JP4410058B2 - Network operation service composition processing method, network operation apparatus, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for synthesizing network operation services in a user network including various network devices and user devices (home appliances, various terminals) such as an apartment network and a home network.

  Acquisition and update of various device settings (such as network device QoS, access control settings, air conditioner temperature settings, etc.) required for network operation, such as network devices and user devices on the network A service (process) to be realized is called a network operation service or simply an operation service.

  In recent years, the construction of user networks such as condominium networks and home networks is progressing. However, user networks are composed of various network devices and user devices, and the configuration is updated as needed. In such a network environment, it is necessary to provide users with practical operation services that can be used on the network.

  Conventionally, the present inventors have proposed a method for providing users with practical services such as acquisition of end-to-point network resource information and resource acquisition by combining services provided by a plurality of network devices. However, there is no mention of a versatile composite service realization method that assumes other services as well as a reuse method of these composite services.

N. Nishiyama, Y. et al. Suzuki and F.M. Ito, “Method for user network resource management”, Technical Proc. APNOMS 2003, October 2003, pp. 212-223

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a network operation service that is more practical for users in a network environment including various network devices and user device configurations.

The present invention relates to a network operation service composition processing method that is a service for realizing acquisition / update of setting values of each device necessary for operation of a network in a network constituted by network devices, user devices, and the like. for operational services which each device is provided originally (atomic operation services), to generate a composed synthesized operational service includes a plurality of atomic operations services that can provide the necessary services as one of the execution process, the synthetic production It is characterized in that a plurality of atomic operation services are operated in cooperation by executing a service. Further, characterized by further further generates a composite operation services higher configured as one execution process includes a plurality of synthetic operational services that can provide the required services.

Specifically, when generating a composite operation service, an attribute assigned to each operation service such as an atomic operation service or a composite operation service (hereinafter referred to as an operation service attribute) and an attribute assigned to a network resource (hereinafter referred to as a network resource). attribute), and existing network resource attribute and based on the operational service attributes infer synthesizable operational services based on operational services combining rule for the synthesis, the synthesis of a plurality of atomic operations services that can provide the required service operation services If necessary, a higher-level composite operation service is further generated from a plurality of composite operation services .

  The operation service attribute and the network resource attribute include the relationship between the operation services (generalization / specialization relationship, equivalence relationship, etc.), the specifications of each operation service (argument name, type, value range, etc.), and the operation service. Is a composite operation service, its execution process (names of operation services constituting the composite operation service, execution procedures thereof, relations between arguments between the composite operation service and the operation services constituting the service, etc.) All or any of the attributes between the network resources (generalization / specialization relationship, whole / partial relationship, equivalence relationship, device connection configuration, etc.) and the relationship between each network resource and the operation service provided by it A part of it shall be included.

  Also, the operation service composition rules are added and updated as needed from the outside or as defined by the user to automatically synthesize and execute various composite operation services.

  As a specific example of the composite operation service, a composite operation service for realizing acquisition / update of QoS settings over a specific section composed of network devices such as a plurality of switches and routers on a network is used. It is possible to synthesize based on the attribute, the atomic operation service attribute provided by each network device on the section, and the operation service composition rule, and enable implementation.

  In this network operation service composition processing method, execution of the composition operation service is realized by executing a description of the composition operation service in an interpreter format.

  In addition, this network operation service composition processing method is implemented in a network operation apparatus that is installed in a specific network domain and manages the operation of the intra-domain network composed of network devices, user devices, and the like. This network operation apparatus has means for absorbing an execution method of an atomic operation service that is different for each device.

  According to the present invention, in a network environment having various configurations (for example, a home network or a condominium network), it is possible to provide a user with a practical operation service that can be used on the network. Operation services can be flexibly added / updated and reused.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a network system for carrying out the present invention. The network 100 is a home network, and includes network devices such as a home gateway (HGW) 110, layer 3 switches (L3-SW) 120 and 130, layer 2 switches (L2-SW) 140 and 150, and terminals 160 and 170. It is assumed to be configured by a user terminal. It is assumed that an agent function as a network operation device that manages, combines, and executes operation services is built in the HGW 110. Each of the devices 110 to 170 includes all of the minimum executable services (atomic operation services) for obtaining / updating the setting values of the devices (for example, QoS, access control setting values, etc.) or It is assumed that a part is provided, and the operation service description and the network resource description for these atomic operation services are held in advance in the agent function.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the agent function (network operation apparatus). The agent 200 includes an operation service management unit 210, a description management unit 220, an operation service composition unit 230, and a difference absorption unit 240 corresponding to each device.

  The operation service management unit 210 manages and executes the execution unit entity (execution module) of each operation service. There are two types of operation services: atomic operation services and composite operation services. The atomic operation service is a service originally provided by a device that does not depend on other services, and includes, for example, acquisition / update of a QoS setting for the device described above. The composite operation service is a service composed of a plurality of atoms or a composite operation service, which is intended to be a more effective operation service for the user. FIG. 3A shows the hierarchical image of the operation service managed and executed by the operation service management unit 210, and FIG. 3B shows the relationship between the composite operation service and the atomic operation service. In FIG. 3A, the lowermost operation service is an atomic operation service.

The description management unit 220 manages the operation service composition rule description 221, the network resource description 222 describing network resource attributes, and the operation service description 223 describing operation service attributes. Here, it is assumed that the operational service composition rule 221 can be added as needed from the outside or by user definition. The operation service composition unit 230 generates a composite operation service description based on the operation service composition rule 221, the network resource description 222 and the existing operation service description 223, and registers the composite operation service description in the operation service description 223. When receiving the service request, the operation service management unit 210 disassembles the combined operation service into the atomic operation service based on the operation service description 223, and passes the request to the difference absorbing unit 240 that executes the atomic operation service. Regarding the execution method of the composite operation service, the code is automatically generated based on the operation service description to generate the operation service execution part entity and execute the service, or the interpreter reads and executes the execution process description part in the operation service description Any of these methods is possible, but the latter method is used in the embodiments described later. The difference absorption unit 240 absorbs differences in operation interface (I / F) for each device type, and requests for atomic operation services for realizing acquisition / update of device setting values, etc., and device-specific messages and protocols. The setting value is actually acquired / updated for the device. The difference absorption unit 240 is added if necessary according to the device connection. At this time, a description regarding the atomic operation service provided by the device and a network resource description regarding the device are also acquired.

  FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show network resources and operations assuming a combined operation service for acquiring / updating QoS settings across devices on a specific section (path) of a network composed of a plurality of devices. A part of service description example is shown. As a network resource for providing a composite operation service for acquiring / updating QoS settings across devices on a specific section, here, a set of “connection” entities starting from output queues in each physical link on the route A resource between end-to-points (hereinafter referred to as a user trail) is assumed. Here, it is assumed that network resources and operation services are described using OWL and OWL-S, which are known as semantic description languages in the field of Web services. OWL is, for example, “OWL web Ontology Language Overview”, W3C, Feb. In 2004, OWL-S is “OWL-S: Semantic Markup for Web Services”, OWL-S Coalition, Nov. 2003.

  The network resource description describes a relationship between a class and an instance as a generalized and specialized relationship between network resources. It also describes the entire partial relationship between network resources. It also describes the relationship between each network resource and each operational service it provides.

  FIG. 4 describes network resources between the HGW 110 and the L2-SW 140 in FIG. TR1 is an instance of the user trail, and CON1 (downward connection defined on the link between the HGW 110 and the L3-SW 120) and CON2 (link between the L3-SW 120 and the L2-SW 140) which are instances of the connection It is shown that it is composed of a downlink connection defined above. In addition, TR1 provides an operation service TR1_AddFlow (operation service for updating a packet flow distribution setting to TR1), and CON1 and CON2 respectively supply packets CON1_AddFlow and CON2_AddFlow (respectively flow packets to CON1 and CON2 respectively) Service for updating the settings).

The operation service description describes the relationship between classes and subclasses as a generalization / specialization relationship between operation services. Also, as the operation service specification, the argument name and type required for the operation service, its value range, etc. are described. In the case of a composite operation service, the execution process of the operation service is also described. FIG. 5 shows a description example of the composite operation service, in which the above-described operation service TR1_AddFlow is described. Here, it is shown that this description is an operation service description of the TR1_AddFlow service. In addition, this operation service holds the process TR1_AddFlowProcess, and TR1_AddFlowProcess is an instance of the process AddFlowProcess (the argument name, type, value range, etc. of TR1_AddFlowProcess are separately included in the description of AddFlowProcess). As described). The TR1_AddFlowProcess process is a synthesis process (that is, the TR1_AddFlow service is a synthesis operation service), and is composed of a synthesis process CON1_AddFlowProcess (a process for executing the CON1_AddFlow service) and a CON2_AddFlowProcess (a process for executing the CON2_AddFlow service). It shows that TR1_AddFlowProcess is executed by executing sequentially. Although omitted in FIG. 5, similarly, for each of CON1_AddFlowProcess and CON2_AddFlowProcess, each process is a synthesis process, and the packet flow distribution setting update to each output queue provided by HGW110 and L3-SW120 is realized. It shall be shown in another description that it is constituted by an atomic operation service execution process. Further, the relationship of input arguments between processes (for example, the input argument of TR1_AddFlowProcess and the input argument of CON1_AddFlowProcess are the same) is also shown in another description.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a processing flow for operation service composition. The operation service composition unit 230 reads the rules of the operation service composition rule description 221 using a change in network configuration (topology change or addition of a new device) or input from a user as a trigger (S11), and based on the rules The network resource description 222 and the operation service description 223 necessary for the synthesis are read (S12), whether or not synthesis is possible is determined based on these descriptions and the synthesis rules. If the synthesis is possible, a synthesized operation service description is generated (S13), It is registered again in the operation service description 223 (S14). The operation service description example shown in FIG. 5 is an example of the generated composite operation service description.

FIG. 7 shows a part of an example in which the rules described in the operational service composition rule are described using first-order predicate logic. Here, as an example, a part of the synthesis rule for the SetMinBand service for updating the setting of the minimum guaranteed bandwidth in the user trail is described. Here, the following rules are shown.
For all variables tr (the following conditions [1] and [2] are satisfied) => (tr provides SetMinBand service).
[1] tr is an instance of the UserTrail class and provides a CreuseUserTrail service (a service that generates a UserTrain by connecting a set of Connections).
[2] For all variables con (con is an instance of Connection class and is an element of tr) (con provides the SetMinBand service).

  By configuring the operation service composition unit 230 with an appropriate inference engine or the like, it is possible to synthesize an operation service based on an operation service composition rule description using such a logical description. Also, by adding and updating operation service composition rules from the outside or by user definition as needed, various composition operation services can be automatically composed and executed.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a processing flow when executing the operation service. This is an interpreter-type execution example. When the operation service management unit 210 receives a service request from the user (S21), the operation service management unit 210 obtains a necessary operation service description from the operation service description 223 (S22). A service description (execution process description part) is acquired (S23), and the service request is transferred to the difference absorption unit 240 that executes each atomic operation service (S24).

  9 to 11 show specific examples of the composite operation service. FIG. 9 shows an example of a composite operation service for updating the minimum guaranteed bandwidth setting between end-to-points in the network. The composite operation service is a network device (switch 1,..., N on the path between end-to-points. ) Provides a minimum guaranteed bandwidth setting update service (atomic operation service). When executing the composite operation service, the minimum guaranteed bandwidth setting provided by each network device (switch 1,..., N) from the composite operation service description (execution process description part) for updating the end-to-end minimum guarantee setting. An update service description is acquired, and the minimum guaranteed bandwidth setting update is actually executed for each network device by each difference absorption unit.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a combined operation service that realizes room cooling. The combined operation service is provided by an ON / OFF setting update service (atomic operation service) provided by a room air conditioner and an automatic opening / closing window mechanism for the room. It is an example comprised by the combination with the window opening / closing setting update service (atomic operation service). FIG. 11 is an example of a composite operation service that updates the Fire Wall open / close setting according to the use of the TV conference. The composite operation service includes a TV conference usage status notification service (atomic operation service) provided by the TV conference terminal. This is an example of a combination with a Fire Wall open / close setting update service (atomic operation service) provided by a home gateway (HGW). In the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11, the execution of the composite operation service is basically the same as in the example of FIG.

  Note that the processing functions of some or all of the components in the agent 200 shown in FIG. 2 can be configured by a computer program and the program can be executed using the computer to implement the present invention, or FIG. It goes without saying that the processing procedure shown in FIG. 8 can be constituted by a computer program and the program can be executed by the computer. In addition, a computer-readable recording medium such as an FD, MO, ROM, memory card, CD, or the like is stored in the computer. In addition, the program can be recorded and stored on a DVD, a removable disk, etc., and the program can be distributed through a network such as the Internet.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the network system which implements this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the agent function which is the network operation service synthetic | combination processing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an operation service. It is a figure which shows the example of description of a network resource. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of an operation service. It is a figure which shows the example of an operation service synthetic | combination processing flow. It is a figure which shows an example of an operation service synthetic | combination rule. It is a figure which shows the example of an operation service execution process flow. It is a figure which shows the specific example of a synthetic | combination operation service. It is a figure which shows another specific example of a composite operation service. It is a figure which shows another specific example of a synthetic | combination operation service.

Explanation of symbols

110 to 150 Network device 160, 170 User device 200 Agent function (network operation device)
210 Operation service management unit 220 Description management unit 221 Operation service composition rule description 222 Network resource description 223 Operation service description 240 Difference absorption unit

Claims (8)

A network operation service composition processing method, which is a service for realizing acquisition / update of setting values of each device necessary for network operation in a network composed of network devices, user devices, etc.,
Including a specific unit of a network composed of multiple devices, the service that is provided by each device and is the smallest unit that can be executed to obtain and update the setting value of the device (hereinafter referred to as atomic operation service) A higher level service (hereinafter referred to as “composite operation service”) for realizing a network operation service that is more practical for the user by acquiring / updating setting values across a plurality of devices in the section is provided for each atom. A first step of generating based on an operation service synthesis rule given in advance from the outside based on the attribute assigned to the operation service and the attribute assigned to the network resource;
A higher-order composite operation service including a plurality of composite operation services is further generated based on the operation service combination rules based on attributes assigned to each composite operation service and attributes assigned to network resources. Two steps,
A third step of operating a plurality of atomic operation services in cooperation by executing the composite operation service generated in the first step or the second step as one execution process;
Network management services synthesizing processing method characterized in that it comprises a. The network operation service composition processing method according to claim 1, wherein the attribute assigned to the atomic operation service or the composition operation service and the attribute assigned to the network resource include a relationship between the operation services (generalization / specialization relationship, Equivalence relationship, etc.), specifications of each operation service (argument name and type, value range, etc.), and if the operation service is a composite operation service, its execution process, relationship between network resources, and each network A network operation service composition processing method characterized by including all or a part of attributes relating to a relationship between a resource and an operation service provided by the resource. 3. The network operation service composition processing method according to claim 1, wherein the operation service composition rule is added / updated as needed from the outside or by a user definition. 4. The network operation service composition processing method according to claim 1, wherein the composition operation service is executed by generating and executing an execution unit entity based on the description of the composition operation service, or the composition operation service. A network operation service composition processing method realized by executing the description in an interpreter format. A network operation apparatus for operating a network in the domain configured by a network device, a user device, etc. installed in a specific network domain,
5. A network operation apparatus that implements the network operation service composition processing method according to claim 1. 6. The network operation device according to claim 5, further comprising means for absorbing an atomic operation service execution method that is different for each device. The program for making a computer perform the network operation service synthetic | combination processing method of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4. A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the network operation service composition processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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