JPH10322399A - Packet communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the transmission efficiency with small size, light weight at a high speed and to enhance the high maintenability through simplicity. SOLUTION: In the case of communicating an international standard packet via an asynchronous transfer mode ATM network, the system is provided with a point-to-point high order layer processing means 22 for conversion of a point- to-point pratocal (PPP) packet between the international standard packet and an ATM cell and with an ATM cell processing section 5 for addition/ identification of a virtual path identifier/virtual channel identifier(VPI/VCI), and also with PPP high order layer processing means 22A, 22B corresponding to pluralities of PPP connections multiplexed on a physical channel, packet storage sections 3A, 3B storing the international standard packet, a packet distribution means 21 distributing the international standard packet to them, and a PPP packet distribution means 23. Through the constitution above, pluralities of ATM logic channels are multiplexed on the physical channel and functions based on the PPP and additional functions of the ATM are enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a packet communication system for communicating over an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) using international standard packets, and more particularly, to address conversion and user authentication in addition to miniaturization and weight reduction of a communication device. , And a packet communication system that enables dynamic assignment of addresses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of packet communication system,
The transmitting side and the receiving side are connected by a one-to-one physical line, and packets are exchanged using this physical line. A plurality of logical lines are set in the physical line, and the set logical circuit is used. In some cases, packets are transferred.

As an example of the former, the IETF (Internet
Engineering Task Force (RFC) Request for Comm
ent) PPP defined in 1661, 1332, 1334
(Point-to-Point protocol), and an example of the latter is a LAN (Local Area Network) at the ATM Forum Technical Committee.
a Network) LANE based on ATM technology defined in Emulation over ATM version 1.0
(Local Area Network Emulation).

First, in the packet communication system based on PPP, the router 171 or the terminal 1 shown in FIG.
72A and 172B correspond to the packet input / output unit 110, the packet storage unit 120, the software processing unit 130, the PPP packet storage unit 140, and H as shown in FIG.
DLC (High Level Data Link Control) processing unit 15
0, and an HDLC frame input / output unit 160, which is connected to the telephone network 173.

The software processing unit 130 has a P
PP upper layer processing means 131 and data transfer means 132
It is included. The router 171 is connected to the terminal 172
A and 172B are connected to each other via physical lines 176A and 176B in the telephone network 173, and one PPP connection 177A and 177B is established for each of the physical lines 176A and 176B.

Next, the functions of the router 171 or the terminals 172A and 172B will be described with reference to FIG. 6 (A) and FIG. 6 (B).

The packet input / output unit 110 receives a packet received from an Ethernet or the Internet (here, a LAN (Local Area Network).
rk) is stored in the packet storage unit 120, and the storage is notified to the PPP upper layer processing means 131. On the other hand, the packet input / output unit 110
The packet is read and received in response to an instruction from the PPP upper layer processing means 131.

The PPP upper layer processing means 131
The processing defined in RFC1661, 1332, and 1334 is performed. That is, the PPP upper layer processing means 131
The LAN packet received from the packet storage unit 120 is converted into a main signal PPP packet, and a control PPP to be described later is further converted.
A packet is generated and stored in the PPP packet storage unit 140, and is notified to the data transfer processing unit 132. On the other hand, the PPP upper layer processing means 131 converts the main signal PPP packet received from the PPP packet storage unit 140 into a LAN packet, stores the LAN packet in the packet storage unit 120, and notifies the packet input / output unit 110.

Also, the PPP upper layer processing means 131
When a PPP packet is generated, a control PPP packet for establishing and releasing a PPP connection, performing user authentication, and dynamically assigning an address is generated and sent to a connection destination, while a control PPP packet received from the connection destination is generated. Is terminated.

[0010] The router 171 shown in FIG.
For example, the PPP connection 17 with the terminal 172A
7A is set in the data link layer using the control packet generated by the PPP upper layer processing means 131,
A request for an address and information necessary for user authentication are sent to the connection destination terminal 172A via the PP connection 177A.
And the PPP connection 177A is established after the user is authenticated by the PPP. The procedure for establishing the PPP connection 177A from the terminal 172A to the router 171 is the same.

Returning to FIG. 6A, data transfer processing means 1
Reference numeral 32 indicates that the transfer of the PPP packet between the PPP packet storage unit 140 and the HDLC processing unit 150 is performed by interrupting a CPU (Central Processor Unit) for software processing. In addition, when the PPP packet is stored in the PPP packet storage unit 140, the data transfer processing unit 132 notifies the PPP upper layer processing unit 131 of the storage.
On the other hand, when receiving the notification that the PPP packet is stored in the PPP packet storage unit 140 from the PPP upper layer processing unit 131, the data transfer processing unit 132 notifies the HDLC processing unit 150 that the PPP packet is to be transferred.

The HDLC processing unit 150 adds a HDLC framing (flag) to the PPP packet received from the data transfer processing means 132, performs zero removal and a flag / abort sequence process, forms an HDLC frame, and inserts the HDLC frame into the HDLC frame. Send it to the output unit 160. On the other hand, the HDLC processing unit 150 removes a zero from the HDLC frame received from the HDLC frame input / output unit 160 and detects a flag / abort sequence, extracts a PPP packet, and sends the PPP packet to the data transfer processing unit 132.
Also, the HDLC processing unit 150 transmits and receives HDL of serial transmission / reception.
Along with the data transfer between the C frame and the PPP packet transmitted / received in parallel, the data is subjected to serial / parallel conversion.

The HDLC frame input / output unit 160
It has a driver / receiver for sending and receiving HDLC frames between the LC processing unit 150 and the telephone network 173, and transfers the HDLC frames after establishing a PPP connection (for example, 177A).

Next, a packet communication system by LANE based on the ATM technology for transmitting and receiving packets using a plurality of logical lines set to one physical line will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in the configuration of the LANE shown in FIG. 7, the packet input / output unit 210, the packet storage unit 220,
Software processing unit 23 including LANE processing means 231
0, LANE packet storage unit 240, ATM cell unit 2
50 and the router 271 or the terminals 272A and 272B including the ATM cell input / output unit 260 are connected to the ATM network 273.
Connected to

The router 271 and the terminals 272A, 27
2B is a one-to-one physical line 275, 276A, 2
76B are connected to the logical line multiplexer 274 respectively. A between the router 271 and the terminal 272A
TM logic line 277A, router 271 and terminal 27
Each of the ATM logical lines 277B is connected to the 2B via a logical line multiplexer 274. ATM
The logical lines 277A and 277B are connected to the logical line multiplexer 27.
4 are multiplexed on one physical line 275. The ATM network 273 includes various servers such as a LAN emulation configuration server, a LAN emulation server, and a LAN emulation broadcast and unknown server for an interconnection operation between the LAN and the ATM network. ,
A LANE server 278 is provided.

Next, the functions of the router 271 or the terminals 272A and 272B will be described with reference to FIG. 7 (A) and FIG. 7 (B).

The packet input / output unit 210 receives the LAN frame of the packet, stores it in the packet storage unit 220, and notifies the LANE processing unit 231 of the storage. On the other hand, when receiving the notification stored in the packet storage unit 220 from the LANE processing unit 231, the packet input / output unit 210 converts the stored packet into the packet storage unit 220.
And output it.

The LANE processing unit 231 converts the LAN frame received from the packet storage unit 220 into a LANE packet, stores the LANE packet in the LANE packet storage unit 140, and notifies the ATM cell unit 250 of the storage.
On the other hand, the LANE processing unit 231 converts the LANE packet received from the LANE packet storage unit 140 into a LAN frame, stores the LAN frame in the packet storage unit 220, and notifies the packet input / output unit 210 that the packet has been stored.

For example, the LANE processing means 231 provided in the router 271 shown in FIG.
ATM logical line 277 to ANE server 278
A, 277B to be established / released, and MA
An inquiry is made for address resolution between the C (Media Access Control) address and the ATM address. That is, the LANE processing means 231
8 requests an ATM address corresponding to the MAC address of the packet, and based on the returned ATM address, for example, an ATM logical circuit 277A with the terminal 272A.
Is established via the physical line 275, the logical line multiplexer 274, and the physical line 276A.

Returning to FIG. 7A, the ATM cell forming section 250
Is the LA read from the LANE packet storage unit 240
NE packet is converted to AAL5 (ATM Adaptation Layer Type)
5) The cells are transferred to the ATM cell input / output unit 260 and transferred to the ATM cell input / output unit 260. Meanwhile, the ATM cells received from the ATM cell input / output unit 260 are assembled into LANE packets and stored in the LANE packet storage unit 240.
Notify 1.

The ATM cell input / output unit 260 receives a cell in synchronization with the cell in the ATM network frame and sends it to the ATM cell unit 250, while mapping the cell received from the ATM cell unit 250 in the ATM network frame. .

The logical line multiplexer 274 is shown in FIG.
In the example of the above example, VPI / VCI (Virtual Path Identifier / Virt) is added to a cell received via ATM logical lines 277A and 277B by a plurality of two physical lines 276A and 276B.
ual Channel Identifier) value if necessary,
The data is transferred via one physical line 275.

[0024]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned conventional PPP
There are the following problems in the packet communication system based on the communication protocol.

The first problem is that it is difficult to reduce the size and weight.

The reason is that the transmitting side and the receiving side are connected by a one-to-one physical line, so that the router needs to have the same number of physical line termination units as the number of data terminals accommodated. It is.

The second problem is that the line use efficiency is low.

The reason is that packet communication that can simultaneously use one physical line is limited to one.

The third problem is that it is difficult to speed up data transfer.

The reason is that it is necessary to perform complicated and time-consuming HDLC processing for data transfer.

The LANE packet communication system based on the ATM technology which can solve these three problems has a fourth problem that it is difficult to simplify the system and improve the maintainability.

The reason is that address resolution, user authentication, and dynamic assignment of addresses, which can be realized by the packet communication method based on the PPP, are impossible. This is because a means is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a small, lightweight, high-speed, high transmission efficiency, simple, and highly maintainable packet communication system that can simultaneously solve all of the above problems.

[0034]

A packet communication system according to the present invention is a packet communication system for communicating via an ATM network using international standard packets. The packet communication system is based on PPP which is connected to the ATM network and converts the international standard packets. P
There is provided conversion means for performing a mutual conversion between the PP packet and the ATM cell to be input / output to / from the ATM network.

The converting means terminates a PPP connection formed inside each of a plurality of logical lines multiplexed on one physical line with respect to the ATM network,
A plurality of PPP upper layer processing means for performing the upper layer processing based on the PPP; and a distribution means for appropriately distributing packets and cells to be converted to the PPP upper layer processing means, wherein the distribution means comprises the ATM network. A PPP packet distributing means for distributing an ATM cell received from the above to an appropriate PPP upper layer processing means using an identifier of a logical line set to the physical line, and a packet received from the upper layer using an address of the packet. Na said PP
A specific configuration including a packet distribution unit that distributes the packet to the P upper layer processing unit can be proposed.

One PPP is obtained by the mutual conversion between the PPP packet and the ATM cell input / output to / from the ATM network.
A connection can be set within one ATM logical line.
Therefore, by setting a plurality of ATM logical lines on one physical line, a plurality of PPP connections can be multiplexed on one physical line. Further, at the end of the physical line, the packet distribution means converts an input / output packet or a PPP packet, which is an international standard, based on the packet address and the VPI / VCI value into an appropriate PPP corresponding to each of the plurality of PPP connections. The PPP connection is identified by sorting to the upper layer processing means.

[0037]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The functional block diagram shown in FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a physical line terminating unit for an ATM network in a packet communication system according to the present invention, and includes a packet input / output unit 1, a software processing unit 2, and packet storage units 3A, 3
B, a PPP packet storage unit 4, an ATM cell conversion unit 5, and an ATM cell input / output unit 6. Also,
The software processing unit 2 includes a packet distribution unit 21, PP
It is assumed that P upper layer processing units 22A and 22B and a PPP packet distribution unit 23 are provided.

The difference from the prior art is that the address DA / SA
LAN with (Destination Address / Source Address)
(Local Area Network) packets to PPP (Point
to Point Protocol) to enable the use of ATM network logical line multiplexers.
VPI / VCI (Virtual Path Identifier / VirtualC
(hannel Identifier) value is added to the cell on the ATM network, and on the other hand, the cell is converted into a packet by the reverse procedure.

The packet input / output unit 1 receives a LAN packet having an address DA / SA in the LAN and transfers the received LAN packet to the packet distribution unit 21, and transmits the LAN packet received from the packet distribution unit 21 to the address DA / SA.
Is sent to the LAN based on the

The packet distribution unit 21 determines the destination packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) based on the destination address of the LAN packet received from the packet input / output unit 1, and sends the packet to the determined packet storage unit 3A (or 3B). LA
Transfer and store N packets. At this time, the packet distribution unit 21 notifies the PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) that should receive the LAN packet that the packet has been stored in the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B). On the other hand, the packet distribution unit 21 stores the packet storage unit 3A (or 3
When the LAN packet is received from B), the received LAN packet is transferred to the packet input / output unit 1.

The PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22)
B) converts the LAN packet received from the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) into RFC 1663,
It is assumed that the packet is converted into a PPP packet based on 1332 and 1334 and sent to the PPP packet distribution unit 23.
On the other hand, the PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22B)
Is the main signal P received from the PPP packet distribution means 23.
It is assumed that the PP packet is converted into a LAN packet and stored in the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B), and that the storage is notified to the packet distribution unit 21.

The PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22B) establishes / releases a PPP connection, authenticates a user, and uses the Internet protocol applicable to the Internet protocol to be used as a LAN protocol address.
It is assumed that a P (Internet Protocol) address is dynamically assigned, and a control PPP packet is generated / terminated. Therefore, the PPP upper layer processing units 22A and 22B, together with the packet storage units 3A and 3B,
It is assumed to be provided corresponding to the I value.

The PPP packet distribution means 23 outputs
It is assumed that a PPP packet is received from the upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) and stored in the PPP packet storage unit 4, and this storage is notified to the ATM cell unit 5. At this time, the PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22B) which is the source of the PPP packet is identified, the VPI / VCI value is determined based on the identification result, and this VPI / VCI value is set to A.
It is to be notified to the TM cell conversion unit 5.

On the other hand, the PPP packet distribution means 23
When reading the PPP packet from the PPP packet storage unit 4, the VPI / VC notified from the ATM cell unit 5
An appropriate PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) is selected based on the I value, and the read PPP packet is distributed to the selected PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B).

The ATM cell unit 5 receives the storage notification from the PPP packet distribution unit 23 and extracts the PPP packet extracted from the PPP packet storage unit 4 according to the RFC of IETF.
Based on the definition of 1483, CPCS-PD of AAL5
U (Common Part Convergence Sublayer-Protocol Da
It is assumed that an ATM cell is generated by mapping it to the payload section of ta unit) and transmitted to the ATM cell input / output section 6. On the other hand, the ATM cell conversion unit 5 converts the ATM cell received from the ATM cell input / output unit 6 into a PPP packet and stores it in the PPP packet storage unit 4, and stores the stored data and the VPI / VCI value of the cell in the PPP packet. It shall be notified to the packet distribution means 23.

The ATM cell input / output unit 6 synchronizes the cells in the ATM network frame, receives the ATM cells, and transfers the cells to the ATM cell unit 5, while transferring the cells received from the ATM cell unit 5 into the ATM network frame. It shall be mapped.

Next, the main operation procedure in the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

First, when there is no input of a LAN packet in the packet input / output unit 1 (NO in step S1) and no input of an ATM cell in the ATM cell input / output unit 6 (step S2).
(NO at 1), the procedure returns to step S1, and waits for input of a LAN packet or ATM cell.

When the LAN packet is input in step S 1 of “YES”, the packet input / output unit 1 transfers the input LAN packet to the packet distribution unit 21.
The packet distribution unit 21 determines an appropriate distribution destination based on the destination address (DA) of the LAN packet (Step S2), and transfers the received LAN packet to the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) based on the determined distribution destination. It is stored (step S3). Next, the packet distribution means 21
Is the PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) corresponding to the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) that is the storage destination.
Is notified that the LAN packet has been stored (step S4).

The PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22)
B) reads the LAN packet from the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) and converts it into a main signal PPP packet,
Further, upper layer processing for generating a control PPP packet is performed (step S5). Next, the PPP upper layer processing means 22
A (or 22B) is the PP containing the main signal and control
The P packet is transferred to the PPP packet distribution means 23 (Step S6).

The PPP packet distribution unit 23 stores the received PPP packet in the PPP packet storage unit 4 (step S7), and stores the stored PPP packet in the PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) corresponding to the stored PPP packet. VC
To the ATM cell forming unit 5 (step S
8).

The ATM cell conversion unit 5 reads out the PPP packet from the PPP packet storage unit 4 and converts it into a cell (step S9), and sends it out to the ATM network via the ATM cell input / output unit 6 (step S10). As a result, the procedure is ATM
The process proceeds to step S21 where the cell input / output unit 6 waits for input of an ATM cell, and returns to step S1 where the packet input / output unit 1 waits for input of the next LAN packet.

On the other hand, if the step S21 is "YES" and an ATM cell is input, the ATM cell input / output unit 6 transfers the input ATM cell to the ATM cell conversion unit 5.

The ATM cell unit 5 receives the ATM cell from the ATM cell input / output unit 6 and assembles a PPP packet (step S22). The ATM cell forming unit 5 stores the assembled PPP packet in the PPP storage unit 4 (Step S).
23) The PPP packet distribution means 2 stores the stored information and the VPI / VCI value of the cell assembled with the PPP packet.
3 is notified (step S24).

The PPP packet distribution means 23 transmits the
The transfer destination PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) of the PPP packet read from the packet storage unit 4 is determined based on the notified VPI / VCI value, and the determined PPP upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) is determined. The read PPP packet is distributed and transferred (step S
25).

The PPP upper layer processing means 22A (or 22)
B) converts the main signal obtained from the received PPP packet to LAN
An upper layer process for converting the packet into a packet and terminating the control PPP packet is performed (step S26). Then, PP
The P upper layer processing unit 22A (or 22B) stores the converted LAN packet in its own packet storage unit 3A.
(Or 3B) (step S27), and notifies the packet distribution unit 21 of the storage (step S27).
28).

The packet distribution means 21 reads the LAN packet from the packet storage unit 3A (or 3B) and transfers it to the packet input / output unit 1 (step S29). The packet input / output unit 1 outputs the received LAN packet (Step S30). As a result, the procedure is as follows: the packet input / output unit 1 waits for an input of a LAN packet.
Then, the process returns to step S21 where the ATM cell input / output unit 6 waits for the input of the next ATM cell.

In the above description, input / output packets are described as LAN packets and LAN packets having addresses DA / SA in order to identify them as PPP packets. However, applicable packets are ITU-T (Internatio
(nal Telecommunications Union-Telecommunications)
As long as the packet conforms to the international standard protocol specified in, the packet is not limited to the LAN, and may be a packet applied to another type of network, for example, Ethernet.
Alternatively, it may be a packet based on a wide area IP.

In the above description, the PPP upper layer processing means is V
Although illustrated and described as two distribution destinations together with the PI / VCI value, in the case where the physical line terminator to the ATM network is a single terminal that can be a single logical line, only one PPP upper layer processing means and one packet storage unit are required. Therefore, the means for distributing LAN packets and PPP packets can be omitted. On the other hand, when a plurality of multiplexed logical lines are connected like a router, two or more PPP upper layer processing means and a packet storage unit are provided. Can be

[0061]

Next, the connection configuration and operation in an ATM network to which the above embodiment is applied will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that IP can be applied, and that each terminal inputs and outputs an IP packet and each terminal has acquired an IP address.

In FIG. 3, the router 71 is connected to the terminals 72A and 7A.
2B shows a state in which the 2B is connected via the ATM network 73. The ATM network 73 has a logical line multiplexer 74. A physical line 75 connects the router 71 and the logical line multiplexer 74. Furthermore, physical line 7
6A and 76B respectively connect the terminals 72A and 72B to the logical line multiplexer 74. Router 7
1 and the terminals 72A and 72B are respectively connected to a physical line 75,
Logical line multiplexer 74 and physical lines 76A, 76
A connection is established by each of the ATM logical lines 77A and 77B via B respectively. Therefore, the logical line multiplexer 74 has two ATM logical lines 77A and 77B.
Is multiplexed into one physical line 75.

Each of the ATM logical lines 77A and 77B has VPI / VCI values = a / b and c / d between the terminals 72A and 72B and the logical line multiplexer 74, respectively. In addition, ATM logic lines 77A, 77B
Each has a VPI / VCI value = e / f, g / h between the router 71 and the logical line multiplexer 74. After the user is authenticated, the terminals 72A and 72B connect the PPP connection to the ATM logical lines 77A and 77B.
B, respectively, and have IP addresses x and y.

The router 71 has the functional blocks shown in FIG. On the other hand, since it is assumed that each of the terminals 72A and 72B communicates only with the router 71, the PPP upper layer processing units 22A and 22B in FIG.
And a functional block in the case of one packet storage unit 3A, 3B. Therefore, in each of the terminals 72A and 72B, the packet distribution unit 21 and the PPP packet distribution unit 23 in FIG. 1 are unnecessary.

Next, referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an outline of the operation in the downward packet transfer from the router 71 to the terminal 72A will be described.

The router 71 has the same configuration as in FIG. On the other hand, as described above, the terminal 72A changes the packet distribution means 21 and the PP from the configuration of FIG.
The P packet distribution unit 23 is deleted, and the packet input / output unit 1D, the packet storage unit 3D, the PPP upper layer processing unit 2
It comprises a software processing unit 2D having 2D, a PPP packet storage unit 4D, an ATM cell conversion unit 5D, and an ATM cell input / output unit 6D. By the way, the terminal 72A
The functional content of each of the constituent elements is the same as that of the constituent element having the same name in FIG.

First, it is assumed that the router 71 receives an IP packet having an IP address DA / SA = x / y by the packet input / output unit 1. The packet input / output unit 1 transfers the received IP packet to the packet distribution unit 21.

The packet distribution means 21 converts the received IP packet into the destination address DA =
The packet is transferred to the packet storage unit 3A corresponding to x and stored, and the storage destination is notified to the PPP upper layer processing unit 22A.
The PPP upper layer processing unit 22A reads the IP packet from the packet storage unit 3A, converts the IP packet into a PPP packet, and transfers the converted PPP packet to the PPP packet distribution unit 23. The PPP packet distribution means 23
It recognizes that it has received a PPP packet from the PP upper layer processing means 22A, stores the received PPP packet in the PPP packet storage unit 4, and stores the VPI used in cell formation.
/ VCI value = e / f is notified to the ATM cell unit 5.

The ATM cell conversion unit 5 reads out the PPP packet from the PPP packet storage unit 4 and converts it into a cell, adds the notified VPI / VCI value = e / f to the created cell, and outputs the ATM cell input / output unit 6 Transfer to The ATM cell input / output unit 6 sends the cell received from the ATM cell unit 5 to the terminal 72A via the physical line 75.

This cell is placed on the ATM logical line 77A on the basis of the VPI / VCI value = e / f.
4 is transferred. The logical line multiplexer 74 determines, for the received cell, the VPI / VCI value of this cell = e /
f is replaced with a predetermined VPI / VCI value = a / b for the ATM logical line 77A terminated to the terminal 72A, and the replaced cell is transmitted via the physical line 76A.

Therefore, this cell has the address DA / SA
= X / z IP packets are converted to PPP packets,
It is an ATM cell to which VPI / VCI value = a / b is added. This cell is transferred to terminal 72A on ATM logical line 77A based on VPI / VCI value = a / b.

At the terminal 72A, the ATM cell input / output unit 6D
Receives the cell from the ATM logical line 77A and transfers the cell to the ATM cell unit 5D. ATM cell unit 5D
Constructs a PPP packet from the received cell,
The PPP packet is stored in the PPP packet storage unit 4D, and the stored information is stored in the PPP upper layer processing unit 22D.
Notify to

The PPP upper layer processing means 22D reads out the PPP packet from the PPP packet storage section 4D and converts it into an IP packet. Also, the PPP upper layer processing means 22D
Stores the converted IP packet in the packet storage unit 3D, and notifies the packet input / output unit 1D of the storage.

The packet input / output unit 1D reads out an IP packet from the packet storage unit 3D and sends it out.

Next, referring to FIG. 3 and FIG.
An outline of the operation in the upward packet transfer from A to the router 71 will be described. The components shown in FIG. 5 are the same as those in FIG.

The terminal 72A receives the IP packet of the address DA / SA = z / x by the packet input / output unit 1D,
The received IP packet is stored in the packet storage unit 3D, and the storage is notified to the PPP upper layer processing unit 22D. Next, the PPP upper layer processing unit 22D reads the IP packet from the packet storage unit 3D and converts it into a PPP packet. Further, the PPP upper layer processing means 22D includes:
The converted PPP packet is stored in the PPP packet storage unit 4.
D, and notifies the ATM cell forming unit 5D of the storage.

The ATM cell conversion unit 5D reads out the PPP packet from the PPP packet storage unit 4D, and executes the VPI / VC
The cell is converted into a cell having I value = a / b, and this cell is transferred to the ATM cell input / output unit 6D. ATM cell input / output unit 6D
Transmits the cell received from the ATM cell forming unit 5D to the physical line 76.
A is sent to the router via A.

This cell is sent to the logical line multiplexer 74 on the ATM logical line 77A. The logical line multiplexer 74 replaces the VPI / VCI value of the cell = a / b with a predetermined VPI / VCI value = e / f for the ATM logical line 77A terminated by the router 71, and
The cell received from 2A is transmitted to the physical line 75 connected to the router 71. Therefore, this cell has the address DA /
ATM in which a packet of SA = z / x is converted into a PPP packet and VPI / VCI value = e / f is added
Cell.

In the router 71, the ATM input / output unit 6 receives this cell and transfers it to the ATM cell unit 5. The ATM cell forming unit 5 assembles a PPP packet from the received cells, stores the PPP packet in the PPP packet storage unit 4, and stores the fact that the stored PPP packet has the VPI / VCI value = e / f. It notifies the PPP packet distribution means 23 that the cell has been assembled.

The PPP packet distribution means 23 outputs the PPP
The PPP packet is read from the packet storage unit 4 and
The PPP packet is transferred to the PPP upper layer processing unit 22A based on the VPI / VCI value notified from the M cell unit 5. The PPP upper layer processing unit 22A converts the received PPP packet into an IP packet and stores it in the packet storage unit 3A, and notifies the packet distribution unit 21 of this storage.

The packet distribution unit 21 reads out an IP packet from the packet storage unit 3A and transfers it to the packet input / output unit 1. The packet input / output unit 1 sends out the received IP packet based on the address DA / SA = z / x.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect is that the device can be made compact and lightweight.

The reason is that the PPP connection based on each logical line can be multiplexed into one physical line, so that the scale of the line termination unit provided in the device can be reduced.

The second effect is that the transmission efficiency of the physical line in the ATM network can be improved.

The reason is that a plurality of PPs are assigned to one physical line.
This is because the P connection can be multiplexed, so that packets used for communication with a plurality of terminals can be exchanged using a single physical line.

The third effect is that packet communication can be speeded up.

The reason is that the framing of AAL5 can be used, and the
This is because the LC processing can be deleted.

The fourth effect is that the system can be simplified and the maintainability can be improved.

The reason is that various servers for address resolution in the ATM network are not required, and the user authentication function and the dynamic assignment function of the IP address can be provided by the PPP.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a main operation procedure in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing one configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a downstream operation applied to FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an upward operation applied to FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the related art using a PPP connection.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the related art using LAN emulation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 packet input / output unit 2 software processing unit 3A, 3B packet storage unit 4 PPP packet storage unit 5 ATM cell conversion unit 6 ATM cell input / output unit 21 packet distribution unit 22A, 22B PPP upper layer processing unit 23 PPP packet distribution unit 71 router 72A, 72B Terminal 73 ATM network 74 Logical line multiplexer 75, 76A, 76B Physical line 77A, 77B ATM logical line

Claims (6)

[Claims] [Claim 1] ATM (Asynch
ronous Transfer Mode) In a packet communication system for communicating via a network, a PPP (Point-to-Point protocol) which is connected to the ATM network and converts the international standard packet.
A based on a PPP packet based on A and the ATM network
A packet communication system comprising a conversion unit for performing mutual conversion with a TM cell. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the conversion means terminates a PPP connection formed inside each of a plurality of logical lines multiplexed on one physical line with respect to the ATM network, and A packet communication system comprising: a plurality of PPP upper layer processing means for performing upper layer processing based on the packet; and a distribution means for appropriately distributing a packet and a cell to be converted to the PPP upper layer processing means. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein:
A packet communication system comprising: a PPP packet distribution unit that distributes an ATM cell received from the ATM network to an appropriate PPP upper layer processing unit using a logical line identifier set for the physical line. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein:
A packet communication system comprising: a packet distribution unit that distributes a packet received from an upper layer to an appropriate PPP upper layer processing unit. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein:
A packet communication system, comprising: a packet distribution unit that distributes a packet received from an upper layer to an appropriate PPP upper layer processing unit using a packet address. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein:
Further, the ATM cell received from the ATM network is converted into an appropriate P using the logical circuit identifier set for the physical circuit.
A packet communication system including a PPP packet distribution unit for distributing to a PP upper layer processing unit.