JPH09289524A - Packet router processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent influence on packet data transfer processing throughput in spite of the increase of containing lines by transferring a route information packet to protocol processing part after reception by means of a line corresponding part, executing a protocol processing, transmitting updating data of route information to a retrieval processing part and updating a route information table. SOLUTION: The protocol processing of the route information is executed with a route information exchange node 14, route information from the route information exchange node 14 is received by the line corresponding part 4 with a communication line 9 and the information is transferred to the protocol processing part 1 by way of connection mechanism 8 through the use of a message transferring means. A route information protocol processing such as BGP and OSPF, etc., is executed in the protocol processing part 1. As a result, when the updating of route information is recognized, the protocol processing part 1 transmit updating data to the retrieval processing part 2 by way of connection mechanism 8 through the use of the message transferring means. The updating data is stored in a route information storing table 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a packet router processing device (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a "router processing device") for performing a protocol process relating to route information and a packet data transfer process based on the route information in a communication system. ).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a router processing device roughly divides (1) a protocol process relating to route information and (2) a packet data transfer process. In the conventional router processing device, the protocol processing relating to the route information (1) is performed as follows. (a) A packet of route information is received via a communication line from a partner host that exchanges route information in the line corresponding unit. (b) Perform protocol processing related to the route information. Note that, in the past, BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), OSPF
(OpenShortest Path First), RIP (Routing Inf
omation Protocol) has been used as a protocol for route information.

(Reference: TCP / IP Internetworking ISBN 4-915778-23-1 by Nishida) (c) The processing result of the protocol is reflected in the route information storage table. In addition, in the conventional router processing device, (2)
The packet data transfer process is performed as follows. (d) The line corresponding part receives a packet on the communication line and extracts the packet header part. A destination address and a transmission source address are stored in the header part. (e) Search processing is performed from the route information storage table using the above destination as a key, information such as the gateway address stored in the entry is obtained, and the destination of the packet is determined. (f) When the destination is determined, the packet is transferred to the destination.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the protocol processing relating to the route information and the processing relating to the packet transfer control are carried out by a single processor, there are the following problems. (1) CPU processing may take time for protocol processing related to route information, and processing related to packet transfer control may be delayed. (2) When processing a plurality of lines at the same time, a CPU time is taken for a process of a specific line corresponding part and a protocol process, and a process for searching a table may be delayed irregularly. In particular, the connected multiple lines are FDDI, B-
At high speeds such as ISDN, this problem becomes noticeable. (3) Each time a packet is input to the line interface, an interrupt occurs, and CPU time is taken for interrupt processing, which deteriorates the real-time property of the entire system. This problem becomes more serious when the plurality of connected lines become high speed such as FDDI and B-ISDN because the packet interval becomes short.

There is also an example in which only the line interface is executed by another processor, but this also has the following problems. (4) The route information storage table is configured to be commonly accessible by each CPU. However, since the route information storage table is accessed in the protocol process relating to the route information and the process relating to the transfer process of a plurality of packets, a conflict occurs. Inviting, real-time performance deteriorates. Further, the protocol processing unit has the following problems. (5) If there are multiple parties exchanging route information,
As a result, CPU time is consumed, and a further access neck to the route information storage table to be updated is brought about. FIG.
Shows an operation example of the protocol processing relating to the above-mentioned route information. In the figure, the vertical direction indicates the passage of time, and each vertical line indicates the elapsed operation time of each unit. In FIG. 5, when there is continuous packet data transfer processing,
The case where the protocol processing regarding the route information has entered during the process is shown.

In the first packet data transfer process,
The packet 1 is fetched from the communication line to the line interface, a search process is performed based on the header information, and the packet is sent to the obtained transfer destination. At this time, when a packet related to the route information enters the line interface, protocol processing related to the route information is performed, and as a result, the route information storage table is updated. Therefore, the transfer processing of the second packet data is made to wait until the protocol processing regarding the route information is completed. As described above, the conventional router device has a serious problem that it is difficult to obtain a high-speed packet switching data transfer process due to a conflict with a protocol process related to route information and a process related to transfer control of a plurality of packets. .

Further, a network management processing unit for realizing network service functions such as a firewall, DNS, and proxy is conventionally a workstation (WS).
Etc., and was often connected to a router processing device via a network. (Reference: "Firewall" Soft BankISBN
4-890528-672-2) For this reason, the connection with the network management processing unit may be disconnected due to a trouble on the connection network, which often has a serious influence on the router processing function. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, to increase the number of accommodated lines, increase the transfer line capacity,
An object of the present invention is to provide a packet router processing device that does not affect the transfer processing capability of individual packet data even if the number of destinations for exchanging route information is increased, and that has excellent network serviceability.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to process protocol data relating to route information and a plurality of line corresponding units for receiving data on a communication line and transmitting data on the communication line. A plurality of protocol processing units,
A plurality of route information storage tables capable of storing the route information obtained from the processing result of the protocol data by the protocol processing unit; a plurality of search processing units for accessing the route information storage table using the route address as a key; It has a coupling device for coupling the constituent elements to each other, a message transfer means for exchanging messages between the constituent elements and a data transfer means for exchanging packet data, and operates the constituent elements independently. This is achieved by a packet router processing device characterized by being configured with a possible processor.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a packet router processing device according to the present invention, protocol processing relating to route information and processing relating to packet transfer control are realized as follows. Each component is assigned to a different processor module, and the processor modules are connected by a coupling device. Further, each processor module is provided with a message transfer means for exchanging messages between the modules and a data transfer means for exchanging packet data. The functions of the protocol processing relating to the route information are shared by the following units. (1) Line-corresponding unit that accesses communication lines and sends / receives data (2) Protocol processing unit that performs protocol processing related to route information (3) Search processing unit that manages the latest obtained route information (4) Route Route information storage table that stores information

In the protocol processing of the route information in the packet router processing device according to the present invention, after receiving the route information packet in the line corresponding unit, the information is transferred to the protocol processing unit by using the message transfer means, and there, The protocol processing of the route information is executed. The update data of the route information obtained as a result is sent to the search processing unit using the message transfer means, and the search processing unit updates the route information table. Further, in the processing according to claim 2, when there are a plurality of destinations with which the route information is exchanged, independent protocol processing units are assigned to the respective destinations, and each performs the above processing. Further, in the processing according to claim 3,
A plurality of search processing units and a plurality of route information storage tables are assigned to each line corresponding unit, and all the same processing is performed.

On the other hand, in the processing relating to packet transfer control in the packet router processing device according to the present invention, the following parts share the functions. (1) Line corresponding part that accesses the communication line to send and receive data (2) Search processing part that searches route information (3) Route information storage table that stores the information to be searched Data packet at the line corresponding part After receiving, the destination address of the header portion is extracted, and the data is transferred by using the message transfer means for making an inquiry to the search processing unit. The search processing unit searches the route information storage table by using the sent destination address data as a key to search for an entry.

The entry includes information about a transmission relay address (gateway address), a line number of the transmission destination, a board number, and a port number. The search processing unit sends this entry information to the inquired line corresponding unit using the message transfer means. The line interface can identify the line interface / board number / port number / of the transmission destination by looking at the obtained entry information.
The packet data is transferred to the destination using the data transfer means. Further, in the processing according to claim 3, a plurality of search processing units and a plurality of route information storage tables are assigned to each line corresponding unit, and an inquiry is made to the assigned search processing unit for each line corresponding unit. .

Further, in the processing according to claim 4, the network management processing for realizing the network service function such as the firewall, DNS, and proxy is operated independently in the plurality of service processing units, and the high speed processing with the router processing is realized. Performs highly reliable transfer processing. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a protocol processing unit, 2 is a search processing unit, 3 is a route information storage table for storing route information,
4, 5, 6, 7 are line corresponding parts, 8 is a coupling mechanism for connecting the modules to each other, 9, 10, 11, 12 are communication lines, 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a network management processing service processing unit for realizing network service functions such as firewall, DNS, and proxy.

In the configuration example shown in this embodiment, there are two protocol processing units, two search processing units, two route information storage tables, four line corresponding units, four communication lines, and service processing. The case where there are two parts 13 is shown. The message transfer means for exchanging messages between the above-mentioned modules is executed among the protocol processing unit 1, the search processing unit 2, the line corresponding units 4, 5, 6, 7 and the service processing unit 13, and packet transfer is performed. A data transfer means for exchanging data is executed between the line corresponding units 4, 5, 6, 7.
The coupling mechanism 8 can be composed of a normal crossbar switch or the like. Further, each module of the protocol processing unit 1, the search processing unit 2, the line corresponding units 4, 5, 6, 7 and the service processing unit 13 is a general-purpose workstation or personal computer in which the processor is provided with an interface to the coupling mechanism 8. It can be realized by a computer.

The route information storage table 3 can be constructed by using an ordinary memory or the like. Also, the communication lines 9, 10, 1
Communication lines such as FDDI, Ethernet, and ATM can be used as 1 and 12. The above-mentioned message transfer means can be realized by using a normal message passing mechanism between multiprocessors, and the data transfer means is
Means such as DMA transfer can be used. An arrow B in FIG. 2 indicates a process in which a packet is input to one line interface and transfer processing is performed to another line interface. Further, the arrow A indicates a process of exchanging route information with the route information exchange node 14 connected to the outside.

The above-described protocol processing of the route information is performed with the route information exchange node 14, and the route information from the route information exchange node 14 is received by the line corresponding unit 4 via the communication line 9 and the information is received. Using message transfer means
Transfer to the protocol processing unit 1 via the coupling mechanism 8. In the protocol processing unit 1, a route information protocol such as BGP or OSPF is performed. As a result, when the update of the route information is confirmed, the protocol processing unit 1 transmits the update data to the search processing unit 2 via the coupling mechanism 8 using the message transfer means. The updated data is stored in the route information storage table 3.

Each of the line corresponding units 4, 5, 6, and 7 determines whether the packet should be subjected to the protocol processing of the route information or the packet to be transferred by using the destination information. That is, if the destination information is its own address, it is a protocol process of the route information, and other than that can be regarded as a packet to be transferred. Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be specifically described. As shown by arrow B in FIG. 2, after the data packet is received by the line interface 5,
The destination address of the header part is extracted, and it is judged whether or not it is the own address. If the packet is not the own address, it is determined that the packet should be transferred to another.

The information of the destination address is transferred to the search processing section 2 via the coupling mechanism 8 for making an inquiry using the message transfer means. The search processing unit 2 searches the route information storage table 3 by using the sent destination address data as a key to search for an entry. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of the route information storage table 3 in this embodiment. The entry includes information on the transmission relay address (gateway address), the line number of the transmission destination, the board number, and the port number.

The address used is, for example, IP (Inte
It shall have a 32-bit address system conforming to rnet Protocol). Here, it is assumed that the search address is 10.1.2.3. In this case, first, by multiplying this route information by the network mask written in the route information storage table 3, it is extracted where in the 32-bit address system is the network portion. As a result, the mask of the entry part of 10.1.0.0 is 255.255.0.0, so when this mask is applied to the above address 10.1.2.3, the result of 10.1.0.0 is obtained, which indicates that this entry matches. .

Next, the gateway address, line interface, board number, and port number parameters are extracted from the entry obtained above. As a result, the gateway address 11.0.0.1, the line interface 6, the board number 2, and the port number 1 are obtained. The search processing unit 2 sends these data as a search result to the inquired line corresponding unit 5 via the coupling mechanism 8 using the message transfer means. In the line interface 5, looking at the obtained entry information,
Since the line corresponding part / board number / port number of the destination can be specified, the packet data is directly transferred to the line corresponding part 6 of the destination by using the data transfer means.

The line interface 6 having received the packet data from the line interface 5 sends this data to the communication line 11. FIG. 4 shows the above-mentioned operation explanatory diagram. In the figure, the vertical direction indicates the passage of time, and each vertical line indicates the passage of the operation processing time of each unit. The example shown in FIG. 4 is an example in the case where the packet data transfer process is continuously performed from the line interface 5 and the protocol process related to the route information is simultaneously entered. First, the protocol processing unit 1 initializes the system, and then activates the search processing unit 2 and the line corresponding units 4, 5, and 6.

In the transfer processing of the first packet data (denoted as (1) in the figure), the packet (1) is fetched from the communication line to the line interface 5 and the packet information is transferred based on the header information. When it is determined that the data transfer is performed, a message is sent to the search processing unit 2 and the search processing unit 2 performs the search processing. The search processor 2 sends the obtained result to the line interface 5 as a message, and as a result, packet data is transferred from the line interface 5 to the line interface 6.

The transfer processing of the second packet data is performed in the same manner, but since the functions are shared, it is possible to continuously operate in a pipeline manner. As described above, since the transfer processing of the packet data from the line interface 5 to the line interface 6 is performed by the DMA, it can be performed in parallel with the input process of the second packet data. Also,
When a packet of route information is input to the line interface 4 at the same time as the transfer processing of the first packet data, this information is sent to the protocol processor 1 as a message,
A protocol processing unit for route information is performed.

The result is sent as a message to the search processing unit 2
And the route information storage table is updated as a result. All of these can be executed in parallel with the packet data transfer process. According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to distribute the protocol processing related to the route information and the processing related to the packet transfer control in a distributed manner.
The problems described below can be solved. (1) CPU processing may take time for protocol processing related to route information, and processing related to packet transfer control may be delayed.

(2) When processing a plurality of lines simultaneously,
CPU for specific line processing and protocol processing
It may take time, and the process of searching the table may be delayed irregularly. (3) Each time a packet is input to the line interface, an interrupt occurs, and CPU time is taken for interrupt processing, which deteriorates the real-time property of the entire system. Further, since the distributed operation is performed to the plurality of search processing units, the route information storage table, and the protocol processing unit, (4) the route information storage table is configured to be shared by each CPU. Since the route information storage table is accessed in the protocol process relating to the route information and the process relating to the transfer process of a plurality of packets, competition is caused and real-time performance is deteriorated.

(5) When there are a plurality of parties to exchange the route information, the CPU time is consumed and a further access neck to the route information storage table to be updated is brought about. It is possible to solve such problems. Furthermore, by operating the network management processing that realizes functions such as firewall, DNS, and proxy independently in the service processing unit, (6) the connection with the network management processing unit is disconnected due to a trouble on the connection network. However, this often had a significant impact on router processing functions. That problem can be solved.

That is, according to the above embodiment, based on these results, the number of accommodated lines is increased, the transfer line capacity is increased,
Even if the number of destinations for exchanging the route information is increased, it is possible to realize a router processing device that does not affect the transfer processing capability of individual packet data and has excellent network serviceability. It should be noted that the above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a protocol for route information, a network management processing unit for realizing a network service function, and the like can be freely combined.

[0028]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, even if the number of accommodated lines, the transfer line capacity, and the number of destinations for exchanging route information are increased, individual packet data transfer processes can be performed. This has a remarkable effect that it is possible to realize a router processing device that does not affect the capability and is excellent in serviceability of the network.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a protocol process regarding route information and a process regarding transfer control of packet data in the system configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a route information storage table in an operation example in the system configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the overall operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Protocol Processing Unit 2 Search Processing Unit 3 Route Information Storage Table 4, 5, 6, 7 Line Corresponding Unit 8 Coupling Mechanism 9, 10, 11, 12 Communication Line 13 Service Processing Unit 14 Route Information Exchange Node

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Naohisa Takahashi Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of line corresponding units that receive data on a communication line and send data to the communication line, a plurality of protocol processing units that process protocol data relating to route information, and the protocol processing units. Between a plurality of route information storage tables capable of storing the route information obtained from the processing result of the protocol data by the, a plurality of search processing units for accessing the route information storage table by using the route address as a key, and between the respective constituent elements. And a message transfer means for exchanging messages between the respective constituent elements and a data transfer means for exchanging packet data, and each of the constituent elements is a processor capable of operating independently. A packet router processing device characterized by being configured. 2. The packet router processing device according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of destinations for exchanging the route information, the independent protocol processing unit is assigned to each destination. 3. The packet router processing device according to claim 1, wherein the search processing unit and the route information storage table are independently assigned to each line corresponding unit. 4. The packet router processing device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of service processing units are provided in addition to the respective constituent elements, and network management operations are executed in parallel. .