WO2006005251A1

WO2006005251A1 - Method and system for carrying out the function of switching in a communication system

Info

Publication number: WO2006005251A1
Application number: PCT/CN2005/000995
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhaoxia Lv; Wei Tan
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-07-13
Filing date: 2005-07-07
Publication date: 2006-01-19
Also published as: CN100395962C; CN1722628A

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for carrying out the function of switching in a communication system. The invention separates a switch-controlling function and a performing function by dividing a controlling module and a master-backup performing module. The switch process comprises several steps and phases to achieve process controlling and phase shifting. The mapping between a logic address and a physical address is used to achieve a rapid switching for a communication channel in a lower layer. The data backup and smoothing process and the hot backup are used to improve the speed and the reliability of the switching. Theswitching recovery is achieved when a failure is occurred.

Description

Method and system for switching equipment in communication system

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to communication technologies, and more particularly to switching techniques in communication devices.

Background technique

Telecommunications networks require reliable, uninterrupted service for their subscribers, especially in applications such as e-money, order processing, customer service, inventory management, e-mail and Internet access. Sex becomes more important than ever, and its usability requirements can reach 99.999% or even higher. Therefore, network survivability has become an important factor affecting network design and construction, and the equipment used in telecommunications networks also needs high reliability.

In communication systems, redundant backup and load sharing are common methods of enhancing device reliability. Redundant backup refers to the replacement of multiple devices with the same function. Especially when the main device fails or requires maintenance, the backup device takes over the main device to continue communication, ensuring uninterrupted operation of the communication system. Load sharing uses the same principle, using multiple devices to work alternately or collaboratively, increasing system reliability.

For components with redundant backup, an active/standby switchover mechanism must be provided for reliability and maintainability. Redundant backup and active/standby switching technologies have multiple backup modes, such as 1+1, 1: 1, 1: N, and so on. 1 + 1 backup is a simple protection method. The primary and backup units in the system form a logical business function unit, that is, the protected equipment unit has a standby unit. The main module is responsible for real-time processing of services, and the standby service is maintained. The data of the active unit is the same. When the fault of the original primary unit is detected, the switchover is initiated to take over the service on the original active unit. Unlike the 1 + 1 backup, the spare unit in the 1 : 1 backup starts working only after a failure. The 1 : N backup means that multiple device units share a spare unit. When any one of the primary units fails, the standby unit takes over.

Generally, a complex telecommunication device contains a plurality of processing units that work together, and communication needs to be performed between the units; and in the entire communication network, communication between different node devices is also required. In order to ensure the self-healing capability of the device under network fault conditions, ensure data integrity and maintain service quality, the switchover must be completed within a specified time limit to restore the service as soon as possible, so as to minimize the impact on the communication system. Generally speaking, components that are mutually standby are logically the same functional entity, normal work. At the time of operation, only the primary unit provides external services, and the standby unit does not provide services externally, but needs to be consistent with the data of the primary unit as much as possible to ensure that when the primary unit fails, the standby unit is upgraded to the primary unit, and the service loss is minimal. These features are closely related to the performance of the switching technology used. Therefore, the performance of the protection switching mechanism has a significant impact on the reliability of the system and the viability of the entire network.

According to the reasons of the triggering, it can be divided into manual switching, automatic fault switching, and automatic manual switching. The manual switching is performed by the operator to send a switching command through the maintenance station. The automatic fault switching refers to the failure detection of the main board by the system fault detection module. The active/standby switchover is triggered. The switchover of the board is used as an example. The automatic manual switchover is caused by the abnormality of the peripheral modules involved in the active board or because the main board is to be pulled out or because of some For the special requirements of the board, you need to stop the main board for a period of time for maintenance. After the switchover occurs, the active and standby boards also need to be switched back to the original active/standby relationship. In this case, the system automatically triggers. Active/standby switchover.

In the current communication system, the identity of the primary and backup units is determined by the underlying hardware. When the hardware finds that the primary unit is abnormal, the standby unit immediately goes up to the primary use, and then notifies the upper application module, and further informs the relevant other orders. The board has been switched between the active and standby boards.

Figure 1 shows the structure of a switching system employed in the prior art communication system. The active and standby units are connected to other devices of the communication system through the circuit switching module. The circuit switching module is implemented through a switched network. In general, the switching network is switched by the physical address exchange of the primary and backup units. Each business processing unit maintains a physical connection with both the primary and backup units. When the switching condition triggers the switching of the equipment unit, the underlying hardware performs circuit switching, switches the standby unit to the working plane, separates the active unit, and then notifies all upper application modules and service modules to communicate with the new active unit.

It can be seen that the switching technology used in the communication system is directly carried out by the underlying hardware, and the upper application module and the service module are in a passive state, which is not conducive to high-level equipment maintenance; and since the switching is direct It is implemented by circuit switching, so it has no transparency to the upper layer application, and the switching has a great influence on the system; again, the switching process is mechanically completed by the circuit, which is not flexible and cannot support automatic manual switching; in general, device switching It also requires data transfer, reconfiguration of spare devices, etc., which requires a long delay. As a result, the demand for real-time services and high service quality is far from being met in the telecommunication network.

In practical applications, the above solutions have the following problems: Since the device switching is initiated and executed by the underlying hardware, the upper-layer application is in the passive processing state and is not supported by the high-level device maintenance; due to the data transfer between the primary and backup devices and the standby device. Reconfiguration takes more time, so the switching operation has a large delay and cannot meet real-time requirements. Since the switching is realized by physical address conversion or circuit switching, it has no transparency and flexibility, so it has a greater impact on the entire communication system. .

Summary of the invention

In view of this, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and system for switching devices in a communication system that enables faster switching, less impact on running services, and transparency to other boards.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for switching devices in a communication system, including:

A. Perform reverse switching preprocessing;

B. Completing the switching process of the underlying communication channel between the primary device and the standby device;

C. Complete the switching process of the configuration data of the primary device and the standby device.

The process of the reverse preprocessing described in step A includes:

Al. Determine whether the system resources meet the switching conditions. If yes, go to step B. Otherwise, terminate the switching process.

The process of the reverse preprocessing described in step A may further include:

A2. Determine whether the service resource meets the switching condition. If yes, go to step B. Otherwise, terminate the switching process.

Between the step A and the step B, the method further comprises the steps of:

The service data of the active device is backed up to the standby device to perform smooth connection operation of the service data.

After the step C, a step is further included,

Smooth processing of business data to ensure smooth connection of services.

In the present invention, the switching of the underlying communication channel is implemented by a mapping mechanism of a logical address and a physical address. The data synchronization is implemented by using a warm backup between the active device and the standby device. The method further includes: determining whether a switching abnormality occurs, and if so, performing a switching recovery process.

The switching recovery process includes:

Data recovery is performed on the standby device.

The switching recovery process may also include:

Reverting the underlying communication channel to a state before the switching;

The configuration of the primary device is restored, and the primary device is notified to operate as a primary device. The switching recovery process may further include:

Restoring the configuration data as the correspondence between the original primary and backup devices;

Switching to restore the state of the underlying communication channel to before the switching;

Restore the service module of the original primary device and notify it to operate as the primary.

The present invention also provides a switching system for a device in a communication system, comprising: a control module, configured to control execution of a switching process;

a main execution module, configured to perform, according to an instruction of the control module, a switching process of an underlying communication channel and configuration data related to the active device;

And an alternate execution module, configured to perform, according to an instruction of the control module, a switching process of an underlying communication channel and configuration data related to the standby device.

The primary execution module and the standby execution module are further configured to back up service data of the primary device to the standby device and smooth processing of service data according to an instruction of the control module.

By comparison, it can be found that the technical solution of the present invention is different from the prior art in that the division control module and the main standby execution module separate the switching control function and the execution function to facilitate the switching control; the switching process is divided into multiple execution steps and states. The switchover process control and state transition are implemented. The logical address and physical address mapping mechanism are adopted to implement transparent and fast switching of the underlying communication channel. The data backup and service smoothing mechanism before and after switching, and the warm backup mode of the active and standby devices are used to improve the switching. Speed and reliability; for the abnormal situation in the switching process, switching recovery is achieved.

The difference in this technical solution brings about a more obvious beneficial effect, namely the control function and The separation of the execution functions improves the efficiency and flexibility of the switching; the implementation of the switching process state migration improves the flexibility of the switching and supports the switching recovery; the address mapping mechanism implements the transparency of the switching and reduces the switching to the system. The impact of the switching speed is improved; data backup and service smoothing and warm backup mode improve the switching speed and reliability; and the switching recovery mechanism enhances the robustness of the switching.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a switching system used in a conventional communication system; FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a switching system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of an address mapping mechanism in a switching system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The invention adopts a step-by-step process under control to complete the switching process, and logically divides the entire switching operation into a plurality of sub-steps, thereby improving the flexibility of the switching operation. The execution function and the control function are separated, and are respectively implemented by the execution module and the control module. The transparency of the switching operation is achieved by mapping the logical address and the physical address, and the impact of the switching on the entire communication system is minimized. The temperature backup mechanism of the data is used to maintain synchronization between the primary and backup units, thereby improving the speed of performing the active/standby switchover. The service smoothing method is adopted to ensure a smooth transition to the service during the switching.

In various embodiments of the invention, the primary backup device involved is a single board device.

2 shows the structure of a switching system including a control module 201, a main execution module 202, and an alternate execution module 203, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The control module 201 is configured to control the execution of the switching step, and is connected to the active execution module 202 and the standby execution module 203. The primary execution module 202 is configured to perform a switching step on the active board under the control of the control module 201. The standby execution module 203 is configured to perform a switching step on the standby board under the controllability of the control module. The active execution module 202 is distributed on the active board, and the standby execution module 203 is distributed on the standby board. The control module 201 can be distributed on the main standby board or separately distributed on another board. Separating the control function and the execution function into separate modules, so that the switching operation can be implemented step by step, which enhances the reliability and flexibility of the switching, so that the switching can be step by step. Reply back.

Figure 3 illustrates an address mapping mechanism in a switching system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. First define logical addresses and physical addresses for each board. The application layer modules use logical addresses to communicate with each other. An address mapping relationship exists between the logical address and the physical address. The address mapping relationship is maintained by the underlying module. When switching, the underlying module switches the mapping relationship between the logical address and the physical address, that is, transparent switching is implemented.

For example, the communication system includes the device board A, the device board B, and its standby board B. When the board is working normally, the board B is the main board, and the board B' is the standby board. The physical address of the board B is 301, and the physical address of the board B' is 302. The physical address 301 of the board B corresponds to the logical address 303, and the physical address 302 of the board 与 corresponds to the logical address 304. The other boards in the communication system, such as the board, access the active board through logical address 303 to communicate with the active board. When the switchover occurs, the address mapping mechanism switches the address mapping relationship, mapping the physical address 301 of the active board to the logical address 304, and mapping the physical address 302 of the standby board B' to the logical address 303. After the other board accesses the logical address 303, the board corresponding to the physical address 302 is accessed through the mapping relationship, so that the board actually communicates with the board B'. At this time, the board B' becomes the active board, and the board B becomes the standby board. The upper application module, or other boards, are not affected before and after the entire switching operation.

The above address mapping mechanism is adopted to implement fast switching of the underlying communication channel, which realizes fast processing of switching and reduces service interruption time. Since the operation of the address mapping relationship does not involve hardware switching, the reliability of the switching operation is improved. At the same time, for other service modules, the impact of switching is shielded and transparent.

Figure 4 illustrates a flow of a switching method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. According to the foregoing, the switching process is divided into multiple steps, and the control module completes the control function, and the execution module completes the specific operation.

In various trigger modes, after the trigger is triggered, the trigger message is first transmitted to the control module, and the control module initiates the switching operation.

First, proceeding to step 401, the control module performs a pre-processing of the switching to determine whether the system resource satisfies the switching condition. Because the switching operation requires certain system resource conditions to complete, before the switching is performed, in order to ensure the reliability of the switching, the control module first performs system resource judgment. For example, if the configuration of the standby board is complete, if the standby board is not configured, the active board cannot be used for communication. The switching operation cannot be performed. The control module will terminate the switching process. In the case of manual switching, the control module also determines whether the system resources are sufficient. For example, when the standby board runs abnormally, a warning signal is issued to notify the operator that the switching cannot be performed.

Then, in step 402, the control module sends a command to the active execution module and the standby execution module, and the primary execution module and the standby execution module perform reverse switching preprocessing to determine whether the service resource satisfies the switching condition. Because the switching operation has a certain impact on the service, the execution module must judge the currently running service before performing the switching. For example, when the service is busy or the real-time requirement is high, it is judged that the switching condition is not satisfied. , terminate the switch or postpone the switch, or issue a warning that the switch is unsafe.

Then, proceeding to step 403, after the switching condition is satisfied, the service execution backup process is performed by the active execution module and the standby execution module. The data between the standby board and the active board cannot be synchronized. Even if the data is used in the warm backup mode, the data cannot be completely synchronized. Therefore, you need to back up the data of the active board to the standby board before the switchover is performed. Make the primary and backup data completely consistent, and ensure that the business communication can be smoothly connected after the switching occurs.

Then, proceeding to step 404, under the control of the control module, the switching process of the underlying communication channel is completed by the primary execution module and the standby execution module, that is, the address mapping relationship between the logical address and the physical address is modified. Map the logical address of the original active board to the physical address of the original standby board. This step completes the transparent switchover of the active and standby boards, and blocks the impact on the high-level application modules and other unrelated boards, and can be completed in a faster time.

Next, proceeding to step 405, under the control of the control module, the system-related configuration data switching process is completed by the main execution module and the standby execution module. In a communication system, a device board needs to be configured to work properly. Therefore, after the switchover is completed, system-related configuration data processing is required. For example, you need to configure the status of the active and standby boards on the bottom layer so that the active board does not send data. The standby board communicates with other boards in the system.

Finally, in step 406, the main processing module and the standby execution module complete the smooth processing of the service data. After the main and standby boards complete the switchover, you need to ensure the smooth connection of the communication service. Therefore, in this step, the execution module monitors the communication service of the primary and backup boards, and adopts corresponding policies in special cases to ensure that services are not as good as possible. Affected by the switching operation. For example, Check the communication data of the board. If the communication is abnormal, send a warning signal. If the active and standby boards are in the same state, the standby board is used. The data communicates and causes the active board to enter the standby state.

In one embodiment of the present invention, step 402 is omitted in the flow of the above-described switching method, if it is not necessary. For example, in the automatic switchover caused by a hardware fault, the active board is faulty, and the standby unit must take over the communication. The impact on the service is unavoidable. The data is designed to be a warm backup method, and the actual impact on the business will be small.

In another embodiment of the present invention, in an unnecessary case, such as automatic switching caused by a hardware failure, in the flow of the above switching method, step 403 is omitted. When the main board is faulty due to a hardware failure, it is impossible to perform the recovery operation. Therefore, it is not necessary to back up the configuration data.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to implement a smooth switching design, a board that serves as an active/standby redundant backup adopts a warm backup mode to ensure data synchronization and service smooth switching. When the service data on the main board changes, the service data is backed up to the standby board. The running data on the active and standby boards is always consistent. In the case of a switchover, the manual switch is used to back up the service data to the standby board. In the normal operation, the warm backup is performed. Therefore, when the switchover occurs, the backup is required. The amount of data is very small, and the time taken for data backup is relatively small, thereby increasing the speed of switching and reducing the impact on system and service communication.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the method of performing the switching of the switching process is also used to implement the switching recovery. The switchover recovery means that the system can perform the switchover recovery according to the situation during the process of the switchover or the switchover. The master/slave board is restored to the state before the switchover. This provides support for automatic manual switching in certain special situations. For example, the board switching process initiated by the operation and maintenance personnel requires the offline operation of the main board for a certain period of time.

According to the switching method of one embodiment of the present invention, the switching process is first divided into a plurality of stages, and the state control method is used to control the switching. When a processing exception occurs at any one stage, the switching recovery processing can be performed, and the state before the switching is restored as much as possible. Details below In the switching step, when an abnormal situation occurs, the switching recovery process is as follows:

In step 401 or step 402, in the pre-processing stage of the switching, since the substantial switching operation has not been performed, if the switching fails, for example, the switching condition determination is not satisfied, the switching process is directly ended, and no switching is required. restore.

In step 403, in the data backup phase, the data backup does not affect the normal operation of the original active board, but the data is backed up on the standby board. Therefore, when the switchover fails, the switchover recovery operation only needs to restore the standby board. For example, simply reset and restart the standby board.

In step 404, if an abnormality occurs in the underlying communication channel switching phase, the switchover recovery operation is performed, and the underlying communication channel is switched to the state before the switchover, and the configuration of the original active board is restored, and the device is notified to operate as the active board. .

In step 405, in the system configuration data switching phase, if an abnormality occurs, the switching recovery operation is performed, and the related configuration data is restored to the original active/standby correspondence relationship, and then the underlying communication channel is switched to the state before the switching, and finally the original primary recovery is resumed. The service module of the board is notified that it is running as the active board.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the system smooth upgrade and hardware maintenance of the uninterrupted service are implemented by the above-mentioned switching recovery mechanism. For example, if you use the switchover recovery, you can remove the active board from the system for a period of time, perform operation or maintenance, and then resume the operation of the active board by the switchover recovery mechanism. In this process, the standby board is used. The board replaces the main board, so the service is not interrupted.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art The spirit and scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Rights request

A method for switching a device in a communication system, comprising:

A. Perform reverse switching preprocessing;

2. The method for switching a device in a communication system according to claim 1, wherein the process of switching the pre-processing in step A comprises:

Al. Determine whether the system resources meet the switching conditions. If yes, go to step B, and no, stop the switching process.

The method for switching the device in the communication system according to claim 1 or 1, wherein the process of switching the preprocessing in step A comprises:

4. The method for switching devices in a communication system according to claim 1, wherein between the step A and the step B, the method further comprises the steps of:

5. The method for switching devices in a communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a step after said step C,

Smooth processing of business data to ensure smooth connection of services.

6. The method for switching devices in a communication system according to claim 1, wherein:

The method for switching a device in a communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: performing data synchronization between the active device and the standby device by using a warm backup.

The method for switching a device in a communication system according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising: determining whether a switching abnormality occurs, and if so, performing a switching recovery process.

9. The method of switching devices in a communication system according to claim 8, wherein: The switching recovery process includes:

Data recovery is performed on the standby device.

The method for switching a device in a communication system according to claim 9, wherein the switching recovery process comprises:

Reverting the underlying communication channel to a state before the switching;

The configuration of the primary device is restored, and the primary device is notified to operate as a primary device.

The method for switching a device in a communication system according to claim 8, wherein the switching recovery process comprises:

12. A switching system for a device in a communication system, comprising:

a control module, configured to control execution of the switching process;

The switching system of the device in the communication system according to claim 12, wherein the primary execution module and the standby execution module are further configured to: service the primary device according to an instruction of the control module Data backup to the backup device, and smoothing of business data