KR20170030354A - Method for optimizing network resource in software defined networking environment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is to control a service by differentiating traffic of a plurality of user terminals. Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for optimizing a network resource of a switch and a router. Accordingly, services specialized for each internet user can be provided, and a network resource of the number of traffic control policies or the like of a limited switch/router can be effectively utilized.

Description

{METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING NETWORK RESOURCE IN SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING ENVIRONMENT IN SDN ENVIRONMENT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV), and more particularly, And more particularly,

In order to provide differentiated end-to-end service for each Internet user, telecommunication service provider has a BRAS (Broadband Remote Access Server) system in the edge network. The BRAS system performs the AAA (Authentication, Accounting, Authorization) process of the user terminal through interworking with the controller or the AAA server. As a result, the BRAS system internally manages the session for each terminal. That is, one session is created and managed according to the terminal MAC address, or one session is created and managed for each IP allocated to the terminal.

The BRAS system can provide differentiated services for each user by processing traffic of the user terminal according to the service policy included in the terminal session information. In this process, the network resource is used every time one session is created / managed for each terminal. When the session of the terminal is ended, the session is deleted to release the network resource.

The network resources of switches and routers are composed of information such as forwarding table, routing table, and access control list (ACL). This depends on the H / W (hardware) resources of switches and routers. do.

The BRAS system is also a form of a switch or a router, and has a limited network resource, that is, the number of manageable sessions, the number of controllable policies, and the like are set to a maximum value. Accordingly, it is necessary to efficiently manage the network resources. For example, the session is managed for a certain period of time, and when the time elapses, the network resource is released by deleting the session.

In the SDN / NFV environment, the controller server manages the network resources of the switch by passing user traffic control policies to the switch. For example, according to the ONF standard document, a method of deleting a flow entry of a flow table in order to efficiently manage a network resource has been described, including 1) a method in which a controller server transmits a flow entry deletion message to a switch, 2) a method in which the switch deletes the flow entry itself and notifies the controller through the management of the expiration time of the flow entry, 3) a method of deleting the flow entry according to the self-mechanism inside the switch, and notifying the controller of the flow entry.

According to the above-described conventional techniques, a traffic control policy for each user is applied to a switch and a router in order to provide a differentiated service for each Internet user, and the controller server issues a delete request or an expiration time It is deleted through information. In a hierarchical network structure of a telecommunications carrier, a router / switch located at a specific location can not directly check the connection state of the user terminal. Therefore, when the user terminal is disconnected, the router / The network resources such as the traffic control policy of the user terminal are occupied.

The maximum number of network resources such as the number of traffic control policies of the user terminals that can be managed by the network switch / router is limited, and the number of traffic control policies that can be managed as user terminals increase can be exceeded. In such a situation, the traffic control policy of the existing user terminals is deleted or the traffic control policy of the new user terminal is not applied, so that the service can not be normally provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to confirm the connection state of a user terminal in a network structure of a communication carrier including an SDN / NFV network, And a method for efficiently managing and optimizing network resources such as traffic control policies.

In order to achieve the above object, an operation procedure for optimizing network resources in an SDN environment and an interworking message specification between a switch / router and a controller are defined.

The method of efficiently managing and optimizing network resources in a network structure of a communication carrier including the SDN / NFV network according to the present invention can provide services specialized for each Internet user, And the number of traffic control policies of the network. It is possible to accommodate a large number of user terminals and to control a service in a situation where network resources are limited, thereby greatly reducing the network investment cost and the operation cost of the communication service provider.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for allocating network resources according to an IPoE scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a procedure for releasing a network resource through periodic terminal health check according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a procedure for determining a traffic control policy of a user terminal through a DHCP process based on ONF standards according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a procedure for binding an IP address of a user terminal to a traffic control policy of a user terminal through a DHCP process based on ONF standards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing.

The terms first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component. And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there is a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component or a combination thereof described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for allocating network resources according to an IPoE scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

(1) When the user terminal accesses the network, the DHCP discover message is transmitted to receive the IP allocation. When the Access network receives the Discover message, the access terminal transmits the IP address and physical port information of the Access network To the Edge network.

(2) The Edge network sends an Access Request message to the Controller server to confirm the traffic control policy of the user terminal while holding the DHCP Disocver message of the user terminal without forwarding it. The service policy of the terminal is applied. The Edge network then forwards the DHCP Discover message from the user terminal that was on hold to the DHCP server. The Controller server can be in the form of an AAA server,

(3) The DHCP server transmits a DHCP Offer message to the user terminal, and the user terminal transmits a DHCP request message to the DHCP server.

(4) The DHCP server transmits a DHCP Ack message to the edge network in order to finally allocate IP to the user terminal. The DHCP server consumes one IP address allocated to the user terminal from this time, and manages such that the IP address is not allocated to other user terminals until it is released.

(5) Upon receipt of the DHCP Ack message, the Edge network additionally includes the IP address assigned to the terminal in the traffic control policy information of the user terminal received from the controller. Through this, the IP address of the user terminal is bound to the traffic control policy, which divides the traffic into the IP address of the user terminal and enables traffic forwarding according to the control policy. In addition, when the IP address and the traffic control policy are completed, the Edge network transmits Accounting-Start (session start message) to the controller server, and the controller can bind the IP address of the user terminal to the session information managed by the controller .

(6) When the user terminal finally receives the DHCP Ack message, the user terminal is allocated an IP address from this time, and the user terminal is in a state in which the service can be normally used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a procedure for releasing a network resource through periodic terminal health-check according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

(1) According to the procedure of [FIG. 1] described above, the user terminal is allocated an IP address through the DHCP process, and the edge network manages the session information including the traffic control policy of the user terminal, . Also, the DHCP server manages the IP address allocation information of the user terminal, and the controller manages the session information including the IP address of the user terminal.

(2) The Access network is a network directly connected to the user terminal. The Access network transmits a periodic Health-check request message to the user terminal. When the Access network receives the Health-check response message from the corresponding user terminal It is recognized that the user terminal is normally connected. The health-check message may be in the form of an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) or an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). When the access network and the user terminal are directly connected, the connection state of the user terminal can be recognized through the confirmation of the physical link state without a confirmation procedure of the health-check message.

(3) When the user terminal is no longer using the service such as power-off, the network connection is terminated by itself without notifying the access terminal that the access is terminated. Or if the connection is terminated by the Graceful Shutdown method of the user terminal, the DHCP Release message can be transmitted to the Access network, and the Access network can recognize that the user terminal is disconnected.

(4) If the access terminal terminates the connection without notifying that the user terminal is not in a graceful shutdown mode but in a separate connection termination, if the Access network fails to receive the Health-check response message through the Health- It is recognized that the connection is terminated.

(5) At this time, the access network itself generates and transmits an access termination notification message of the user terminal so that it can be recognized by the upper network, the edge network and the DHCP server. The connection termination notification message may be in the form of a DHCP release message or the like.

(6) When the Edge network receives the user terminal connection completion notification message, the Edge network deletes the session information of the corresponding terminal and delivers the user terminal connection completion notification message to the DHCP server. And the Accounting-Stop message is sent to the Contoller server.

(7) Upon receipt of the user terminal connection completion notification message, the DHCP server releases the IP address of the user terminal, and when the Controller server receives the Accounting-Stop message, the session information of the corresponding user terminal is deleted .

3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a procedure for determining a traffic control policy of a user terminal through a DHCP process based on ONF standards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a procedure for binding an IP address of a user terminal to a traffic control policy of a user terminal through a DHCP process based on ONF standards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

Claims (1)

A method for optimizing network resources in an SDN environment.

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