TW202123733A - Message routing system and method for mobile edge computing devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a message routing system for a mobile edge computing (MEC) device. A forwarding module is setup between the MEC device and the APP server. Forwarding rules are maintained through a forwarding control module, and a mobility of a user equipment is considered to update the forwarding rules at any time. Therefore, when the user equipment transmits packets to and from the APP server through the MEC device, the packets can find the correct transmission path and maintain the service without interruption, regardless of whether the packet is to handover in the base station service area. Thus, the quality and efficiency of users' internet access are improved. The present invention further provides a message routing method for a mobile edge computing device.

Description

Information routing system and method for mobile edge computing equipment

The present invention relates to mobile network technology, in particular to a traffic routing system and method for handover between user terminals and the service range of mobile edge computing devices.

With the rapid increase of mobile devices and the diversified trend of network streaming services, the existing mobile network (for example, the mobile network provided by the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) core network of 4G communication network) The load is getting heavier and heavier. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) equipment is one way to solve this problem. By using the service of the application server (APP server, for example, the server of the application "line") within the service range of the MEC base station through the mobile network provided by the EPC, the user terminal (User Equipment, UE) can Enjoy faster service and ultra-low latency application experience with local (localhost) uninstallation, and at the same time reduce the burden on the EPC mobile network.

Under the traditional EPC mobile network, when the user moves and causes the UE to handover between different EPC base stations, the EPC will communicate with each other and change the IP signaling, so that the packet can be correctly found and used when it is downstream to the UE. The EPC base station after handing over is used for packet transmission. However, the current MEC equipment does not have the aforementioned IP information communication mechanism.

Therefore, when the user's UE is handed over from the original local MEC base station range to the neighboring MEC base station (or from the neighboring MEC base station range to the local MEC base station range) when using the application service, Packets from the application server (APP server) will not be sent to the correct MEC base station, causing the connection between the user terminal and the application server to be interrupted and the application service cannot be used.

For example, Figure 1 shows a system architecture diagram of a conventional mobile network system using MEC equipment. In this configuration, the application server (APP server) 120 is connected to the MEC1 111 at the local end 101 or connected to the MEC2 112 and MEC3 113 of the neighboring end 102 through an IP network to provide application services. Assuming that the user terminal (UE) originally connected to the application server 120 and used the application service within the service range of the base station (eNB1) of the MEC1 111 of the local terminal 101, the application server 120 would record the source IP of the UE ( Source IP can also be recorded as SrcIP) and follow the original connection path of the UE to the application server 120 to downlink the packet. However, when the UE is moved into the service range of the base station of the MEC equipment of the neighboring end 102 (for example, the service range of the base station (eNB2 or eNB3) of the MEC2 112 or MEC3 113 of the neighboring end 102), the application server 120 does not Knowing the path through which the packet should be sent back causes the connection between the UE and the application server 120 to be interrupted, and the UE cannot continue to use the application service until the UE connects to the application server 120 again through the new base station.

Therefore, how to establish a mechanism for the local MEC equipment, the neighboring MEC equipment and the application server to route packets to each other, so as to cause the UE to handover between the base stations of the local MEC and the neighboring MEC when the user moves It is one of the important issues in this field to maintain uninterrupted application services.

In order to solve the aforementioned problems and other problems, the present invention provides a traffic routing system for mobile edge computing devices, including: a forwarding control module, which is used to implement a forwarding control mechanism; and a first forwarding address at the local end The module is in communication connection with the forwarding control module for executing the first forwarding mechanism of the application service according to the forwarding control mechanism; and the application server at the local end is connected to the first forwarding module Group connection to provide the application service.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, it further includes: a first mobile edge computing device located at the local end, which is connected to the first forwarding module to provide user terminals with access to the application service, wherein: The application service includes: receiving, by the application server, an uplink packet from the user terminal from the first mobile edge computing device; and sending a downlink packet from the application server to the first mobile edge computing device, and then sending To the user terminal.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the forwarding control mechanism includes: maintaining the first forwarding rule of the first forwarding module while the user terminal is online within the service range of the first mobile edge computing device The forwarding rule in the table, where the forwarding rule is not to forward the packet containing the user IP of the user terminal; and when the user terminal leaves the service range of the first mobile edge computing device, it will The forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table is deleted.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the first forwarding mechanism includes: enabling the first forwarding module to send the uplink packet to the application server without forwarding according to the first forwarding rule; And order the first forwarding module to transmit the downlink packet to the first mobile edge computing device without forwarding according to the forwarding rule.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the multiple includes: a second forwarding module at the neighboring end, which is in communication connection with the forwarding control module and the first forwarding module, and is used for according to the forwarding module. The address control mechanism executes the second forwarding mechanism of the application service; and the second mobile edge computing device at the neighboring terminal is connected to the second forwarding module for providing the user terminal to access the application service, Wherein, the application service includes: receiving, by the application server, an uplink packet from the user terminal from the second mobile edge computing device; and sending a downlink packet from the application server to the second mobile edge computing device, Then, the downlink packet is transmitted to the user terminal.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the forwarding control mechanism includes: enabling the forwarding control module to maintain the first forwarding mode while the user terminal is online within the service range of the second mobile edge computing device The first forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table of the group and the second forwarding rule in the second forwarding rule table of the second forwarding module; and making the forwarding control module in the user When the terminal leaves the service range of the second mobile edge computing device, the first forwarding rule of the first forwarding rule table and the second forwarding rule of the second forwarding rule table are deleted.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the method for the application server to receive the uplink packets from the user terminal from the second mobile edge computing device includes the following steps: making the second forwarding module receive The upstream packet from the second mobile edge computing device, wherein the source IP of the upstream packet is the user IP of the user terminal; the second forwarding module is made to execute the second forwarding mechanism, and the upstream packet The source IP is forwarded to the forwarded IP according to the second forwarding rule and then sent to the first forwarding module; and the first forwarding module is made to execute the first forwarding mechanism, and the second forwarding mechanism will be transferred from the second forwarding module. The source IP of the upstream packet of the address module is forwarded back to the user IP according to the first forwarding rule and then sent to the application server.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing system, the method of sending downlink packets from the application server to the second mobile edge computing device and then to the user terminal includes the following steps: making the first forwarding module The group receives the downlink packet from the application server, where the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP of the user terminal; make the first forwarding module Execute the first forwarding mechanism, forward the destination IP of the downlink packet to a forwarded IP according to the first forwarding rule, and then send it to the second forwarding module; and make the second forwarding module execute the The second forwarding mechanism, which forwards the destination IP of the downlink packet from the first forwarding module back to the user IP according to the second forwarding rule, and then transmits it to the second mobile edge computing device, and then the downstream The packet is sent to the user terminal.

The present invention further provides a traffic routing method for mobile edge computing equipment, including: making the forwarding control module execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the information of the user terminal connected to the application server of the local end; making the application The server provides an application service; the first forwarding module at the local end executes the first forwarding mechanism of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the steps for the forwarding control module to execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the message of the user terminal connected to the application server of the local end include the following sub-steps: making the forwarding control The module receives the message that the user terminal goes online within the service range of the first mobile edge computing device at the local end; and makes the forwarding control module new in the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module Add a forwarding rule for the user IP of the user terminal, where the forwarding rule is no forwarding.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the forwarding control mechanism further includes the following sub-steps: making the forwarding control module receive a message that the user terminal leaves the service range of the first mobile edge computing device; The forwarding control module deletes the forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the first forwarding mechanism of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The step includes the following sub-steps: making the first forwarding module receive the uplink packet from the user terminal that the first mobile edge computing device uplinks, wherein the uplink packet The source IP is the user IP; order the first forwarding module to query the forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and make the first forwarding module according to the The forwarding rule sends the upstream packet to the application server without forwarding.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the first forwarding mechanism of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The steps include the following sub-steps: enabling the first forwarding module to receive the downlink packet that the application server wants to download to the user terminal, wherein the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP; making the first forwarding module The address module queries the forwarding rule for the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and instructs the first forwarding module to perform the downstream packet without forwarding according to the forwarding rule It is sent to the first mobile edge computing device, and then the downlink packet is sent to the user terminal.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the step of making the forwarding control module execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the message that the user terminal connects to the application server includes the following sub-steps: making the forwarding control module receive The message that the user terminal goes online within the service range of the second mobile edge computing device at the neighboring end; make the forwarding control module add information about in the second forwarding rule table of the second forwarding module at the neighboring end The second forwarding rule of the user IP of the user terminal; and making the forwarding control module add the user about the user terminal to the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module of the local end The first forwarding rule of IP.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the forwarding control mechanism further includes the following sub-steps: making the forwarding control module receive a message that the user terminal leaves the service range of the second mobile edge computing device; The forwarding control module deletes the second forwarding rule of the second forwarding rule table; and ordering the forwarding control module to delete the first forwarding rule of the first forwarding rule table.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, it further includes: making the second forwarding module of the neighboring terminal execute the second forwarding between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism. The addressing mechanism includes the following sub-steps: making the second forwarding module receive the uplink packet from the user terminal that the second mobile edge computing device uplinks, wherein the source IP of the uplink packet is the user IP; The second forwarding module queries the second forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the second forwarding rule table; and instructs the second forwarding module to change the second forwarding rule according to the second forwarding rule The source IP of the upstream packet is forwarded to the forwarded IP and then sent to the first forwarding module at the local end.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the first forwarding mechanism of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The steps include the following sub-steps: making the first forwarding module receive the upstream packet from the neighboring second forwarding module, wherein the source IP of the upstream packet is the forwarding IP; making the first The forwarding module queries the first forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and instructs the first forwarding module to packetize the uplink packet according to the first forwarding rule The source IP is forwarded from the forwarding IP back to the user IP and then sent to the application server.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the first forwarding mechanism of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The steps include the following sub-steps: make the first forwarding module receive the downlink packet that the application server of the local end wants to download to the user terminal, wherein the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP; A forwarding module queries the first forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and instructs the first forwarding module to register the packet according to the first forwarding rule The destination IP forwarding is the forwarding IP and sent to the second forwarding module of the neighbor.

In the above-mentioned traffic routing method, the multiple steps include: making the second forwarding module of the neighboring terminal execute the second forwarding of the application service between the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The addressing mechanism includes the following sub-steps: enabling the second forwarding module to receive the downstream packet from the first forwarding module at the local end, wherein the destination IP of the downstream packet is the forwarding IP; The second forwarding module queries the second forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the second forwarding rule table; and instructs the second forwarding module to download the data according to the second forwarding rule The destination IP of the packet is forwarded from the forwarding IP back to the user IP and then sent to the second mobile edge computing device, and then the downstream packet is sent to the user terminal.

In summary, the traffic routing system and method for mobile edge computing devices of the present invention establishes a complete packet routing mechanism between the MEC device and the application server at the local end and the neighboring end. Set up a forwarding module between servers, and maintain forwarding rules through the forwarding control module, so that the packets sent between the local MEC device and the application server can be directly routed to the destination according to the forwarding rules, and the neighboring MEC The packets sent between the device and the application server are forwarded and then forwarded, and the forwarding rules are updated at any time in consideration of the mobility of the user terminal. Therefore, when the user terminal transmits packets to each other through the MEC equipment and the application server, the packets can find the correct transmission path under any conditions and maintain uninterrupted services, thus improving the user's Internet quality and efficiency.

100‧‧‧User terminal, UE

101‧‧‧Local

102‧‧‧Neighboring

111‧‧‧MEC1

112‧‧‧MEC2

113‧‧‧MEC3

120‧‧‧Application server, APP server

200‧‧‧Redirection control module, SDN controller

201~203‧‧‧Redirection module, SDN switch

211‧‧‧MEC1

212‧‧‧MEC2

213‧‧‧MEC3

220‧‧‧Application server, APP server

S301~S305‧‧‧Step

S401~S405‧‧‧Step

S501~S508‧‧‧Step

S601~S605‧‧‧Step

S701~S704‧‧‧Step

S801~S804‧‧‧Step

S1~S15‧‧‧Step

Figure 1 shows the system architecture diagram of the conventional mobile network system using MEC equipment;

Figure 2 shows the system architecture diagram of the traffic routing system for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a flow chart showing the partial steps of the traffic routing method for MEC equipment of the present invention;

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the traffic routing system and method for MEC equipment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the implementation aspect of the traffic routing system and method for MEC equipment of the present invention.

The following specific examples are used to illustrate the implementation of this case. Those who are familiar with this technique can easily understand the other advantages and effects of this case from the content disclosed in this article. This note The structure, proportion, size, etc. shown in the drawings in the book are only used to match the contents disclosed in the manual for the understanding and reading of those who are familiar with the art. They are not used to limit the conditions that can be implemented in this case. Any modification, change or adjustment shall still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in this case without affecting the effects and objectives that can be achieved in this case.

The traffic routing system using mobile edge computing (MEC) equipment of the present invention is shown in Figure 2, where the MEC equipment at the local end 101 (ie, MEC1 211) shares a forwarding mode with the application server 220 The multiple MEC devices (ie, MEC2 212 and MEC3 213) of the group 201 and the neighboring end 102 are equipped with forwarding modules (for example, forwarding modules 202 and 203), and are located at the remote end or in the cloud. The forwarding control module 200 manages each forwarding module. In this configuration, the forwarding control module 200 executes the forwarding control mechanism for a user terminal (UE) and each forwarding module (the forwarding modules 201, 202, and 203) executes the corresponding forwarding mechanism , So that when the UE uses the application service of the application server 220 (APP server, which is connected to the MEC1 211 through the forwarding module 201), even if the user moves and causes the UE to be at the local end 101 and the neighboring end 102 The base stations (eNB1, eNB2, eNB3) of the MEC equipment handover (handover) between the service areas, and the packets can still be routed in the correct way between the UE and the application server, so as to achieve the effect of uninterrupted application services.

In one embodiment, for example, the application server 220 of the traffic routing system of the present invention is a server used for a live concert scene, and the UE can enjoy low latency within the MEC1 211 service range of the local terminal 101 (for example, , Zero second delay) live broadcast service. However, when the user needs to move to the neighbor 102 during the live concert of the concert (for example, move to the service area of MEC2 212 or MEC3 213), in order to keep the live broadcast service of the concert uninterrupted, the forwarding address of the local terminal 101 can be used The module 201 and the forwarding module 202 or 203 of the neighbor 102 will be in the application server 220 The packets transmitted between the UE and the UE are forwarded to find the correct path for transmission, so that the UE does not need to re-establish a connection with the application server 220 when it is delivered to the service area of the neighboring 102 MEC device and can enjoy the singing without interruption Services that will be broadcast live.

The following is a step-by-step flowchart in Figures 3 to 8 to illustrate the implementation of the forwarding control mechanism between the forwarding control module 200 and the forwarding modules 201, 202, and 203 of the present invention, and the packet forwarding mechanism.

Figures 3 to 4 respectively show the forwarding control mechanism of the user on-line and user off-line of the forwarding control module 200 of the present invention.

Please refer to Figure 3 first, when the UE connects to the MEC device (for example, any one of MEC1 211, MEC2 212 or MEC3 213) through the base station, the MEC device will obtain the UE’s user IP and notify the forwarding control module The 200 UE goes online message to start the forwarding control mechanism for the user to go online.

At this time, the forwarding control module 200 judges whether the UE is online at the local end 101 or the neighboring end 102 in steps S301 and S303. When it is determined in step S301 that the UE is online at the local end 101 (that is, the UE is connected within the service range of the base station eNB1 of the MEC1 211), the forwarding control module 200 will set the forwarding rule regarding the user IP of the UE It is added to the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101. At this time, the forwarding rules about the user IP assigned by the forwarding control module 200 to the forwarding module 201 do not require the forwarding of packets from the MEC1 211 or the application server 220, so the forwarding rules on the MEC1 211 and the application server The upstream and downstream packets between 220 can be directly routed to the destination through the forwarding module 201.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S303 that the UE is online at the neighbor 102 (that is, the UE is connected within the service range of the base station eNB2 or eNB3 of the MEC2 212 or MEC3 213 Line), the forwarding control module 200 performs step S304 to allocate a set of forwarding rules including the user IP (which can also be recorded as UE IP) and the forwarding IP corresponding to the user IP to the forwarding mode of the neighboring end. In the forwarding rule table of group 202 or 203, it stipulates that the source IP (SrcIP) of the packet must be converted from the original user IP to the forwarding IP when the packet is upstream, and its destination IP (DstIP) must be changed when the packet is downstream From the forwarding IP back to the user IP. Then step S305 is executed to add the corresponding forwarding rule corresponding to the forwarding rule established in S304 to the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101, which stipulates that the source IP of the packet must be sent when it goes up. The forwarding IP is converted back to the user IP, and the destination IP is changed from the original user IP to the forwarding IP when the packet goes down. With the forwarding rules established above, when the UE uses the application service of the application server 220 at the neighboring end 102 through the MEC device (for example, MEC2 212 or MEC3 213), it can be forwarded to the corresponding forwarding address of the neighboring end 102 MEC device. The module 202 or 203 and the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101 execute the forwarding mechanism of the packet to confirm the existence of the correct transmission path of the packet before transmitting.

Please continue to refer to Figure 4. When the UE leaves the service area of the base station of the MEC equipment (for example, MEC1 211, MEC2 212, or MEC3 213), the MEC equipment determines that the UE has delivered to the service area of other base stations or Stop using the application service, and send a notification that the user is offline to the forwarding control module 200 to start the forwarding control mechanism for the user to go offline.

In steps S401 and S403, the forwarding control module 200 determines whether the UE is offline at the local end 101 or the neighboring end 102, respectively. When it is determined in step S401 that the UE is offline at the local end 101 (that is, the UE has left the service range of the base station eNB1 of the MEC1 211), the forwarding control module 200 executes step S402 to transfer the forwarding rules regarding the user IP from the local end The forwarding module 201 of 101 is deleted from the forwarding rule table.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S403 that the UE is offline at the neighbor 102 (that is, the UE has left the service range of the base station eNB1 or eNB2 of the MEC2 212 or MEC3 213), the forwarding control module 200 performs step S404 to connect the neighbor The forwarding rules about the user IP of the forwarding module 202 or 203 of the terminal 102 are deleted from the forwarding rule table, and then step S405 is executed to remove the corresponding forwarding rules from the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201 of the local terminal 101 Deleted.

Figures 5 to 6 respectively show that the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101 performs packet forwarding (ie, sending the packet to the application server 220) and downstream (ie, receiving the packet from the application server 220) forwarding. Flow chart of the steps of the mechanism.

Please refer to Fig. 5, when the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101 performs packet uploading, it performs steps S501 and S504 respectively to determine whether the packet comes from the MEC device (for example, MEC1 211) of the local end 101 or an IP network ( Also, the packet may come from the MEC device MEC2 212 or MEC3 213 of the neighboring terminal 102). If the packet comes from the MEC1 211 of the local end 101, the forwarding module 201 determines the forwarding rules regarding the source IP of the packet (this time may be the user IP of the UE) in step S502 (for example, step S302 in Figure 3 is established) Whether the forwarding rule of the forwarding mechanism is not implemented) exists in the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201. If yes, the forwarding module 201 executes steps S503 and S508 to directly route the packet to the application server 220 without forwarding according to the forwarding rules.

When it is determined in step S504 that the packet received by the forwarding module 201 is from an IP network, the forwarding module 201 determines in step S505 the forwarding rules regarding the source IP of the packet (which may be a forwarding IP at this time) ( For example, whether the forwarding rule established in step S305 in FIG. 3) exists in the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201. In the case of no, step S507 is executed to discard the packet. In case of yes, step S506 is executed to transfer the source IP of the packet from The forwarding IP is turned back to the user IP, and step S508 is further executed to transmit the packet to the application server 220.

Please continue to refer to Figure 6. When the forwarding module 201 of the local end 101 is performing packet downloading, the forwarding module 201 first confirms that the received packet is a packet from the application server 220 in step S601, and then executes step S602 Inquire whether the forwarding rule about the destination IP of the packet (which may be the user IP at this time) exists in the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 201. In the case of yes, the forwarding module 201 performs step S603, according to the forwarding rules, to convert the destination IP of the packet from the original user IP to the forwarded IP, or not to forward the destination IP (also, forwarding) The address rule indicates that the packet will be downstream to the neighboring MEC device or to the local MEC device), and step S604 is executed to send the packet to the address indicated by the destination IP.

Figures 7 to 8 show that the forwarding module 202 or 203 of the MEC equipment (MEC2 212 or MEC3 213) of the neighboring end 102 performs packet upstream (that is, transmits the packet to the IP network) and downstream (that is, receives from A step-by-step flow chart of the forwarding mechanism of IP network packets.

Please refer to Figure 7. When the forwarding module 202 or 203 of the neighboring end 102 executes the forwarding mechanism of the packet upstream, it first confirms whether the packet from the MEC device is received (that is, the forwarding module 202 Or 203 corresponds to the packet sent by MEC2 212 or MEC3 213). Next, step S702 is executed to determine whether the forwarding rule regarding the source IP of the packet (this may be the user IP of the UE) exists in the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 202 or 203. If yes, step S703 is executed, the source IP of the packet is converted from the original user IP to the forwarding IP according to the forwarding rules, and the packet is sent to the IP network in step S704.

Please continue to refer to Figure 8. When the forwarding module 202 or 203 of the neighboring end 102 executes the forwarding mechanism of the packet downlink, it first confirms whether it receives from the IP network at step S801. Packets. Next, in step S802, it is determined whether the forwarding rule regarding the destination IP of the packet (which may be a forwarding IP at this time) exists in the forwarding rule table of the forwarding module 202 or 203. If yes, perform step S803 to convert the destination IP of the packet from the forwarding IP back to the user IP, and perform step S804 to transmit the packet to the corresponding MEC device (ie, MEC2 212 or MEC3 213) according to the destination IP.

It can be seen from the above that with the forwarding control mechanism in Figures 3 and 4, the forwarding rules for the UE's user IP allocated by the forwarding control module 200 are only applicable to the UE's connection within the service range of a certain MEC device period. In addition, with the forwarding mechanism in Figures 5 to 8, the packet will be forwarded or not forwarded and sent only when the forwarding module 201, 202 or 203 determines that there is a forwarding rule corresponding to its IP information. Therefore, it is possible to achieve the effect that the packet can find the correct path for uplink and downlink between the UE and the application server 220 while the UE is online, without interrupting the application service.

Figures 9 to 10 are diagrams showing implementation aspects of the traffic routing system using mobile edge computing (MEC) equipment of the present invention. Among them, the embodiment of the present invention implements the forwarding modules 201, 202, and 203 with software-defined networking (SDN) switches (for example, the SDN switch 1 201 shown in Figures 9 to 10) The SDN switch 2 202 and the SDN switch 3 203), and the forwarding control module 200 is implemented by an SDN controller. Among them, Figure 9 shows the actual state of the forwarding control mechanism and forwarding mechanism that the user terminal (UE) 100 uses the application service of the application server 220 at the local end 101 to deliver to the neighbor 102, and the tenth The figure shows the forwarding control mechanism and the implementation of the forwarding mechanism after the UE 100 completes the handover to the neighbor 102. In addition, steps S1 to S15 are used to illustrate the change of IP information during packet transmission and forwarding.

Now referring to Figure 9, suppose that the UE 100 (its user IP is for example 140.1.1.1) originally used the application service of the application server 220 (its IP is for example 1.1.1.2) at the local end 101 through the MEC1 211. In this case, when the UE 100 goes online within the service range of the base station (eNB1), the UE 100 transmits a packet to the MEC1 211 through the base station (eNB1) in step S1. The IP information of the packet at this time is, for example, "SrcIP: 140.1.1.1; DstIP: 1.1.1.2". MEC1 211 informs the SDN controller 200 of the UE 100 going online in step S2 and sends the packet to the SDN switch 1 201. The SDN controller 200 judges the UE through the forwarding control mechanism of the user going online as shown in Figure 3 Whether 100 is online at the local end 101 to assign a forwarding rule about the user's IP that does not perform forwarding to the SDN switch 1 201 (such as the newly added rule in the SDN switch 1 rule table in Figure 9). After the SDN switch 1 201 confirms that there is a forwarding rule about the source IP (ie, the user IP) in its forwarding rule table in step S3, the packet is directly routed to the application server 220 without performing forwarding according to the forwarding rule.

Following step S4, when the application server 220 wants to download the packet to the UE 100, the application server 220 sends a packet with the IP information "SrcIP: 1.1.1.2; DstIP: 140.1.1.1" to the SDN switch 1 201 SDN switch 1 201 confirms in step S5 that the DstIP (user IP) forwarding rule in its forwarding rule table is no forwarding, so that the packet can be directly routed to MEC1 211, MEC1 without forwarding. 211 is to send the packet to its base station (eNB1) in step S6, and then send it to the UE 100. In addition, during the above steps S1 to S6, if the user moves and causes the UE 100 to move to another MEC service range (for example, in step S7, the UE 100 moves to the base station (eNB2) service range of the MEC2 212 of the neighbor 102 ), MEC1 211 will notify SDN controller 200 that UE 100 is offline, The SDN controller 200 informs the SDN switch 1 201 to delete the forwarding rule regarding the user IP of the UE 100, so that the subsequent UE 100 establishes a new forwarding rule when it goes online through the MEC2 212.

Please continue to refer to Figure 10. After the UE 100 delivers to the MEC2 212 of the neighbor 102, the MEC2 212 receives the packet sent by the UE 100 via the base station (eNB2) in step S8 (the IP information is, for example, "SrcIP: 140.1." 1.1; DstIP: 1.1.1.2”), in step S9, the SDN controller 200 is notified of the UE 100 going online message. At this time, the SDN controller 200 executes the forwarding control mechanism for the user going online as shown in Figure 3 to determine Whether the UE 100 is online at the neighbor 102 to allocate the forwarding rules about the user IP and forwarding IP (for example, 20.2.2.2) of the UE 100 to the forwarding rules table of SDN switch 2 202 and SDN switch 1 201 (As shown in Figure 10, the new rules in the SDN switch 1 rule table and the SDN switch 2 rule table). SDN switch 2 202 queries its forwarding rule table for forwarding rules about the user's IP in step S10. According to the forwarding rule (for example, the action described in the first rule of SDN switch 2 rule table) will come from MEC2 The source IP of the 212 packet is forwarded from the original user IP to the forwarded IP (at this time, the IP information of the packet after the first forwarding is, for example, "SrcIP: 20.2.2.2; DstIP: 1.1.1.2"), and through the IP The network is sent to SDN switch 1 201. After the SDN switch 1 201 receives the packet, it queries the forwarding rules of its forwarding rule table in step S11 (for example, the actions described in the first rule of the SDN switch 1 rule table) to forward the source IP of the packet. The address IP is converted back to the user IP (in this case, the IP information of the packet after the second redirection is, for example, "SrcIP: 140.1.1.1; DstIP: 1.1.1.2") and sent to the application server 220.

Similarly, when the application server 220 intends to download the packet to the UE 100, it sends a packet with the IP information "SrcIP: 1.1.1.2; DstIP: 140.1.1.1" to the SDN switch 1 201 in step S12. SDN switch 1 201 searches for its forwarding rules in step S13 The forwarding rules for the destination IP in the table (for example, the actions described in the second rule of the SDN switch 1 rule table), to forward the destination IP of the packet from the original user IP to the forwarding IP (at this time, the first The IP information of the packet after a forwarding is, for example, "SrcIP: 1.1.1.2; DstIP: 20.2.2.2"), and it is sent to the SDN switch 2 202 through the IP network. After the SDN switch 2 202 receives the packet, it searches the forwarding rule of the destination IP in its forwarding rule table in step S14 (for example, the action described in the second rule of the SDN switch 2 rule table), so as to transfer the packet to The destination IP is converted from the forwarding IP back to the user IP (in this case, the IP information of the packet after the second forwarding is, for example, "SrcIP: 1.1.1.2; DstIP: 140.1.1.1") and sent to the MEC2 212. The MEC2 212 sends the packet to the UE 100 via the base station (eNB2) in step S15.

In summary, the present invention establishes a complete packet routing mechanism between the MEC equipment at the local and neighboring ends and the application server, and sets up a forwarding module between the MEC equipment and the application server, and controls it through forwarding The module maintains forwarding rules, so that the packets sent between the local MEC device and the application server can be directly routed to the destination according to the forwarding rules, and the packets sent between the neighboring MEC device and the application server are forwarded after being forwarded. Send, and update the forwarding rules at any time considering the mobility of the user terminal. Therefore, when the user terminal transmits packets to each other through the MEC device and the application server, the packets can find the correct transmission path under any conditions and maintain uninterrupted services, thus improving the user's Internet quality and efficiency.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only illustrative of the effects of the present case, and are not used to limit the present case. Anyone familiar with this technique can modify and change the above-mentioned implementation aspects without departing from the spirit and scope of the present case. Therefore, the scope of protection of the rights in this case should be listed in the scope of patent application described later.

101‧‧‧Local

102‧‧‧Neighboring

200‧‧‧Redirection Control Module

201~203‧‧‧Redirection Module

211‧‧‧MEC1

212‧‧‧MEC2

213‧‧‧MEC3

220‧‧‧Application server, APP server

Claims (19)

A traffic routing system for mobile edge computing equipment, including: The forwarding control module is used to implement the forwarding control mechanism; The first forwarding module at the local end is in communication connection with the forwarding control module for executing the first forwarding mechanism of the application service according to the forwarding control mechanism; and The application server at the local end is connected with the first forwarding module to provide the application service. For example, the communication bypass system described in item 1 of the scope of patent application includes: The first mobile edge computing device at the local end is connected to the first forwarding module for providing user terminals to access the application service, wherein the application service includes: The application server receives the uplink packets from the user terminal that the first mobile edge computing device uplinks; and The application server sends the downlink packet to the first mobile edge computing device, and then sends it to the user terminal. For example, the traffic routing system described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the forwarding control mechanism includes: When the user terminal is online within the service range of the first mobile edge computing device, it maintains the forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module, where the forwarding rule is incorrect and contains the The packet of the user IP of the user terminal is forwarded; and When the user terminal leaves the service range of the first mobile edge computing device, the forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table is deleted. For example, in the communications bypass system described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, the first forwarding mechanism includes: Order the first forwarding module to send the uplink packet to the application server without forwarding according to the first forwarding rule; and The first forwarding module is made to transmit the downlink packet to the first mobile edge computing device without forwarding according to the forwarding rule. For example, the communication bypass system described in item 1 of the scope of patent application includes: The second forwarding module located at the neighboring end is in communication connection with the forwarding control module and the first forwarding module for executing the second forwarding mechanism of the application service according to the forwarding control mechanism; as well as The second mobile edge computing device at the neighboring end is connected to the second forwarding module for providing the user terminal to access the application service, wherein the application service includes: Receiving, by the application server, the uplink packet from the user terminal that the second mobile edge computing device uplinks; and The application server transmits the downlink packet to the second mobile edge computing device, and then transmits the downlink packet to the user terminal. For example, the traffic routing system described in item 5 of the scope of patent application, wherein the forwarding control mechanism includes: Make the forwarding control module maintain the first forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module and the first forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module while the user terminal is online in the service range of the second mobile edge computing device The second forwarding rule in the second forwarding rule table of the second forwarding module; and Make the forwarding control module delete the first forwarding rule of the first forwarding rule table and the second forwarding rule table when the user terminal leaves the service range of the second mobile edge computing device The second forwarding rule. For the traffic routing system described in claim 6, wherein the method for the application server to receive the uplink packets from the user terminal from the second mobile edge computing device includes the following steps: Enabling the second forwarding module to receive the uplink packet from the second mobile edge computing device, wherein the source IP of the uplink packet is the user IP of the user terminal; Order the second forwarding module to execute the second forwarding mechanism, forward the source IP of the upstream packet to a forwarded IP according to the second forwarding rule, and then send it to the first forwarding module; and Make the first forwarding module execute the first forwarding mechanism, and forward the source IP of the upstream packet from the second forwarding module to the user IP according to the first forwarding rule, and then send it to the application server. For example, the traffic routing system described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein the method of sending the downlink packet from the application server to the second mobile edge computing device and then to the user terminal includes the following steps : Enabling the first forwarding module to receive the downlink packet from the application server, wherein the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP of the user terminal; Order the first forwarding module to execute the first forwarding mechanism, and forward the destination IP of the downlink packet to a forwarded IP according to the first forwarding rule, and then send it to the second forwarding module; and Make the second forwarding module execute the second forwarding mechanism, and forward the destination IP of the downlink packet from the first forwarding module back to the user IP according to the second forwarding rule and send it To the second mobile edge computing device, and then transmit the downlink packet to the user terminal. A routing method for mobile edge computing equipment, including: Make the forwarding control module execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the message of the user terminal connected to the local application server; Enable the application server to provide application services; The first forwarding module of the local end is executed according to the forwarding control mechanism to execute the first forwarding mechanism between the application server and the user terminal for the application service. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 9 of the scope of patent application, wherein the steps for the forwarding control module to execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the message from the user terminal connected to the local application server include the following Sub-step: Enable the forwarding control module to receive the message that the user terminal goes online within the service range of the first mobile edge computing device at the local end; and Let the forwarding control module add a forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal to the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module, where the forwarding rule is no forwarding. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 10 of the scope of patent application, wherein the forwarding control mechanism includes the following sub-steps: Enabling the forwarding control module to receive a message that the user terminal leaves the service range of the first mobile edge computing device; Make the forwarding control module delete the forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 10 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism. The steps of the first forwarding mechanism in China include the following sub-steps: Enabling the first forwarding module to receive an uplink packet from the user terminal that the first mobile edge computing device uplinks, wherein the source IP of the uplink packet is the user IP; Order the first forwarding module to query the forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and Make the first forwarding module send the uplink packet to the application server without forwarding according to the forwarding rule. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 10 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism. The steps of the first forwarding mechanism in China include the following sub-steps: Enabling the first forwarding module to receive a downlink packet that the application server wants to downlink to the user terminal, wherein the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP; Order the first forwarding module to query the forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and The first forwarding module transmits the downlink packet to the first mobile edge computing device without forwarding according to the forwarding rule, and then transmits the downlink packet to the user terminal. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 9 of the scope of patent application, wherein the step of instructing the forwarding control module to execute the forwarding control mechanism according to the message of the user terminal connected to the application server includes the following sub-steps: Enabling the forwarding control module to receive the message that the user terminal goes online within the service range of the neighboring second mobile edge computing device; Enabling the forwarding control module to add a second forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal to the second forwarding rule table of the second forwarding module of the neighboring terminal; and Make the forwarding control module add a first forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal to the first forwarding rule table of the first forwarding module at the local end. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 14 of the scope of patent application, wherein the forwarding control mechanism includes the following sub-steps: Enabling the forwarding control module to receive a message that the user terminal leaves the service range of the second mobile edge computing device; Order the forwarding control module to delete the second forwarding rule in the second forwarding rule table; and Order the forwarding control module to delete the first forwarding rule in the first forwarding rule table. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 14 of the scope of patent application includes: making the second forwarding module of the neighboring terminal execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The second forwarding mechanism between the two includes the following sub-steps: Enabling the second forwarding module to receive the uplink packet from the user terminal that the second mobile edge computing device uplinks, wherein the source IP of the uplink packet is the user IP; Order the second forwarding module to query the second forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the second forwarding rule table; and Make the second forwarding module forward the source IP of the upstream packet to the forwarded IP according to the second forwarding rule and then send it to the first forwarding module at the local end. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism. The steps of the first forwarding mechanism in China include the following sub-steps: Enabling the first forwarding module to receive the upstream packet from the neighboring second forwarding module, wherein the source IP of the upstream packet is the forwarding IP; Order the first forwarding module to query the first forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and Make the first forwarding module forward the source IP of the uplink packet from the forwarding IP back to the user IP according to the first forwarding rule and then forward it to the application server. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 14 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first forwarding module of the local end is caused to execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The steps of the first forwarding mechanism in China include the following sub-steps: Enabling the first forwarding module to receive a downlink packet that the application server of the local end wants to downlink to the user terminal, wherein the destination IP of the downlink packet is the user IP; Order the first forwarding module to query the first forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the first forwarding rule table; and Make the first forwarding module forward the destination IP of the packet to the forwarded IP according to the first forwarding rule and send it to the second forwarding module of the neighbor. For example, the traffic routing method described in item 18 of the scope of patent application includes: making the second forwarding module of the neighboring terminal execute the application service on the application server and the user terminal according to the forwarding control mechanism The second forwarding mechanism between the two includes the following sub-steps: Enabling the second forwarding module to receive the downstream packet from the first forwarding module at the local end, wherein the destination IP of the downstream packet is the forwarding IP; Order the second forwarding module to query the second forwarding rule about the user IP of the user terminal in the second forwarding rule table; and Make the second forwarding module forward the destination IP of the downlink packet from the forwarded IP back to the user IP according to the second forwarding rule and then forward it to the second mobile edge computing device, and then transmit the downlink packet To the user terminal.

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