JPH10285207A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system by which communication routing is confirmed even in the case of dynamic routing. SOLUTION: In the communication system consisting of a plurality of routers that connect segments and store prescribed routing information to conduct dynamic routing and of a network management equipment 50, each router sends routing update information denoting contents of update to the network management equipment 50 when each router updates each routing table and the network management equipment 50 stores the routing table of the router to a routing table database 51, a path information processing section 56 receives the routing update information via a network interface section 54 and a routing table update controller 57 and the routing table stored in the routing table database 51 is updated based on the routing update information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system comprising a routing device for performing routing on a network and a network management device for holding management information on the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in data communication (packet communication) using TCP / IP or the like, in many cases, a routing device determines an optimum communication path according to a predetermined routing protocol. Then, the routing device stores the determined communication route as routing information in a storage medium such as a memory and uses it for communication from the next time,
When there was a change in the communication route, the routing information was rewritten (dynamic routing).

[0003]

The above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. That is, in the dynamic routing, since the routing protocol automatically determines an optimal communication path, the user cannot grasp the communication path of the packet transmitted from the own terminal. Therefore, when data communication has failed, it has been difficult to determine whether the cause is a network failure or if the load on the communication destination increases and processing cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a communication system capable of confirming a communication path even during dynamic routing.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises a plurality of routing devices for linking segments and performing dynamic routing while holding predetermined routing information, A communication system comprising a network management device holding network management information, wherein the routing device transmits routing update information indicating the updated content to the network management device when updating the routing information held by the routing device. Routing management information storage means for storing routing information of each of the routing devices as the network management information; and routing management information receiving means for receiving the routing update information. Information A configuration equipped with a routing management information updating means for updating the routing information stored in the unit.

That is, the above-mentioned routing device performs dynamic routing while connecting between segments on a network and holding routing information. Then, when there is a change in the communication path in the predetermined communication, the routing device updates its own routing information and transmits routing update information indicating the updated content to the network management device. The routing device here is not limited to a routing-dedicated device such as a router, but means any device that performs dynamic routing. Therefore, there is also included one that performs various processes and performs routing, such as a workstation.

On the other hand, in the network management device, the routing management information storage means stores routing information of each of a plurality of routing devices as network management information. When receiving the routing update information, the routing management information updating unit updates the routing information stored in the routing management information storage unit according to the routing update information. Thereby, the routing management information storage means,
A replica that matches the routing information of each routing device is always stored.

[0008] The invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the network management device includes connection information storage means for storing connection information between a routing device on a network and a terminal connected to each routing device, and the connection information and the routing management information storage means. And a terminal-to-terminal communication path detecting means for detecting a communication path between predetermined terminals based on the routing information stored in the terminal.

That is, the connection information storage means stores connection information between a routing device on a network and a terminal connected to each routing device. Of course, the terminal here means a network device that communicates on a network. For example, in a client-server system, both a client and a server are uniformly referred to as a terminal. When data communication between two predetermined terminals is considered, a routing device to which each terminal is connected is determined from the connection information, and a communication path between the routing devices is also determined from the routing information. Therefore, a communication path between predetermined terminals is also found out, and the communication path detecting means detects the communication path.

[0010] Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to the second aspect, the terminal notifies the network management device of a routing device to which the terminal is to be connected when newly connecting to the network, The connection information storage means is configured to store the connection information based on the notification.

That is, when a terminal is newly connected to the network, the terminal notifies the network management device of the connected routing device. Then, the connection information storage means stores connection information indicating what terminal is connected to each routing device on the network based on the notification.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the routing information management device is integrally formed with a predetermined terminal. That is, the routing information management device can be independently arranged on a network, but it functions even if it is integrated with a predetermined terminal.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a TCP / IP protocol network to which a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, routing devices 10 to 4
0 is connected in a ring type, and the routing device 10 and the routing device 40 are directly connected.
Each of these routing devices 10 to 40 is a terminal T
10 to T40 are connected, and perform dynamic routing according to a predetermined routing protocol while connecting the segments. That is, when performing communication between predetermined terminals, the routing devices 10 to 40 select an optimal communication route and generate routing information, and the routing information is used as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D, respectively. It is stored in a RAM (not shown) as a routing table.

For example, in FIG.
When transmitting a packet from the terminal to the terminal T20, the routing device 10 transfers the packet to the routing device 20, and the packet is transferred to the terminal T20 via the routing device 20. This communication path is determined by the routing protocol. In addition, from the terminal T20 to the terminal T
When transmitting a packet to the routing device 30, the routing device 2
There are two types, a communication path via 0, 10, 30 and a communication path via the routing devices 20, 40, 30.
Also in this case, the routing protocol selects one of the communication paths. In the present embodiment, the former communication path is selected (see FIGS. 2B and 2C).

Of course, the routing devices 10 to 40
Updates the routing information in the routing table dynamically whenever there is a change in the communication route in order to perform dynamic routing. At this time, the routing devices 10 to 40 transmit the routing update information indicating the update content of the routing information to the network management device 50 described later.

When a new connection to the network is made, the routing devices 10 to 40 send a predetermined routing device initialization packet to a network management device 50, which will be described later, to notify that the connection has been made. .

The network management device 50 is connected to the routing device 10. This network management device 50 includes a routing table database 51 and a connection information database 5 as shown in the block diagram of FIG.
2 and a route information database 53, each of which stores separate network management information.

As described above, the routing devices 10 to 40
Is transmitted to the connection information update controller 55 via the network interface unit 54, and is output to the route information processing unit 56 at a predetermined timing.

Then, the route information processing unit 56 acquires the network address of the source routing device from the routing device initialization packet, stores the network address in the connection information database 52, and causes the routing device to transmit the routing table, and sequentially transmits the routing table. , Via the network interface unit 54, the routing table update controller 57, and the route information processing unit 56, and stored in the routing table database 51.
In this sense, the routing table database 51 constitutes a routing management information storage unit.

Of course, when the routing devices 10 to 40 are newly connected, no routing information is registered in each routing table, so that no routing information is stored in the routing table database 51. Therefore, although each routing table is stored in the routing table database 51, only an area for storing is stored.

The routing devices 10 to 40
When the dynamic routing is started, each routing table is updated. At this time, the routing devices 10 to 40 transmit the routing update information to the network management device 50 as described above.

Then, the network management device 50 receives the data through the network interface unit 54 at the routing table update controller 57. And
The routing table update controller 57 outputs the received routing update information to the route information processing unit 56 at a predetermined timing. Thereafter, the route information processing unit 56
Updates the corresponding routing table in the routing table database 51 based on the input routing update information. Therefore, the network interface unit 54, the route information processing unit 56, and the routing table update controller 57 constitute a routing management information updating unit.

The terminals T10 to T40 connected to the respective routing devices 10 to 40 transmit a terminal initialization packet to the network management device 50 when newly connecting to the network. This terminal initialization packet includes the network address of the routing device to which each terminal is connected, is received by the connection information update controller 55 via the network interface unit 54, and is routed at a predetermined timing. Is output to The route information processing unit 56 analyzes the input terminal initialization packet to obtain the network address of the source terminal, and obtains the network address of the routing device to which the terminal is connected. Then, the connection information database 52 is searched using the network address of the routing device.

The connection information database 52 stores the network addresses of the respective routing devices when the routing devices 10 to 40 are newly connected. When the route information processing unit 56 searches the connection information database 52 as described above, The network address of the matching routing device and the network address of the source terminal acquired in the terminal initialization packet are stored in a table as shown in FIG. Therefore, the connection information database 52 and the network interface unit 54 to the route information processing unit 56 constitute a connection information storage unit.

After registering the new connection terminal in the connection information database 52, the route information processing unit 56 detects the contents of the routing table of the routing device to which the terminal is connected from the routing table database 51.
Then, the destination terminal and the destination routing device of the packet registered in the routing table are extracted line by line, and the connection information database is searched to determine whether the destination terminal is connected to the destination routing device. To detect.

Here, if it is detected that the same destination terminal is connected to the same destination routing device, the communication route between the two terminals is determined, and this communication route is converted to a route information database 53 as shown in FIG. To memorize. On the other hand, if it is detected that the destination terminal is not connected to the destination routing device, it is determined that communication is performed via the second routing device, and the routing table of the destination routing device is referred to. The routing table to be referred to is changed until it is detected that the destination terminal is connected to the destination routing device. When the communication route between the two terminals is determined, the communication route is similarly stored in the route information database 53. In this sense, the route information processing unit 56 constitutes an inter-terminal communication route detection unit.

Of course, if the routing table database 51 is updated, the communication route will be changed. Therefore, when the routing table database 51 is updated, the route information processing unit 56 searches the route information database 53 and reflects the updated routing information.

As a result, the route information stored in the route information database 53 is always stored in the latest state. The terminal user can visually recognize what communication path is to be taken in communication between his / her terminal and another terminal. Also, if the communication path is found in this way, when communication fails,
It is easy to determine whether the cause is a network failure or if the communication destination cannot communicate due to a high load.

In this embodiment, the dedicated network management device 50 is connected to the network. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, it may be configured integrally with the terminals T10 to T40, or may be configured integrally with the server in the client-server system. Further, in the present embodiment, the network management device 50 is connected to the routing device 10, but the connection point to the network is not particularly limited.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The routing devices 10 to 40 are respectively shown in FIGS.
It holds the routing table shown in (d), and performs dynamic routing according to the routing information in the routing table. That is, if there is a change in the network configuration or the like, the routing devices 10 to 10
40 updates each routing table. As described above, when the routing devices 10 to 40 update their own routing tables, the routing devices 10 to 40 transmit the routing update information indicating the updated contents to the network management device 50.

The network management device 50 stores the routing devices 10 in the routing table database 51.
The respective routing tables at 40 are stored. The routing update information transmitted as described above is input to the routing table update controller 57 via the network interface unit 54 and output to the route information processing unit 56 at a predetermined timing.

Then, the route information processing unit 56 updates the corresponding routing table in the routing table database 51 based on the routing table update information. That is, the routing devices 10 to 40
Is updated synchronously with the routing table stored in the routing table database 51, and always retains the same routing information.

The route information processing unit 56 detects a communication route between two predetermined terminals from the connection information between the terminal and the routing device stored in the connection information database 52 and the routing information stored in the routing table database 51. Then, it is stored in the route information database 53 as shown in FIG. Of course, if the routing table database 51 and the connection information database 52 are updated, the communication route is also changed.
Detects the changed communication route when either database is updated, and updates the route information database 53.

As described above, a plurality of routing devices 10 to 40 that connect segments and perform dynamic routing while holding predetermined routing information.
When the routing devices 10 to 40 update the respective routing tables in the communication system including the network management device 50 and the network management device 50, the network management device 50 transmits routing update information indicating the updated contents to the network management device 50. Reference numeral 50 denotes a routing table in the routing table database 51.
The routing update information is stored in the network interface unit 5 while the routing tables 0 to 40 are stored.
4. The routing table database 51 received by the route information processing unit 56 via the routing table update controller 57 and based on the routing update information
Is updated, a communication system capable of confirming a communication path even at the time of dynamic routing can be provided.

[0036]

As described above, the present invention can provide a communication system capable of confirming a communication route even during dynamic routing. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the communication route between predetermined terminals can be confirmed, it is not necessary for the user himself to refer to the routing information, which is troublesome. Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the connection information is stored when the terminal is newly connected, so that the user does not need to manually input the connection information.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4,
Since there is no need to install a dedicated network management device, it is possible to reduce costs when constructing the system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a routing table.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a network management device.

FIG. 4 is a table showing storage contents of a connection information database.

FIG. 5 is a table showing storage contents of a route information database.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10-40 routing device 50 network management device 51 routing table database 52 connection information database 53 route information database 54 network interface unit 55 connection information update controller 56 route information processing unit 57 routing table update controller

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A communication system comprising: a plurality of routing devices that link segments and perform dynamic routing while retaining predetermined routing information; and a network management device that retains predetermined network management information. When the routing device updates its own routing information, the routing device includes routing update information transmitting means for transmitting routing update information indicating the updated content to the network management device. The network management device includes the routing device. Routing management information storage means for storing each piece of routing information as the network management information; and routing for receiving the routing update information and updating the routing information stored in the routing management information storage means. Communication system characterized by comprising a management information updating means. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the network management device stores connection information between a routing device on a network and a terminal connected to each of the routing devices; A communication system comprising: terminal-to-terminal communication path detecting means for detecting a communication path between predetermined terminals based on connection information and routing information stored in the routing management information storage means. 3. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the terminal notifies the network management device of a routing device to which the terminal is connected when newly connecting to a network, and the connection information storage means includes: A communication system storing the connection information based on the notification. 4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said routing device and a predetermined terminal are integrally formed.