JP5485195B2 - Network monitoring apparatus, network control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to bandwidth monitoring control in a bandwidth guaranteed packet transmission network.

  In order to achieve communication quality (QoS: Quality of Service) with the same low latency and low discard rate as a corporate network constructed with a conventional dedicated network, even in packet transmission methods such as Ethernet (registered trademark) Guaranteed packet transmission services are provided.

  In a network that provides such a bandwidth-guaranteed packet transmission service, a contract for a bandwidth to be guaranteed is made with a user. Each node (packet communication device) of the network has a reception control function (such as a bandwidth monitoring function and a packet discard function), performs bandwidth monitoring based on the monitoring bandwidth set according to the guaranteed bandwidth, and performs reception control.

  In this specification, the term “packet” is used in a broad sense including “frame”, “cell”, and the like. However, in the case of showing a specific example, the term “frame” is also used for convenience.

  In bandwidth monitoring of packet communication, generally, bandwidth is monitored based on the packet length detected by flow detection or the like, and control such as packet discard is performed. Here, the bandwidth of the packet is calculated by adding the packet length of each packet passed per unit time, and the bandwidth calculated in this way exceeds the preset monitoring bandwidth (set bandwidth) For example, control such as discarding the packet is performed. In some cases, priorities are assigned to packets, and when a bandwidth violation occurs, packets are discarded in descending order of priority.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-210606

ITU-T Y.1731 IEEE802.1ag

  In recent years, in networks such as Ethernet, which has become widespread as a bandwidth-guaranteed packet transmission network, a line is identified by attaching a tag to a packet, thereby enabling multiplexing of lines. Of the plurality of packet communication devices constituting such a network, which packet communication device gives a tag, which packet communication device deletes a tag, the number of tags when attaching a tag, etc. in advance in the network design Determined.

  Here, in a certain packet communication device, when a tag is added to or deleted from a packet, the packet length that is the basis of bandwidth monitoring is changed before and after that. In addition, the packet length that is the basis of bandwidth monitoring is not necessarily the length of the entire packet, but the length of all or part of a packet preset as a bandwidth monitoring range, and this range varies depending on the packet communication device.

  An example of the bandwidth monitoring range is shown in FIG. FIG. 1 shows an example of an Ethernet frame as an example. In the case of the frame with the two tags shown in (a), in the case of (b), DA to FCS are set as the bandwidth monitoring range. Further, in the case of (c), IFG to FCS are set as the band monitoring range, and in the case of (d), the part excluding one tag from the range of (c) is set as the band monitoring range.

  As described above, in a network in which the packet length is changed by tag addition / deletion, for example, a packet without a tag is received, and a packet without the tag is a target for bandwidth monitoring. It is assumed that one tag is assigned in the communication device and a packet with the tag is transferred to the second packet communication device. At this time, if the bandwidth monitoring ranges of the first packet communication device and the second packet communication device are the same, in the second packet communication device, compared to the first packet communication device, the assigned tag The larger band is calculated by the amount of.

  At this time, for example, as a policy in the packet communication service, when the entire packet length without a tag is used as a bandwidth monitoring reference and the bandwidth Z based on this reference is set as a monitoring bandwidth (guaranteed bandwidth), the first When the monitoring bandwidth of the packet communication device and the second packet communication device is the same bandwidth Z, even if there is no violation of the monitoring bandwidth (band Z) in the first packet communication device, the second packet communication device Violations can occur and packet discards can occur.

  Further, for example, when the entire packet length with one tag is used as a bandwidth monitoring reference and the bandwidth Z based on this reference is set as the monitoring bandwidth (guaranteed bandwidth), the first packet communication device and the second packet When the monitoring bandwidth in the packet communication device is the same bandwidth Z, even if a bandwidth similar to the monitoring bandwidth (band Z) is observed in the second packet communication device, the monitoring bandwidth in the first packet communication device A band lower than (band Z) is observed. In this case, strict bandwidth monitoring cannot be performed, and there is a possibility that packets exceeding the original monitoring bandwidth (guaranteed bandwidth) are allowed to pass.

  Further, for example, even when the bandwidth monitoring range of the second packet communication device is wider than that of the first communication device, the second packet communication device has a wider bandwidth monitoring range than the first packet communication device. Therefore, the same problem as described above may occur in bandwidth monitoring.

In order to solve the above problem, for example, a network designer who knows the tagging / deleting operation of each packet communication device and the bandwidth monitoring range of each packet communication device has a large enough margin to cover the variation in packet length. It can be considered that the communication band is provided with a margin by setting the monitoring band in each packet communication device. This can prevent packet discard, but it will hinder effective utilization of equipment (communication resources) because the telecommunications carrier will secure extra equipment capacity beyond the bandwidth required for bandwidth guarantee. There is a problem.
In addition, in the implementation of a throughput test with an arbitrary packet length, which is one of the end-to-end opening tests, the network designer must confirm the minimum bandwidth communication with a fixed-length packet with the minimum packet length that is the worst condition. I could only do it. In this case as well, in order to prevent packet loss by testing, the telecommunications carrier will secure extra equipment capacity beyond the bandwidth required for bandwidth guarantee. There is a problem of hindering.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and for each packet communication device constituting a bandwidth-guaranteed packet transmission network, the bandwidth monitoring according to the tag addition / deletion operation, the monitoring range unique to the communication device, and the like. By setting an offset value with respect to a reference, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that enables strict bandwidth monitoring and efficient use of communication resources.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a network monitoring device that monitors and controls a packet communication network configured by connecting a plurality of packet communication devices having a bandwidth monitoring function via a transmission line network. Network configuration information storage means for storing network configuration information including information related to addition or deletion of additional data to / from a packet in each packet communication device constituting the packet communication network, and a monitoring target in bandwidth monitoring in the packet communication device Bandwidth monitoring range storage means for storing the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device, and policy information storage for storing a bandwidth monitoring reference that is a bandwidth monitoring range serving as a guaranteed bandwidth reference in the packet communication network Means, the network configuration information, the packet An offset value calculating means for calculating an offset value for the bandwidth monitoring reference based on the bandwidth monitoring range for each communication device and the bandwidth monitoring reference; and setting of the offset value calculated by the offset value calculating means for the packet communication It is configured as a network monitoring device characterized by comprising setting command means for commanding each packet communication device constituting the network.

  The offset value calculation means calculates offset reference information that represents information related to addition or deletion of the additional data as a difference amount from the band monitoring reference based on the network configuration information and the band monitoring reference; Based on the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device and the bandwidth monitoring reference, calculate bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device that represents the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device as a difference from the bandwidth monitoring reference. The offset value may be calculated from the offset reference information and the communication device-specific band monitoring reference information.

  Further, the network monitoring device includes: a throughput test execution command unit that commands the packet communication network to execute a throughput test based on the offset value calculated by the offset value calculation unit; A throughput test analysis unit that receives a test result by the throughput test and determines the normality of the packet communication network may be further included.

  In addition, the offset value is changed until the throughput test analysis means determines that the result is normal, the changed offset value is set in each packet communication device, and a throughput test based on the changed offset value is performed. It is good also as providing the control means which repeats the process to implement.

  The present invention can also be configured as a network control method executed by the network monitoring apparatus and a program for causing a computer to function as each means of the network monitoring apparatus.

  According to the present invention, an appropriate offset value with respect to a bandwidth monitoring standard is set for each packet communication device constituting a bandwidth-guaranteed packet transmission network according to a tag addition / deletion operation, a monitoring range unique to the communication device, and the like. As a result, bandwidth monitoring is strictly performed and communication resources can be used efficiently.

It is a figure which shows an example of the band monitoring range in a packet communication apparatus. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a network monitoring device 10. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the network configuration information stored in the network configuration information storage part 11 in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a packet structure. It is a figure which shows an example of the bandwidth monitoring policy information (bandwidth monitoring reference | standard) stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage part 12 in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the band monitoring range information classified by communication apparatus stored in the band monitoring range storage classified by communication apparatus 13 in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the offset reference information stored in the offset reference information storage part 15 in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the band monitoring reference information classified by communication apparatus stored in the band monitoring reference information classified by communication apparatus 16 in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function of a packet communication apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the role of an offset value. It is a figure for demonstrating the role of an offset value. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the network configuration information stored in the network configuration information storage part 11 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the bandwidth monitoring policy information (bandwidth monitoring reference | standard) stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage part 12 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the band monitoring range information classified by communication apparatus stored in the band monitoring range specific communication apparatus storage part 13 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the offset reference information stored in the offset reference information storage part 15 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the band monitoring reference information classified by communication apparatus stored in the band monitoring reference information classified by communication apparatus 16 in 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment and a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
(System configuration)
FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the system according to the present embodiment includes a service network (a network that provides a bandwidth-guaranteed packet transmission service) in which a plurality of packet communication apparatuses 1 to 4 are connected by a transmission line network, Apparatus 10 (which may be referred to as an operation system). The network monitoring device 10 and each packet communication device are connected by a predetermined network 5 so that data communication is possible. In this embodiment, a transmission path network section connecting two packet communication devices is referred to as a section, and sections X, Y, and Z are shown in FIG.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of (logical) lines are set end-to-end between the packet communication device 1 and the packet communication device 4, and bidirectional packet communication is performed. In this embodiment, for the sake of convenience, description will be made assuming communication from the packet communication device 1 to the packet communication device 4 on the “line 1”. An end-to-end “line” may also be referred to as a packet communication network.

  FIG. 3 shows a functional configuration of the network monitoring apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the network monitoring device 10 of the present embodiment includes a network configuration information storage unit 11, a bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12, a communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13, a reference information calculation unit 14, an offset reference. An information storage unit 15, a communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16, an offset value calculation unit 17, a setting command unit 18, a throughput test execution command unit 19, and a throughput test result analysis unit 20 are provided.

  The network configuration information storage unit 11 stores end-to-end network configuration information for each line. FIG. 4 shows an example of network configuration information stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11. FIG. 4 corresponds to the configuration shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the network configuration information storage unit 11 stores packet information of each section (in this example, information on the presence / absence of a tag). The network configuration information is determined by network design and is stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11 in advance by, for example, a network administrator. Here, a tag is taken as an example of information that is added to a packet and causes a packet length change, but such information may be additional data other than the tag.

  Although not shown, information indicating which packet communication device each section is between is also stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11. Thereby, in this Embodiment, the network monitoring apparatus 10 can grasp | ascertain tag addition / deletion operation | movement of each packet communication apparatus from network configuration information. For example, it can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 3 that the packet communication device 3 is performing an operation of adding one tag. That is, the network configuration information storage unit 11 stores information on tag assignment or deletion for each packet communication device.

  The bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 stores bandwidth monitoring standards for each line as bandwidth monitoring policy information. In this example, the bandwidth monitoring reference is information that is determined and stored in advance as a policy for the bandwidth monitoring range for each line. For example, assuming the packet configuration shown in FIG. 5, the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 stores information shown in FIG. 6, for example. “A to D (assign one tag)” shown in FIG. 6 indicates that the range from A to D (the entire packet including one tag) is used as a bandwidth monitoring reference.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of information stored in the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13. As shown in FIG. 7, the bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13 for each communication device stores a bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device. For example, the bandwidth monitoring range of the packet communication device 2 is B to D. Here, if the information A is 4 bytes, the bandwidth monitoring range of the packet communication device 2 is 4 bytes smaller than the other packet communication devices. Can be grasped. The bandwidth monitoring range is grasped by, for example, examining the specifications for each packet communication device and stored in advance.

  The reference information calculation unit 14 in the configuration of FIG. 3 calculates offset reference information from the information stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11 and the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12, and this is used as the offset reference. It has a function of storing in the information storage unit 15.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the offset reference information stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the offset reference information is an offset value that is a constant indicating the amount of addition or subtraction from the basic position corresponding to the bandwidth monitoring reference by using packet information (in this example, tag information) for each section. It is the information expressed by. For example, when the bandwidth monitoring standard is A to D (including one tag), and there is one tag (with a size of 4 bytes) in a section, the offset standard information corresponding to that section Is 0. If a section is not tagged, offset reference information corresponding to that section is 4 bytes. For example, when two tags are attached to a section, the offset reference information corresponding to the section is −4 bytes.

  Further, the reference information calculation unit 14 in the configuration of FIG. 3 uses the bandwidth monitoring reference for each communication device based on the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 and the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13 for each communication device. It has a function of calculating information and storing it in the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device stored in the bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16 for each communication device. As shown in FIG. 9, the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device is information that represents the information of the bandwidth monitoring range for each communication device as a difference amount from the bandwidth monitoring reference. For example, when the bandwidth monitoring ranges A to D of a certain packet communication device are the same as the bandwidth monitoring criteria A to D that are policies, the bandwidth monitoring criteria information for each communication device is 0. Further, when the bandwidth monitoring range of a certain packet communication device is BD (the size of the information A is 4 bytes) with respect to the bandwidth monitoring criteria A to D, the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device is 4 bytes. . For example, when the bandwidth monitoring reference is B to D and the bandwidth monitoring range of a certain packet communication device is A to D, the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device is -4.

  In the present embodiment, the reference information calculation unit 14 calculates and stores the offset reference information and the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device from the information stored in the storage units 11 to 13. The offset reference information and the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information may be obtained in advance outside the network monitoring device 10 and stored. In addition, the reference information calculation unit 14, the offset reference information storage unit 15, and the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16 are not provided. However, the offset value may be directly calculated. In this case, for example, as the internal processing of the offset value calculation unit 17, it is possible to obtain the offset reference information and the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device and calculate the offset value therefrom.

  The offset value calculation unit 17 in the configuration of FIG. 3 should be set in each packet communication device from the information stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15 and the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16 for each communication device. Calculate the offset value. A specific example of calculation will be described in the operation example described later.

  The setting command unit 18 is a functional unit that sends a command for setting the offset value calculated by the offset value calculation unit 17 to each packet communication device to each packet communication device.

  The throughput test execution command unit 19 is a functional unit that commands the packet communication device set by the setting command unit 18 to execute a throughput test based on the offset value. The throughput test result analysis unit 20 is a functional unit that analyzes the throughput test result received from the packet communication apparatus and determines normality.

  As shown in FIG. 10, each packet communication apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a bandwidth monitoring function unit 101, a packet discard function unit 102 that performs packet discard and shaping, a test function unit 103, and the like. Note that the functional configuration shown in FIG. 10 shows only an outline of the functions related to the present embodiment in the packet communication device. The packet communication device has a tag processing function necessary for realizing packet communication, In addition, various existing functions such as a packet transmission / reception function are included.

  The bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 calculates the bandwidth of the packet passing through the packet communication device, monitors whether the bandwidth exceeds a preset bandwidth (monitoring bandwidth), and if so, the packet discard function A function of causing the packet to perform processing such as packet discard.

  In addition, the test function unit 103 transmits a test packet at a data rate (bandwidth) instructed from the network monitoring device 10, for example, measures the throughput of the test packet received by the packet communication device, and sends the test packet to the network monitoring device 10. Includes a notification function.

  The above function itself is provided in an existing packet communication device. However, the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 and the test function unit 103 in the present embodiment perform an operation according to the offset value set from the network monitoring apparatus 10.

  The principle of operation of the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 when the offset value is set will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the following description is for explaining the role of the offset value in an easy-to-understand manner, and the method of bandwidth calculation or the like is not limited to the following method.

  FIG. 11A is a diagram schematically illustrating a flow of a packet to be monitored by the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 in a state where no offset value is set. Also, in each packet of FIG. 11A, the hatched portion excluding the “H” portion (denoted as length H) is the bandwidth monitoring range in this packet communication apparatus. FIG. 11A shows the length (for example, the number of bytes) of each packet in the bandwidth monitoring range. Here, if three illustrated packets are received during a certain unit time T, the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 calculates the bandwidth BW of the packet at that time as (L1 + L2 + L3) / T. For example, when the monitoring band is X, if BW exceeds X, packet discarding or the like is performed.

  Here, it is assumed that in the same flow as the flow shown in FIG. 11A, an offset value having a length of H is set in the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 as an offset value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11B, the range including H is the target of bandwidth calculation, and the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 calculates the bandwidth BW of the packet at that time as (L1 + H + L2 + H + L3 + H) / T. That is, in the example in this case, a value larger by 3H / T is calculated as the band than in the case of FIG.

  For example, when the range to which H is added as shown in FIG. 11B is a bandwidth monitoring standard (policy), the bandwidth monitoring range unique to the packet communication device is as shown in FIG. Assuming that the range does not include H, an appropriate band corresponding to the band monitoring reference can be calculated by adding an offset value corresponding to H as shown in FIG. Strict bandwidth monitoring can be performed by setting a monitoring bandwidth corresponding to the reference.

  Next, it is assumed that an offset value having a length of −H is set in the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 as the offset value in the same flow as that shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), the range reduced by H compared to the case of FIG. 11 (a) is the target of bandwidth calculation, and the bandwidth monitoring function unit 101 determines the bandwidth BW of the packet at that time. , (L1-H + L2-H + L3-H) / T. That is, in this example, a value smaller by 3H / T is calculated as the band than in the case of FIG.

  Next, the principle of the operation related to the test packet transmission in the test function unit 103 when the offset value is set will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, when the network monitoring device 10 instructs the test function unit 103 to transmit a test packet in a certain band TBW, the test function unit 103 uses the bandwidth in the bandwidth monitoring range of the own packet communication device. A test packet is transmitted so that becomes a TBW.

  That is, in FIG. 12A, if the hatched portion of the packet is the bandwidth monitoring range and the packet length is predetermined, the test function unit 103 instructed to send a test packet in the bandwidth TBW. Transmits test packets L1, L2, and L3 at a packet transmission interval such that (L1 + L2 + L3) / T1 = TBW.

  Here, it is assumed that when a test packet having the same packet length as that shown in FIG. 12A is transmitted, an offset value of H length is set in the test function unit 103 as an offset value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the range including H is the target of bandwidth calculation of the test packet to be transmitted, and the test function unit 103 instructed to transmit the test packet in the bandwidth TBW Test packets L1, L2, and L3 are transmitted at a packet transmission interval such that (L1 + H + L2 + H + L3 + H) / T2 = TBW. That is, in this case, the bandwidth is smaller than that in the case of FIG.

  For example, when the range to which H is added as shown in FIG. 12B is the bandwidth monitoring standard (policy), the bandwidth monitoring range unique to the packet communication device is as shown in FIG. Assuming that the range does not include H, as shown in FIG. 12B, by adding an offset value corresponding to H, a test packet can be transmitted appropriately at a rate corresponding to the bandwidth monitoring standard, and an appropriate test can be performed. Will be able to do.

  Next, it is assumed that when a test packet having the same packet length as the packet length illustrated in FIG. 12A is transmitted, an offset value having a length of −H is set in the test function unit 103 as an offset value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12 (c), the range reduced by H than in the case of FIG. 12 (a) is the target of the bandwidth calculation of the test packet to be transmitted, and the test packet is transmitted in the bandwidth TBW. The test function unit 103 instructed in (1) transmits test packets L1, L2, and L3 at a packet transmission interval such that (L1−H + L2−H + L3−H) / T3 = TBW. That is, in this case, the bandwidth is larger than that in the case of FIG.

  The network monitoring apparatus 10 can be realized by causing a computer to execute a program describing the processing contents described in the present embodiment. That is, in the network monitoring device 10, the function of each unit is to execute a program corresponding to the process executed in each unit using hardware resources such as a CPU and a memory built in the computer constituting the device. Can be realized. The program can be distributed to the market via a recording medium such as an FD, CD-ROM, or DVD in which the program is recorded, or a network such as the Internet.

(System operation)
Hereinafter, the operation of the system according to the present embodiment (particularly, the network monitoring apparatus 10 according to the present invention) will be described along the procedure of the flowchart of FIG.

  The overall network configuration in this example is as shown in FIG. 2, and information on tags for each section, bandwidth monitoring standards for target lines, and bandwidth monitoring ranges for each communication device of each packet communication device are shown in FIG. It is assumed that the information is as shown in the tables of 4, 6, and 7.

  In other words, in the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the target line in this example is a packet accommodated in the packet communication apparatus 1 without a tag and relayed by the packet communication apparatus 2 without a tag. This tag is assigned. In the packet communication device 4, bandwidth monitoring is performed on the packet with the tag.

  The bandwidth monitoring standard is the entire packet with one 4-byte tag. Further, the bandwidth monitoring range for each communication device is that the packet communication devices 1, 3, and 4 are the entire packet, and the packet communication device 2 is a range that is 4 bytes smaller than that.

  In the following operations, the information shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7 is stored in advance in each of the network configuration information storage unit 11, the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12, and the communication device bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13. And

  In step 1 in the flowchart of FIG. 13, the reference information calculation unit 14 of the network monitoring device 10 includes information stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11 (FIG. 4) and information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 ( The offset reference information is calculated from FIG. 6, and is stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15. Thereby, the offset reference information shown in FIG. 8 is stored. The information shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that 4 is shown corresponding to the packet communication apparatuses 1 to 3 and 0 is shown for the packet communication apparatus 4. That is, FIG. 8 shows that offset reference information of 4 is stored for packet communication apparatuses 1 to 3 and 0 for packet communication apparatus 4.

  In step 2, the reference information calculation unit 14 performs communication from the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 (FIG. 6) and the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13 for each communication device (FIG. 7). The device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information is calculated and stored in the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16. As a result, the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information shown in FIG. 9 is stored.

  Subsequently, in step 3, the offset value calculation unit 17 sets the value stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15 (FIG. 8) and the information stored in the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16 (FIG. 9). From this, an offset value to be set for each packet communication device is calculated.

  In this example, the offset value is calculated by adding these values for each packet communication device. That is, it can be seen from FIG. 8 that the offset reference information corresponding to the packet communication device 1 is 4, and from FIG. 9, the bandwidth monitoring reference information of the packet communication device 1 is 0, so the offset value is 4 + 0 = 4. Become. Similarly, the offset value of the packet communication device 2 is 4 + 4 = 8, the offset value of the packet communication device 3 is 4 + 0 = 4, and the offset value of the packet communication device 4 is 0 + 0 = 0.

  In step 4, the setting command unit 18 transmits a command for setting an offset value to each packet communication device.

  In each packet communication device that has received the offset value setting command, the offset value is set, and as described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, it becomes possible to perform a bandwidth monitoring operation and a test operation in consideration of the offset value. .

  Thereafter, in step 5, the throughput test execution command unit 19 instructs the packet communication apparatus 1 to perform a throughput test by transmitting packets at a predetermined bandwidth (for example, a data rate corresponding to the guaranteed bandwidth). To do. Upon receiving this command, the packet communication device 1 executes the throughput test by sending test packets at a rate corresponding to the offset value, as described with reference to FIG. Of course, the tag assignment operation, the bandwidth monitoring range, and the like as described above are also applied to the test packet.

  In step 6, the throughput test analysis unit 20 acquires a throughput test result from the packet communication device 4 that receives the test packet, and receives packet discard information from the packet communication devices 1 to 3. From these results, if there is no abnormality, it can be determined that the setting in each packet communication device is appropriately performed. If an unexpected packet discard or the like occurs, the operator is notified. For example, the operator checks whether the various setting information is appropriate, changes the settings as necessary, and performs a test again. I do.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the offset value for the bandwidth monitoring standard that is the policy is obtained for each packet communication device, and the offset value is set in each packet communication device. While the monitoring bandwidth to be set is uniform, each packet communication device can perform strict bandwidth monitoring in consideration of the monitoring range unique to each device and tag addition / deletion.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment will be described with a focus on differences from the first embodiment. Matters not described below are basically the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The system configuration in this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 2, but in this embodiment, section Y is a network of another company, the bandwidth monitoring range of packet communication device 2 and packet communication device 3, and the packet It is assumed that the tag addition / deletion operation of the communication device 2 is not given as prior information. However, it is assumed that monitoring control (setting, testing, etc.) from the network monitoring device 10 for these packet communication devices is possible. Such a condition is merely an example for explanation in the present embodiment, and there may actually be various other conditions. By using the technique described in this embodiment, it is possible to calculate and set an appropriate offset value under various conditions.

  In this example, since the network configuration (tag assignment / deletion information, etc.) in section Y is unknown, the network configuration information storage unit 11 stores “tag” as a default value for section Y as shown in FIG. "None" information is stored. As other information, an appropriate value corresponding to an actual network can be stored, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. That is, in the present embodiment, section Z has no tag.

  Since the bandwidth monitoring policy is determined for the entire line, the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 sets the information shown in FIG. 15 as appropriate information (in this embodiment, “the entire packet without a tag”). ) Is stored.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the communication device bandwidth monitoring range storage unit 13 stores accurate information about the packet communication devices 1 and 4, and the packet communication devices 2 and 3 are unknown. The whole) is stored.

  Hereinafter, the processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that the processing contents in steps 11 to 14 are the same as those in steps 1 to 4 in the first embodiment.

  In step 11 of FIG. 17, the reference information calculation unit 14 of the network monitoring device 10 stores the information stored in the network configuration information storage unit 11 (FIG. 14) by the same calculation procedure as that of step 1 in the first embodiment. The offset reference information is calculated from the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 (FIG. 15) and stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15. Thereby, the offset reference information shown in FIG. 18 is stored.

  In step 12, the reference information calculation unit 14 uses the same calculation procedure as that in step 2 in the first embodiment, so that the reference information calculation unit 14 stores the information stored in the bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 12 (FIG. 15) and the bandwidth for each communication device. Based on the information stored in the monitoring range storage unit 13 (FIG. 16), the communication device band monitoring reference information is calculated and stored in the communication device band monitoring reference information storage unit 16. As a result, the communication device band monitoring reference information shown in FIG. 19 is stored.

  Subsequently, in step 13, the offset value calculation unit 17 performs the information stored in the offset reference information storage unit 15 (FIG. 18) and the information stored in the communication device-specific bandwidth monitoring reference information storage unit 16 (FIG. 19). From this, an offset value to be set for each packet communication device is calculated.

  In this example, the offset value of the packet communication device 1 is 0 + 0 = 0, the offset value of the packet communication device 2 is 0 + 0 = 0, the offset value of the packet communication device 3 is 0 + 0 = 0, and the offset value of the packet communication device 4 is 0 + 0 = 0.

  In step 14, the setting command unit 18 transmits a command for setting an offset value to each packet communication device.

  Thereafter, in step 15, the throughput test execution command unit 19 instructs the packet communication apparatus 1 to perform a throughput test by transmitting a test packet at a predetermined data rate. Upon receiving this command, the packet communication device 1 executes a throughput test by sending test packets (here, fixed-length packets) at a rate corresponding to the offset value.

  In step 16, the throughput test analysis unit 20 acquires a throughput test result from the packet communication device 4 that receives the test packet, and receives packet discard information from the packet communication devices 1 to 3. Since the test packet here is a fixed-length packet, a change in packet length due to tag addition / deletion can be estimated from the packet discard information. In this example, it is assumed that in the packet communication device 2, a packet discard of 2 bytes per packet occurs and the throughput test analysis unit 20 detects this. That is, in step 17, it is determined that the test result is not normal. In this case, for example, the offset value is recalculated, reset, and retested as follows.

  That is, it can be estimated that, for example, a 2-byte tag is attached in the packet communication apparatus 2 based on the packet discarding state, and a bandwidth monitoring operation is performed on the packet after the tag is attached. Therefore, in this example, the throughput test analysis unit 20 that has performed this detection changes the offset reference information from all zero information shown in FIG. Based on the changed offset reference information, the calculation unit 17 sets the offset value of the packet communication device 1 to 2 + 0 = 2, the offset value of the packet communication device 2 to 0 + 0 = 0, the offset value of the packet communication device 3 to 2 + 0 = 2, The offset value of the packet communication device 4 is calculated as 2 + 0 = 2 (step 13). Note that setting such an offset value in the search process is merely an example.

  Thereafter, in step 14, the setting command unit 18 commands each packet communication device to set the changed offset value.

  Thereafter, in step 15, the throughput test execution command unit 19 instructs the packet communication apparatus 1 to perform a throughput test by transmitting packets at a predetermined data rate. Receiving this command, the packet communication device 1 performs a throughput test by sending test packets (fixed length packets) at a rate corresponding to the offset value.

  In this case, when viewed as a whole packet, the packet is transmitted at a data rate smaller by the offset value. Therefore, the packet communication apparatus 2 does not discard the packet, and the packet communication apparatus 2 obtains a normal result.

  In the above example, the example in which the test is performed twice has been described for the sake of convenience. In general, a value change / test and / or a packet communication device other than the packet communication device 1 is performed until no abnormal packet discard occurs. Normal test results are obtained by repeatedly performing a throughput test and the like. The repetitive control in the present embodiment may be executed by a control unit in the network monitoring apparatus 10 realized by a predetermined program, or the throughput test analysis unit 20 may have such a control function. .

  With such a repetitive control function, it is possible to obtain and set an optimum offset value even if a packet communication device whose bandwidth monitoring range or tag addition / deletion operation is unknown is included in the communication path.

(Effect of embodiment)
As described above, according to the network monitoring device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the tag addition / deletion operation and the bandwidth monitoring range unique to the communication device are provided to each packet communication device constituting the bandwidth guaranteed packet transmission network. Accordingly, it is possible to set an appropriate offset value according to the above, and it becomes possible to strictly monitor the bandwidth and to efficiently use communication resources.

  That is, it is possible to monitor the bandwidth of the user signal according to the end-to-end bandwidth monitoring policy (guaranteed bandwidth) in a network in which the packet length and the bandwidth monitoring range are different for each arbitrary packet length and for each section.

  Further, in a network in which the packet length and the bandwidth monitoring range are different for each section, an end-to-end bandwidth guarantee throughput test can be performed using a variable-length packet pattern. In addition, it is possible to construct a bandwidth guarantee network in which a large number of lines having different bandwidth monitoring policies depending on users, connection configurations or service types are multiplexed on the same network.

  In addition, even in the end-to-end configuration, even if there are sections where the tagging conditions and bandwidth monitoring range are unknown, it is possible to infer the tagging conditions and bandwidth monitoring range through the throughput test. Bandwidth guarantee based on such inference It is possible to construct a line.

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

1 to 4 packet communication device 5 network 10 network monitoring device 11 network configuration information storage unit 12 bandwidth monitoring policy storage unit 13 bandwidth monitoring range storage unit for each communication device 14 reference information calculation unit 15 offset reference information storage unit 16 bandwidth monitoring for each communication device Reference information storage unit 17 Offset value calculation unit 18 Setting command unit 19 Throughput test execution command unit 20 Throughput test result analysis unit 101 Bandwidth monitoring function unit 102 Packet discard function unit 103 Test function unit

Claims (7)

A network monitoring device for monitoring and controlling a packet communication network configured by connecting a plurality of packet communication devices having a bandwidth monitoring function via a transmission line network,
Network configuration information storage means for storing network configuration information including information on addition or deletion of additional data to / from packets in each packet communication device constituting the packet communication network;
Bandwidth monitoring range storage means for storing for each packet communication device a bandwidth monitoring range that is a range of packets to be monitored in bandwidth monitoring in the packet communication device;
Policy information storage means for storing a bandwidth monitoring reference that is a bandwidth monitoring range that serves as a reference for a guaranteed bandwidth in the packet communication network;
An offset value calculating means for calculating an offset value for the bandwidth monitoring reference based on the network configuration information, the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device, and the bandwidth monitoring reference;
A network monitoring apparatus comprising: setting instruction means for instructing each packet communication apparatus constituting the packet communication network to set an offset value calculated by the offset value calculating means. The offset value calculation means calculates offset reference information that represents information related to addition or deletion of the additional data as a difference amount from the band monitoring reference based on the network configuration information and the band monitoring reference; Based on the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device and the bandwidth monitoring reference, calculate bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device that represents the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device as a difference from the bandwidth monitoring reference. The network monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the offset value is calculated from the offset reference information and the bandwidth monitoring reference information for each communication device. The network monitoring device
Throughput test execution instruction means for instructing the packet communication network to execute a throughput test based on the offset value calculated by the offset value calculation means;
Through the packet communication network, a test result by the throughput test is received, a throughput test analysis means for determining the normality of the packet communication network,
The network monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The offset value is changed until the throughput test analysis unit determines that the value is normal, the changed offset value is set in each packet communication device, and a throughput test based on the changed offset value is performed. The network monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a control unit that repeatedly performs processing.   The network monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional data is a tag attached to a packet. A network control method executed by a network monitoring device that monitors and controls a packet communication network configured by connecting a plurality of packet communication devices having a bandwidth monitoring function via a transmission line network,
The network monitoring device
Network configuration information storage means for storing network configuration information including information on addition or deletion of additional data to / from packets in each packet communication device constituting the packet communication network;
Bandwidth monitoring range storage means for storing for each packet communication device a bandwidth monitoring range that is a range of packets to be monitored in bandwidth monitoring in the packet communication device;
Policy information storage means storing a bandwidth monitoring reference that is a bandwidth monitoring range that is a bandwidth guarantee reference in the packet communication network,
The network control method includes:
An offset value calculating step for calculating an offset value for the bandwidth monitoring standard based on the network configuration information, the bandwidth monitoring range for each packet communication device, and the bandwidth monitoring criterion;
A network control method comprising: a setting command step for commanding each packet communication device constituting the packet communication network to set the offset value calculated in the offset value calculating step. The program for functioning a computer as each means of the network monitoring apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5.

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