JP2018042055A - Ethernet bridge device and internet communication system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an Ethernet (R) bridge device which can realize a 4over6 function selected by a VNE (Virtual Network Enabler) operator, without imparting the function of an existing home gateway (HGW), and to provide an Internet communication system using the same.SOLUTION: In an Internet communication system connecting a network between a customer house side and a VNE operator and the customer house side through an IPoE network, the customer house side has an optical terminator (ONU) 5, a HGW6, and an Ethernet bridge device 11 placed between the ONU5 and HGW6. The Ethernet bridge device 11 has means for previously acquiring an IPv6 address prefix, and the like, by requesting the ONU5 side network for DHCP and RS, and means performing telephone answering service for the DHCP and RS request from the HGW6, based on the information acquired previously from ONU5 side network.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an Ethernet bridge device and an Internet communication system using the same, and in particular, an Ethernet bridge device disposed between an ONU (Optical Network Unit, optical termination device) and an HGW (Home Gateway, home gateway) and the same. The present invention relates to an internet communication system to be used.

  Currently, Internet services are broadly divided into those that use optical fiber communications and those that use wireless communications such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), which has evolved 3G, but are not limited to telephone lines or ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). ) Services that use lines are also provided.

  Here, there is an Internet service provider (hereinafter referred to as ISP) as a company that provides Internet connection services to individual and corporate customers. From around 1995 to around 2000, many ISPs use Internet connection services using telephone lines. Was offered.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an Internet connection service using a telephone line. As shown in FIG. 1, the ISP has installed a RAS (Remote Access Server) device 2 in the network 1 in the target area. When accessing the Internet INT, the customer uses the modem or dial-up router 3 owned by the customer from the customer network CLN to connect to the RAS device 2 through the PSTN / ISDN network 4, and the Internet connection service is provided by the ISP. I was receiving.

  Since the RAS device 2 is under the control of the ISP, the ISP obtains information from the device 2 to measure the amount of customer traffic or to gain unauthorized access for the purpose of operating the network normally. It was possible to cut off the service in an emergency evacuation manner.

  On the other hand, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining Internet connection in an optical fiber network. When optical fiber communication is introduced, as shown in Fig. 2, the company that owns and manages the optical fiber network OFN (NTT), as a high-level communication carrier, is a customer network CLN customer X that terminates the Internet connection line. From the inside of the building) to the point of interface (POI) between NTT (hereinafter referred to as the higher-level carrier) and each ISP.

  As a result, ISPs no longer manage devices that connect directly to the customer network CLN, so it is no longer possible to understand the traffic of individual customers or to disconnect Internet connection services when necessary.

  In FIG. 2, the communication with the customer network CLN uses the PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet, RFC216) protocol of the PPPoE network established at the time of the start of the optical service.

  The customer connects a home gateway (HGW) 6 to an ONU (Optical Network Unit: optical termination device) 5 installed in the customer premises X by a higher-level communication carrier. The communication link layer between the HGW 6 and the network terminal unit (NTE) 7 in the PPPoE network is Ethernet (registered trademark, hereinafter omitted).

  The HGW 6 is a mechanism for receiving an Internet connection by selecting a connection destination ISP using a higher-level protocol such as PPPoE and performing authentication by transmitting an ID and a password. Customer communication data is sent from the NTE 7 to the ISP network 1 through each ISP's POI, and further communicates with Internet sites INT all over the world.

  Here, the Internet service uses the IP protocol. Until now, IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4), which consists of 32 bits of transmission / reception addresses, has long been used as an IP protocol. However, there is a problem that the address allocation in IPv4 is exhausted due to the spread of information equipment. In order to cope with this, the use of IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), which configures transmission / reception addresses with 128 bits, has started as a new connection protocol.

  Initially, IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling started IPv6 communication service to send IPv6 packets using PPPoE network as well as IPv4 protocol. Later, a new network called IPoE (IP over Ethernet) was launched.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the PPPoE network and the IPoE network. In FIG. 3, the route of the IPv4 protocol packet placed on the PPPoE network by the PPPoE server function in the HGW 6 is shown on the left side, and the route of the IPv6 protocol packet placed on the IPoE network via the HGW 6 is shown on the right side.

  IPv6 communication using an IPoE network does not use PPPoE, so it has one less protocol layer and has better performance than IPv4 communication using PPPoE.

  However, as a business form, in a service using a PPPoE network, a high-order carrier and each ISP connected to the Internet.

  On the other hand, in services using the IPoE network, a small number of VNE (Virtual Network Enabler) operators commissioned by ISPs connect to higher-level communication carriers and connect to higher-level communication businesses. There was no direct connection between the subscriber and the ISP.

  In other words, each ISP contracts with one of the VNE operators (or may be the same vendor as the ISP. Hereinafter, simply referred to as the VNE operator), and the VNE operator provides IPv6 Internet connection services to its customers. So-called roaming. The VNE operator receives the IPv6 communication of the ISP customer who has been entrusted with its own VNE network 8 through the POI and the higher-order carrier, and then connects to the destination on the Internet INT.

JP 2000-174811 A JP 2004-289257 A JP 2006-140997 A Special table 2009-500970 gazette JP 2010-200068 A JP 2010-200069 A JP2013-158034A JP 2014-155097 A JP 2014-110454 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-226259

  As mentioned above, IPv4 communication is expected to be used for a considerable period in the future despite concerns about address exhaustion. For this reason, when viewed from the customer, the IPoE network (IPv6 communication) and the PPPoE network (IPv4 communication) are used together. The current ratio of IPv6 communication to IPv4 communication is about 1: 4 (http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000374051.pdf:2016.9.1 search).

  On the other hand, maintaining the IPoE network and the PPPoE network is disadvantageous from the cost standpoint for the top operators. It is preferable to stop using the PPPoE network, but considering the situation where communication using the IPv4 protocol will not disappear in the near future, the so-called IPv4overIPv6 (hereinafter referred to as 4over6 [four over six]) protocol that performs IPv4 communication over the IPoE network Is necessary.

  In IPv6, there is already a technology for communicating with Internet INT without using IPv4 through a PPPoE network. For example, by using 4over6 protocol such as MAP-E (Mapping of Address and Port Encapsulation) and DS-Lite, it is possible to communicate with Internet INT using only IPoE network without using PPPoE network. .

  Another important application using optical fiber communication is the replacement of analog telephones. A device that provides both a telephone service and an Internet connection service is rented to a customer under the name of a home gateway (HGW) by an upper carrier.

  Currently, rented HGW is implemented with MAP-E (Mapping of Address and port Encapsulation), which is one of 4over6 protocols. There is an example where the 4over6 protocol is realized by the VNE operator using this MAP-E function. With the MAP-E function, IPv4 packets are encapsulated in IPv6 packets so that they can pass through IPv6-only IPoE networks.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration example of a communication system that realizes the 4over6 function using the MAP-E function installed in the HGW 6. In the HGW 6, the IPv4 packet from the customer network CLN is converted into a packet according to the encapsulated IPv6 protocol.

  Next, the packet of the IPv6 protocol is guided to the border router 9 in the network 8 of the VNE operator through the IPoE network. Therefore, the IPv4 protocol packet is decoded from the IPv6 protocol packet and transmitted to the IPv4 Internet.

  However, in order to realize other 4over6 functions such as DS-Lite other than MAP-E in the HGW 6, it may be necessary to develop by a higher-level telecommunications carrier that is a rental provider. In addition, the new protocol is not available for HGWs already delivered to customer premises X. It is expected that it will take a long time to replace a HGW that has already been used in large quantities with a device having a new function. This situation hinders the realization of other 4over6 functions other than MAP-E, which has technical advantages and disadvantages.

  At the same time, because the optical fiber network is under the control of a higher-level carrier, VNE operators and ISPs cannot notify customers of traffic and use them for management purposes. Further, even when necessary, it is not possible to restrict or block customer communication in an emergency evacuation manner.

  On the other hand, in order to use the other 4over6 function selected by the VNE operator without interfering with the function of the HGW 6, for example, the 4over6 functional device 10 may be provided to the customer with the configuration shown in FIG. Conceivable.

  That is, in FIG. 5, the 4over6 functional device 10 is arranged between the customer network CLN and the existing HGW 6. In the 4over6 function device 10, the IPv4 packet is provided with the other 4over6 function selected by the VNE operator in the 4over6 function device 10, and thereby converted into an IPv6 packet. In such a case, the HGW 6 transmits the IPv6 packet carrying the IPv4 packet as it is to the IPoE network.

  With this configuration, the other 4over6 functions can be realized without interfering with the functions of the HGW 6. However, since the IPv4 communication cannot be performed between the computer device of the customer network CLN and the HGW 6, the service that the HGW 6 provides to the computer device of the customer network CLN in relation to the IPv4 cannot be used as it is. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server function for automatically assigning IPv4 addresses to computer devices in the customer network and the UPnP (Universal Plug & Play) function for connecting to the network with appropriate settings just by connecting the devices are described above. The 4over6 functional device 10 will be provided.

  Therefore, it is necessary to reset the content that has been set by the customer in the conventional HGW in the 4over6 functional device 10. Furthermore, if there is a difference between the corresponding functions provided by the HGW 6 and the 4over6 functional device 10, it will be inconvenient for the customer. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an Ethernet bridge device capable of realizing other 4over6 functions such as DS-Lite other than MAP-E selected by the VNE operator without impairing the functions of the existing HGW 6 in view of the above background. An object is to provide an Internet communication system using the same.

  A first aspect of an Ethernet bridge device according to the present invention that solves the above-described problems is an Ethernet bridge device that is arranged inside a customer premises in an Internet communication system, and includes an optical termination device (ONU), a home gateway (HGW), Means for obtaining an IPv6 address prefix, etc., in advance by DHCP (also referred to as DHCPv6 or PHCPv6-PD in IPv6; hereinafter simply referred to as DHCP) and RS (Router Solicitation) requests to the ONU side network, A means for delegating DHCP and RS requests such as IPv6 address prefixes from the network based on information previously obtained from the ONU side network.

  A second aspect of the Ethernet bridge device according to the present invention that solves the above-described problems is an Internet communication system that connects a VNE operator network that provides an Internet connection service and an Internet connection service through an IPoE network and the customer premises. And an optical termination unit (ONU) and a home gateway (HGW) inside the customer premises, and an Ethernet bridge device placed between the optical termination unit (ONU) and the home gateway (HGW), and the Ethernet bridge The device acquires in advance the information obtained from the ONU side network in response to the DHCP and RS request such as the IPv6 address prefix from the HGW, and means for obtaining the IPv6 address prefix etc. in the ONU side network in advance by the DHCP and RS request. There is a means to delegate.

  The first aspect of the first or second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that the PPPoE server means corresponding to the PPPoE connection request from the HGW and the IPv4 protocol packet restored by the PPPoE server means Is converted to an IPv6 protocol packet and sent to the 4over6 decoding device of the VNE carrier network through the IPoE network.

  The second aspect of the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problem has means for setting an IPv6 address based on the previously acquired IPv6 address prefix in the ONU side network, A means for setting the IPv6 address in the ONU side network, receiving information and a processing command from an automatic setting server (ACS) in the VNE carrier network, and returning information;

  The third aspect of the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention that solves the above-described problem has means for limiting or deciding the amount of communication of a customer in accordance with a processing instruction from the ACS.

It is a figure explaining the internet connection service using a telephone line. It is a figure explaining the internet connection in an optical fiber network. It is a figure explaining a PPPoE network and an IPoE network. This is a configuration example of a communication system that realizes a 4over6 function using a MAP-E function installed in an HGW. It is a figure which shows the assumption example of the 4over6 functional apparatus provided to a customer in order to use 4over6 protocol which the VNE operator selected without disturbing the function of HGW. It is a figure explaining the Example of the internet communication system according to this invention. It is a figure explaining the flow of a packet concretely. It is a block diagram of a configuration example of an Ethernet bridge device according to the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are described for the purpose of understanding the present invention. Therefore, the application of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and the scope of protection of the invention is within the scope of the description of the claims and the equivalent scope thereof. It also extends.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the Internet communication system according to the present invention.

  As a feature, first, an Ethernet bridge device 11 is arranged between the ONU 5 and the HGW 6 in the customer premises X.

  In the ONU separation type HGW 6, the ONU 6 and the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention, and the Ethernet bridge device 11 and the HGW 6 are connected by an RJ45 cable. Further, in the ONU-integrated HGW 6, the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention may be inserted using a set of UNI ports of the HGW 6. Even in this case, it means that the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention is functionally inserted between the ONU and the HGW.

  In the IPoE network, the HGW 6 needs to acquire an IPv6 address prefix (Address prefix) for identifying the IPoE network from the network on the ONU 5 side. Since the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention is connected and arranged between the HGW 6 and the ONU 5, the Ethernet bridge device 11 receives an address prefix acquisition request using the DHCP protocol from the HGW 6.

  Therefore, the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention makes a proxy response to the address prefix acquisition request received from the HGW 6 and does not transmit this acquisition request to the network on the ONU 5 side. Instead, the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention transmits the IP address prefix obtained by making a request to the ONU side network in advance to the HGW 5.

  The Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention itself also requires an IP address, but it can be generated from the acquired IP address prefix and the global MAC address, so that it does not collide with the IPv6 address used in the customer network CLN.

  The Ethernet bridge device 11 having the PPPoE server function receives the PPPoE connection request sent from the HGW 6, and receives the received IPv4 communication by using the 4over6 protocol. The AFTR (Address Family Translation Router) device which is a border router possessed by the VNE carrier 9 can be transmitted. The AFTR device 9 decodes the IPv4 protocol packet from the received IPv6 protocol packet and sends it to the Internet INT.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for specifically explaining the flow of such packets. In FIG. 7, an IPv4 packet is sent from the PC in the customer network CLN to the HGW 6 connected by Ethernet (step S1). The HGW 6 sends a connection request using the PPPoE protocol to the Ethernet bridge device 11 having the PPPoE server function 11a as a PPPoE client (step S2).

  The Ethernet bridge device 11 further has a 4over6 Server function 11b. The PPPoE server function 11a sends an IPv4 packet to the 4over6 server function 11b (step S3). Then, the IPv4 packet is superimposed by the 4over6 server function 11b to generate an IPv6 packet (step S4).

  The IPv6 packet on which the generated IPv4 packet is superimposed is sent to the AFTR device 9 in the network 8 of the VNE operator through the IPoE network (step S5).

  The AFTR device 9 has a 4over6 Server function, decodes an IPv4 packet from an IPv6 packet, and transmits it to the IPv4 Internet INT (step S6). As a result, the PC can perform Internet communication with a device having an IPv4 protocol address.

  The above description is the flow of IPv4 packets from the PC in the customer network CLN to the Internet INT, but the flow of IPv4 packets from the Internet INT to the PC in the customer network CLN is along the opposite direction of the double arrow in the figure. Flowing.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the Ethernet bridge device 11 having the above function.

  In FIG. 8, the main part of the Ethernet bridge device 11 is composed of SOC (System On Chip), and a plurality of CPU cores 110, gigabit media access controllers 112 and 113, a parallel gigabit interface 114, a serial agigabit interface on a semiconductor chip. 115 and a network offloading accelerator (NW Offloading Accel) 110a and an encryption engine 110b are installed as programs executed by the CPU core 110. NW Offloading Accel 110a is a function that allows a workload to be transferred from the CPU to the network adapter during data transfer over the network.

  Furthermore, it has various memories 111 attached to the main part SOC of the Ethernet bridge device 11 for storing various programs or buffering data in the middle of processing by the CPU.

  In addition, Gigabit WAN access and LAN access are made possible by both SFP (Small Form-Factor Pluggable) WAN 13 and copper (RJ45) LAN 14 interface cards. The parallel gigabit interface 114a is connected to the ONU 5 by an interface card of SFP (Small Form-Factor Pluggable) WAN13, and the serial gigabit interface 115a is connected to the HGW 6 by a copper wire (RJ45) LAN14.

  Here, returning to FIG. The VNE operator's network 8 has an automatic configuration server (ACS) device 12, and the following processing is performed with the Ethernet bridge device 11 inserted and arranged according to the present invention. This is performed according to a program set in the bridge device 11.

  The ACS device 12 has a function of communicating with the Ethernet bridge device 11, setting management for the Ethernet bridge device 11, and sending various commands. At this time, the Ethernet bridge device 11 receives setting management for the Ethernet bridge device 11 and various commands from the ACS device 12 by setting an IPv6 address based on the IPv6 address prefix acquired in advance in the ONU side network. I can do it.

  On the other hand, from the Ethernet bridge device 11, it is possible to send internal information such as the setting state and communication volume to be held to the ACS device 12 through the ONU side network (IPoE network) in which the IPv6 address is set.

  As the setting management and various commands, for example, the ACS device 12 determines a customer's communication volume and unauthorized access based on information sent from the Ethernet bridge device 11, and sends the customer's communication to the Ethernet bridge device 11. Block or pass communication.

  Further, the Ethernet bridge device 11 has a function of performing an arbitrary communication according to an instruction from the ACS device 12, measuring a communication speed, and notifying the ACS device 12 of a network state.

  Since the Ethernet bridge device 11 is arranged in the customer premises X, it is possible to detect unauthorized communication by the customer from the program, or to perform setting desired by the customer by wireless communication with a so-called smartphone owned by the customer. .

  These controls are possible by executing a program stored in the memory 111 (see FIG. 8) of the Ethernet bridge device 11.

  As described above, the following effects can be obtained by the Ethernet bridge device 11 according to the present invention and the Internet communication system using the same.

  First, since the Ethernet bridge device 11 has a function of notifying the ACS device 12 which is a server managed by the VNE operator in real time, the VNE operator can grasp the communication in real time. .

  Second, when a third party receives a notification from the customer's network CLN that fraud has occurred, the Ethernet bridge device 11 restricts or blocks communication in an emergency evacuation according to an instruction from the ACS device 12. Therefore, it is possible to restrict or block communication according to the intention of the VNE operator.

  Third, when a VNE provider provides a certain kind of additional service, it is necessary to open and close a specific communication port with the HGW 6 in the customer premises X. It is technically and economically difficult for the customer to open and close the communication port. On the other hand, in the present invention, the communication between the Ethernet bridge device 11 and the ACS device 12 allows the VNE operator to easily open and close the communication port on the Ethernet bridge device 11.

  Fourthly, in the present invention, the first to third effects can be obtained without any change to the HGW 6.

  Fifth, among the various 4over6 protocols, when a protocol other than MAP-E is selected, the majority of existing HGWs cannot be used, but the protocol set in the HGW by inserting the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention. It can be used regardless.

5 ONU (Optical Termination Equipment)
6 HGW (Home Gateway)
8 VNE network 9 AFTR equipment (border router)
11 Ethernet bridge device 11a PPPoE server 11b 4over6 server 12 Automatic configuration server device CLN Customer network INT Internet

Therefore, the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention makes a proxy response to the address prefix acquisition request received from the HGW 6 and does not transmit this acquisition request to the network on the ONU 5 side. Instead, the Ethernet bridge device 11 of the present invention transmits an IP address prefix obtained by making a request to the ONU side network in advance to the HGW 6 .

Claims (8)

An Ethernet bridge device arranged inside a customer premises in an Internet communication system,
It is placed between the optical termination unit (ONU) and the home gateway (HGW)
Means to obtain IPv6 address prefix etc. in advance by DHCP and RS request to ONU side network,
An Ethernet bridge device comprising: a means for delegating DHCP and RS requests such as an IPv6 address prefix from the HGW based on information previously obtained from the ONU side network. In claim 1,
PPPoE server means corresponding to the PPPoE connection request from the HGW;
An Ethernet bridge device comprising: means for converting an IPv4 protocol packet restored by the PPPoE server means into an IPv6 protocol packet and sending the packet to a 4over6 decoding device of a VNE carrier network through an IPoE network. In claim 1,
Means for setting an IPv6 address based on the previously acquired IPv6 address prefix in the ONU side network;
An Ethernet bridge device comprising means for setting the IPv6 address in the ONU side network, receiving information and processing instructions from an automatic setting server device (ACS) in the VNE carrier network, and returning information . In claim 3,
By means of processing instructions from the ACS, there is a means for limiting or processing the customer's traffic,
An Ethernet bridge device characterized by that. An Internet communication system that connects a VNE provider network that provides an Internet connection service with the customer's inside through the IPoE network and the customer's home,
Inside the customer premises,
An optical termination device (ONU), a home gateway (HGW), and an Ethernet bridge device placed between the optical termination device (ONU) and the home gateway (HGW);
The Ethernet bridge device is
Means to obtain IPv6 address prefix etc. in advance by DHCP and RS request to ONU side network,
An Internet communication system, characterized by comprising means for delegating DHCP and RS requests such as an IPv6 address prefix from the HGW based on information acquired from the ONU side network first. In claim 5,
The Ethernet bridge device is
PPPoE server means corresponding to the PPPoE connection request from the HGW;
An Internet communication system comprising: means for converting an IPv4 protocol packet restored by the PPPoE server means into an IPv6 protocol packet, and sending the packet to a 4over6 decoding device of the VNE carrier network through an IPoE network. In claim 5,
The Ethernet bridge device is
Means for setting an IPv6 address based on the previously acquired IPv6 address prefix in the ONU side network;
The VNE carrier network has an automatic configuration server device (ACS),
The Ethernet bridge device further includes:
The Internet comprising: means for setting the IPv6 address in the ONU side network, receiving information and a processing command from the automatic setting server (ACS) in the VNE carrier network, and returning information Communications system. In claim 7,
The Ethernet bridge device is
An Internet communication system comprising means for limiting or processing a customer's communication volume in accordance with a processing instruction from the ACS.

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