JP7480866B2 - TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE, TRAFFIC CONTROL METHOD, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to traffic control in communication networks.

In recent years, in order to improve the QoE of applications, ISPs and other telecommunications carriers have introduced mechanisms for identifying applications in traffic flows using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and controlling the identified traffic flows (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). By giving preferential treatment to specific applications through traffic identification using DPI and bandwidth control and priority control for the identified traffic flows, it is possible to provide users with a variety of QoE (Quality of Experience) and differentiate communication services.

On the other hand, the type of traffic control that should be applied to the traffic flow of an application is left to the know-how of the service provider. Patent Document 1 proposes a method for automatically adjusting the bandwidth of the applied traffic control when the traffic changes suddenly. Using this method, it is possible to automatically adjust the control bandwidth for the traffic flow of an application.

JP 2014-147014 A

“Introduction to DPI (Deep Packet Inspection),” Net One Systems, (https://www.netone.co.jp/knowledge-center/blog-column/knowledge_takumi_050/index.html), retrieved December 11, 2020.

On the other hand, in recent years, the application side has also been making progress in dealing with network quality, and mechanisms that estimate the network status and dynamically change the way traffic flows are sent (referred to as a "network status estimation function" in this specification) have begun to be introduced. However, when the application side has a network status estimation function, the control performed on the network side may change the operation of the application, resulting in an undesired QoE.

Specifically, when pacing the bandwidth of a traffic flow of an application, the delay fluctuation caused by the pacing may cause the application to erroneously assume that the network is congested. This may result in a situation where the performance of the application is degraded, the bandwidth is reduced, and the user's QoE is reduced.

In addition, some applications may mistakenly assume that the network is congested and increase the bandwidth to improve error correction capabilities and tolerance to delay fluctuations without affecting the application's performance. In this case, the bandwidth may be compressed, which may affect other traffic.

As described above, when an application having a network status estimation function exists in a communication system, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain a desired QoE.
Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic control device, a traffic control method, a communication system, and a program that can obtain a desired QoE even in the presence of an application having a network status estimation function.

In order to achieve the above objective, the traffic control device of the present invention obtains changes in traffic conditions for each application before and after traffic control, classifies each application, and determines for each application whether or not to perform actual traffic control based on the application classification and policy.

Specifically, the traffic control device according to the present invention is a traffic control device that controls traffic in a network for each application,
comparing, for each of the applications, a state of incoming traffic flowing into the network before and after the traffic control;
The present invention is characterized in that the present invention comprises a control determination unit that classifies each of the applications based on the presence or absence of fluctuations in the average rate and instantaneous rate of the inflow traffic as a result of comparing the status of the inflow traffic, and that determines whether or not to apply the traffic control by referring to the classification of the applications and a policy set for each of the applications.

Further, a traffic control method according to the present invention is a traffic control method for controlling traffic in a network for each application, comprising the steps of:
A policy is preset for each of the applications;
comparing, for each of the applications, a state of incoming traffic flowing into the network before and after the traffic control;
As a result of comparing the inflow traffic conditions, each of the applications is classified according to whether or not there is a fluctuation in the average rate and instantaneous rate of the inflow traffic; and, referring to the classification of the application and the policy, it is determined whether or not to apply the traffic control.

Furthermore, the communication system of the present invention is provided with the traffic control device.

In the present invention, the incoming traffic situation before and after traffic control is applied is compared, and it is estimated how the application will operate due to traffic control (how to estimate the network situation and change the way traffic is sent), and the optimal traffic control method is searched for and determined based on the traffic control policy set for each application (whether there is an estimate on the network, and in that case, whether to prioritize app operation or network load reduction, etc.).

In other words, a decision is made for each application as to whether traffic control should be left to the application's network status estimation function, whether it should be performed by the communication system, or whether it should be performed by both. Therefore, the present invention can provide a traffic control device, a traffic control method, and a communication system that can obtain the desired QoE even in the presence of an application that has a network status estimation function.

More specifically, the traffic control device controls the application as follows:
Type 1: the average rate of the inflow traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate does not change;
Type 2, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate increases;
Type 3, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate decreases, or Type 4, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic decreases and the instantaneous rate decreases.
and determining to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 1 and type 3, not to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 2, and to not perform the traffic control for the applications of type 4 if the policy prioritizes application operation, and to perform the traffic control if the policy prioritizes load reduction.

The present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the traffic control device. The data collection device of the present invention can also be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network.

The above inventions can be combined as much as possible.

The present invention can provide a traffic control device, a traffic control method, a communication system, and a program that can obtain the desired QoE even in the presence of an application that has a network status estimation function.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an application type (Type 1). FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an application type (Type 2). FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an application type (Type 3). FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an application type (Type 4). FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a traffic control method according to the present invention. 1 is a diagram for explaining a determination list for the traffic control device according to the present invention to determine the type of an application. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining rules for traffic control performed by the traffic control device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication system according to the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiment described below is an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings are assumed to indicate the same components.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a diagram illustrating a communication system according to the present embodiment. This communication system connects a terminal 11 to the Internet 14, and includes an access network 12 and an ISP network 13. The access network 12 is an optical access network such as an NGN (Next Generation Network), or a mobile access network such as an LTE (Long Term Evolution).

ISP network 13 is a network provided by an Internet service provider. ISP network 13 has a traffic control device 13a. Traffic control device 13a is a device that identifies the application of a traffic flow by, for example, DPI, and performs traffic control such as bandwidth control on the identified traffic flow.

The traffic control device 13a is a traffic control device that controls traffic within the ISP network 13 for each application.
comparing, for each of the applications, the state of the incoming traffic flowing into the ISP network 13 before and after the traffic control;
The present invention has a function of classifying each of the applications based on the presence or absence of fluctuations in the average rate and instantaneous rate of the inflow traffic as a result of comparing the status of the inflow traffic, and a function of determining whether or not to apply the traffic control by referring to the classification of the applications and the policies set for each of the applications.

First, the types of applications are described with reference to Figures 2 to 5. There are four types of applications. The traffic control device 13b described here is a conventional device, not the traffic control device 13a of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the traffic situation when an application does not have a network status estimation function (Type 1). Figure 2 (A) is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application before the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control. (a) shows the situation of inflow traffic flowing into the ISP network 13, and (b) shows the situation of output traffic output from the traffic control device 13b.

Since no traffic control is performed, the situation of inbound and outbound traffic is the same.

On the other hand, Figure 2 (B) is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application after the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control. (a) shows the state of inflow traffic flowing into the ISP network 13, and (b) shows the state of outgoing traffic output from the traffic control device 13b.

As shown in FIG. 2(B)(a), the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control to reduce the burstiness of traffic by pacing while leaving the behavior of the application unchanged, thereby reducing the load on the ISP network 13 (the traffic output time is extended to suppress peaks in traffic volume while maintaining the desired traffic volume). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2(B)(b), even if the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control, the application does not change the way it sends traffic because it does not have a network status estimation function.

Figure 3 is a diagram explaining the traffic situation when an application has a network status estimation function (a function to increase the rate in response to congestion in order to obtain the desired bandwidth) (Type 2). Figure 3(A), like Figure 2(A), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application before the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control. Figure 3(B), like Figure 2(B), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application after the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control.

As shown in FIG. 3B(a), the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control to reduce the burstiness of traffic by pacing while leaving the behavior of the application unchanged, thereby reducing the load on the ISP network 13 (the traffic output time is extended to suppress peaks in traffic volume while maintaining the desired traffic volume). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B(b), when the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control, the application in this example assumes that the network has become congested due to delay fluctuations caused by pacing. The application in this example then increases the burstiness of traffic so that the desired bandwidth can be obtained even if congestion occurs. As a result, the load on the ISP network 13 increases, lowering the quality of other traffic.

Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the traffic situation when an application has a network status estimation function (function to lower the rate according to congestion) (Type 3). Figure 5 (A), like Figure 2 (A), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application before the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control. Figure 5 (B), like Figure 2 (B), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application after the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control.

When traffic control device 13b performs traffic control as shown in Figure 4 (B) (b), the application in this example also assumes that the network has become congested due to delay fluctuations caused by pacing. The application in this example then changes the way it sends packets so that delay fluctuations do not occur, and does not send packets in bursts. As a result, traffic control device 13b stops traffic control, and outputs the traffic sent by the application as is, as shown in Figure 4 (B) (a).

Figure 5 is a diagram explaining the traffic situation when an application has a network status estimation function (function that changes only burst transmission according to congestion) (Type 4). Figure 5 (A), like Figure 2 (A), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application before traffic control device 13b performs traffic control. Figure 5 (B), like Figure 2 (B), is a diagram explaining the traffic of a certain application after traffic control device 13b performs traffic control.

When the traffic control device 13b performs traffic control as shown in FIG. 5(B)(b), the application in this example also assumes that the network has become congested due to delay fluctuations caused by pacing. The application in this example then reduces the traffic bandwidth until delay fluctuations no longer occur. For this reason, the traffic control device 13b stops traffic control and outputs the traffic sent by the application as is, as shown in FIG. 5(B)(a). In this way, reducing the traffic bandwidth is a process that, for example, reduces the video encoding rate, and as a result, the user's QoE is reduced.

The traffic control device 13a according to the present invention determines the type of each application by carrying out steps S01 to S04 in FIG.
In step S01, the traffic control device 13a measures the inflow traffic state before traffic control is applied for each application. Examples of the measurement method include packet capture and flow rate analysis using the packet capture.
In step S02, the traffic control unit 13a applies traffic control.
In step S03, the traffic control device 13a measures the inflow traffic state after the application of the traffic control for each application. The measurement method is as described above.
In step S04, the traffic control device 13a compares the measurement results of step S01 and step S03, and classifies the type of each application based on the list in Fig. 7. Here, "average rate" means the traffic volume over a long period (about 5 minutes), and "instantaneous rate" means the instantaneous traffic volume.

That is, the traffic control unit 13a controls the application as follows:
Type 1: the average rate of the inflow traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate does not change;
Type 2, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate increases;
Type 3, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate decreases, or Type 4, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic decreases and the instantaneous rate decreases.
Classify into:

Next, in step S05, the traffic control device 13a determines how to handle the traffic control applied in step S02 for each application in accordance with the rules shown in the table of FIG. 8 (i.e., determines whether or not to apply control for each application and for each type of traffic control).

In the table of FIG. 8, "Policy for Application" refers to a policy that is set in advance for each application.
(a) If application operation is prioritized, traffic control that would cause changes to the application operation is not implemented.
(b) If priority is given to reducing the network load, traffic control is performed so as to reduce the traffic volume.
This policy may be in the form of a value. For example, the policy may be such that if the instantaneous rate is within 100 Mbps, the application operation is prioritized, and if not, the reduction of the network load is prioritized. It is preferable to set the policy in advance.

A more detailed explanation of FIG. 8 is as follows.
When the application is type 1, since there is no network status estimation, it is necessary to apply traffic control by the traffic control device 13a to reduce the network load. Therefore, it is determined that either policy is "applied."
If the application is type 2, application of traffic control by the traffic control device 13a would increase the load on the network, so it is determined that no policy is to be applied (even if application operation is prioritized).
If the application is type 3, the network status estimation only changes the sending and does not affect the operation of the application, so it is determined that any policy is "applied."
If the application is type 4, there is a risk that traffic control may change the behavior of the application depending on the network status estimation. Therefore, it is decided whether to "apply" or "not apply" for each policy.

That is, the traffic control device 13a
It is determined that the traffic control is performed for the applications of type 1 and type 3, that the traffic control is not performed for the applications of type 2, and that the traffic control is not performed for the applications of type 4 if the policy prioritizes application operation, and that the traffic control is performed if the policy prioritizes load reduction.

In the communication system of this embodiment, the traffic control device 13a performs the traffic control method described above, enabling telecommunications carriers such as ISPs to apply the desired traffic control without affecting the QoE of applications.

(Embodiment 2)
The traffic control device 13a described in the first embodiment can also be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network.
9 shows a block diagram of a system 100. The system 100 includes a computer 105 connected to a network 135.

Network 135 is a data communications network. Network 135 may be a private or public network and may include any or all of the following: (a) a personal area network, for example covering a room; (b) a local area network, for example covering a building; (c) a campus area network, for example covering a campus; (d) a metropolitan area network, for example covering a city; (e) a wide area network, for example covering an area that crosses city, regional, or national boundaries; or (f) the Internet. Communications are conducted by electronic and optical signals over network 135.

Computer 105 includes processor 110 and memory 115 connected to processor 110. Although computer 105 is depicted herein as a stand-alone device, it is not limited to such, but rather may be connected to other devices not shown in a distributed processing system.

Processor 110 is an electronic device comprised of logic circuits that respond to and execute instructions.

The memory 115 is a tangible computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is encoded. In this regard, the memory 115 stores data and instructions, i.e., program code, that can be read and executed by the processor 110 to control the operation of the processor 110. The memory 115 can be implemented as a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. One component of the memory 115 is the program module 120.

The program modules 120 include instructions for controlling the processor 110 to perform the processes described herein. Although operations are described herein as being performed by the computer 105 or a method or process or sub-process thereof, the operations are actually performed by the processor 110.

The term "module" is used herein to refer to a functional operation that may be embodied as either a stand-alone component or an integrated configuration of multiple subcomponents. Thus, program module 120 may be realized as a single module or as multiple modules operating in concert with one another. Furthermore, although program module 120 is described herein as being installed in memory 115 and thus implemented in software, it is possible for it to be implemented in either hardware (e.g., electronic circuitry), firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

Although the program module 120 is shown as already loaded into the memory 115, it may be configured to be located on the storage device 140 for later loading into the memory 115. The storage device 140 is a tangible computer-readable storage medium that stores the program module 120. Examples of the storage device 140 include compact disks, magnetic tapes, read-only memories, optical storage media, memory units consisting of hard drives or multiple parallel hard drives, and universal serial bus (USB) flash drives. Alternatively, the storage device 140 may be a random access memory or other type of electronic storage device located in a remote storage system not shown and connected to the computer 105 via the network 135.

System 100 further includes data source 150A and data source 150B, collectively referred to herein as data sources 150, communicatively connected to network 135. In practice, data source 150 may include any number of data sources, i.e., one or more data sources. Data source 150 may include unstructured data and may include social media.

The system 100 further includes a user device 130 operated by the user 101 and connected to the computer 105 via a network 135. The user device 130 includes an input device, such as a keyboard or a voice recognition subsystem, to allow the user 101 to communicate information and command selections to the processor 110. The user device 130 further includes an output device, such as a display device or a printer or a voice synthesizer. A cursor control, such as a mouse, trackball, or touch-sensitive screen, allows the user 101 to manipulate a cursor on a display device to communicate further information and command selections to the processor 110.

The processor 110 outputs the results 122 of the execution of the program module 120 to the user device 130. Alternatively, the processor 110 can provide the output to a storage device 125, such as a database or memory, or via a network 135 to a remote device not shown.

For example, a program that performs the flowchart of FIG. 6 may be the program module 120. The system 100 may be operated as a traffic control device 13a.

The terms "comprising" or "comprising" should be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, or components, but not excluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps, or components, or groups thereof. The terms "a" and "an" are indefinite articles and therefore do not exclude embodiments having a plurality thereof.

Other Embodiments
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the spirit of the present invention at the implementation stage.

In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all of the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components across different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

11: Terminal 12: Access Network 13: ISP Network 13a: Traffic Control Unit 14: Internet 100: System 101: User 105: Computer 110: Processor 115: Memory 120: Program Module 122: Results 125: Storage 130: User Device 135: Network 140: Storage 150: Data Source

Claims (6)

A traffic control device that controls traffic in a network for each application,
comparing, for each of the applications, a state of incoming traffic flowing into the network before and after the traffic control;
classifying each of the applications according to the presence or absence of fluctuations in the average rate and instantaneous rate of the incoming traffic as a result of comparing the conditions of the incoming traffic; and determining whether or not to apply the traffic control by referring to the classification of the applications and a policy set for each of the applications;
A traffic control device comprising a control decision unit that performs the above. The control determination unit is
The application,
Type 1: the average rate of the inflow traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate does not change;
Type 2, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate increases;
Type 3, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate decreases, or Type 4, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic decreases and the instantaneous rate decreases.
and determining to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 1 and type 3, not to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 2, and to not perform the traffic control for the applications of type 4 if the policy prioritizes application operation, and to perform the traffic control if the policy prioritizes load reduction. A traffic control method for controlling traffic in a network for each application, comprising:
A policy is preset for each of the applications;
comparing, for each of the applications, a state of incoming traffic flowing into the network before and after the traffic control;
A traffic control method comprising: classifying each of the applications according to whether or not there is a fluctuation in an average rate and an instantaneous rate of the inflow traffic as a result of comparing the state of the inflow traffic; and determining whether or not to apply the traffic control by referring to the classification of the application and the policy. The application,
Type 1: the average rate of the inflow traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate does not change;
Type 2, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate increases;
Type 3, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic does not change and the instantaneous rate decreases, or Type 4, in which the average rate of the incoming traffic decreases and the instantaneous rate decreases.
and determining to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 1 and type 3, not to perform the traffic control for the applications of type 2, and to not perform the traffic control for the applications of type 4 if the policy prioritizes application operation, and to perform the traffic control if the policy prioritizes load reduction. A communication system comprising a traffic control device according to claim 1 or 2. A program for causing a computer to function as a traffic control device according to claim 1 or 2.

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