JP5365417B2 - Priority control device and network system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a priority control device which can perform the same setting even when a plurality of settings of the priority control device are individually performed, and a network system using the same, in a network system for performing priority control by arranging a priority control device between networks where characteristics such as transmission bands are different from one another and thereby a queue is generated. <P>SOLUTION: Setting information of the priority control device which is set using a control terminal is transmitted to another priority control device, the other priority control device receives the transmitted setting information to perform its own setting to transmit setting completion information showing the completion of the setting. Thereby, it can be assured that all the priority control devices are set to the same setting, and the completion of the setting can be confirmed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a priority control apparatus that connects networks having different transmission bands or communication methods, and relates to a priority control apparatus that can easily and reliably set priority control, and a network system that uses this priority control apparatus. is there.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a network system in which two user networks are connected by a communication carrier network (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In FIG. 5, reference numeral 10 denotes a user network, which includes a network 11 and a priority control device 12. The priority control device 12 is installed in the user's home.

  A communication carrier network 13 includes a conventional network 14, a priority control device 15, and a network 16. The conventional network 14 is connected to the network 11 via the priority control device 12. The conventional network 14 and the network 16 are connected via a priority control device 15. The priority control device 15 is installed in a communication carrier station.

  A user network 17 is connected to the network 16. Reference numeral 18 denotes a control terminal for setting the priority control devices 12 and 15. The priority control devices 12 and 15 connect networks having different characteristics, and mainly perform priority control of data.

  The data includes data that requires real-time characteristics such as voice data and data that does not cause a problem even if the delay is large, such as e-mail. By effectively using such data characteristics and performing priority control, the communication infrastructure can be efficiently operated.

  As the networks 11, 16, and 17, widely used Ethernet (registered trademark) is used. Ethernet (registered trademark) is a network that transmits and receives data using frames (also referred to as packets), and is configured to assign priority / non-priority for each frame. Individual frames are written in different buffer memories, and when frames are transmitted in the forward direction, the frames are read from the buffer memory in the descending order of priority and transmitted.

  When the transmission band of the transmission side (conventional network 14) is equal to the transmission band of the reception side (networks 11 and 16), the received frame can be transmitted as it is, so that priority control is not necessary. However, if the transmission band on the transmission side is narrower than the transmission band on the reception side, the received data cannot be transmitted as it is, so priority control must be performed. Priority control refers to control for preferentially transmitting frames with high priority.

  Before Ethernet (registered trademark) became widespread, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) leased lines or HSD (High Speed Digital) leased lines were mainstream. Therefore, these leased lines are used in conventional networks. Many.

  Normally, when different user networks are connected using a communication carrier network, the traffic volume is small compared to the traffic volume in the same user network. Therefore, the transmission bandwidth of the conventional network 14 is reduced to reduce the communication cost. Suppression is generally performed.

  For this reason, when the priority control device 12 receives data transmitted from the network 11 in a burst manner, this received data cannot be transmitted to the conventional network 14 at a time, and a queue is generated. Similarly, a queue is generated when the priority control apparatus 15 receives data transmitted from the user network 17 in a burst manner.

  When the user transmits data, information for identifying the priority frame and the non-priority frame is added to the header of the frame and transmitted to the priority control devices 12 and 15. The priority control devices 12 and 15 identify a priority frame and a non-priority frame for each received frame and write them in different buffer memories. When frames are transmitted in the forward direction, priority control can be performed in both directions by reading from the buffer memory and transmitting the frames in order from the frame with the highest priority.

  FIG. 6 shows a frame structure of Ethernet (registered trademark). This structure is defined by the IEEE 802.1q tag frame. A frame is divided into a header and data. The header stores a destination MAC address, a transmission destination MAC address, a VLAN tag, and a frame type, and the data stores an IP header and IP data. In the untagged frame, the VLAN tag is not defined and is left-justified.

To perform priority control,
(1) Priority control valid / invalid (2) Sort key type. This type is set by either TOS (3-bit IP precedence) value in the IP header, User Priority (3-bit) value in the VLAN tag, or VID (12-bit) value in the VLAN tag. To do.
(3) The value of the distribution key. This value includes a priority frame value and a non-priority frame value.
(4) Depth of each priority buffer memory. This value includes the depth of the priority frame buffer and the depth of the non-priority frame buffer.
Etc. must be set.

JP2007-266933

  However, such a network has the following problems. The setting values related to the priority control set in the priority control devices 12 and 15 must match. Conventionally, the priority control devices 12 and 15 are separately logged in, and the same setting contents are set separately. For this reason, there is a problem that different values are set in the priority control devices 12 and 15.

  If different values are set between the priority control devices 12 and 15, there is a problem that frames that should be prioritized are not prioritized and non-priority frames are transmitted with priority.

In this way, the cause of trouble that non-priority frames are sent preferentially is
(1) A setting error or failure in the control terminal 18 that sets the priority control devices 12 and 15.
(2) A setting error or failure of the priority control device 12 in the user network 10.
(3) A setting error or failure of the priority control device 15 in the communication carrier network 13.
However, there is also a problem that it is difficult to immediately identify the cause and deal with it.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid a simple setting mistake by transmitting and setting one setting content to the other priority control device, and to quickly recover when a trouble occurs, and this It is to realize a network system using a priority control device.

In order to achieve such a problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is:
In a priority control device that is arranged between networks having different characteristics and performs priority control of received data and transmits it,
A control terminal interface to which a control terminal that performs settings related to priority control and displays information about setting completion information transmitted from another priority control device is connected;
The received data is input, and the priority control of the received data is performed and output, and the priority control processing unit configured to perform the priority control by the output of the control terminal interface;
Setting information related to priority control set in the priority control processing unit is input, and a setting information transmission unit that transmits the setting information;
It is equipped with. Other priority control devices can make the same setting using the transmitted setting information and can confirm that the setting has been made.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1,
A data identification unit for identifying the setting completion information from the received data is provided, and the setting completion information identified by the data identification unit is output to the control terminal interface. Setting information and setting completion information can be transmitted on the same logical line as other data.

The invention described in claim 3
A first network;
A second network having different characteristics from the first network;
A third network having different characteristics from the second network;
The first priority control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first priority control apparatus is disposed between the first network and the second network and performs priority control.
It is arranged between the second network and the third network , performs setting related to priority control based on the received setting information, outputs setting completion information when setting is completed, and receives based on this setting A second priority control device for performing priority control on the output data and outputting it,
It is equipped with. The settings related to the priority control of the first and second priority control devices can be made the same.

The invention according to claim 4
A first network;
A second network having different characteristics from the first network;
The first priority control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first priority control apparatus is connected to the first network and performs priority control.
Connected to the first priority control device and the second network, performs setting related to priority control based on the received setting information, outputs setting completion information when setting is completed, and receives based on this setting A second priority control device for performing priority control on data and outputting the data ;
It is equipped with. The settings related to the priority control of the first and second priority control devices can be made the same.

The present invention has the following effects.
According to the first, second, third and fourth aspects of the present invention, setting information related to priority control set in one priority control device is transmitted to another priority control device, and the other priority control device is based on the received setting information. In addition to making settings related to its own priority control, setting completion information indicating that the setting has been completed is transmitted.

  Since the settings related to the priority control of all the priority control devices are set based on the same setting information, the settings of all the priority control devices can be made the same. For this reason, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid a trouble due to the setting not matching.

  In addition, since the priority control device that has received the setting information transmits the setting completion information indicating that the setting has been completed, it is possible to confirm that the setting has been completed by another priority control device. is there.

  Further, by providing a data identification unit for identifying setting information and setting completion information, the setting information and setting completion information can be transmitted using a logical line that transmits other data. For this reason, the communication line can be used efficiently.

  The present invention can not only perform priority control by connecting a network using Ethernet (registered trademark) and a network using a conventional line such as an ATM leased line, but also has a queue because of different transmission bands. It is possible to perform priority control between all the generated networks.

It is the block diagram which showed one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of a carrier side priority control apparatus. It is a block diagram of a user side priority control apparatus. It is the block diagram which showed the other Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the conventional network. FIG.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 4 correspond to claims 5 and 6, respectively, FIG. 2 corresponds to claims 1 and 2, and FIG. 3 corresponds to claims 3 and 4.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a network system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the network system includes a user network 20, a user-side priority control device 21, a conventional line network 22, a carrier-side priority control device 23, a communication carrier network 24, and a control terminal 25. The user network 20, the conventional line network 22, and the communication carrier network 24 correspond to the third, second, and first networks, respectively. The user-side priority control device 21 is replaced with the second priority control device, and the carrier-side priority control device. Reference numeral 23 corresponds to the first priority control apparatus.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the transmission band of the user network 20 and the communication carrier network 24 is wider than the transmission band of the conventional line network 22. That is, the user network 20 and the conventional line network 22 have different characteristics, and the conventional line network 22 and the communication carrier network 24 have different characteristics. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, other user networks are connected to the communication carrier network 24, but the description is omitted.

  The user network 20 and the communication carrier network 24 are networks configured by Ethernet (registered trademark), and the conventional line network 22 is an ATM leased line or the like, and is a line that has been put into practical use before the Ethernet (registered trademark) is widely used. It is a configured network.

  The user-side priority control device 21 is connected to the user network 20 and the conventional line network 22, receives a frame transmitted by the user network 20, performs priority control on this frame, and transmits the frame to the conventional line network 22. In addition, data transmitted by the conventional line network 22 is received and transmitted to the user network 20.

  The carrier side priority control device 23 is connected to the conventional line network 22 and the communication carrier network 24. The carrier-side priority control device 23 receives the frame transmitted by the communication carrier network 24, performs priority control on this frame, and transmits it to the conventional line network 22. In addition, data transmitted by the conventional line network 22 is received and transmitted to the communication carrier network 24.

  The control terminal 25 is connected to the carrier side priority control device 23. The control terminal 25 is used to log in to the carrier-side priority control device 23 using a protocol such as telnet or http, and after editing and setting the settings related to the priority control of the carrier-side priority control device 23, a transmission start operation is performed.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the carrier side priority control device 23. The carrier-side priority control device 23 includes a frame reception unit 30, a priority control processing unit 31, a data transmission unit 32, a setting information transmission unit 33, a data reception unit 34, a data identification unit 35, a frame transmission unit 36, and a control terminal interface 37. Consists of.

  The frame receiving unit 30 receives the frame transmitted by the communication carrier network 24 and outputs the received frame to the priority control processing unit 31. The priority control processing unit 31 performs priority control on the frame received by the frame reception unit 30 and outputs the frame to the data transmission unit 32. The data transmission unit 32 converts the input data into the format of the conventional line network 22 and transmits it to the conventional line network 22.

  The data receiving unit 34 receives the data transmitted by the conventional line network 22 and transmits the received data to the frame transmitting unit 36 via the data identifying unit 35. The frame transmission unit 36 converts the input data into the format of the communication carrier network 24 and transmits it to the communication carrier network 24.

  The control terminal 25 is connected to the control terminal interface 37. The control terminal interface 37 analyzes the contents of the setting value input via the control terminal 25 and sets the priority control processing unit 31 with this setting value. As described above, the setting contents include priority control valid / invalid, sort key type, sort key value, depth of each priority buffer memory, and the like.

  The same setting information as the content set in the priority control processing unit 31 is input to the setting information transmitting unit 33. The setting information transmission unit 33 issues a transmission request to the priority control processing unit 31. The priority control processing unit 31 issues a transmission permission to the setting information transmission unit 33 when the frame being transmitted ends. When the transmission permission is issued, the setting information transmission unit 33 outputs the setting information to the data transmission unit 32. The data transmission unit 32 converts the setting information into a data format suitable for the conventional line network 22 and transmits the data to the conventional line network 22.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the user-side priority control device 21. The user-side priority control device 21 includes a frame reception unit 40, a priority control processing unit 41, a data transmission unit 42, a setting completion information transmission unit 43, a data reception unit 44, a data identification unit 45, and a frame transmission unit 46. .

  The frame receiving unit 40 receives a frame transmitted by the user network 20 and outputs the received frame to the priority control processing unit 41. The priority control processing unit 41 performs priority control of the frame received by the frame receiving unit 40 and outputs the frame to the data transmitting unit 42. The data transmission unit 42 converts the input data into the format of the conventional line network 22 and outputs the converted data to the conventional line network 22.

  The data receiving unit 44 receives the data transmitted by the conventional line network 22 and outputs the received data to the frame transmitting unit 46 via the data identifying unit 45. The frame transmission unit 46 converts the input data into the format of the user network 20 and transmits it to the user network 20.

  The setting information of the priority control processing unit 31 transmitted from the carrier side priority control device 23 via the conventional line network 22 is also input to the data receiving unit 44. When the data identifying unit 45 identifies the setting information, the data identifying unit 45 outputs the setting information to the priority control processing unit 41, and performs setting related to the priority control of the priority control processing unit 41 with the setting information. Then, this setting information is notified to the setting completion information transmitting unit 43.

  The setting completion information setting unit 43 generates setting completion information notifying that the setting has been completed from the input setting information, and issues a transmission request to the priority control processing unit 41. The priority control processing unit 41 issues a transmission permission when the frame being transmitted ends. When the transmission permission is issued, the setting completion information transmission unit 43 outputs the setting completion information to the data transmission unit 42. The data transmission unit 42 converts the setting completion information into a format compatible with the conventional line network 22 and transmits it.

  The setting completion information created by the setting completion information transmitting unit 43 is received by the carrier side priority control device 23. The data identifying unit 35 in the carrier-side priority control device 23 identifies this setting completion information and outputs it to the control terminal interface 37. The control terminal interface 37 displays on the control terminal 25 that the setting has been completed.

  With such a configuration, the priority control device 21 can perform the same setting as the priority control device 23. Further, by checking the control terminal 25, it can be checked that the setting of the priority control device 21 has been completed.

  Next, a method in which the priority control devices 21 and 23 exchange setting information and setting completion information will be described. There are two methods for exchanging such information as described below. In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the second method is used.

  The first method is a method in which one of the logical lines is assigned exclusively for exchanging setting information and setting completion information. In many cases, a single physical line can accommodate a plurality of logical lines. One of these logical lines is assigned for exchanging setting information and the like.

  Since a dedicated line is allocated for the exchange of setting information and the like, there is an advantage that the exchange of setting information and the like does not affect the line (hereinafter referred to as a user line) for exchanging other data, but it is used. Since the number of lines increases, there is a disadvantage that the communication cost becomes high. In addition, when all the lines of one physical line are used as one logical line, it cannot be applied.

  In this first method, since a dedicated logical line for transmitting setting information and setting completion information is set, there is no need to distinguish between setting / setting completion information and other data. For this reason, the data identification parts 35 and 45 are unnecessary. When receiving the setting information through the dedicated line, the priority control processing unit 41 sets itself with the setting information, and outputs the received setting information to the setting completion information transmitting unit 43. Further, when receiving the setting completion information through the dedicated line, the priority control processing unit 31 outputs this information to the control terminal interface 37.

  The second method is a method of interrupting this line when setting information or the like is transmitted using the same line as the user line. Although there is an advantage that the communication cost can be suppressed because the dedicated line is not used, the user line is temporarily occupied, so it is necessary to reduce the size of the setting information etc. so as not to affect the user line. There are drawbacks.

  Since the frame size of Ethernet (registered trademark) is 64 to 1518 bytes, if the setting information is 64 bytes or less, the setting information can be included in one frame. Since the setting information for priority control is usually about 20 to 30 bytes, it is sufficiently possible to make the setting information 64 bytes or less. By making it possible to identify a frame for transmitting other data and a frame for transmitting setting information, setting information can be exchanged without affecting the exchange of other data.

  The method for transmitting the setting information differs depending on the type of the conventional line. Hereinafter, a case where an ATM leased line is used and a case where an HSD leased line is used will be described.

  First, a case where an ATM leased line is used will be described. In ATM, it is specified that data is exchanged in units of ATM cells each composed of a 5-byte header part and a 48-byte payload part (TTC JT-1361). Data to be exchanged is mapped to the payload part.

  Since the frame size of Ethernet (registered trademark) is larger than the size of the ATM cell, a plurality of ATM cells are required to transmit one frame. Usually, an AAL5 (ATM Adaptation Layer Specification Type 5 TTC JT-1363.5) protocol is used, and a flag indicating the last cell of the frame is added to the header portion of the ATM cell.

  As described above, since the size of the normal setting information is smaller than the size of the ATM cell, the setting information can be transmitted with one ATM cell by inserting the setting information into one ATM cell. In addition, by adding a flag that always displays the last cell, it is possible to distinguish it from other data on the receiving side.

  Next, a case where an HSD dedicated line is used will be described. Since HSD does not define transmission units like ATM, it must be defined including transmission units. For example, a 1-byte header part may be added to the setting information or other data, and the setting information may be identified by this header part. In consideration of extensibility, the data to be transmitted may be divided and transmitted so as to have a unit of about 48 bytes including the header portion. With this unit, the setting information can be transmitted in one unit.

  FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the priority control apparatus of the present invention is applied to a network system having no conventional line network. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element as FIG. 1, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 50 denotes a user network, which includes a user network 20 and a user-side priority control device 51. Reference numeral 52 denotes a communication carrier side network, which includes a carrier side priority control device 53 and a communication carrier network 24. The user-side priority control device 51 and the carrier-side priority control device 53 are connected. Further, the control terminal 25 is connected to the carrier side priority control device 53.

  A user side network 54 is connected to the communication carrier network 24. The user-side network 54 has the same configuration as the user-side network 50, but the description is omitted. The user network 20 and the communication carrier network 24 are both networks using Ethernet (registered trademark). The communication carrier network 24 and the user network 20 correspond to the first and second networks, respectively, and the carrier-side priority control device 53 and the user-side priority control device 51 correspond to the first and second priority control devices, respectively.

  The user-side priority control device 51 and the carrier-side priority control device 53 have the same configuration as that shown in FIGS. The carrier side priority control device 53 is set by the control terminal 25, and this setting information is transmitted to the user side priority control device 51. The user-side priority control device 51 is set with the transmitted setting information, and transmits setting completion information to the carrier-side priority control device 53. The carrier side priority control device 53 transmits this setting completion information to the control terminal 25.

  In order to suppress the communication cost, it is assumed that the transmission band of the user network 20 and the communication carrier network 24 is 1 Gbps, and the transmission band between the priority control devices 51 and 53 is 100 Mbps. Also in this case, since a queue is generated in transmission between the communication carrier network 24 and the user network 20, priority control must be performed.

  The priority control is performed by the user-side priority control device 51 and the carrier-side priority control device 53. By using the priority control devices shown in FIGS. 3 and 2 as these priority control devices 51 and 53, these priority control devices can be set to the same setting.

  In other words, not only the interconnection between a network using Ethernet (registered trademark) and a conventional line network, but also a connection between Ethernet (registered trademark), if a transmission band is different, a queue is generated, and priority control is performed. It must be made. The priority control apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to connections between networks that must perform priority control.

  In this embodiment, the control terminal is connected to the carrier-side priority control apparatus and settings are made, and this setting value is transmitted to the user-side priority control apparatus. However, the control terminal is connected to the user-side priority control apparatus. The set value may be transmitted to the carrier side priority control apparatus. In short, it is only necessary to set by one priority control device and transmit the setting value to another priority control device.

  Moreover, although the example using two priority control apparatuses was shown in these embodiments, three or more priority control apparatuses may be used. In this case, the setting may be performed by one priority control device, and the setting value may be transmitted to another priority control device and set.

20 User network 21, 51 User side priority control device 22 Conventional line network 23, 53 Carrier side priority control device 24 Communication carrier network 25 Control terminal 30, 40 Frame reception unit 31, 41 Priority control processing unit 32, 42 Data transmission unit 33 Setting information transmission unit 34, 44 Data reception unit 35, 45 Data identification unit 36, 46 Frame transmission unit 37 Control terminal interface 43 Setting completion information transmission unit 50, 54 User side network 52 Communication carrier side network

Claims (4)

In a priority control device that is arranged between networks having different characteristics and performs priority control of received data and transmits it,
A control terminal interface to which a control terminal that performs settings related to priority control and displays information about setting completion information transmitted from another priority control device is connected;
The received data is input, and the priority control of the received data is performed and output, and the priority control processing unit configured to perform the priority control by the output of the control terminal interface;
Setting information related to priority control set in the priority control processing unit is input, and a setting information transmission unit that transmits the setting information;
A priority control apparatus comprising:   The priority according to claim 1, further comprising a data identification unit for identifying the setting completion information from the received data, and outputting the setting completion information identified by the data identification unit to the control terminal interface. Control device. A first network;
A second network having different characteristics from the first network;
A third network having different characteristics from the second network;
The first priority control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first priority control apparatus is disposed between the first network and the second network and performs priority control.
It is arranged between the second network and the third network , performs setting related to priority control based on the received setting information, outputs setting completion information when setting is completed, and receives based on this setting A second priority control device for performing priority control on the output data and outputting it,
A network system characterized by comprising: A first network;
A second network having different characteristics from the first network;
The first priority control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first priority control apparatus is connected to the first network and performs priority control.
Connected to the first priority control device and the second network, performs setting related to priority control based on the received setting information, outputs setting completion information when setting is completed, and receives based on this setting A second priority control device for performing priority control on data and outputting the data ;
A network system characterized by comprising:

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