JP2016220105A - Communication device, communication system and communication control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve information transfer reliability between communication devices connected through UDP communication.SOLUTION: A communication device 1 is communicable with a communication opposite device 2 through UDP communication. The communication opposite device 2 holds an ARP table, which represents the correspondence of a MAC address with an IP address, to update the ARP table on receiving an ARP request, on the basis of information included in the ARP request. Further, the communication opposite device 2 deletes (clears) information in the ARP table, when the ARP table is not updated if a preset reset time Ts elapses after the ARP table is updated. A receiver unit 4 in the communication device 1 receives information from the communication opposite device 2 through the UDP communication. A connection holding unit 5 periodically originates ARP requests destined to the communication opposite device 2 at time intervals shorter than the reset time Ts.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology related to communication based on UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

  UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is one of protocols for communicating information by connecting communication devices. In UDP communication using this UDP, a communication device that is a transmission source of information transmits information to a destination without confirming that a communication connection with the communication device that is the destination of the information is established. Make a call to the device. Further, the transmission source communication device does not confirm whether the information has reached the destination communication device. For this reason, when the information does not reach the destination communication device, the source communication device does not perform a retransmission process of transmitting the unreachable information again to the destination communication device.

  As described above, in UDP communication, processing for increasing the reliability of information transmission is omitted. However, UDP processing can reduce the processing load on the communication device and increase the communication speed by reducing the processing. There is an advantage that can be.

  By the way, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 show apparatuses (maintenance tools) for analyzing a failure that has occurred in a communication apparatus such as a radio base station. For example, the device (hereinafter referred to as a maintenance device) acquires information on an operation log representing the operation history of the device from the analysis target device, and analyzes the acquired operation log to generate a failure. Detect the location and its cause.

JP 2007-60092 A JP 2005-184248 A

  When the maintenance device as described above acquires an operation log from a maintenance target device, it is conceivable to use UDP communication with a small load. However, when the maintenance device acquires an operation log using UDP communication, the following problems are concerned.

  For example, it is assumed here that a maintenance target device (for example, a radio base station) is always connected in a state in which communication with the maintenance device is possible. In addition, when a device to be maintained (wireless base station) performs a predetermined operation to be notified, it is assumed that information on an operation log notifying that is transmitted to the maintenance device by UDP communication. For example, the notification target operation includes a plurality of types of operations, and the notification target operation includes an operation performed irregularly.

  In addition, the maintenance target device has a function of communicating with other communication devices not only by UDP communication but also by communication based on a protocol other than UDP (for example, TCP communication based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)). . Furthermore, the maintenance target device holds an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table that represents a correspondence relationship between an IP (Internet Protocol address) address and a MAC (Media Access Control) address. Further, when a maintenance target apparatus receives an ARP request (that is, a command for requesting information on the MAC address of a communication apparatus having the IP address using the IP address), the apparatus is included in the ARP request. It has a function of updating the ARP table based on the information. Furthermore, the maintenance target device has a function of clearing (erasing) information in the ARP table when an elapsed time since the ARP table is updated exceeds a preset reset time (for example, 20 minutes). . This function can prevent a problem that information transmission is hindered due to old information held in the ARP table.

  The maintenance target apparatus has a function of clearing the information in the ARP table as described above. As a result, there is a case where the information in the ARP table is cleared when the maintenance target device transmits the operation log information to the maintenance device. In such a case, the operation log information may not reach the maintenance device due to the address information not being registered in the ARP table. In UDP communication, as described above, the source communication device does not confirm that the information (operation log) has reached the destination maintenance device, and thus does not execute the retransmission process. For this reason, the information of the operation log that has not arrived is not retransmitted but is lost in the maintenance device.

  This lack of operation log information causes a problem that, for example, when analyzing a failure of a maintenance target device, it takes a long time to analyze and a problem that the accuracy of the analysis result is lowered.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. That is, a main object of the present invention is to provide a communication technique that improves the reliability of information transmission between communication devices connected by UDP communication.

In order to achieve the above object, a communication device of the present invention
When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting MAC (Media Access Control) address information is received, the correspondence between the IP (Internet Protocol address) address and the MAC address is determined based on the information included in the ARP request. A function of updating the information in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table, and deleting the information in the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated. A receiving unit that receives information by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication from a communication partner device having a function to perform,
A connection maintaining unit that periodically transmits the ARP request to the communication partner apparatus at a time interval shorter than the reset time.

The communication system of the present invention includes:
A providing device that provides information;
The providing apparatus has an information processing apparatus that is a destination of information transmitted by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication;
The providing apparatus includes:
When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting information on a given MAC (Media Access Control) address is received, an IP (Internet Protocol address) address and a MAC address are based on the information included in the ARP request. An update unit that updates information in an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table that represents the correspondence relationship between
An initialization unit for erasing the information of the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated;
A communication unit that transmits the information to be provided to the information processing apparatus by the UDP communication while referring to the ARP table;
The information processing apparatus is:
A receiving unit for receiving information from the provider device by the UDP communication;
A connection maintaining unit that periodically transmits the ARP request to the providing apparatus at a time interval shorter than the reset time.

The communication control method of the present invention includes:
When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting MAC (Media Access Control) address information is received, the correspondence between the IP (Internet Protocol address) address and the MAC address is determined based on the information included in the ARP request. A function of updating the information in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table, and deleting the information in the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated. Receives information from the device of the communication partner that has the function to perform by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication,
On the other hand, the ARP request is periodically transmitted at a time interval shorter than the reset time.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the reliability of the information transmission between the communication apparatuses connected by UDP communication can be improved.

It is a block diagram which simplifies and represents the structure of the communication apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which simplifies and represents the structure of the communication system of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a sequence diagram showing an example of operation | movement of the communication system of 2nd Embodiment.

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

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of the communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 1 according to the first embodiment can communicate with a communication partner device 2 by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication. The communication partner apparatus 2 has a function of holding an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table and updating information of the ARP table. The ARP table is table data representing a correspondence relationship between a MAC (Media Access Control) address and an IP (Internet Protocol address) address. When receiving an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting MAC address information, the device 2 updates the ARP table based on information included in the ARP request. The communication partner apparatus 2 has a function of deleting (clearing) information in the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time Ts has elapsed since the ARP table was updated.

  The communication device 1 according to the first embodiment connected to such a device 2 includes a receiving unit 4 and a connection maintaining unit 5 as functional units. The receiving unit 4 has a function of receiving information from the communication partner device 2 by UDP communication. The connection maintaining unit 5 has a function of periodically sending an ARP request to the communication partner apparatus 2 at a time interval shorter than the reset time Ts. The receiving unit 4 and the connection maintaining unit 5 are realized by a control device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example.

  The communication device 1 according to the first embodiment periodically sends an ARP request to the communication partner device 2 at a time interval shorter than the reset time Ts by the function of the connection maintaining unit 5. For this reason, the communication partner apparatus 2 receives the ARP request and updates the ARP before the reset time Ts elapses after the ARP table is updated, that is, before the time for deleting (clearing) the information in the ARP table is reached. The table will be updated. This prevents the information in the ARP table from being erased. As a result, a problem caused by the address information not being registered in the ARP table, that is, information (for example, a packet) transmitted by UDP communication does not reach the destination due to the absence of the address information in the ARP table. Problems (packet loss) are avoided. In other words, the communication device 1 can receive the information transmitted from the communication partner device 2 toward the communication device 1 without omission.

Second Embodiment
The second embodiment according to the present invention will be described below. In this second embodiment, a communication system according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a simplified configuration of the communication system according to the second embodiment. The communication system 10 according to the second embodiment includes an information processing device 12 and a providing device 13. The information processing side device 12 and the providing side device 13 are connected via an information communication network (not shown). For example, the device 13 on the providing side is a maintenance target device (for example, a radio base station). The device 12 on the information processing side is a device (for example, a device called a maintenance tool) having a function of executing maintenance-related processing for the device to be maintained. The information processing apparatus 12 and the providing apparatus 13 constitute a maintenance system.

  The providing device 13 includes a control device 22 including a CPU, for example. The control device 22 can have various functions according to the program when the CPU executes the computer program (program). In the second embodiment, the control device 22 includes a providing unit 23, a communication unit 24, an updating unit 25, and an initialization unit 26 as functional units. Further, the control device 22 has a part that functions as the storage unit 27. The storage unit 27 has a function of storing (holding) information. In the second embodiment, the ARP table 28 is held. The ARP table 28 is table data representing a correspondence relationship between a MAC address and an IP address. The storage unit 27 holds an IP address and a MAC address assigned to the providing device 13.

  The providing unit 23 has a function of executing processing for providing information to the apparatus 12 on the information processing side. For example, when the providing device 13 executes a predetermined operation (process), the providing unit 23 should provide operation log information notifying that the operation has been executed to the information processing device 12. Output to the communication unit 24. More specifically, the control device 22 also has a function of executing application processing according to an application program given in advance and a function of executing processing based on a middleware program. In this control device 22, a message may be exchanged between the designated application process and middleware process, and the providing unit 23 obtains operation log information regarding the operation at the timing of the exchange of the message. Output to the communication unit 24. In this way, the timing at which the providing unit 23 outputs the operation log is due to application processing, and is irregular.

  The communication unit 24 has a function of controlling communication processing via an information communication network (not shown). For example, the communication unit 24 has a function of transmitting information (operation log information) received from the providing unit 23 to the information processing apparatus 12 by UDP communication. In the second embodiment, the communication unit 24 communicates with other communication devices including the information processing device 12 through an information communication network (not shown) by TCP communication based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). It also has a function to communicate.

  When receiving an ARP request via the communication unit 24, the update unit 25 has a function of updating the ARP table 28 using information included in the ARP request. The ARP request is table data representing the correspondence between the MAC address and the IP address as described in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the update process of the ARP table 28 includes a process for adding new information and a process for rewriting information.

  That is, when the information on the correspondence relationship between the MAC address and the IP address not included in the ARP table 28 is included in the received ARP request, the updating unit 25 determines that based on the information of the ARP request. New information is added to the ARP table 28. For example, when the IP address registered in the ARP table 28 is also included in the ARP request, the update unit 25 uses the address information included in the ARP request to update the ARP table 28. Rewrite information.

  The initialization unit 26 uses, for example, a timer (not shown) or a time measurement unit (not shown) to reset the reset time Ts (for example, preset) after the ARP table 28 is updated by the update unit 25. It has a function capable of detecting that 20 minutes have passed. Further, the initialization unit 26 has a function of erasing (clearing) all information in the ARP table 28 when the ARP table 28 is not updated even after the reset time Ts has elapsed since the ARP table 28 was updated. ing.

  The information processing apparatus 12 includes a control device 15 and a storage device 16. The storage device 16 is a device (for example, a hard disk device) having a function of storing (holding) information such as various data and computer programs. The control device 15 has a CPU and can have various functions related to the operation of the device 12 by executing a computer program given in advance. In the second embodiment, the control device 15 includes a receiving unit 18, a maintenance unit 19, and a connection maintaining unit 20 as functional units.

  The receiving unit 18 has a function of receiving information transmitted via an information communication network (not shown). For example, the receiving unit 18 has a function of receiving information on an operation log transmitted from the providing apparatus 13 by UDP communication. Furthermore, the receiving unit 18 also has a function of receiving information transmitted by communication other than UDP communication (for example, TCP communication).

  When the maintenance unit 19 receives the operation log information transmitted from the providing device 13 by the UDP communication via the receiving unit 18, for example, the maintenance unit 19 identifies the providing device 13 in the operation log information. The information is associated, and the information of the operation log is stored in the storage device 16. The information processing side device 12 may be connected to a plurality of providing side devices 13 to be maintained. In this case, the operation log information from each of the plurality of devices 13 is the information processing side. Sent to the device 12. Then, the maintenance unit 19 associates the identification information in the device 13 that has transmitted the information with the received operation log information, and writes the information in the operation log in the storage device 16.

  The maintenance unit 19 further has, for example, a function of reading operation log information of the device 13 in which the problem has occurred from the storage device 16 and analyzing the information of the operation log when a problem occurs in the providing device 13. I have. The maintenance unit 19 identifies, for example, the cause of the failure by the analysis, and uses the notification means such as a display device (not shown) provided in the information processing side device 12 to solve the identified failure. Inform the factor.

  The connection maintaining unit 20 has a function of transmitting an ARP request to the providing apparatus 13 periodically at a preset time interval Tt. The time interval Tt for transmitting the ARP request is a time (for example, 15 minutes) shorter than the reset time Ts (for example, 20 minutes) of the ARP table 28 set in the device 13 that receives the ARP request. The transmission interval time Tt of the ARP request is appropriately set in consideration of the processing capability of the device 12, the communication amount between the devices 12 and 13, and the like. In addition, when a plurality of providing devices 13 to be maintained are connected to the information processing device 12, the transmission time interval Tt of the ARP request is individually set for each providing device 13. Alternatively, a common transmission time interval Tt may be set for all the devices 13 on the providing side. Further, when an ARP request is transmitted from the information processing side device 12 to the providing side device 13, the ARP request may be communicated by UDP communication or TCP communication.

  In this way, the connection maintaining unit 20 periodically sends an ARP request to the providing apparatus 13 at a time interval Tt shorter than the reset time Ts. As a result, the updating unit 25 updates the ARP table 28 before the initialization unit 26 in the providing apparatus 13 clears the information in the ARP table 28. For this reason, in the providing apparatus 13, the information in the ARP table 28 is cleared and no information is registered.

  As a result, due to the state in which the address information is not registered in the ARP table 28, the information transmitted by the providing apparatus 13 through UDP communication does not reach the information processing apparatus 12 that is the destination (packet loss). The information processing apparatus 12 can avoid this. For this reason, since the information processing side device 12 can keep the operation log of the providing side device 13 without omission, it is not adversely affected by the omission of the operation log when a problem occurs in the providing side device 13. The action log can be analyzed. Thereby, the information processing apparatus 12 can prevent the problem that the time required for the analysis of the operation log becomes long and the problem that the load required for the processing increases.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing of the communication system according to the second embodiment. For example, the information processing device 12 (control device 15), which is a maintenance device (maintenance tool), executes a startup process set in advance when the power is turned on (step S101). Subsequently, the information processing apparatus 12 (control apparatus 15) executes a connection process to establish communication connection with the providing apparatus 13 that is a maintenance target (step S102). This connection process is, for example, a connection process based on TCP, and the providing apparatus 13 also executes the connection process in response to the connection process of the information processing apparatus 12, and a signal (information ) Is exchanged multiple times. One of the exchanged signals (information) is an ARP request.

  After the connection between the providing apparatus 13 and the information processing apparatus 12 is established by such connection processing, the providing apparatus 13 activates a maintenance application. Thereby, the providing apparatus 13 transmits information of an operation log for notifying that when a preset operation is executed.

  On the other hand, the information processing device 12 (the connection maintaining unit 20 of the control device 15) drives a timer that determines the timing of transmitting the ARP request (step S104). Then, when the timer has timed out (step S105), the connection maintaining unit 20 transmits an ARP request (step S106). Thereafter, the connection maintaining unit 20 repeats the operation S from Step S104 to Step S106 for driving the timer again.

  In the providing apparatus 13, the update unit 25 of the control apparatus 22 updates the ARP table 28 of the storage unit 27 every time an ARP request is received (step S107).

  In the communication system 10, the information processing side device 12 and the providing side device 13 operate as described above with respect to the update of the ARP table 28, whereby the ARP table 28 is periodically updated. As a result, in the communication system 10, it is avoided that the information in the ARP table 28 held in the providing device 13 is cleared and the address information is not registered. As a result, the communication system 10 can prevent a problem (packet loss) in which the information transmitted by the UDP communication does not reach the destination because the address information is not registered in the ARP table 28.

<Other embodiments>
In addition, this invention is not limited to 1st and 2nd embodiment, Various embodiment can be taken. For example, in the second embodiment, the information processing apparatus 12 is an example of a maintenance tool. On the other hand, the information processing apparatus 12 is not limited to a maintenance tool. For example, the information processing side device 12 may be a device having a function of communicating with the providing side device 13 by application processing for executing processing other than maintenance related processing.

  In the second embodiment, the ARP table 28 is held in the storage unit 27 built in the control device 22. On the other hand, the ARP table 28 may be held in a storage device separate from the control device 22.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication apparatus 2 Communication partner apparatus 4,18 Reception part 5,20 Connection maintenance part 24 Communication part 25 Update part 26 Initialization part 28 ARP table

Claims (4)

When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting MAC (Media Access Control) address information is received, the correspondence between the IP (Internet Protocol address) address and the MAC address is determined based on the information included in the ARP request. A function of updating the information in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table, and deleting the information in the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated. A receiving unit that receives information by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication from a communication partner device having a function to perform,
A communication apparatus comprising: a connection maintaining unit that periodically transmits the ARP request to the communication partner apparatus at a time interval shorter than the reset time. A providing device that provides information;
The providing apparatus has an information processing apparatus that is a destination of information transmitted by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication;
The providing apparatus includes:
When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting information on a given MAC (Media Access Control) address is received, an IP (Internet Protocol address) address and a MAC address are based on the information included in the ARP request. An update unit that updates information in an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table that represents the correspondence relationship between
An initialization unit for erasing the information of the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated;
A communication unit that transmits the information to be provided to the information processing apparatus by the UDP communication while referring to the ARP table;
The information processing apparatus is:
A receiving unit for receiving information from the provider device by the UDP communication;
A communication system comprising: a connection maintaining unit that periodically transmits the ARP request to the providing apparatus at a time interval shorter than the reset time. The providing device transmits information on the operation log of the device to the information processing device by UDP communication as the information to be provided,
The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus has a function of executing a maintenance-related process using information on the operation log received from the providing apparatus. When an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request for requesting MAC (Media Access Control) address information is received, the correspondence between the IP (Internet Protocol address) address and the MAC address is determined based on the information included in the ARP request. A function of updating the information in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table, and deleting the information in the ARP table when the ARP table is not updated even after a preset reset time has elapsed since the ARP table was updated. Receives information from the device of the communication partner that has the function to perform by UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication,
On the other hand, an information control method for periodically sending the ARP request at a time interval shorter than the reset time.

Images