 105 and 205, an arrival confirmation (communication) test function such as ICMP by the network protocol processing function It is good also as providing.

  Each edge device according to the present embodiment can be realized by causing a communication device having a computer function such as a router to execute a program corresponding to the processing described in the present embodiment. The program may be stored in a storage medium such as a portable memory, distributed, installed in the communication device, or downloaded from a server on the network and installed in the communication device. Further, the processing described in the present embodiment may be realized as a hardware circuit, and the hardware circuit may be provided in the communication device.

  Hereinafter, a more specific example using the above-described technique will be described. The following specific example is an example in which a path is set based on reservation information specifying an end point for setting a path.

(Concrete example)
<Overall system configuration>
FIG. 4 shows an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to this example. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the communication system includes an Ingress node device 10, an Egress node device 30, relay node devices 40 and 50, and a service management device 60. The relay node devices 40 and 50 constitute a relay network (IP / MPLS network in this specific example), and each node device is connected by a transmission path as shown in the figure. The Ingress node device 10 is connected to a user device that transmits data, and the Egress node device 30 is connected to a user device that receives data. The service management device 60 is connected to the Ingress node device 10 via, for example, the Internet.

  FIG. 4 is an example showing the configuration of this example in an easy-to-understand manner. In the configuration related to actual service provision, there are a plurality of Ingress node devices 10 and Egress node devices 30 respectively, and the number and connection of relay node devices can take various configurations. FIG. 4 is a diagram focusing on one-way communication.

  Each of the Ingress node device 10 and the Egress node device 30 is an edge device (router or the like) of the relay network. A signaling message is transmitted and received between the Ingress node device 10 and the Egress node device 30 and the relay node devices 40 and 50, thereby setting or disconnecting a path (LSP). The Ingress node device 10 receives data from the user device on the data sending side and sends it to the set path, and the Egress node device 30 sends the data received from the path to the user device on the data receiving side. Each relay node device in the present embodiment is, for example, an LSR (Label Switched Router).

  In this specific example, the end points on the user device side of the edge devices (Ingress node device 10, Egress node device 30) correspond to the above-described UNI ports that are non-IP interfaces. The UNI port on the user device side of the Ingress node device 10 is an input UNI port, and the UNI port on the user device side of the Egress node device 30 is an output UNI port.

  Then, as described above, assigning a logical IP address to each UNI port, using the assigned IP address to perform signaling for path construction etc., and constructing a path for data transfer Yes. The IP address assigned to the UNI port is used for session creation / maintenance / deletion in the control plane, and is not used for data transfer in the relay node device.

  Thus, in this specific example, by specifying and signaling the UNI port IP address between the end points, it becomes possible to set an End-End path including the connection of the relay node device. In relay IP / MPLS networks, signaling packets are routed by OSPF, PCE, etc., or routed by explicit routing to provide connectivity between end points.

  When data to be transmitted is a video, a video processing device (video streamer) may be arranged at each end point. The video streamer is a device for transmitting a video signal, which is a non-IP communication signal, over an IP / Ethernet network, and transmits the video signal transmitted from the video transmission side to the Ingress node device 10 as a network frame. The frame received from the Egress node device 30 is reproduced as a video signal and sent to the video receiving side. When the data to be transmitted is video, the video processing portion may be held as an interface of the edge device (Ingress, Egress).

  The service management device 60 is also called an operation system (OpS), a database that holds reservation information (to be described later) input by a user or an operator, a function for transmitting reservation information to the Ingress node device 10, and a reservation from the Ingress node device 10. By receiving a connection ID corresponding to the information and accessing (polling) the Ingress node device 10 using the connection ID, it has a function of acquiring and displaying status information such as a reservation execution status. The connection ID will be described later in the section “<Reservation information, connection information>” and the like. More specifically, the service management device 60 stores the reservation information and holds the time reservation information & address information based on the network information table, and has a function for confirming the reservation status. In order to prevent duplicate management of reservation information, the reservation information has an original on the service management device 60 side, and the reservation information is transmitted to the edge device (Ingress) in advance or immediately. The service management device 60 manages the time reservation by acquiring the reservation execution state in the edge device (Ingress).

<About multicast>
In the communication system of this specific example, as a network configuration, in addition to a point-to-point connection that connects one input UNI port and one output UNI port, a point-to-point connection that connects one input UNI port and a plurality of output UNI ports. Multipoint connection (P2MP connection, multicast connection) is also possible.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of P2MP connection. FIG. 5 shows a multicast tree that connects points A, F, and G, which are output UNI ports of one or a plurality of egress node devices, from point A, which is an input UNI port of an ingress node device. . Point C is connected to point B, which is a relay node device, and points F and G are connected to point E, which is a relay node device. In this specific example, the end points of the multicast tree such as C point, F point, and G point are called leaves, and relay nodes (B point, E point) that become Ingress (A point) or Sub-group originator, and Egress and A path with a leaf (C point, D point, F point, G point) is called Sub-LSP.

  In this specific example, a multicast message (P2MP-LSP in MPLS) as shown in FIG. 5 is transmitted by sending a signaling message including control information designating a multicast route or the like from the Ingress node device configuring point A. It is possible to construct Further, for example, a Sub-LSP from point A / point B to point D in FIG. 5 is added to the already constructed multicast tree by a signaling message for a leaf of the partial tree (corresponding to Sub-LSP in MPLS). It is possible. Furthermore, it is also possible to delete an already constructed Sub-LSP by a signaling message. Further, in data transfer, a relay node device in which a plurality of leaves (including leaves connected to other relay node devices) are connected to the downstream side copies the data sent from the upstream side, The transmission operation is performed toward the leaf (or downstream relay node device). Note that MPLS multicast path construction signaling and multicast data transfer technology itself are existing technologies.

  In this specific example, when P2MP connection is performed, one Sub-LSP is generated for one time reservation, one multicast tree is generated as a set of these, and this becomes one path (P2MP-LSP).

<Configuration of Ingress Node Device 10>
FIG. 6 is a functional configuration diagram of the Ingress node device 10 according to this example. The functional configuration of the Ingress node device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The configuration shown in FIG. 6 mainly shows the functions on the Ingress side related to this specific example. An existing function (not shown) for performing a processing operation as an MPLS edge device is also included.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the Ingress node device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a device configuration information receiving unit 11, a reservation information receiving unit 12, a reservation information storage unit 13, a device configuration data storage unit 14, a connection information generation unit 15, Connection information storage unit 16, status information storage unit 17, signaling execution unit 18, reservation execution management unit 19, device real-time clock (RTC) 20, input UNI port 21, data transfer control unit 22, data transfer information storage unit 23, An instruction execution interpretation unit 24 is included. Hereinafter, main functional units will be described.

  The device configuration information receiving unit 11 is a functional unit that receives device configuration data from the outside and stores it in the device configuration data storage unit 14. Here, the device configuration data in the present embodiment is information related to the device configuration and the like of the device, and is generally information that does not change with time. The above-described UNI address storage unit 105 is included in the device configuration data storage unit 14, and the device configuration data storage unit 14 has an IP address assigned to each UNI port as shown in FIG. Stored.

  The reservation information receiving unit 12 is a functional unit that receives reservation information from the service management device 60 and stores it in the reservation information storage unit 13 of the Ingress node device 10. In addition, the reservation information receiving unit 12 performs validation processing such as resource check and consistency check on the received reservation information.

  The connection information generation unit 15 is a functional unit that generates connection information to be described later based on the reservation information and stores the connection information in the connection information storage unit 16. Connection information is stored in the connection information storage unit 16.

  The state information storage unit 17 is a storage unit that stores various states such as a signaling execution state. The connection information stored in the connection information storage unit 16 also includes execution state information. This execution state information is retained by referring to the execution state information in the state information storage unit 17. The status information storage unit 17 stores not only the execution status information included in the connection information but also all status information. That is, the outline of the execution state can be known from the connection information, and more detailed execution state values can be obtained by accessing each object in the state information storage unit 17.

  In this specific example, since signaling is performed using an IP address linked to a UNI port, the IP address is included in the signaling execution state information stored in the state information storage unit 17 and the like, and based on the IP address. Thus, it is possible to immediately grasp which UNI port is in the signaling execution state corresponding to the connection.

  The reservation information storage unit 13, the device configuration data storage unit 14, the connection information storage unit 16, and the state information storage unit 17 described above may be table data managed separately in the database system. Each of the predetermined areas may be a physically separate storage device.

  The signaling execution unit 18 performs signaling based on an instruction from the reservation execution management unit 19 to generate or delete a path. In this specific example, RSVP-TE is used as the signaling protocol. As described above, in this specific example, in addition to the point-to-point connection that connects one input UNI port and one output UNI port, the point-to-point connection that connects one input UNI port and a plurality of output UNI ports. Multipoint connection (P2MP connection, multicast connection) is possible, and the signaling execution unit 18 performs signaling for controlling these connections.

  The reservation execution management unit 19 is a functional unit that executes the reservation by detecting the arrival of the reservation time set in the connection information based on the time provided from the apparatus real time clock (RTC) 20. 2 is the reservation information receiving unit 12, the reservation information storage unit 13, the connection information generation unit 15, the connection information storage unit 16, the reservation execution management unit 19, and the signaling execution in this specific example. This corresponds to a functional unit including the unit 18.

  The input UNI port 21 is an interface for receiving data from the user device. The data transfer control unit 22 refers to the data transfer information (transfer table) stored in the data transfer information storage unit 23 and sends the data input from the input UNI port 21 to the set path. That is, a label corresponding to the path is added and output from a predetermined output interface. The data transfer control unit 22 is described as a functional unit including a relay network interface connected to the relay transmission path. Further, the data transfer control unit 22 performs a process of connecting the input data to a path (route) corresponding to the destination of the data, and thus can be called a cross-connect function unit.

  The data transfer information storage unit 23 stores table information for data transfer. In the data transfer information storage unit 23, for example, a data destination, label information of a set path, an input interface, and an output interface are stored in association with each other. The data transfer control unit 22 of this specific example corresponds to the data transfer control unit 103 in FIG. 2, and the data transfer information storage unit 23 corresponds to the data transfer information storage unit 104 in FIG.

  The instruction execution interpretation unit 24 is a functional unit corresponding to the instruction execution interpretation unit 106 described with reference to FIG. 2, and receives a path connectivity confirmation command or the like specifying an IP address (UNI) received from the outside, and responds to the command. It is a functional unit that performs various tests and provides the results to the outside.

  Note that the device configuration (functional division) shown in FIG. 6 according to this specific example is merely an example, and the device configuration is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 6 as long as the operation in this specific example can be realized.

  The edge node device having the function of the Ingress node device 10 according to this specific example can be realized by causing a communication device having a computer function such as a router to execute a program corresponding to the processing described in this embodiment. is there. The program may be stored in a storage medium such as a portable memory, distributed, installed in the communication device, or downloaded from a server on the network and installed in the communication device. Further, the processing described in the present embodiment may be realized as a hardware circuit, and the hardware circuit may be provided in the communication device.

<Reservation information and connection information>
In this specific example, the reservation information transmitted from the service management device 60 and received by the reservation information receiving unit 12 of the Ingress node device 10 includes start time / end time, start port / end port, relay route / relay link / relay resource. Including time reservation information ID.

  Here, the “start point port / end point port” is an IP address assigned to the start point port (input UNI port) and an IP address assigned to the end point port (output UNI port). In this specific example, these IP addresses are used for signaling.

  The relay route in the relay route / relay link / relay resource is information on the relay node device that is a route between the start port and the end port. The relay link is information on a link between relay node devices. The relay resource is information on the bandwidth required for the link. The time reservation information ID is an ID for identifying the reservation information.

  The connection information is information that maps the time reservation information handled by the application of the service management device 60 and the path information handled by the network device. A time zone that can be reserved for each user input or for each network interface as device resource management. This is information that manages and reflects the state of the path and the reservation execution state by signaling.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of attributes of connection information generated by the connection information generating unit 15 and stored in the connection information storage unit 16. Note that the example shown in FIG. 7 is connection information on the Ingress side, and when there is an egress function in the same device, the received connection information is also held. The example illustrated in FIG. 7 is merely an example of connection information, and may include other information necessary for control, such as path route information. The example shown in FIG. 7 is an example in the case of multicast. Similarly, in the case of unicast, connection information in which unicast LSP (path information) is associated with reservation time and endpoint information is generated. .

  Each attribute is as described in “Description” in FIG. 7, but some supplements will be described below.

  The Ingress end point port corresponds to the input UNI port described above. The outgoing connection ID is associated with the Ingress endpoint port in the time zone related to the reservation.

  For relay network IF information, for example, in order to realize a redundant configuration, a relay network for each path is assumed assuming that the corresponding Ingress endpoint port is connected to one Egress endpoint port via a plurality of paths in the relay network. IF information can be set.

  Leaf information is set for each leaf, and each leaf is identified by a reserved leaf ID. The relay network Sub-LSP information in the leaf information is set so that Sub-LSP information is set for each route, assuming that it is connected to one Egress endpoint port via multiple routes as described above. It has become. The Sub-LSP index number is associated with key information of the corresponding Sub-LSP object, and this object includes data such as route information on the Sub-LSP network. Such an object is stored in the storage means (database) of the Ingress node device 10.

  The Dest end point port IP address in the leaf information is the IP address of the end point port of the leaf that is the destination. This IP address is an address logically assigned to the end point UNI port as described above. In the egress node device 30, this Dest endpoint port IP address is used to specify the output UNI port described above. In this specific example, this IP address is used for designating a destination in signaling, and is not used for data transfer in the data plane.

  The operation tree ID is an ID associated with a path that is a multicast tree (an example that is input as reservation information and also used as path information). This operation tree ID can be used as path information for identifying the multicast tree of P2MP-LSP in the signaling message.

  The operation tree start time is, for example, the connection start time of the leaf connected first in the multicast tree identified by the origination connection ID (or operation tree ID), and the operation tree end time is, for example, the origination connection ID ( Alternatively, it can be the connection end time of the leaf that ends last in the multicast tree identified by the operation tree ID).

  An example of connection information generation will be described below. It is assumed that the multicast tree configuration in the following description is as shown in FIG. In the following, for the sake of easy understanding, it is assumed that the relay path is not redundantly configured.

  First, (start time: 9:00, end time: 11:00, start point port: A point, end point port: F point, relay route: B point → E point), (start time: 9:00, end time: 10:00, Start port: A point, end port: G point, relay route: B point → E point), (start time: 8:00, end time: 11:00, start point port: A point, end point port: C point, relay route: It is assumed that reservation information having point B) is input from the service management device 60 to the Ingress node device 10.

  Then, the connection information generation unit 15 grasps from the received reservation information that the data transfer path is a multicast tree starting from point A as shown in FIG. 5 (calculates the multicast tree), and FIG. Connection information having values for the indicated attributes is generated and stored. In this example, leaf information of point C (start time: 8:00, end time: 11:00), leaf information of F point (start time: 9:00, end time: 11:00), Three pieces of leaf information of leaf information (start time: 9 o'clock, end time: 10 o'clock) are generated and stored. Each leaf can be identified by a reserved leaf ID. The Sub-LSP information in the leaf information is information on the path execution status during reservation execution.

  Thereafter, reservation information having (start time: 10:00, end time: 11:00, start port: A point, end port: D point, relay route: B point) is input from the service management device 60 to the Ingress node device 10. Shall be. Then, the connection information generation unit 15 adds the partial tree (Sub-LSP) to the multicast tree in which the reservation information is already generated by comparing the connection information that has already been generated with the new reservation information. Recognize that there is, add the leaf information of point D in the form of adding to the leaf information of point C, leaf information of point F, and leaf information of point G.

  In this way, the connection information generation unit 15 recognizes the configuration in the network, which is a partial tree of the multicast tree, using the reservation information specifying the end points as input information, generates path information as information on the network configuration, and sets the reservation time. Connection information (in this case, leaf information) associated with can be added.

  When executing the reservation, by referring to the connection information including the path information corresponding to the partial tree, it is possible to quickly and accurately create a multicast leaf addition signaling message, and to quickly generate a path.

  In particular, in this specific example, an IP address is assigned to the end point UNI port, and the IP address is used as the end point UNI port information in the connection information. Therefore, the IP address in the connection information is used quickly and accurately. Multicast leaf additional signaling can be performed.

  The Ingress node device 10 that has generated the connection information based on the reservation information received from the service management device 60 returns the connection ID assigned to the connection information to the service management device 60. Thereafter, the service management device 60 refers to the connection information with the connection ID as key information for the Ingress node device 10, and executes each reservation execution state, reservation execution state as a whole multicast tree, path (Sub-LSP) execution. The state of each attribute object can be acquired using the key information (object index number) for each attribute in the connection information for more detailed information by referring to the state, the data plane transfer state, and the like.

  Thus, by introducing the connection information, the target information can be reached quickly and reliably with a small number of hops. If there is no connection information and each state is to be acquired based on the ID of the reservation information received from the service management device 60, it can be acquired by tracing a lot of complicatedly connected data with a pointer. As expected, there may be problems with speed and accuracy. On the other hand, the introduction of connection information as in the present embodiment does not cause such a problem.

  Further, in this specific example, since an IP address is assigned to the end point UNI port and the IP address is used for signaling, the effect of being able to reach the target information quickly and reliably with a small number of hops is further increased. That is, since an IP address is assigned to the end point UNI port and signaling is performed using the IP address, it is possible to immediately determine which end point UNI port by referring to the status information (including IP address) related to signaling in the connection information. It is possible to specify whether the path is in between. In addition, the relay node device can grasp the input UNI port and the output UNI port for each signaling session, and the relay node device can usually identify and check the status of the Sub-LSP / UNI port that is normally performed by Ingress and Egress. There is.

<Characteristics of Ingress node device 10 of this specific example>
In the Ingress node device 10 of this specific example, the state information storage unit 17 and the connection information storage unit 16 hold all execution state data such as interface, signaling, and reservation execution. In addition, when the reservation execution management unit 19 executes a reservation based on the reservation information and is referred from the outside, the key information is not the reservation information or the path data but connection information. Hereinafter, the reason for introducing the connection information will be described.

  As described above, reservation information is input from the service management device 60 in this specific example. This reservation information is based on the time reservation information database generated by the reservation reception from the user / operator, and is not network setting information but application information on the time reservation type communication service side. For this reason, the Ingress node device 10 cannot use the time reservation information IDs included in the received reservation information as key information for reservation execution in the device, and requires key information that can ensure consistency as a device. Yes, this is connection information. When reservation information is input to the Ingress node device 10, connection information is generated and the reservation execution / port information / path information and their execution state are held as shown in FIG. It exists until it disappears, and this period becomes key information unique to the device. For example, assuming that there is no connection information in this specific example, and the time reservation information ID of the application information is key information, whether or not to accept a time reservation type connection is determined depending on the execution state and time of the reservation. There is a problem. In addition, as described in the description of the operation to be described later, in this specific example, when the reservation is activated, if the reservation is adjacent and the network topology is the same, the existing path is not deleted in order to avoid packet drop. However, if the time reservation information IDs are used as key information, there is a problem that the operation at the time of adjacent reservation cannot be realized. In this specific example in which connection information is introduced, these problems do not occur.

<Operation of communication system>
Next, an operation example from reservation input to path generation in the entire communication system of this example will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

  Reservation information is transmitted from the service management device 60 to the reservation information receiving unit 12 of the Ingress node device 10 (step 1), and the reservation information receiving unit 12 performs a validation process of the reservation information. And stored in the connection information storage unit 16 (step 2). Then, the reservation information receiving unit 12 returns a reservation information reception response to the service management device 60 including the originating connection ID, which is the key information ID of the connection information (step 3). Thereby, the service management device 60 can grasp the connection ID of the connection information managed on the Ingress node device 10 side corresponding to the time reservation information ID.

  The reservation execution management unit 19 acquires the current time from the device real-time clock (RTC) 20 and always monitors the activation of the reservation with reference to the connection information in the connection information storage unit 16.

  For example, according to the reservation of the Sub-LSP whose connection start time is 9:00, the reservation execution management unit 19 activates the reservation when the current time is 9:00 and instructs the signaling execution unit 18 to execute the signaling. (Step 4). In the case of the instruction here, the reservation execution management unit 19 generates a parameter required for signaling based on the connection information, and notifies the signaling execution unit 18 of an instruction including the parameter. The parameters here include, for example, an input UNI address / output UNI address that is an end point of signaling, multicast tree route information, route information of a sub-LSP to be added, and the like.

  The signaling execution unit 18 that has received the signaling execution instruction transmits a signaling protocol signaling message (for example, a Path message in RSVP-TE) to the relay node device. More specifically, in order to transmit / receive the data flow of the payload at a timing designed in advance, a control plane process is operated at a predetermined timing, and a signaling message is transmitted to the Egress node device 30. That is, in this embodiment, in order to finely adjust the transmission / reception timing of data plane traffic, an offset time is set for the transmission timing and the return timing of the signaling message on the control plane. This offset time is introduced in order to allow for a margin of control plane processing time. The predetermined timing corresponds to the offset time.

  Thereafter, when a path generation completion message (Resv message in RSVP-TE) arrives, an End-End path between the end points specified in the reservation information is generated (steps 5 to 9). At this time, the egress node device 30 obtains reservation information from the service management device 60 in advance, and judges whether the connection is correct by checking whether the received signaling message is consistent with the reservation information. It is good.

  The End-End path includes a cross-connect (specifically, setting of data transfer information on the Ingress side) that connects the input UNI port and the relay network path in the Ingress node device 10, and a relay network path. , A cross-connect (specifically, setting of data transfer information on the egress side) for connecting the path of the relay network and the output UNI port in the Egress node device 30 is included.

  When the path generation completion message is received, the data transfer information is not set in the Ingress node device 10, and the reservation execution management unit 19 is notified that the path of the relay network has been generated, and the reservation execution management is performed. After the unit 19 confirms this, the data transfer information in the Ingress node device 10 may be set at a timing offset from the specific time by a short time specified by the parameter. When data transfer information is set in the Ingress node device 10, data transfer to the Egress node device 30 is started.

  When the End-End path is generated, the signaling execution unit 18 notifies the reservation execution management unit 19 of the completion of the path generation (Step 10). Further, the signaling execution unit 18 saves the state related to path generation in a database (the state information storage unit 17 or the like) (step 11).

  In addition, the reservation execution management unit 19 updates the network information data, reservation execution information data, and connection information state data to the connection information storage unit 16, the state information storage unit 17 and the like (step 12). The data is notified to an external service management device 60 or the like (step 13). Further, the signaling execution unit 18 sends a notification of path generation completion to the service management device 60 (step 14).

  When referring to the reservation information (time reservation information ID) managed by itself, the service management device 60 refers to the current reservation execution state and the execution state of signaling, the time is informed to the Ingress node device 10. Connection information can be acquired from the originating connection ID corresponding to the reservation information ID. If more detailed execution status parameters of each data are required, individual execution status data is acquired using the index value of the data included in the connection information.

  In step 4, the reservation execution management unit 19 makes a determination based on the connection information, and if the path setting is necessary, instructs the signaling execution unit 18 to generate a path as described above. If it is determined that the path is unnecessary, no new generation is instructed. For example, if there is a reservation for connection between end points from 14:00 to 15:00 in a reservation, and there is a reservation between the same end points from 15:00 to 16:00, the existing path is deleted at the timing of 15:00. Instead of generating a new path, it is determined that the existing path is reused as a next reserved path without deleting the existing path and generating a new path. Thus, when the existing path can be reused, there is an effect that it is possible to eliminate communication data drop (communication disconnection).

  The above operation example is an operation example when a path is set. However, when a path is deleted, if it is detected that the path end time is reached, the path deletion signaling is performed. Delete the path, delete the cross-connect information from the forwarding table, and update the status information.

<Summary of specific examples>
As described above, in this specific example, the reservation information is set for the start node (Ingress) of the path of End-End (between the end point UNI ports to which IP addresses are assigned), and the start point node when the reservation time comes A path between endpoint UNI ports is dynamically generated by signaling from (Ingress). By not setting reservation information for all NW devices related to the path, especially relay node devices, path control processing and reservation change / cancellation can be realized in a very short time (1 second granularity). Processing can be greatly reduced.

  In the configuration in which only the Ingress node device 10 has reservation information for path setting, the Ingress node device 10 recognizes that the reservation time has come by referring to the device real-time clock (RTC) 20, and various types corresponding to the reservation information. Set the forwarding table (cross-connect) in the device based on the address information, and set the path in the relay network from the UNI port information at the endpoint using OSPF, PCE, explicit route instructions of the management system (OpS), etc. These operating conditions are reflected in the connection information.

  For ordinary leased lines, only the cross-connects in the device are set with the paths in the network being stretched. However, in order to meet the needs of a large-capacity path, it is impossible to keep the path open, and it is necessary to dynamically set and delete the path in the network based on the information of the transmission source / destination address. Conventionally, there has been no technology that meets such needs, but the technology according to the present embodiment can respond to such needs and set and delete paths quickly.

  Further, in this specific example, the reservation information is stored in the first storage unit (reservation information storage unit 13) of the device, and separately from the first storage unit, the reservation information is statically stored in the second storage unit (device configuration data storage unit 14). Config information, which is the device information. The information stored in the second storage unit is static device information excluding reservation information and path setting. In this way, by not storing the reservation information in the second storage unit (config), it is possible to eliminate the duplication of the management of the static configuration of the device and the management of the signaling (time reservation) information. In-device resource checks can be performed quickly.

  When the time reservation is activated, the network path is set, but the specific path control on the network is determined based on the address information and reservation information of the source port and destination port. The In other words, only the information on the source / destination port can only be used to set / delete a path on the network, but by determining the reservation information together, the same source / same destination port can be determined in terms of time. In the case of consecutive, it is a series of reservations for setting the same path, and therefore, it is possible to perform an operation such as performing nothing without continuously performing path deletion and path generation simultaneously. According to this example, the following effects can be obtained, for example.

  In a large-scale network, it is possible to realize a time-reserved communication service in which a request for setting or disconnecting a large-capacity path immediately or setting only a designated start / end reservation time is frequently generated. In addition, the system can manage static network configuration management and dynamic reservation acceptance / change / execution. Multicast paths can be specified immediately or at a specified time with a granularity of 1 second per leaf. By referring to the connection information, the service management apparatus 60 can always manage the execution state of the latest time reservation type path and the operation state of the reservation in an integrated manner. In addition, even if a sudden reservation change, reservation abnormal state, or network failure occurs, the path is set by soft-state signaling, so the path is cleared and re-set within a few minutes to roll back to the normal state. can do. That is, it is possible to return to the pre-setting state with the minimum procedure when setting / deleting fails.

  The combination of reservation information, endpoint port information, network path, and transfer table (cross-connect) in the device is stored in the device as information such as connection information, from reservation activation to path setting / deletion, execution status management All this connection information was used. In other words, since the connection information can map reservation information and network path (LSP) information that change from moment to moment, it can be used as a reference source for all execution states.

  In addition, reservation management and path management can be performed by browsing connection information that is not configuration information, and reservation information is accepted by eliminating the reservation information and path information in the configuration in the service management device 60 or NW device. Independent device validation processing (resource check, etc.) during configuration and device validation processing (configuration consistency check) during configuration change can be executed lightly and in a short time, and the execution status does not match between devices The occurrence of events can be avoided.

(Characteristics etc. of the embodiment of the present invention)
Hereinafter, the feature of the technique in the present embodiment in which an IP address is virtually assigned to a UNI port and the IP address is used for signaling in a relay network will be described in comparison with the conventional technique. In the following description, it is assumed that the technique of the present embodiment is applied to video transmission.

  SMPTE 2022 is discussed as a standard for transmitting video signals over an IP / Ethernet network. In particular, SMPTE 2022-5 / -6 is a standard for transmitting DVB-ASI and uncompressed HD-SDI in the format of Ethernet frames and IP packets, and is considered to be the center of future video transmission. A video transmission device compliant with SMPTE 2022 is premised on implementation as a video streamer. In other words, a video signal is input from the video streamer's video IF (DVB-ASI, HD-SDI), and this video data is put into the payload of the IP packet / Ethernet frame and sent out from the video streamer's network IF (Ethernet). Assumes an IP network (L3-VPN) and a wide area Ethernet network (L2-VPN), and the video streamer on the receiving side outputs video data from the video IF in reverse order. Here, the encapsulation of the IP packet / Ethernet frame to which data is transferred generally has an IP header, a MAC address, and a VLAN-ID, and the IP address is mainly used. When comparing the video streamer of SMPTE 2022 and the technology of this embodiment, the IP address is assigned to the source port and destination of the video IF, and the reachability to the destination can be controlled accordingly. It is similar. However, SMPTE 2022 assumes that the frame format of transfer data is IP encapsulation. For this reason, when using an SMPTE2022 video streamer, connectionless IP routing transfer (IP multicast) must be used in the relay section, and as a result, the reception status on the reception side can be grasped from the transmission side. It is unavoidable that it is difficult to determine whether a network failure or a video failure on the transmission side cannot be immediately determined when video cannot be received on the reception side.

  On the other hand, when MPLS is used in a relay network without using the present invention, an IP address is not assigned to a UNI end point, and therefore path control between the UNI end points of the edge device cannot be easily performed.

  If the technique according to the present invention is used, a connection-type transfer method (MPLS or the like) can be used without using IP multicast, and thus the above-described problem can be solved.

  As a network standard, it has been discussed in IETF L2VPN-WG and PWE3-WG, and "Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3)" was proposed as RFC3985, and non-IP traffic (ATM, SDH, FR) , Video, etc.) can be transmitted over the packet network by pseudo wire. `` Framework and Requirements for Virtual Private Multicast Service (VPMS) '' that makes this pseudo wire compatible with multicast (Point-to-MultiPoint, P2MP) was proposed in draft-ietf-l2vpn-vpms-frmwk-requirements-04.txt ing. In the LETF VPN architecture of IETF, Provide-Edge (PE) clearly defines the Attachment-Circuit VPN instance space that accommodates Customer-Edge (CE) and the transit core network space of Packet Switch Network (relay LSP) in consideration of scale. In order to share Attachment-Circuit configuration information that can be mutually connected between remote nodes, a configuration method in advance and a special Auto-Discovery mechanism (protocol) are required. The end point of the packet switch network (relay LSP) between PEs usually uses the loopback address of the PE.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, a terminal IP address for line signaling control is configured in an Attachment-Circuit that is a non-IP interface, and a relay P2MP-LSP or the like is generated using this IP address. As a result, when the application data is input and the multicast line is provided as SDN, the endpoint IP address of the user accommodation IF (equivalent to Attachment-Circuit) recognized by the application is used as it is in the line signaling control session in the relay core network. By using the end point address, the network line control can be abstracted and concealed from the upper application. In addition, in order to know the UNI address of the remote edge node, a special Auto-Discovery mechanism is not required, and the UNI address can be advertised by a normal routing protocol in the IP relay network. (Up / Down) also has the effect that conventional IP maintenance operations (ping, traceroute, etc.) can be used.

  In GMPLS (RFC3471 and RFC3473), the transmission path is the main target, so the user line and the relay LSP correspond to 1: 1. A method of specifying the UNI port position and resource position (time slot position for SDH, wavelength for WDM interface) is required, and the end point of the control session of the relay LSP uses a loopback IF address as in MPLS. As a method of specifying UNI by GMPLS, there are a specification method by a Generalized-UNI object and a specification method by ERO (TE link and Generalized-Label are specified).

  Juniper's Circuit Cross-Connect (CCC) is an existing technology that supports 1: 1 user line and relay LSP. The method of mapping the Attachment-Circuit directly to the relay LSP is used, but the end point of the relay LSP uses the loopback IF address of the PE.

  In Pseudo Wire, L2VPN, GMPLS, and CCC, in order to map the UNI and the relay LSP, a configuration for mapping the UNI and LSP key information is specified in the edge device (Ingress). Specifically, the LSP key information corresponds to the LSP name, Tunnel-ID, and the like.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, compared to these existing technologies, it is possible to easily map to a relay LSP that supports 1: 1 by configuring the endpoint IP address of the control session for the UNI port resource. Is different.

(Effect of the embodiment of the present invention)
According to the present embodiment, when receiving a request from an upper application as an SDN, it is possible to provide an end-end network service by abstracting the network settings. In particular, as described in the specific example, it is highly effective for the purpose of executing time-designated end-end line connection reservation from the upper application software in units of leafs of the multicast topology.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, a UNI address is used for line control by IP control signaling, and the data plane is made independent of the IP address, so that it is not limited to IP multicast, but various such as MPLS P2MP-LSP. The protocol becomes applicable.

Hereinafter, the configurations disclosed in this specification are listed as examples.
(Section 1)
An edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path,
UNI port connected to user equipment,
Signaling control means for performing signaling in the control plane with the opposite edge node device via the relay network in the communication network,
The signaling control means controls a path between the UNI port and the UNI port of the opposite edge node device by performing signaling using an IP address associated with the UNI port. Edge node device.
(Section 2)
2. The edge node device according to claim 1, wherein the UNI port is a non-IP interface.
(Section 3)
The edge node device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising address storage means for storing the UNI port and the IP address in association with each other.
(Section 4)
The edge node device includes data transfer information storage means for storing data transfer information, which is information for transferring data in a data plane,
The signaling control means, by referring to the address storage means, grasps the UNI port corresponding to the IP address used in the signaling, and connects the UNI port and the path of the relay network set by the signaling 4. The edge node device according to claim 3, wherein the data transfer information is stored in the data transfer information storage means.
(Section 5)
1st thru | or 1st item | term characterized by providing the command interpretation execution means which grasps | ascertains the UNI port corresponding to the said IP address based on the state confirmation command which designated the IP address, and confirms the state of the path | pass including the said UNI port. The edge node device according to any one of four items.
(Section 6)
6. The edge node device according to claim 5, wherein the instruction interpretation execution means includes means for performing a state confirmation test including ICMP Ping, Traceroute, LSP-Ping, and LSP-Traceroute.
(Section 7)
The edge node according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the signaling control means controls a multicast path connecting one UNI port and a plurality of opposing UNI ports. apparatus.
(Section 8)
A control method executed by an edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path,
By using the IP address associated with the UNI port connected to the user equipment, and performing signaling in the control plane with the opposite edge node device via the relay network in the communication network, the opposite to the UNI port A control method characterized by controlling a path to a UNI port of an edge node device.
(Section 9)
The program for functioning the communication apparatus containing the function of a computer as each means in the said edge node apparatus of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 7.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ingress node apparatus 11 Device configuration information reception part 12 Reservation information reception part 13 Reservation information storage part 14 Device configuration data storage part 15 Connection information generation part 16 Connection information storage part 17 State information storage part 18 Signaling execution part 19 Reservation execution management part 20 Real time clock (RTC)
21 Input port 22 Data transfer control unit 23 Data transfer information storage unit 30 Egress node device 40, 50 Relay node device 60 Service management device 100, 200 Edge device 101 Input UNI port 102, 202 Signaling control unit 103, 203 Data transfer control Units 104 and 204 Data transfer information storage unit 105 and 205 UNI address storage units 24, 106 and 206 Instruction interpretation execution unit 300 Relay network

Claims (3)

An edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path,
An interface connected to the user equipment;
Signaling control means for performing signaling in the control plane with the opposite edge node device via the relay network in the communication network,
The edge control device characterized in that the signaling control means controls a path between the interface and the interface of the opposite edge node device by performing signaling using an IP address associated with the interface. . A control method executed by an edge node device in a communication network that provides a communication service by setting a path,
By using the IP address associated with the interface connected to the user equipment and performing signaling in the control plane with the opposing edge node device via the relay network in the communication network, the interface and the opposing edge node A control method characterized by controlling a path to an interface of a device.   The program for functioning the communication apparatus containing the function of a computer as a signaling control means in the said edge node apparatus of Claim 1.

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