WO2002056543A1

WO2002056543A1 - Router and method for providing different bandwidth services for different ip groups

Info

Publication number: WO2002056543A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/000047
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kang Jun Lee
Original assignee: Nstek Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-01-11
Filing date: 2002-01-11
Publication date: 2002-07-18
Also published as: KR20020060518A; KR100388091B1

Abstract

A router for providing different bandwidth services to different Internet protocol (IP) groups and a routing method thereof are provided. The router includes a plurality of queues supporting different bandwidth services to allocate predetermined different bandwidths to different IP groups. The routing method includes the steps of classifying IP addresses of a plurality of devices constructing a sub network into a predetermined number of IP groups; setting different bandwidth services for the different IP groups; if data is input through an external communication network, identifying an IP group to which the data is to be transmitted using destination address information contained in the data; selecting a queue supporting a bandwidth service set for the IP groups to which the data input in the above step is to be transmitted, from among the plurality of queues and storing the input data in the selected queue; and routing the stored data to a transmission line corresponding to the bandwidth service. Since differential communication services can be provide to different users, more resources and higher priority can be given to users using more important data, so that network resources can be more efficiently used.

Description

ROUTER AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING DIFFERENT BANDWIDTH SERVICES FOR DIFFERENT IP GROUPS

Technical Field The present invention relates to a router and routing method, and more particularly, to a router for providing different bandwidth services to different Internet protocol (IP) groups and a routing method thereof.

A router is an apparatus for choosing a path for data (i.e., routing data) input into or output from a sub network in data communication between various kinds of sub networks existing on networks. Such router usually performs a function of transferring data input into a single wide area network (WAN) port to a single Ethernet or local area network (LAN) port. In other words, a conventional router is designed to support a service for a single bandwidth. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the application of conventional routers. Referring to FIG. 1 , companies 20, 40, 60, and 80 use different bandwidth services, so routers 10, 30, 50, and 70 supporting the different bandwidth services are separately installed for the respective companies 20, 40, 60, and 80. In other words, the company 20 uses a 256 K bandwidth service, and thus a communication line for the company 20 is formed using the router 10 supporting the 256 K bandwidth service. The company 40 uses a 128 K bandwidth service, and thus a communication line for the company 40 is formed using the router 30 supporting the 128 K bandwidth service. The company 60 uses a 512 K bandwidth service, and thus a communication line for the company 60 is formed using the router 50 supporting the 512 K bandwidth service. The company 80 uses a T1 bandwidth service, and thus a communication line for the company 80 is formed using the router 70 supporting the T1 bandwidth service. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional router. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional router 10 includes an external network interface (l/F) 11 , a queue 12, an internal network l/F 13, a controller 14, and a routing table 15.

The external network l/F 11 inputs data from a predetermined node of an external network into a sub network and outputs data from the sub network to an upper network, i.e., the external network. The external network l/F 11 is usually composed of a single Ethernet port and is designed to support one kind of bandwidth service at a time.

The internal network l/F 13 is connected to a plurality number "m" of devices (for example, communications devices including a computer) constructing the sub network. The internal network l/F 13 extracts a destination address from the data transmitted from the external network l/F 11 and routes the data to a device (for example, a communications device such as a computer) corresponding to the extracted destination address. In addition, the internal network l/F 13 transmits data from each of the communications devices constructing the sub network to the external network l/F 11.

The queue 12 temporarily stores data transmitted between the external network l/F 11 and the internal network l/F 13. The routing table 15 stores routing information for transferring data input through the external network l/F 11 to the destination address within the sub network. The controller 14 controls the routing of the internal network l/F 13 based on the information stored in the routing table 15.

Background Art

A conventional router having the above described structure temporarily stores data input through the external network l/F 11 in the queue 12 and routes the data to a corresponding destination address through the internal network l/F 13. Here, the external network l/F 11 and the internal network l/F 13 support a commonly assigned single bandwidth service. In other words, the conventional router cannot discriminately provide communication services according to users.

Therefore, relatively more important data is treated in the same manner as to relatively less important data, and more seriously, a large amount of data hinders transmission of important data, thereby preventing network resources from being effectively used.

Disclosure of the Invention

To overcome the above-described problems, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a router including a plurality of queues which support different bandwidth services in order to allocate different predetermined bandwidths to different Internet protocol (IP) groups.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a method of routing data received through a single wide area network (WAN) port with different bandwidths using the router.

To achieve the first object of the present invention, there is provided a router including an external network interface unit for receiving data transmitted from the outside of a sub network and transmitting data output from the sub network to the outside; a routing information storage for storing routing information for transmitting data received through the external network interface to a destination address contained in the data, within the sub network and transmitting data output from the sub network to the outside; a filter unit comprising a predetermined number of filters having filtering information which is differently set by different IP groups, the filter unit filtering data received through the external network interface according to the IP groups; a buffer unit comprising the predetermined number of buffers connected to the output terminals of the respective filters of the filter unit, the buffer unit temporarily storing data which have passed through the different filters in the different buffers according to the IP groups; an internal network interface unit comprising the predetermined number of internal network interfaces connected to the output terminals of the respective buffers of the buffer unit, the internal network interface unit routing the data stored in the respective buffers to transmission lines of different bandwidths allocated the different IP groups; and a controller for controlling the filter unit, the buffer unit, and the internal network interface unit to transmit data input through the external network interface to a destination at a predetermined bandwidth allocated the IP address of the destination. To achieve the second object of the present invention, there is provided a routing method including a first step of classifying IP addresses of a plurality of devices constructing a sub network into a predetermined number of IP groups; a second step of setting different bandwidth services for the different IP groups; a third step of, if data is input through an external communication network, identifying an IP group to which the data is to be transmitted using destination address information contained in the data; a fourth step of selecting a queue supporting a bandwidth service set for the IP groups to which the data input in the third step is to be transmitted, from among the plurality of queues and storing the input data in the selected queue; and a fifth step of routing the stored data to a transmission line corresponding to the bandwidth service.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of the application of conventional routers.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional router. FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment of the application of a router according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a router according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a controller according to the present invention.

FIGS. 6A through 6D are diagrams of examples of a system structure to which a router according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a routing method according to the present invention.

Best mode for carrying out the Invention Hereinafter, embodiments of a router and a routing method using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment of the application of a router according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a router of the present invention is designed to support services for various bandwidths. In other words, a router of the present invention is designed to include a plurality of queues which support different bandwidth services in order to allocate different predetermined bandwidths to different Internet protocol (IP) groups. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, a router of the present invention can service external data, which is input through a single Ethernet port, by a plurality of different bandwidths. In other words, a router 100 can provide a 256 K bandwidth service to a company 20 using the 256 K bandwidth service through a 256 K transmission line /1 , can provide a 128 K bandwidth service to a company 40 using the 128 K bandwidth service through a 128 K transmission line 12, can provide a 512 K bandwidth service to a company 60 using the 512 K bandwidth service through a 512 K transmission line 13, and can provide a T1 bandwidth service to a company 80 using the T1 bandwidth service through a T1 transmission line 14. The detailed structure of the router 100 for the above operation is illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a router according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the router 100 includes an external network l/F unit 110, a filter unit 120, a buffer unit 130 realized as a multi-queue, an internal network l/F unit 140, a controller 150, and a routing table 160.

Like in a conventional router, the external network l/F unit 110 inputs external data into a sub network and outputs data from the sub network. The external network l/F unit 110 is usually composed of a single Ethernet port and receives data transmitted at various bandwidths such as 128 K, 256 K, 512 K, and T1 through the Ethernet port.

The filter unit 120 is composed of a predetermined number of filters 121 through 124. The filters 121 through 124 filter data received from the external network l/F unit 110 based on filtering information differently set according to IP groups. Here, a user previously sets an IP group to be provided with each of the various bandwidth services and sets the corresponding IP group as filtering information of the corresponding filter.

For example, in the case where the router 100 supports bandwidths of 128 K, 256 K, 512 K, and T1 , the filter unit 120 is composed of the four filters 121 through 124, as shown in FIG. 4, IP groups to be allocated the respective bandwidths are set, and filtering information of each of the filters 121 through 124 is set according to the IP groups. For example, a first IP group allocated a bandwidth of 128 K is set to range from 256.256.100.1 to 256.256.100.32, a second IP group allocated a bandwidth of 256 K is set to range from 256.256.150.1 to 256.256.150.64, a third IP group allocated a bandwidth of 512 K is set to range from 256.256.200.1 to 256.256.200.32, and a fourth IP group allocated a bandwidth of T1 is set to range from 256.256.250.1 to 256.256.250.32. Filtering information of the first filter 121 supporting a 128 K bandwidth service is set to range from 256.256.100.1 to 256.256.100.32. Filtering information of the second filter 122 supporting a 256 K bandwidth service is set to range from 256.256.150.1 to 256.256.150.64. Filtering information of the third filter 123 supporting a 512 K bandwidth service is set to range from 256.256.200.1 to 256.256.200.32. Filtering information of the fourth filter 124 supporting a T1 bandwidth service is set to range from 256.256.250.1 to 256.256.250.32. Accordingly, data input through the single external network l/F unit

110 is passed through one filter that passes through a destination address contained in the data among the filters 121 through 124 and is transmitted to the buffer unit 130.

The buffer unit 130 is composed of as many buffers as the number of the filters 121 through 124 constructing the filter unit 120. The buffers are connected to the filters one-to-one, and temporarily store data passed through the corresponding filters. Here, the buffer unit 130 has the form of a queue.

The internal network l/F unit 140 is composed of as many internal network l/Fs as the number of buffers constructing the buffer unit 130. The internal network l/Fs are connected to the buffers one-to-one. The internal network l/Fs route data transmitted from the respective buffers to transmission lines of different predetermined bandwidths. In other words, each of the internal network l/Fs route data based on routing information stored in the routing table 160.

For this, each of the internal network l/Fs is connected to as many transmission lines supporting a particular bandwidth service as the number of IP addresses included in a particular IP group.

The routing table 160 stores routing information used for transmitting data input through the external network l/F unit 110 to a destination address contained in the data within the sub network and transmitting data output from the sub network to the outside.

The controller 150 controls the filter unit 120, the buffer unit 130, and the internal network l/F unit 140 to transmit data input through the external network l/F unit 110 at a bandwidth predetermined for an IP address of a destination. Here, the controller 150 refers to the routing information stored in the routing table 160.

A router having the above-described structure according to the present invention receives data transmitted from an external network through the external network l/F unit 110, filters the data based on a destination address contained in the data using the filter unit 120, and routes the data to a destination corresponding to the destination address through the buffer unit 130 and the internal network l/F unit 140. Here, the data is transmitted to the corresponding destination using a bandwidth service previously specified for the destination address. Meanwhile, data output from the internal network (i.e., sub network) to the external network already has its IP address, i.e., bandwidth information, so the data is output in an existing manner based on the bandwidth information. A router according to the present invention can be composed of a board including function blocks and a program for controlling the function blocks and installed within a server system. Accordingly, the router can be configured to selectively include a plurality of additional control modules. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a controller according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a case where additional control modules are added to the controller 150 of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the controller 150 includes a security module 151 , a differential service support module 152, a dynamic routing module 153, a simple network management protocol (SNMP) support module 154, a web-based management module 155, and a multi-gate control module 156.

The security module 151 includes a firewall module which is frequently used on a usual network, a virtual private network (VPN) module, and a network address translation (NAT) module. These modules can be selectively added to the controller 150. The firewall module indicates a program installed in a network gateway server and protects the resources of a private network from users of other networks. In other words, the firewall module checks all network packets to determine whether to transfer the packets to corresponding destinations and filters them. The VPN module supports individual companies to use a public network such as a private line. In the case where devices constructed in individual companies transmit or receive data through a public network, the VPN module encoding or decoding the data to protect it. In a sub network using IP addresses different from those used in an entire network, the NAT module converts IP addresses. In other words, the NAT module composes a table for conversion between private IP addresses within the sub network and authorized IP addresses commonly used on the entire network and converts the authorized IP addresses of data input into the sub network into private IP addresses to protect the sub network.

The differential service support module 152, which is usually referred to as a Quality of Service (QoS) module, analyzes external data input through an external network l/F unit, allocates different service levels according to destination IP addresses contained in the external data, and differentially applies services according to the service levels.

In other words, the differential service support module 152 allocates a higher service level to a user treating relatively more important data and allocates a lower service level to a user treating relatively less important data to provide different network services to the users according to the service levels.

The dynamic routing module 153 automatically updates the routing table 160 to cope with an overload on a bandwidth service among the bandwidth services provided for the sub network. The dynamic routing module 153 processes service content corresponding to an IP address allocated a relatively higher service level prior to other service contents referring to the service level allocated by the differential service support module 152.

The SNMP support module 154 supports an SNMP and monitors SNMP management data on a web.

When a router of the present invention is installed at a server system supporting web services, the web-based management module 155 allows the router to be managed with application of the web service function of the server system. The multi-gate control module 156 performs control so that data input through a single external network l/F unit can be output through a plurality of internal network l/Fs, as shown in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 6A through 6D are diagrams of examples of a system structure to which a router according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 6A shows an example in which a router of the present invention is applied to a network server used in a SOHO. Referring to FIG. 6A, a router 100a of the present invention routes external data transmitted at a bandwidth of 128 K to a small internal network. Here, the router 100a simultaneously performs functions such as a web server, a domain name server (DNS), a mail server, and security management server in addition to the basic routing function.

FIG. 6B shows an example in which a router of the present invention is applied to a network including a plurality of server systems of different service levels. In other words, after connecting with a multimedia server 1 10b, a management information system (MIS) server 130b, and a network server 130b, a router 100b in FIG. 6B sets a 256 K bandwidth service for the network server 130b and sets a 128 K bandwidth service for the other servers 1 10b and 120b. In this example, the router 100b receives external data transmitted at a bandwidth of 512K, identifies a server to which the data is to be transmitted based on a destination address (i.e. an IP address) contained in the external data, and routes the data based on information about the server. A relatively larger bandwidth of 256 K is set for the network server 130b than for the other servers 110b and 120b so that data for the network server 130b can be processed prior to data for the other servers 1 10b and 120b.

FIG. 6C shows an example in which a router of the present invention is applied to sub networks supporting various bandwidth services. Referring to FIG. 6C, a router 100c receiving data externally transmitted at a bandwidth of T1 is connected to a first sub network 1 10c using a 512 K bandwidth service and a second sub network 120c using a 128 K bandwidth service. Devices connected to the first sub network 1 10c is defined as one IP group, and devices connected to the second sub network 120c is defined as another IP group. The router 100c identifies a sub network to which received data is transmitted based on an IP address contained in the data and transmits the data at a bandwidth applied to the identified sub network.

FIG. 6D shows an example in which a VPN is constructed through routers of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6D, sub networks using routers 100d, 1 10d, and 120d including VPN modules as gateways are formed through Internet 200, and data encoding and decoding are performed using VPNs included in the respective routers 100d, 1 10d, and 120d during data transmission between the sub networks.

In addition to the examples shown in FIGS. 6A through 6D, other various network structures can be realized. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a routing method according to the present invention and shows a method of routing data received from an external network to a destination address contained in the data. A method of routing data received through a single Ethernet port to transmission lines supporting different bandwidth services using a router including a plurality of queues supporting the different bandwidth services will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

IP groups are set by bandwidths in step S710. In other words, the IP addresses of a plurality of devices constructing a sub network are classified into a predetermined number of IP groups, and different bandwidth services are set to be provided to different IP groups. For example, as described referring to FIG. 4, in the case where four kinds of bandwidth services are provided, the IP addresses of the plurality of devices are classified into four IP groups, and different bandwidths are set for the four different IP groups, respectively. Next, if data is input from an external communication network in step S720, the data is analyzed in step S730 to extract destination address information of the data. The data is filtered based on the destination address information to identify an IP group containing the destination address of the data in step S740. In other words, a destination address is extracted from data input from the outside, and an IP group containing the destination address is identified.

Next, the corresponding bandwidth service is supported through the queue of the IP group in step S750. More specifically, a queue for supporting a bandwidth service set for the IP group is determined, the data is stored in the queue, and the data is output to a transmission line supporting the bandwidth service to be applied to the queue. Here, a routing table previously set by a user is referred to.

Meanwhile, when a network supporting a bandwidth is overloaded, the kind of packet data transmitted through the bandwidth is identified, and the packet data is routed according to the order of priority of the kind of packet data predetermined by the user. In other words, packet data having high priority is first routed. For example, data indicating business management information is given priority over multimedia data such as video or audio data and is thus transmitted prior to the multimedia data when a network is overloaded.

In order to transmit data received through a router to a corresponding destination, a switching device (hereinafter, referred to as a hub) must be installed at an output terminal of the router. A hub can be installed within a router or can be separately connected to an output terminal of a router. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that a hub is positively needed when a communication network is constructed using a router. Accordingly, in FIGS. 1 , 3, and 6A through 6D showing examples of a communication network constructed using a router or routers, a hub connected to an output terminal of each router is omitted so that a path through which data is routed by the corresponding router can be more clearly shown.

The above description just concerns embodiments of the present invention. The present invention is not restricted to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made thereto within the scope defined by the attached claims. For example, the shape and structure of each member specified in the embodiments can be changed.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, according to a router and routing method of the present invention, different bandwidths are applied by IP groups, thereby providing differential communication services to different users.

Accordingly, more resources and higher priority are given to users using more important data so that network resources can be more efficiently used. In addition, a router according to the present invention can be composed of a board including function blocks and a program for controlling the function blocks and installed within a server system. Accordingly, the router can be configured to selectively include a plurality of additional control modules. As a result, network resources can be prevented from being duplicately used.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A router for routing data input to or output from a sub network in data communication between various kinds of sub networks on a network, the router comprising: an external network interface unit for receiving data transmitted from the outside of the sub network and transmitting data output from the sub network to the outside; a routing information storage for storing routing information for transmitting data received through the external network interface to a destination address contained in the data, within the sub network and transmitting data output from the sub network to the outside; a filter unit comprising a predetermined number of filters having filtering information which is differently set by different Internet protocol (IP) groups, the filter unit filtering data received through the external network interface according to the IP groups; a buffer unit comprising the predetermined number of buffers connected to the output terminals of the respective filters of the filter unit, the buffer unit temporarily storing data which have passed through the different filters in the different buffers according to the IP groups; an internal network interface unit comprising the predetermined number of internal network interfaces connected to the output terminals of the respective buffers of the buffer unit, the internal network interface unit routing the data stored in the respective buffers to transmission lines of different bandwidths allocated the different IP groups; and a controller for controlling the filter unit, the buffer unit, and the internal network interface unit to transmit data input through the external network interface to a destination at a predetermined bandwidth allocated the IP address of the destination.

2. The router of claim 1 , being installed in a network server system.

3. The router of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a security module for performing authentication on external data input through the external network interface unit to protect the sub network connected to the router.

4. The router of claim 3, wherein the security module comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of: a firewall module which protect the sub network by filtering all data input through the external network interface unit; a virtual private network (VPN) module which protect data transmitted or received through a public network by encoding or decoding the data; and a network address translation (NAT) module which protect the sub network by composing a table for conversion between private IP addresses within the sub network and authorized IP addresses commonly used on an entire network and converting the authorized IP addresses of data input into the sub network into private IP addresses.

5. The router of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a Quality of Service (QoS) module for analyzing external data input through the external network interface unit, allocating different service levels according to destination IP addresses contained in the external data, and differentially applying services according to the service levels.

6. The router of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a dynamic routing module for automatically updating a routing table in the routing information storage to cope with an overload on the sub network.

7. The router of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a simple network management protocol (SNMP) support module for supporting an SNMP and monitors SNMP management data on a web.

8. The router of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a web-based management module for providing a user interface to allow a user to select the operation and function of the router and control the router on a web.

9. A method of routing data received through a single

Ethernet port to transmission lines supporting different bandwidth services using a router including a plurality of queues supporting the different bandwidth services, the method comprises: a first step of classifying IP addresses of a plurality of devices constructing a sub network into a predetermined number of IP groups; a second step of setting different bandwidth services for the different IP groups; a third step of, if data is input through an external communication network, identifying an IP group to which the data is to be transmitted using destination address information contained in the data; a fourth step of selecting a queue supporting a bandwidth service set for the IP groups to which the data input in the third step is to be transmitted, from among the plurality of queues and storing the input data in the selected queue; and a fifth step of routing the stored data to a transmission line corresponding to the bandwidth service.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein in the fifth step, when an overload occurs on a network supporting the bandwidth service, the kind of packet data transmitted through the bandwidth service is identified, and packet data given a higher priority is routed prior to other packet data given lower priorities according to predetermined order of priority of the kind of packet data.