KR20150108292A - Apparatus and Method of Next Generation Mobile Network based on Link Layer Routing - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a next generation mobile communication network device using link layered routing and a method thereof. The next generation mobile communication device using link layered routing according to an embodiment of the present invention uses an existing IP address as an identifier, uses a link layer address as a locator, and provides mobility by using a location server, which manages mapping between the identifier and the locator.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a network device and a method using link layer routing,

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a structure and a procedure of a next generation mobile communication network using a link layer routing method.

The 3GPP mobile communication network consists of LTE (Long Term Evolution), which is a radio area technology, and EPC (Evolved Packet Core) technology, which is a core network technology.

1 is a basic configuration diagram of a fourth generation mobile communication network. Referring to FIG. 1, the 3GPP mobile communication network is composed of LTE (Long Term Evolution), which is a radio section technology, and EPC (Evolved Packet Core) technology, which is a core network technology.

In addition, the EPC is used for supporting mobility between an S-GW (Serving Gateway) for packet transmission between 3GPP series wireless technologies, a P-GW (packet data network gateway) for packet delivery with non-3GPP series wireless technology, and LTE And an MME (Mobility Management Entity).

EPC basically uses IP (Internet Protocol) network technology and uses GTP, which is a tunneling technique between P-GW and S-GW, mainly for packet transmission and mobility management on the core network.

However, the fourth generation mobile communication network based on the above-mentioned structure has the following problems according to the increase of data traffic.

First, GTP encapsulates IP packets, and adds external IP header, UDP header, and GTP header according to this method. As a result, an overhead of 40 to 60 bytes per packet is generated for the initial IP packet, which may be a main factor for lowering the communication efficiency in the mobile communication network.

Second, the P-GW acts as an end point of the GTP tunnel. If the S-GW is changed due to the movement of the host, a new S-GW and GTP tunnel formation are required.

Third, because P-GW acts as an anchor of all packet forwarding, it causes inefficiency in route through P-GW even if transmitting host is nearby, and causes unnecessary traffic increase in network.

Fourth, because of the same reason as the third one, traffic is concentrated on the P-GW, which requires a large-capacity and expensive P-GW, and when the P-GW fails, packets can not be transmitted to the entire network, .

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a method for flatly designing a mobile communication network without a central anchor has been proposed under the name of UFA (Ultra Flat Architecture).

2 is a structural view of a mobile communication network with an evolved flat structure.

2, in the next-generation mobile communication network having a flat structure, most network functions are distributed to the base station, and each access node (AN) has not only a wireless connection function but also MME, S-GW and P- It has a structure to replace some functions that have been performed.

However, this flat structure is fundamentally based on the IP networking technology in accordance with the All-IP network paradigm, and has the disadvantage that IP networking technology still has a limitation.

First, there is a problem that the cost of configuring an IP network and setting a router or the like to match the configuration, and the cost of changing the network configuration are large.

Second, since the IP address is used as an identifier of an ongoing session, and is used as a location for routing, a new IP address must be obtained at the time of handover of the host, which causes a problem that an ongoing session is disconnected.

In order to solve this problem, there have been proposed techniques for performing routing required for multi-hop inter-link transmission at the link layer instead of the 3-layer, and IETF TRILL and IEEE SPB are typical technologies.

However, most of these technologies are considered only for a limited scale network such as a campus network or a data center, so that a method of applying the technology to a large-scale network such as a mobile communication network has not yet been proposed.

The present invention provides a network apparatus and method using link layer routing to structurally solve problems such as overhead, traffic concentration, and overhead of a 4th generation mobile communication network.

The routing bridge device includes a routing bridge cache for storing an IP address and a link layer address of a communication host, an IP address and a link layer address of the communication host in the routing bridge cache, A communication host registration unit for registering its own link layer address in a location server; and an address registration unit for registering the address of the first destination communication host connected to the first destination communication host from the location server, A packet transmission processing unit for obtaining a link layer address of the first routing bridge apparatus and transmitting an IP address and a first packet of the first destination communication host to a first routing bridge apparatus corresponding to the obtained link layer address, Upon receiving the IP address and the second packet of the second destination communication host from the routing bridge device, Searching for routing bridge cache to include the second destination packet reception processing to retrieve the link-layer address of the communicating hosts, and the second transmits the second packet to the communication destination host.

A method for transmitting a packet using link layer routing in a routing bridge device, the method comprising: receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from a communication host; receiving, from the location server, a routing bridge device Obtaining a link layer address, and transmitting the IP address and packet of the destination communication host to the routing bridge device corresponding to the obtained link layer address.

A method of receiving a packet in a routing bridge device, comprising: receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from another routing bridge device; searching a routing bridge cache to search for a link layer address mapped to the IP address And transmitting the packet to the destination communication host using the link layer address.

The present invention relates to a handover method in a routing bridge device, wherein, as a communication host is handed over from a first routing bridge device to a second routing bridge device, the second routing bridge device further comprises: Transmitting a handover indication message including an IP address of the communication host and a link layer address of the communication host to a neighboring routing bridge device connected to the neighboring routing bridge device; To the second routing bridge device.

A method of transfer in a gateway, the method comprising: receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from a communication host connected to the Internet; acquiring a link layer address of the routing bridge device to which the destination communication host is connected, And transmitting the IP address and packet of the destination communication host to the routing bridge device corresponding to the obtained link layer address.

The new mobile communication network structure based on the link layer routing and related procedures have the following advantages compared to the existing 4G mobile communication network or IP based networking technology.

First, the efficiency of packet forwarding can be improved by using only routing at the link layer without using additional headers such as GTP.

Second, it delivers packets through the link layer routing rather than the central anchor such as P-GW, thus avoiding various problems such as concentration of traffic due to centralized anchor, single failure point, and unnecessary traffic in core network. can do.

Third, since the IP network is not used in the mobile communication network, the cost for IP network configuration and router setting can be reduced.

Fourthly, it is possible to reduce the network construction cost by constructing a bridged network that is less expensive than a router.

Fifth, by using only the IP address as a placeholder instead of the identifier, the existing IP address can be maintained as it is in the handover, ensuring the continuity of the session.

Sixth, by using the IP address as the upper layer identifier, it provides compatibility to use existing Internet application even when constructing a new network.

Seventh, link layer routing minimizes communication re-routing even during handover, minimizing packet loss and delay.

1 is a basic configuration diagram of a fourth generation mobile communication network,
Fig. 2 is a structure of a mobile communication network with an evolved flat structure,
3 is a conceptual diagram of an identifier-based communication structure in a flat structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a flowchart illustrating a registration procedure of a mobile communication host according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a packet delivery procedure when communication between mobile hosts is performed in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a packet delivery procedure from a mobile communication host to an Internet host in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a packet delivery procedure from an Internet host to a mobile communication host in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a handover procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention;
9 is a configuration diagram of a routing bridge device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and this may vary depending on the intention of the user, the operator, or the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

The present invention uses an existing IP address as an identifier only in a mobile communication network, uses a MAC address of a link layer as a location, and uses the link layer routing to transmit a packet to a destination mobile communication host. By using this concept, it is possible to maintain the IP address even when the mobile communication host moves, so that the continuity of the session can be ensured and the complexity and cost due to the IP network configuration can be reduced.

3 is a conceptual diagram of an identifier-based communication structure in a flat structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. This is merely an example of the present invention, and various forms of network configurations can be made to provide routing of the link layer in other forms.

3, the present invention includes a base station (BS) node 100 having a routing bridge (RB) function, an intermediate routing bridge (RB) 100- 1), a gateway (GW) 200 for interworking between the mobile communication network and the Internet, a location server 200 for maintaining mapping information of an IP address of the mobile communication host 1 and a location of a routing bridge in which the mobile communication host is located, (Location Server) 300. The routing bridge 100 includes a routing bridge cache 110 for holding mapping information on an IP address of a mobile communication host and a link layer address of an actual mobile communication host. Here, the routing bridge cache 110 is described as being included in the routing bridge, but this is only an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

The gateway 200 is responsible for interworking with the Internet and is responsible for signaling processing, packet buffering and forwarding for interworking. The location server 300 registers, maintains, and manages mapping information between an IP of each host and a routing bridge link layer address in each mobile communication network.

The routing bridge cache 110 registers, maintains, and manages mapping information between an IP address of a mobile communication host and an address of a link layer in each base station routing bridge 100.

The routing bridge 100-1 provides a function of transferring a link layer packet (or frame) to a destination host using link layer address information. To this end, a pre-routing procedure is required and this routing procedure may be provided by a centralized control device such as an existing distributed link state routing protocol such as IS-IS or a Software Defined Network (SDN).

The routing bridge 100-1 performs a function of forwarding a packet (or a frame) to a destination based on the pre-set routing information.

The base station 100 provides a wireless interface to the mobile communication host.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a registration procedure of a mobile communication host according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that each mobile communication host has a static IP address. However, a case where a mobile communication host receives a dynamic IP address such as DHCP can be similarly applied. In this case, the registration procedure may be integrated with the IP address acquisition procedure .

Referring to Figure 4, When the mobile communication host is newly connected to the network (or the mobile communication host changes the connection point of the network), the link layer connection procedure is performed (S410). The linking procedure of this link layer may differ depending on the characteristics of each link (eg LTE, WiFi, WiMAX, etc.).

In step S420, the base station routing bridge acquires IP information (IP_a) and link layer address information (MAC_a) of the mobile communication host and stores it in the routing bridge cache managed by the base station routing bridge. Additional procedures may be required for existing connection procedures.

The routing bridge then registers information on the mobile communication host in the location server (S430). The information stored at this time is the IP address (IP_a) of the mobile communication host and the link layer address (MAC_RB_a) of the corresponding routing bridge.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting a packet when communication between mobile hosts is performed in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the routing procedure necessary for packet transmission is preset by a routing protocol such as IS-IS or an SDN controller.

Referring to Figure 5, If the mobile communication hosts MAC_a and IP_a desire to communicate with the mobile communication hosts MAC_b and IP_b, the base station routing bridge RB_a serving as the destination of the mobile communication hosts MAC_a and IP_a, And transmits a packet (S510).

The base station routing bridge sends a query message to the location server to know the location of the mobile communication host using the destination IP address (IP_b) (S520). At this time, in order to prevent packet loss, the base station routing bridge may buffer transmission packets for a certain period of time, which is implementation-dependent.

The location server searches the link layer address information MAC_RB_b of the BS routing bridge in which the mobile communication host having IP_b is located in the transmission base station routing bridge in step S530 and responds to the link layer address information MAC_RB_b of the found BS routing bridge (S540).

The transmitting-side base station routing bridge transmits the packet to the receiving-side base station routing bridge using the link layer address information of the receiving-side base station routing bridge (S550).

Upon receiving the transmission packet, the receiving-side base station routing bridge determines the link layer address (MAC_b) of the receiving mobile communication host by using the cache information managed by the receiving-side base station routing bridge (S560) (S570).

6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of transmitting a packet from a mobile communication host to an Internet host in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile communication host transmits a packet having the IP address (IP_x) of the correspondent host as a destination identifier to the BS routing bridge (S610).

The base station routing bridge can know that the IP address is outside the mobile communication network through the prefix information of the IP address of the destination and forward it to the gateway (S620).

The gateway transmits the packet to the destination host through the standard IP routing with the destination IP address as a destination (S630).

7 is a flowchart illustrating a packet delivery procedure from an Internet host to a mobile communication host in a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the Internet host IP_x transmits the packet to the gateway of the mobile communication network through IP routing using the IP address (IP_b) of the known mobile communication host (S710).

The gateway queries the location server of the current location of the receiving mobile communication host using the IP address (IP_b) of the host (S720), the link layer address of the routing bridge servicing the host.

In the present invention, it is assumed that the mobile communication host has a static IP address (i.e., IP_b in the above example). If the mobile host has a dynamic IP address such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Additional means for recognizing the host may be required. For example, assume an additional naming server that recognizes a mobile host as a static name, such as a phone number, and maps it to a dynamic IP address. Here, the static telephone number may be a static IP address.

The location server replies MAC_RB_b, which is the routing bridge link layer address for IP_b (S730).

The gateway transmits the packet to the receiving-side routing bridge using this information (S740).

The receiving-side routing bridge finally transfers the packet to the receiving mobile communication host using the cache information managed by the receiving-side routing bridge (S750).

8A and 8B are flowcharts illustrating a handover procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the mobile communication host IP_a includes RB_a- During the communication with the mobile communication host IP_c through the path between -RB_b and RB_c (S810), the mobile communication host IP_c changes its attachment point from RB_c to RB_d due to the handover (S820).

In order to minimize the packet loss at the time of handover, the RB_d transmits a handover indication message to the RB_b, which is the shortest distance crossing point of the path, to notify that handover has occurred (S830).

The RB_b checks the IP header part of the packet forwarded to the RB_c and forwards it to the RB_d if it is IP_c (S840). As a result, the path of the packet transmitted from IP_a to IP_c is RB_a- ... -RB_b-RB_d. Here, although the routing bridge RB_d that has moved the handover information performs signaling, the routing bridge RB_c or the mobile communication host IP_c may perform this role depending on the implementation or characteristics of the wireless network . The RB_d finally forwards the packet to the receiving mobile communication host IP_c (S850).

9 is a configuration diagram of a routing bridge device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9, the routing bridge apparatus includes a routing bridge cache 910, a communication host registration unit 920, a packet transmission processing unit 930, and a packet reception processing unit 940.

The routing bridge cache 910 stores the IP address of the communication host and the link layer address.

The communication host registration unit 920 stores the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the routing bridge cache, and registers the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the location server 300.

The packet transmission processing unit 930 receives the IP address of the first destination communication host and the first packet from the communication host and receives the link layer address of the first routing bridge apparatus to which the first destination communication host is connected from the location server 300 And transmits the IP address of the first destination communication host and the first packet to the first routing bridge device corresponding to the obtained link layer address. The packet transmission processing unit 930 further includes a buffer for buffering the first packet while obtaining the link layer address from the location server 300. [ The packet transmission processing unit 930 analyzes the prefix of the IP address of the first destination communication host and transmits the IP address and the first packet of the first destination communication host to the gateway in case of an IP address outside the mobile communication network .

Upon receiving the IP address and the second packet of the second destination communication host from the second routing bridge device, the packet reception processing unit 940 searches the routing bridge cache to search for the link layer address of the second destination communication host, 2 < / RTI > destination communication host.

The handover processor 950 transmits a handover indication message to the nearest routing bridge device as the communication host is handed over. In addition, the handover processing unit 950 controls the communication host registration unit to register the handed-over communication host.

Claims (12)

A routing bridge cache for storing an IP address and a link layer address of the communication host,
A communication host registration unit for storing the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the routing bridge cache and for registering the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the location server;
Obtains a link layer address of a first routing bridge device to which the first destination communication host is connected from the location server upon receiving a first packet from the communication host and an IP address of the first destination communication host, A packet transmission processing unit for transmitting an IP address and a first packet of the first destination communication host to a first routing bridge device corresponding to a layer address;
Receiving the IP address and the second packet of the second destination communication host from the second routing bridge device, searching the routing bridge cache to search the link layer address of the second destination communication host, And a packet reception processor for transmitting the second packet.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the packet transmission processing unit
Further comprising a buffer for buffering the first packet while obtaining a link layer address from the location server.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the packet transmission processing unit
Wherein the IP address of the first destination communication host and the first packet are transmitted to the gateway when the IP address is outside the mobile communication network by analyzing a prefix of the IP address of the first destination communication host. .
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a handover processing unit for transmitting a handover indication message to a nearest neighboring routing device as the communication host is handed over.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the handover processor
Wherein the communication host registration unit controls the registration of the handover communication host.
A packet transmission method using link layer routing in a routing bridge device,
Receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from the communication host;
Obtaining a link layer address of a routing bridge device to which the destination communication host is connected from the location server;
And transmitting the IP address and packet of the destination communication host to the routing bridge device corresponding to the obtained link layer address.
The method according to claim 6,
Further comprising the step of buffering the first packet while obtaining a link layer address from the location server.
The method according to claim 6,
And analyzing a prefix of an IP address of the destination communication host and transmitting an IP address and a packet of the destination communication host to the gateway when the destination IP address is an IP address outside the mobile communication network.
A method for receiving a packet in a routing bridge device,
Receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from another routing bridge device;
Searching the routing bridge cache for a link layer address mapped to the IP address,
And transmitting the packet to a destination communication host using the link layer address.
In a handover method in routing bridge devices,
As the communication host is handed over from the first routing bridge device to the second routing bridge device, the second routing bridge device sends the IP address of the communication host to the first routing bridge device and the closest routing bridge device to which it is connected Address and a link layer address of its own,
Wherein the nearest routing bridge device comprises: transmitting a packet transmitted to the IP address to the second routing bridge device.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the second routing bridge device further comprises the step of storing the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the routing bridge cache and registering the IP address and the link layer address of the communication host in the location server. Way.
In a transmission method in a gateway,
Receiving an IP address and a packet of a destination communication host from a communication host connected to the Internet;
Obtaining a link layer address of a routing bridge device to which the destination communication host is connected from the location server;
And transmitting the IP address and packet of the destination communication host to the routing bridge device corresponding to the obtained link layer address.

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