WO2015101003A1

WO2015101003A1 - Network device and packet forwarding method

Info

Publication number: WO2015101003A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/081811
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李教峰
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2013-12-31
Filing date: 2014-07-08
Publication date: 2015-07-09
Also published as: CN104753792B; CN104753792A

Abstract

Disclosed is a network device, with forwarding engines being removed from line cards, increasing configuration flexibility of physical interfaces and forwarding engines, and realizing centralized management and scheduling of multiple forwarding engines to avoid inadequate or excess capability of the forwarding engines to improve forwarding performance and reliability of the network device. The network device comprises a plurality of forwarding engines, mappers and line cards, the line cards comprising physical interfaces; according to the relationship between the forwarding engines and physical interfaces, the mapper transmits packets from the line cards to the corresponding forwarding engines, and packets from the forwarding engines to the corresponding physical interfaces. Also provided is a network device packet forwarding method.

Description

Network device and method for forwarding a message The present application claims to be filed on December 31, 2013, the Chinese Patent Office, the application number is 201310753145. 4. The priority of the Chinese patent application entitled "Network Device and Method of Forwarding Message" The entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of network communications, and in particular, to a network device and a method for forwarding a message. Background technique

The most basic function of the router is to determine the physical interface and the next hop address of the packet based on the network layer address in the received packet and the routing table maintained by the router, and modify the link layer header of the packet to forward the packet. Message. When a router forwards a packet, it can perform network address translation, deep packet inspection, and quality of service (QoS).

Routers usually use a distributed forwarding architecture, including line cards (English: l ine card) and switching networks (English: switching fabric) chips. The line card provides a physical interface, and also includes a forwarding engine; the forwarding engines are connected to each other through a switching network chip. The data traffic forwarded between the two physical interfaces of the same line card can be forwarded by the forwarding engine of the line card, and does not need to be sent to the switching network chip. There are many types of line cards for routers. There are line cards that provide low-speed link interfaces, and line cards that provide high-speed interfaces. The speeds of different types of interfaces are very different. The total bandwidth of the outgoing interface of the line card may be 64 kilobits per second (English: ki lobits per second, symbol: Kbps), 128Kbps or 256Kbps, or 100 megabits per second (English: megabits per second, symbol: Mbps) 200Mbps or 1 gigabit per second (English: gigabits per second, symbol: Gbps), etc., which makes it difficult to match the processing power of the line card's forwarding engine and the interface rate. It is possible that the forwarding engine has insufficient capacity to meet the corresponding interface rate. It is also possible that the forwarding engine has excess capacity and exceeds the interface rate, resulting in wasted forwarding engine capability. In addition, in the event of a failure of the online card's forwarding engine, all interfaces of the line card will not work properly. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The embodiments of the present invention provide a network device and a method for forwarding a message. The peer map is provided with a correspondence between a forwarding engine and a physical interface by separating the forwarding engine from the line card, and the physical interface and the forwarding engine are provided. Decoupling, increasing the flexibility of physical interface and forwarding engine configuration, thereby improving network equipment Forwarding performance and reliability.

In a first aspect, a network device is provided, including a plurality of forwarding engines, a mapper and a line card; the line card includes a physical interface; the mapper includes an uplink port and a downlink port; and the uplink port is the mapper connection a port of the forwarding engine; a downlink port is a port to which the mapper connects the line card;

The line card is configured to send a packet received from the physical interface to the mapper, and is further configured to send the packet received from the mapper from the corresponding physical interface;

The mapper is configured to: send the packet from the physical interface to the corresponding forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; and send the packet from the forwarding engine to the corresponding physical interface;

Forwarding engine, used to forward packets.

In a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the identity of the forwarding engine is an identity of an uplink port of the mapper.

According to the first aspect or the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, the mapper is further configured to dynamically acquire a correspondence between the forwarding engine and a physical interface. .

According to a second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the network device further includes a main control board, configured to acquire an identifier of the uplink port of the mapper and a downlink port Identifying a mapping relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to a predefined policy, and providing the mapping to the mapper.

According to a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the first aspect, the predefined policy includes: a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, a state of a forwarding engine, and a load of a forwarding engine. One or more strategies in the situation.

According to the first aspect and any one of the first to fourth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, the line card comprises an interface processing chip;

All physical interfaces of the line card are connected to a downlink port of the mapper through the interface processing chip;

Corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is a correspondence between the identifier of the forwarding engine and the combination of the identifier of the downlink port and the identifier of the physical interface;

The interface processing chip is configured to process a message from a physical interface of the line card, and is further configured to process a message sent by the mapper to a physical interface of the line card;

According to a fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation of the first aspect, The interface processing chip is configured to receive the first packet from the first physical interface of the line card, and set the identifier of the first physical interface to the first packet to obtain a second packet; The mapper sends the second packet;

The interface processing chip is further configured to receive a third packet from the mapper, where the third packet includes an identifier of a second physical interface of the line card, and the third packet is included in the third packet. And removing the identifier of the second physical interface, to obtain a fourth packet, and sending the fourth packet to the second physical interface according to the identifier of the second physical interface.

According to the sixth possible implementation of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation of the first aspect, the mapper is configured to receive the second packet from the downlink port, where The second packet is marked with the identifier of the downlink port, and is sent to the forwarding engine corresponding to the first physical port according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface.

According to the sixth possible implementation of the first aspect, in the eighth possible implementation of the first aspect, the interface processing chip is further configured to: apply the identifier of the downlink port to the first packet; The second packet further includes an identifier of the first downlink port;

The third packet further includes an identifier of the downlink port. The interface processing chip is further configured to remove the identifier of the downlink port from the third packet, to obtain the fourth packet.

According to the eighth possible implementation of the first aspect, in a ninth possible implementation of the first aspect, the interface processing chip is further configured to save an identifier of the downlink port;

The main control board is further configured to provide an identifier of the downlink port to the interface processing chip. In accordance with the first aspect and any one of the first to fourth possible implementations of the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation of the first aspect, all physical interfaces of the line card are respectively connected to the A downstream port of the mapper.

According to the tenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the eleventh possible implementation of the first aspect, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is an identifier and an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper The correspondence between the identifiers of the uplink ports of the mapper.

According to the first aspect and any one of the first to the eleventh possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a twelfth possible implementation of the first aspect, the network device further includes a switching network chip; The plurality of forwarding engines are connected to each other through the switching network chip;

The switching network chip is configured to exchange packets between the multiple forwarding engines. A second aspect provides a method for forwarding a packet, where the network device includes a plurality of forwarding engines, a mapper, and a line card. The method for forwarding a packet includes:

The first physical interface of the line card receives the first packet;

The line card is configured to mark the first packet with the first physical interface, and obtain a second packet, where the second packet includes an identifier of the first physical interface; And sending, by the mapper, the second packet to the first forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; The first downlink port is a port that the mapper connects to the line card;

The first forwarding engine sends the second packet to a second forwarding engine, or sends the second packet to the mapper.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is a correspondence between an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper and an identifier of the physical interface;

The mapper sends the second packet to the first forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, including:

The mapper obtains an identifier of the first uplink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the first physical interface in the second packet, and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; The first uplink port is a port that the mapper connects to the first forwarding engine;

The mapper sends the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine. According to the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the second forwarding engine, the method further Includes:

The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet. The third packet is sent to the mapper, where the third packet includes The identifier of the second physical interface, the mapper receives the third packet, and obtains the identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface And sending the third packet from the second downlink port to a line card where the second physical interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second physical interface is removed from the third packet, the fourth packet is obtained, and the fourth packet is sent to the second packet. Physical interface.

According to a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the mapper, the method further include: The mapper receives the second packet from the first uplink port, where the second packet includes an identifier of the second physical interface;

Determining, by the mapper, the identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface, and the second packet from the first Sending, by the second downlink port, a line card where the second physical interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second physical interface is removed from the second packet, the third packet is obtained, and the third packet is sent from the second physical The interface is sent out.

In a fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper, and a combination of an identifier of a downlink port of the mapper and an identifier of the physical interface. Correspondence relationship;

The mapper obtains the mapper according to the identifier of the first physical interface, the identifier of the first downlink port, and the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface in the second packet. The identifier of the first uplink port; the first uplink port is a port that the mapper connects to the first forwarding engine;

The mapper sends the identifier of the first downlink port to the second packet, and sends a second packet marked with the identifier of the first downlink port from the first uplink port to the The first forwarding engine.

According to the fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the second forwarding engine, the method further Includes:

The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet. The third packet is sent to the mapper, where the third packet includes An identifier of the second physical interface, further including an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper;

The mapper removes the identifier of the second downlink port from the third packet, obtains a fourth packet, and sends the fourth packet from the second downlink port to the second physical port. The line card where the interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second physical interface is removed from the fourth packet, the fifth packet is obtained, and the fifth packet is sent to the second packet. Physical interface.

According to a fourth possible implementation of the second aspect, a sixth possible implementation in the second aspect After the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the mapper, the method further includes: the mapper receiving the second packet from the first uplink port, the second The packet includes an identifier of the second physical interface, and an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper.

The mapper removes the identifier of the second downlink port from the second packet, obtains a third packet, and sends the third packet from the second downlink port to the second physics The line card where the interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second physical interface is removed from the third packet, the fourth packet is obtained, and the fourth packet is sent from the second physical The interface is sent out.

In a seventh possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper, and a combination of an identifier of a downlink port of the mapper and an identifier of the physical interface. Correspondence relationship;

The method further includes: the line card is configured to mark the first downlink port of the first packet; and the second packet further includes an identifier of the first downlink port;

Correspondingly, the mapper sends the second packet to the first forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, including:

The mapper obtains an identifier of the first uplink port of the mapper according to the second packet, and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, where the first uplink port is the mapper Connecting to the port of the first forwarding engine;

The mapper sends the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine. According to the seventh possible implementation of the second aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the second forwarding engine, the method further Includes:

The mapper sends the third packet from the second downlink port to the line card where the second physical interface is located, according to the identifier of the second downlink port in the third packet;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface are removed from the third packet, and a fourth packet is obtained, and the Four messages are sent to the second physical interface. According to a seventh possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the first forwarding engine sends the second packet to the mapper, the method further The device includes: receiving, by the mapper, the second packet from the first uplink port, where the second packet includes an identifier of the second physical interface, and further includes an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper;

The mapper sends the second packet from the second downlink port to the line card where the second physical interface is located, according to the identifier of the second downlink port in the second packet;

The line card where the second physical interface is located, the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface are removed from the second packet, and a third packet is obtained, and the The three messages are sent out from the second physical interface.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can separate the forwarding engine from the line card, and can increase the flexibility of the configuration of the interface and the forwarding engine; and through centralized management and scheduling of the forwarding engine, the capability of the forwarding engine can be avoided from being insufficient or excessive. Improve the forwarding performance and system reliability of network devices. DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for forwarding a message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another method for forwarding a message according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

The above described objects, features, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent and understood.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a network device. As shown in FIG. 1 , the network device 100 includes multiple forwarding engines 102. The network device 100 further includes a mapper 103 and a line card 104. The line card 104 includes a physical interface, such as a Gigabit Ethernet (GE) interface, an E_carrier first level (English: first level of E-carrier, referred to as El) interface, and an asynchronous transmission mode (English: Asynchronous Transfer Mode, referred to as ATM) interface. The network device 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes two forwarding engines as an example, and the network device 100 may also include more than two forwarding engines. The network device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is exemplified by two line cards. The network device 100 may also include a line card. The network device 100 may also include more than two line cards.

The line card 104 is for transmitting a message received from the physical interface to the mapper 103; and transmitting the message received from the mapper 103 from the corresponding physical interface. All physical interfaces on one line card 104 each have a different identification. The identifier of the physical interface can be the interface number. If there are multiple line cards 104 within a network device 100, the physical interfaces on the different line cards 104 may have the same identity. The mapper 103 can distinguish between physical interfaces having the same identification on different line cards 104 by the connection between the mapper 103 and the line card 104. Alternatively, all physical interfaces of a network device 100 can be uniquely identified. For example, all physical interfaces may be identified by a globally unique interface number within network device 100.

The mapper 103 is configured to send the packet from the line card to the corresponding forwarding engine 102 according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, and is further configured to send the packet from the forwarding engine 102 to the corresponding line card. 104. The mapper 103 includes an uplink port and a downlink port; the uplink port is a port to which the mapper 103 is connected to the forwarding engine 102, such as port 2A and port 2B shown in FIG. 1, and the downlink port is a link line card of the mapper 103. Port 104, such as port 4a, port 4b, etc. shown in FIG. A plurality of line cards 104 on a network device 100 can be distinguished by an identification of a downstream port of the mapper 103, such as a port number. Optionally, the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper 103 is used as the identifier of the line card 104.

The forwarding engine 102 is configured to forward the message; specifically, the forwarding engine 102 sends the message to other forwarding engines for processing, or sends the message to the mapper 103. A forwarding table is stored in the forwarding engine 102. The forwarding engine 102 sends the message to other forwarding engines for processing according to the stored forwarding table, or sends the message to the mapper 103 for transmission to the corresponding line card 104. The forwarding engine 102 can also perform service processing such as network address translation, deep packet inspection, and QoS on the packet.

As shown in FIG. 2, the network device 100 may further include a switching fabric chip 101. The plurality of forwarding engines 102 are connected to each other through the switching network chip 101. The forwarding engine 102 sends the packet to other forwarding engines for processing, specifically through the switching network chip 101. The switching network chip 101 is configured to exchange packets between the forwarding engines, specifically, the packets received from one forwarding engine to another forwarding engine.

Optionally, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is an identifier and a physical of the forwarding engine. Corresponding relationship between the identifiers of the interfaces; the forwarding engine may be identified by the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper 103, that is, the identifier of the forwarding engine may be an identifier of the uplink port of the mapper 103.

In an alternative implementation, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface can be statically configured in the mapper 103.

In another optional implementation, the mapper 103 can also dynamically obtain a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface. As shown in FIG. 3, the network device 100 further includes a main control board 105, configured to obtain an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper 103 and an identifier of a downlink port. Optionally, the main control board 105 is further configured to obtain identifiers of all physical interfaces of the line card 104. The main control board 105 can also be used to obtain parameters of the physical interface of the line card 104. The parameters of the physical interface include the type of the physical interface, the bandwidth of the physical interface, or a combination thereof. Further, the main control board 105 is further configured to generate a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to a predefined policy. For example, the predefined policy may be based on a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, and a forwarding engine. A policy of one or more of the status and forwarding engine load conditions. The main control board 105 is specifically configured to dynamically generate the forwarding engine according to a predefined policy, an identifier of an uplink port of the mapper 103, an identifier of a downlink port, and an identifier of all physical interfaces of the line card 104. Correspondence between physical interfaces. The main control board 105 is further configured to provide a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface to the mapper 103.

Between the main control board 105 and the mapper 103, between the main control board 105 and the forwarding engine 102, between the main control board 105 and the line card 104, it can be connected by bus or other means.

As shown in FIG. 4, all physical interfaces of the same line card 104 can be respectively connected to one downstream port of the mapper 103. The mapper 103 can distinguish the physical interfaces by the identity of the downstream port. The identifier of the physical interface may be an identifier of a downlink port of the mapper 103. For example, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface obtained by the network device shown in FIG. 4 is based on the interface bandwidth. The forwarding engine is identified by the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper 103, and the physical interface passes through the mapper 103. The identity of the downstream port is identified.

Table 1

As shown in FIG. 5, all physical interfaces on the same line card 104 can also be connected to one downstream port of the mapper 103. The mapper 103 can distinguish the physical interfaces of the different line cards 104 having the same identifier, such as the interface number, by the identifier of the downlink port. The line card 104 further includes an interface processing chip 1041 for maintaining information of the physical interface of the line card 104, for example, an identifier of the physical interface, a type of the physical interface, a bandwidth of the physical interface, and the like. All of the physical interfaces of the line card 104 are connected to a downstream port of the mapper 103 via the interface processing chip 1041 of the line card 104. The interface processing chip 1041 is configured to process messages from the physical interfaces of the line card 104; and is also used to process messages sent by the mapper 103 to the physical interfaces of the line card 104. Optionally, the interface processing chip 1041 further saves an identifier of a downlink port of the mapper 103 to which the mapper 103 is connected; correspondingly, the main control board 105 is further configured to provide the identifier of the downlink port to the The interface processing chip 1041.

The interface processing chip 1041 is specifically configured to process the packet received from the physical interface. Specifically, the interface processing chip 1041 of the line card 104 marks the physical interface of the packet received from the physical interface of the line card 104 by receiving the message. The interface processing chip 1041 further adds the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper 103 saved to the packet. Alternatively, the mapper 103 receives the packet from the packet received from the downlink port. The identity of the downstream port.

The interface processing chip 1041 is further configured to process the packet from the mapper 103, where the packet includes an identifier of the physical interface. Optionally, the packet further includes an identifier of the downlink port. Specifically, the interface processing chip 1041 of the line card 104 removes the identifier of the physical interface from the packet from the mapper 103, and optionally removes the identifier of the downlink port, and sends the packet according to the identifier of the physical interface. Sent from the physical interface.

Further, the interface processing chip 1041 of the line card 104 can also be used for performing rate matching, multiplexing/demultiplexing, protocol conversion, and the like on the message.

For example, Table 2 is the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface obtained by the network device shown in FIG. 5 based on the interface bandwidth. The forwarding engine is identified by the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper 103, and the physical interface passes through the downlink port of the mapper 103. The combination of the identity and the identity of the physical interface is identified.

Table 2

Elc + 4b 2B

Eld + 4b 2B

GE1 + 4c 2A

GE2 + 4c 2B

GE3 + 4c 2B Figure 5 and Table 2 show the same physical interfaces on the different line cards 104 of the network device 100. Of course, the same applies to all physical interfaces on the network device 100 that can be uniquely identified. Optionally, in a case where all the physical interfaces of the network device 100 can be uniquely identified, in the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, the physical interface may also be identified only by the identifier of the physical interface.

If there are multiple line cards 104 within a network device 100, the physical interfaces on the different line cards 104 can be connected to the mapper 103 in different ways. For example, all of the physical interfaces of one line card are each connected to one downstream port of the mapper 103, and all physical interfaces of the other line card are connected to a downstream port of the mapper through the interface processing chip of the line card.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the present invention decouples the forwarding engine from the line card, and decouples the physical interface and the forwarding engine to implement centralized management and scheduling of multiple forwarding engines. The dynamic mapping between the physical interface and the forwarding engine is implemented by the mapper, which increases the flexibility of the configuration of the physical interface and the forwarding engine, and improves the forwarding performance of the network device.

The network device 100 includes a router, a switch, and the like.

Further, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface generated based on the interface bandwidth may cause different forwarding engines to have different burdens. The processing complexity of packets from different types of physical interfaces is usually different. For example, the packets of the GE interface may only need to be forwarded by the route, and the packets of the E1 interface may need to be used for deep packet inspection. Complex traffic processing such as firewalls and QoS. The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface can be dynamically adjusted based on the load of the forwarding engine. Specifically, a forwarding engine load table is used to record the load status of each forwarding engine; the forwarding engine load table can be maintained by the main control board 105, and each forwarding engine can periodically report the load status, or can be actively initiated by the main control board 105. Query the load status of each forwarding engine. Further, the load of the forwarding engine may be tracked, for example, the load of the forwarding engine is periodically recorded to form a historical log. If all the forwarding engines are in a high load for a long time, indicating that the forwarding resources are insufficient, the forwarding engine may be added; or if the forwarding engine is long-term At low load, it means that there is excess forwarding resources, which can reduce the forwarding engine.

Further, the network device provided by the present invention can centrally manage and schedule multiple forwarding engines. The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is obtained based on the service demand, such as the rate limit of the interface aggregation. Specifically, the relationship table between the physical interface and the bundle group may be recorded by using an interface binding relationship table. The interface binding relationship table may be maintained by the main control board 105, and may be provided to the main control board 105 according to service requirements. When a mapping between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is generated, a binding group can be associated with a forwarding engine according to the interface binding relationship table. For example, Table 3 is an interface binding relationship table of the network device 100 shown in FIG. 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

table 3

Further, in the network device of the embodiment of the present invention, when a forwarding engine fails, all the physical interfaces that the forwarding engine is responsible for may be switched to other forwarding engines. Specifically, a forwarding engine status table may be used to record the status of each forwarding engine. For example, the status of the forwarding engine includes normal (or called work), failure, shutdown (or called power-off), etc.; forwarding engine status table It can be maintained by the main control board 105. Each forwarding engine can report the status periodically, or report the status when the status changes. Alternatively, the main control board 105 can actively query the status of each forwarding engine. All interfaces responsible for the failed forwarding engine can be switched to any one or more forwarding engines in a normal state; further, the forwarding engine of the forwarding engine can be switched to the forwarding engine with a normal state and a light load. on. Optionally, an alert can be issued if the status of all forwarding engines is not normal. Further, the primary forwarding engine and the standby forwarding engine may be configured in advance to improve system reliability by means of active/standby protection. Specifically, a dedicated backup forwarding engine may be set. When the primary forwarding engine works normally, the standby forwarding engine does not. Work, for example, in a powered-off state; when the primary forwarding engine fails, the standby forwarding engine enters a working state. Of course, multiple forwarding engines can be used as the primary and backup devices, and an active/standby relationship table is used to record the primary and backup relationships between the forwarding engines to improve the utilization of the forwarding engine.

If a forwarding engine fails, the responsible interface can be switched to another forwarding engine or an alternate forwarding engine, and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is updated by the main control board 105 and provided to the mapper 103. You can avoid the forwarding engine failure and the physical interface will not work. When the forwarding After the engine is faulty, the responsible physical interface can be switched back to the forwarding engine from the other forwarding engine or the standby forwarding engine, and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is updated by the main control board 105 and provided to the mapper. 103.

The mapper 103 can be implemented in hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit (English:

Appl ication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), network processor (NP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device.

The mapper 103 can also be implemented by software in combination with hardware. For example, the mapper 103 includes a processor 1031, a memory 1032, and a communication port 1033, and the processor 1031, the memory 1032, and the communication port 1033 can be connected via a bus or the like. Ways to connect to each other. The memory 1032 is used to store programs. In particular, the program can include program code, the program code including computer operating instructions. The memory 1032 may include random-access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volati le memory. The processor 1031 may be a central processing unit (CPU).

The communication port 1033 includes an uplink port for communicating with a forwarding engine, such as a 10GE interface, and the communication port 1033 further includes a downlink port for communicating with a line card, such as a GE interface.

The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface may be stored in the memory 1032. The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface may also be saved in the cache of the processor.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can separate the forwarding engine from the line card, and can increase the flexibility of physical interface and forwarding engine configuration; and can implement centralized management and scheduling of multiple forwarding engines to avoid insufficient forwarding engine capability. Or excess, improve the forwarding performance of network devices; In addition, the forwarding engines can also be backups of each other, one forwarding engine is faulty, and other forwarding engines can take over their work, and the interface will not work, causing network failure, thereby improving System reliability.

In the network device 100 shown in any of FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, only one mapper is shown. Of course, two mappers may be configured to implement functions such as active/standby protection and load balancing to ensure the network device 100. Reliability and forwarding performance.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the forwarding engine and the line card of the network device 100 may be in a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-many relationship, which may be specifically according to the network device 100. The configuration is not limited by the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for forwarding a message, which can be used in a network device as shown in FIG. 5 of the present invention. The method includes: 601. The first line card receives the first packet from the first physical interface of the first line card, and marks the first packet with the identifier of the first physical interface, and obtains the second report. Sending the second packet to the mapper;

Specifically, the interface processing chip of the first line card adds an identifier of the first physical interface, such as an interface number, to the first packet, to obtain the second packet, and the second packet. Sent to the mapper.

The second packet includes an identifier of the first physical interface.

Optionally, before the marking of the first physical interface is performed on the first packet, the interface processing module of the first line card further performs multiplexing, protocol conversion, and the like on the pair of packets.

602. The mapper sends the second packet to the first forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface.

Specifically, the mapper receives the second packet from the first downlink port, and sends the second packet to the first forwarding engine according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface.

In a first possible implementation manner, all the physical interfaces of the network device may be uniquely identified, that is, the identifier of the physical interface is globally unique on the network device. The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the correspondence between the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface. The mapper may obtain the identifier of the first uplink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the first physical interface in the second packet, and the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface. The first uplink port is a port that the mapper connects to the first forwarding engine. The mapper sends the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine.

In a second possible implementation manner, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is a correspondence between the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper and the combination of the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface. The mapper receives the identifier of the first downlink port of the second packet, and the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to the identifier of the first physical interface in the second packet. Corresponding relationship between the first uplink port of the mapper is obtained, and the first uplink port is a port that the mapper is connected to the first forwarding engine. The mapper sends the identifier of the first downlink port to the second packet, and sends a second packet marked with the identifier of the first downlink port from the first uplink port to the The first forward bow I engine.

In a third possible implementation, the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is a correspondence between a combination of the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface and the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper. In 601, the interface processing chip of the first line card further performs the mapping on the first packet. An identifier of a first downlink port of the mapper; a first downlink port of the mapper is a port connecting the mapper to the first line card; an interface processing chip of the first line card stores the The identifier of the first downlink port. The second packet further includes an identifier of the first downlink port. Determining, by the mapper, the identifier of the first uplink port of the mapper according to the correspondence between the second packet and the forwarding engine and the physical interface, where the first uplink port is the mapper A port that connects to the first forwarding engine. The mapper sends the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine.

603. The first forwarding engine forwards the second packet.

Specifically, the first forwarding engine forwards the second packet according to the forwarding table. If the second packet needs to be processed by another forwarding engine, continue to execute 604-605; if the second packet does not need to be processed by another forwarding engine, continue to execute 606, and may directly send it to the corresponding device through the mapper. Physical interface.

Optionally, the first forwarding engine performs service processing such as network address translation, deep packet detection, and QoS on the second packet before forwarding the second packet.

Each forwarding engine of the network device stores a forwarding table; the forwarding table is generated by the main control board and provided to each forwarding engine.

604. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet. The third packet is sent to the mapper, where the third packet is sent. Including the identifier of the second physical interface;

Specifically, the second forwarding engine performs forwarding processing on the second packet according to the forwarding table, and may perform service processing such as network address translation, deep packet detection, and QoS to obtain a third packet; The third message is sent to the mapper.

605. The mapper receives the third packet, and sends the third packet according to the identifier of the second physical interface.

Corresponding to the first possible implementation manner of the 602, the mapper further includes a correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface, and is specifically a correspondence between the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface. The mapper may obtain the identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface, and obtain the third packet from the The second downlink port is sent to the second physical interface. Specifically, the mapper sends the third packet to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface processing chip of the second line card removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the third packet, and obtains a fourth Transmitting the fourth packet to the second physical interface.

Corresponding to the second possible implementation of the 602, the third packet further includes an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper, where the mapper removes the second downlink from the third packet The identifier of the port is obtained, and the fourth packet is sent, and the fourth packet is sent from the second downlink port to the second physical interface. Specifically, the fourth packet is sent from the second downlink port to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface processing chip of the second line card removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the fourth packet, obtains a fifth packet, and sends the fifth packet to the second physical interface.

Corresponding to the third possible implementation manner of the 602, the third packet further includes an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper, where the mapper is configured according to the second downlink port in the third packet The identifier is sent from the second downlink port to the second physical interface. Specifically, the mapper sends the third packet to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface processing chip of the second line card removes the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface from the third packet, to obtain a fourth packet, and the fourth packet The text is sent to the second physical interface.

606. The mapper receives the second packet from the first uplink port, where the second packet includes an identifier of the second physical interface, and sends the second packet according to the identifier of the second physical interface. .

Corresponding to the first possible implementation manner of the 602, the mapper further includes a correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface, which is specifically a correspondence between the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface. The mapper may obtain an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the correspondence between the downlink port and the physical interface, and obtain the second packet from the The second downlink port is sent to the second physical interface. Specifically, the mapper sends the second packet to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface processing chip of the second line card removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the second packet, obtains a third packet, and sends the third packet from the second physical interface. .

Corresponding to the second possible implementation of the 602, the second packet further includes an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper, where the mapper removes the second downlink from the second packet The identifier of the port is obtained, and the third packet is sent, and the third packet is sent from the second downlink port to the second physical interface. Specifically, the third packet is sent from the second downlink port to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface card of the second line card is processed from the chip The third packet is removed from the identifier of the second physical interface, and the fourth packet is obtained, and the fourth packet is sent out from the second physical interface.

Corresponding to the third possible implementation manner of the 602, the second packet further includes an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper, where the mapper is configured according to the second downlink port in the second packet The identifier is sent from the second downlink port to the second physical interface. Specifically, the mapper sends the second packet to an interface processing chip of the second line card, where the second physical interface is located on the second line card. The interface processing chip of the second line card removes the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface from the second packet, to obtain a third packet, and the third packet The text is sent out from the second physical interface.

In this embodiment, the first line card and the second line card may be the same line card. The first downlink port may be the same port as the second downlink port.

The method for forwarding a packet according to the embodiment of the present invention, the stripping of the forwarding engine from the line card can increase the flexibility of the physical interface and the forwarding engine configuration; and can implement centralized management and scheduling of multiple forwarding engines to avoid the forwarding engine. Insufficient or excessive capacity, improve the forwarding performance of network devices; In addition, the forwarding engines can also backup each other, a forwarding engine failure, can be replaced by other forwarding engines, will not make the interface unable to work and cause network failure , thereby improving system reliability. FIG. 7 is another method for forwarding a message according to an embodiment of the present invention, which can be used in a network device as shown in FIG. 4 of the present invention. The method includes:

701. The first physical interface of the first line card receives the first packet, and sends the first packet to the mapper.

Specifically, the first physical interface sends the first packet from the first downlink port of the mapper to the mapper; the first downlink port is the first physical interface connection The end of the mapper.

702. The mapper processes the first packet according to the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, and obtains the second packet, and sends the second packet to the first forwarding engine.

Specifically, the mapper receives the first packet from the first downlink port, and obtains the first uplink according to the identifier of the first downlink port and the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface. The identifier of the port, where the first uplink port is a port that the mapper connects to the first forwarding engine. The mapper marks the first packet with the identifier of the first uplink port, and obtains a second packet, and Sending the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine.

The correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the correspondence between the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper and the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper, where the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper is used to identify The forwarding engine, whose identifier of the downlink port of the mapper is used to identify the physical interface.

703. The first forwarding engine forwards the second packet.

Specifically, the first forwarding engine forwards the second packet according to the forwarding table. If the second packet needs to be processed by another forwarding engine, continue to perform 704-705; if the second packet does not need to be processed by another forwarding engine, continue to execute 706, and may directly send it to the corresponding device through the mapper. Physical interface.

704. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet. The third packet is sent to the mapper, where the third packet is sent. Including the identifier of the second physical interface;

The identifier of the second physical interface is an identifier of a second downlink port of the mapper; and the second downlink port is a port of the second physical interface that is connected to the mapper.

705. The mapper receives the third packet, and sends the third packet to the second physical interface according to the identifier of the second physical interface.

Specifically, the mapper removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the third packet to obtain a fourth packet, and according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the fourth packet is removed from the fourth packet. The second downlink port is sent to the second physical interface.

706. The mapper receives the second packet from the first uplink port, where the second packet includes an identifier of the second physical interface, and sends the second packet according to the identifier of the second physical interface. ;

The identifier of the second physical interface is an identifier of a second downlink port of the mapper; and the second downlink port is a port of the second physical interface that is connected to the mapper. Specifically, the mapper removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the second packet to obtain a third packet, and according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the third packet is The second downlink port is sent to the second physical interface.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention. Alternatives are intended to be covered by the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

Rights request

1. A network device, characterized in that it includes multiple forwarding engines, mappers and line cards; the line cards include physical interfaces;

The mapper includes an uplink port and a downlink port; the uplink port is the port through which the mapper connects to the forwarding engine; the downlink port is the port through which the mapper connects to the line card;

The line card is used to send messages received from the physical interface to the mapper; and is also used to send messages received from the mapper out of the corresponding physical interface;

The mapper is used to send messages from the physical interface to the corresponding forwarding engine according to the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; and is also used to send messages from the forwarding engine to the corresponding physical interface;

Forwarding engine, used to forward messages.

2. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the identifier of the forwarding engine is the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper.

3. The network device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the mapper is also used to dynamically obtain the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface.

4. The network device according to claim 3, further comprising a main control board for obtaining the identifier of the uplink port and the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper; generating the forwarding according to a predefined policy The mapping relationship between the engine and the physical interface is provided to the mapper.

5. The network device according to claim 4, characterized in that the predefined policy includes one or more policies based on service configuration, bandwidth of the physical interface, status of the forwarding engine and load condition of the forwarding engine.

6. The network device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the line card includes an interface processing chip;

The corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the corresponding relationship between the identifier of the forwarding engine and the combination of the identifier of the downlink port and the identifier of the physical interface;

The interface processing chip is used to process messages from the physical interface of the line card; and is also used to process messages sent by the mapper to the physical interface of the line card;

7. The network device according to claim 6, characterized in that,

The interface processing chip is specifically configured to receive a first message from the first physical interface of the line card, mark the first message with the identification of the first physical interface, and obtain a second message; and The mapper sends the second message;

The interface processing chip is specifically configured to receive a third message from the mapper. The third message includes an identifier of the second physical interface of the line card. From the third message Remove the identifier of the second physical interface to obtain a fourth message; and send the fourth message to the second physical interface according to the identifier of the second physical interface.

8. The network device according to claim 7, characterized in that,

The mapper is specifically configured to receive the second message from the downlink port, mark the second message with the identifier of the downlink port, and according to the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface Sent to the forwarding engine corresponding to the first physical port.

9. The network device according to claim 7, characterized in that,

The interface processing chip is specifically also used to mark the first message with the identifier of the downlink port; the second message also includes the identifier of the first downlink port;

The third message also includes the identifier of the downlink port; the interface processing chip is specifically configured to remove the identifier of the downlink port from the third message to obtain the fourth message.

10. The network device according to claim 9, characterized in that,

The interface processing chip is also used to save the identification of the downlink port;

The main control board may also be used to provide the identification of the downlink port to the interface processing chip.

11. The network device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that all physical interfaces of the line card are respectively connected to one downlink port of the mapper.

12. The network device according to claim 11, wherein the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the correspondence between the identifier of the upstream port of the mapper and the identifier of the upstream port of the mapper. relation.

13. The network device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a switching network chip;

The multiple forwarding engines are connected to each other through the switching network chip;

The switching network chip is used to exchange messages between the multiple forwarding engines.

14. A method of forwarding messages, characterized in that it is applied to network equipment, and the network equipment includes multiple forwarding engines, mappers and line cards;

The method of forwarding messages includes:

The first physical interface of the line card receives the first message;

The line card tags the first message with the identifier of the first physical interface to obtain a second message, and the second message includes the identifier of the first physical interface; The mapper receives the second message from the first downlink port and sends the second message to the first forwarding engine according to the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; The first downlink port is a port through which the mapper is connected to the line card;

The first forwarding engine sends the second message to the second forwarding engine, or sends the second message to the mapper.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the correspondence between the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface; the mapper forwards Correspondence between the engine and the physical interface, sending the second message to the first forwarding engine, including:

The mapper obtains the identity of the first uplink port of the mapper based on the identity of the first physical interface in the second message and the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface; The first uplink port is the port through which the mapper is connected to the first forwarding engine;

The mapper sends the second packet from the first uplink port to the first forwarding engine.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the second forwarding engine, the method further includes:

The second forwarding engine receives the second message, processes the second message, and obtains a third message; and sends the third message to the mapper, where the third message includes The identifier of the second physical interface; the mapper receives the third message, and obtains the identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper according to the identifier of the second physical interface, the corresponding relationship between the downlink port and the physical interface. , and send the third message from the second downlink port to the line card where the second physical interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the third message, obtains a fourth message, and sends the fourth message to the second message. physical interface.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the mapper, the method further includes: The mapper receives the second message from the first uplink port, and the second message includes the identifier of the second physical interface;

The mapper obtains the identity of the second downlink port of the mapper based on the identity of the second physical interface and the corresponding relationship between the downlink port and the physical interface, and transfers the second message from the first The second downlink port sends the data to the line card where the second physical interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the second message, obtains a third message, and removes the third message from the second physical interface. The interface is sent out.

18. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that: the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper, and, the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface The corresponding relationship of the combination;

The mapper sends the second message to the first forwarding engine according to the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, including:

The mapper obtains the mapper according to the identifier of the first physical interface in the second message, the identifier of the first downlink port, and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface. The identification of the first uplink port; the first uplink port is the end of the mapper connected to the first forwarding engine;

The mapper marks the second message with the identifier of the first downlink port, and sends the second message marked with the identifier of the first downlink port from the first uplink port to the The first forwarding engine.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the second forwarding engine, the method further includes:

The second forwarding engine receives the second message, processes the second message, and obtains a third message; and sends the third message to the mapper, where the third message includes The identifier of the second physical interface also includes the identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper;

The mapper removes the identifier of the second downlink port from the third message, obtains a fourth message, and sends the fourth message from the second downlink port to the second physical The line card on which the interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the fourth message, obtains a fifth message, and sends the fifth message to the second message. physical interface.

20. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the mapper, the method further includes: The mapper receives the second message from the first uplink port, where the second message includes an identifier of the second physical interface and an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper;

The mapper removes the identifier of the second downlink port from the second message, obtains a third message, and sends the third message from the second downlink port to the second physical port. The line card on which the interface is located;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second physical interface from the third message, obtains a fourth message, and removes the fourth message from the second physical interface. The interface is sent out.

21. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that: the correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface is the identifier of the uplink port of the mapper, and, the identifier of the downlink port of the mapper and the identifier of the physical interface The corresponding relationship of the combination;

The method further includes: the line card marking the first packet with the identification of the first downlink port; the second packet further including the identification of the first downlink port;

Correspondingly, the mapper sends the second message to the first forwarding engine according to the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, including:

The mapper obtains the identity of the first uplink port of the mapper based on the second message and the corresponding relationship between the forwarding engine and the physical interface, and the first uplink port is the mapper A port connected to the first forwarding engine;

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the second forwarding engine, the method further includes:

The mapper sends the third message from the second downlink port to the line card where the second physical interface is located according to the identification of the second downlink port in the third message;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface from the third message, obtains a fourth message, and sends the third message Four messages are sent to the second physical interface.

23. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, after the first forwarding engine sends the second message to the mapper, the method further includes: The mapper receives the second message from the first uplink port, where the second message includes an identifier of the second physical interface and an identifier of the second downlink port of the mapper;

The mapper sends the second message from the second downlink port to the line card where the second physical interface is located according to the identifier of the second downlink port in the second message;

The line card where the second physical interface is located removes the identifier of the second downlink port and the identifier of the second physical interface from the second message, obtains a third message, and sends the third message Three messages are sent out from the second physical interface.