WO2015106623A1

WO2015106623A1 - Method and apparatus for configuring and delivering flow table entry

Info

Publication number: WO2015106623A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/095230
Authority: WO
Inventors: 文白林; 沈伟锋; 王涛
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2014-01-20
Filing date: 2014-12-27
Publication date: 2015-07-23
Also published as: CN104796336B; CN104796336A

Abstract

The present application provides a method and an apparatus for configuring and delivering a flow table entry. The method comprises: a switch sending, to a controller, a request message for requesting delivering a flow table entry, the request message carrying a to-be-forwarded data packet; after the controller receives the request message, the controller generating all flow table entries matching the to-be-forwarded data packet, and returning, to the switch, a response message carrying all the flow table entries matching the to-be-forwarded data packet; after then switch receives the response message, the switch extracting all the flow table entries matching the to-be-forwarded data packet from the response message; and aggregating all the extracted flow table entries into flow table entries of a hardware layer, and when the switch supports the flow table entries of the hardware layer, the switch configuring the flow table entries of the hardware layer into a flow table of the hardware layer. The method and the apparatus for configuring and delivering a flow table entry in the present application can shorten the time of configuring flow table entries of a hardware layer into a flow table of the hardware layer, can shorten the delay of forwarding the data packets, and can reduce the number of lost packets of the data packets.

Description

Method and device for configuring and sending flow entry

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communication network technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for configuring and sending a flow entry.

Background technique

The OpenFlow network is a new type of network innovation architecture consisting mainly of controllers and switches. The switch function is focused and simplified, and is only responsible for data forwarding. The controller centrally controls the entire network to implement the control layer function. The controller exchanges information with the switch through the standard OpenFlow protocol for unified, flexible, and efficient network maintenance and management.

The switch is the core component of the entire OpenFlow network, and the flow table records the rules for the switch to forward packets. A flow table usually consists of multiple flow entries. Each flow entry is a packet forwarding rule. The switch queries the flow table to obtain forwarding rules for forwarding packets. The software system of the switch includes a software layer and a hardware layer. In the prior art, the working process of the switch and the controller is: after receiving a data packet, the switch searches for a flow entry matching the data packet in the flow table of the hardware layer. If no matching flow entry is found in the flow table of the hardware layer, the flow table entry is searched for in the flow table of the software layer. If no matching flow entry is found in the flow table of the software layer, The data packet is reported to the controller; the controller generates a flow entry that matches the data packet, and the data packet and the flow entry (the delivered flow entry may be all matching flow entries, or may be matched) A flow entry that has never been sent from all the flow entries is sent to the switch. After receiving the flow entry sent by the controller, the switch saves it to the flow table of the software layer, and then at the software layer. All the flow entries matching the data packet are searched in the flow table. The flow table entries of the hardware layer are saved to the flow table of the hardware layer. After the switch receives the data packet, it can directly find the matching flow entry in the flow table of the hardware layer, and forward the data packet according to the packet forwarding rule of the matched flow entry.

In the process of implementing the invention, the inventor finds that, in the prior art, when the switch configures the flow entry of the hardware layer, all the flow entries matching the data packet need to be searched in the flow table of the software layer, and The process of finding all matching flow entries in the flow table of the software layer is often compared. For a long period of time, the configuration time of the flow entry of the hardware layer is also increased, which leads to an increase in the forwarding delay of the data packet, and may cause data packet loss, especially in the case of high-speed forwarding of the data packet. The problem of packet loss can be more serious.

Summary of the invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides a method and a device for configuring and sending a flow entry, which are used to solve the problem that the configuration time of the flow entry of the hardware layer in the prior art is long, and the forwarding delay of the data packet is increased. And, the problem of data packet loss may occur, and the technical solution is as follows:

A first aspect is a method for configuring a flow entry, the method comprising:

The switch sends a request message to the controller for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

Receiving, by the switch, a response message returned by the controller, where the response message carries all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

The switch extracts, from the response message, all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded;

The switch aggregates all the extracted flow entries into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and configures the flow entry of the hardware layer to the hardware layer when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. In the flow table.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes:

The data packet to be forwarded is forwarded by all the flow entry items that are carried in the response message and that match the data packet to be forwarded.

With reference to the first aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the switch and the controller communicate by using an OpenFlow protocol, where the request is The message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message is defined in the ofp_flow_mod message. The message obtained after the array, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.

In conjunction with the third possible implementation of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the response message further carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier, where the message type identifier is used The number of the flow table entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended of_p_flow_mod message, indicating that the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message.

With reference to the first aspect, the first possible implementation of the first aspect, the second possible implementation of the first aspect, the third possible implementation of the first aspect, the fourth possible aspect of the first aspect The implementation manner is the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: configuring all the extracted flow entry items into a flow table of the software layer.

A second aspect is a method for sending a flow entry, the method comprising:

The controller receives a request message sent by the switch for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

The controller generates all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

Returning, by the controller, a response message to the switch, where the response message carries all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded, where all flow entries matching the data packet are used. The flow table entry is aggregated into a hardware layer, and the flow entry of the hardware layer is used to be configured in a flow table of a hardware layer of the switch.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the controller and the switch communicate by using an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted by using the OpenFlow protocol. .

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message is defined in the ofp_flow_mod message. The message obtained after the array, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.

A third aspect is an apparatus for configuring a flow entry, the device comprising:

a sending module, configured to send, to the controller, a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

a receiving module, configured to receive a response message returned by the controller, where the response message carries all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

An extracting module, configured to extract, from the response message received by the receiving module, all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

a hardware layer configuration module, configured to aggregate all flow entries extracted by the extraction module into flow entry entries of the hardware layer, and when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer, the hardware layer The flow entry is configured in the flow table of the hardware layer.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the device further includes:

And a forwarding module, configured to forward the data packet to be forwarded by using all the flow entry that is matched by the data packet to be forwarded in the response message that is received by the receiving module.

With reference to the third aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the switch and the controller communicate by using an OpenFlow protocol, the request The message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message is defined in the ofp_flow_mod message. The message obtained after the array, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.

In conjunction with the third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the response message further carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier, where the message type identifier The number of the flow table entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended of_p_flow_mod message, which is used to indicate that the response message is an extended of_p_flow_mod message.

With reference to the third aspect, the first possible implementation of the third aspect, the second possible implementation of the third aspect, the third possible implementation of the third aspect, and the fourth possible aspect of the third aspect In a fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the device further includes:

The software layer configuration module is configured to configure all the extracted flow entry items into the flow table of the software layer.

A device for delivering a flow entry, the device comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive, by the switch, a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

a flow entry generation module, configured to generate all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

a sending module, configured to return a response message to the switch, where the response message carries all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded, where all flows that match the data packet to be forwarded The entry is used to aggregate the flow entry of the hardware layer, and the flow entry of the hardware layer is used to be configured in the flow table of the hardware layer of the switch.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the controller and the switch communicate by using an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted by using the OpenFlow protocol. .

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message is defined in the ofp_flow_mod message The message obtained after the array, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.

The above technical solution has the following beneficial effects:

The present invention provides a configuration, a method and a device for sending a flow entry, because the controller can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so the switch receives the controller. When the message is delivered, all the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained from the received message, so that all the flow entry matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the hardware layer flow entry and configured to the hardware layer. In the flow table. Compared with the prior art, the method and the device provided by the present invention shorten the hardware layer because the switch does not need to find all flow entries matching the data packet in the laminar flow table of the software. The configuration time of the flow entry shortens the forwarding delay of the data packet and reduces the number of packet loss.

DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only It is an embodiment of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings according to the provided drawings without any creative work.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart diagram of another method for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a method for sending a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

4 is a schematic diagram of a flow entry generated by a controller that matches a data packet;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 50 for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 60 for sending a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a switch 70 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller 80 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

In the prior art, after the controller determines the flow entry that matches the data packet reported by the switch, the controller sends the data packet and the matched flow entry to the switch. In the first possible scenario, the controller sends the packet. All the flow entries matching the data packet. In the second possible case, the controller sends only the flow entry that has not been delivered. Specifically, the controller sends the flow entry through the ofp_flow_mod message to the ofp_flow_mod. In the case of a message, it can only carry one flow entry. Exemplarily, the flow entry matching the data packet is a flow entry a, a flow entry b, a flow entry c, and a flow entry d. For the first possible case, the controller matches the flow with the data packet. The table entry a, the flow entry b, the flow entry c, and the flow entry d are all delivered. Specifically, the controller sends the flow entry a, the flow entry b, the flow entry c, and the flow table through the four of_p_flow_mod messages. For the second possible case, if the flow entry b and the flow entry c have been delivered, the controller sends only the flow entry a and the flow entry d. Specifically, the controller passes two The flow table entry a and the flow entry d are sent by the ofp_flow_mod message.

For the first possible case, the switch can receive all the flow entries that are sent by the controller and match the data packets. However, because the flow entries are sent by multiple ofp_flow_mod messages, the flow entries are sent. For a switch, it is an isolated flow entry. The switch does not know whether there is any association between these flow entries. On the other hand, the switch does not know whether there is any association between the flow entries sent by the controller. On the other hand, because the controller sends only some flow entries that match the data packet, The switch cannot know other flow entries that match the packet.

After the switch receives the flow entry sent by the controller, the switch must first save the received flow entry to the flow table of the software layer, and then look it up in the flow table of the software layer to obtain and receive the flow entry. All the flow entries of the data packet are matched, and then the flow table entries of the hardware layer are configured. The process of finding all the flow entries matching the data packet in the flow table of the software layer causes the delay of configuring the flow entry of the hardware layer to the hardware layer to increase, thereby causing the delay of forwarding the data packet at the hardware layer to increase. And, in the case of high-speed packet delivery, packet loss is severe.

Based on the above problem, refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic flowchart of a method for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present invention. The technical solution in this embodiment may be specifically applied to an OpenFlow network, and a switch and control in an OpenFlow network. Communicating between the devices through the OpenFlow protocol, the method may include:

Step S101: The switch sends a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry to the controller, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded.

When receiving the data packet to be forwarded, the switch searches for the flow entry matching the data packet to be forwarded in the flow table of the hardware layer. If the flow entry matching the data packet to be forwarded is not found, the switch then proceeds. The flow table entry matching the data packet to be forwarded is searched in the flow table of the software layer. If the flow table entry matching the data packet to be forwarded is not found in the flow table of the software layer, a flow entry is sent to the controller. The request message of the flow entry is requested, and the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded.

Specifically, in the OpenFlow network, the request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry may be a packet_in message.

Step S102: The switch receives a response message returned by the controller.

The response message carries all the flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded.

In this embodiment, the controller sends all the flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded to the switch through a response message, that is, all the flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded are bound together. A message was sent down.

Step S103: The switch extracts, from the response message, all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded.

When the switch receives the response message sent by the controller, all the flow entry matching the data packet to be forwarded may be extracted from the response message.

Step S104: The switch aggregates all the extracted flow entries into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and configures the flow entry of the hardware layer into the flow table of the hardware layer when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. .

Since the flow entry extracted from the received response message is all flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded, the switch does not need to look up the flow table matching the data packet to be forwarded in the flow table of the software layer. The flow entry of the hardware layer can be directly configured into the flow table of the hardware layer when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. in.

In the method for configuring a flow entry, the controller can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so the switch sends the switch to the controller. All the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained, and all the flow entries matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the flow table entries of the hardware layer and configured into the flow table of the hardware layer. Compared with the prior art, the method for configuring a flow entry in the embodiment of the present invention shortens the configuration of the flow entry of the hardware layer because the flow entry matching the data packet is not found in the flow table of the software layer. Time, which in turn shortens the forwarding delay of the packet.

Moreover, because the processing capability of the software layer is limited (the forwarding speed of data packets is slow), when the number of data packets sent by the hardware layer to the software layer exceeds the processing capability of the software layer, some data packets are discarded (for example, the software layer). 5 packets can be forwarded every second, but now the hardware layer receives 10 packets, then the hardware layer will discard 5 packets when sending packets to the software layer. In this embodiment, the hardware layer flows. The configuration time of the entry is shortened, which enables the data packet that should be sent to the software layer for forwarding to be forwarded at the hardware layer. Compared with the software layer, the hardware layer has a stronger processing capability (the packet forwarding speed is faster), so , reducing the number of packets lost.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of another method for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present invention. The technical solution in this embodiment may be specifically applied to an OpenFlow network, between a switch and a controller in an OpenFlow network. Communicating through the OpenFlow protocol, the method can include:

Step S201: The switch sends a request message for requesting the delivery of the flow entry to the controller, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded.

After receiving the data packet to be forwarded, the switch searches for the flow entry matching the data packet to be forwarded in the flow table of the hardware layer. If the flow table matching the data packet to be forwarded is not found, the flow table is not found. Then, the flow table entry matching the data packet to be forwarded is searched in the flow table of the software layer. If the flow table entry matching the data packet to be forwarded is not found in the flow table of the software layer, then The controller sends a request message for requesting the delivery of the flow entry, and the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded.

Step S202: The switch receives a response message returned by the controller.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message returned by the controller may be an extended ofp_flow_mod message.

The extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended fpt_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.

The ofp_flow_mod message is a message defined by the OpenFlow protocol in the prior art. Each of the ofp_flow_mod messages in the prior art can only carry one flow entry, that is, if there are multiple flow entries to be delivered by the OpenFlow controller, Then, it needs to deliver multiple ofp_flow_mod messages.

In this embodiment, the extended ofp_flow_mod message carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier in addition to all the flow entry items that match the data packet. The message type identifier is used to indicate that the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the number of flow entry entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended ofp_flow_mod message.

The number of the flow table entries of the extended ofp_flow_mod message indicates that the number of flow entries that are carried by the extended ofp_flow_mod message is indicated by the number of the flow entry entries.

It can be understood that, in an actual application, the switch may need to support the configuration of the flow entry in the prior art, and support the configuration of the flow entry provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The way. In this case, there are two kinds of response messages received by the switch, one is the ofp_flow_mod message in the prior art, and the other is an extension provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The ofp_flow_mod message, in order to distinguish the two types of messages, may carry the message type identifier in the extended ofp_flow_mod message. After receiving the extended ofp_flow_mod message, the switch can know that the received message is carried by the message type identifier carried in the message. An extended ofp_flow_mod message for multiple flow entries.

The structure of the extended ofp_flow_mod message is as follows:

The number indicates the number of flow entries carried in the extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the flow_mod contains all the flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded.

Step S203: The switch extracts, from the response message, all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded.

Specifically, the switch extracts, from the extended ofp_flow_mod message, all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded. Further, the number of the flow entry to be extracted may be verified by the number of the flow entry indicated by the number of the flow entry.

Step S204: The switch aggregates all the extracted flow entries into the flow entry of the hardware layer.

Each flow entry includes matching domain information and forwarding action information.

The switch aggregates all the flow entries into the flow entries of the hardware layer. Specifically, the matching domain information of all the flow entries is aggregated, and the matching domain information of the flow entries of the hardware layer is obtained. The forwarding action information in the flow entry is aggregated to obtain the forwarding action information of the flow entry of the hardware layer. The matching domain information of the flow entry of the hardware layer and the forwarding action information of the flow entry of the hardware layer form a flow table of the hardware layer. item.

Step S205: The switch determines whether it supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. If yes, the process goes to step S206a, otherwise, the process goes to step S206b.

In this embodiment, the switch determines whether the flow entry of the hardware layer is supported by the switch: the matching domain information in the flow entry obtained by the switch and the matching domain information in the flow table of the hardware layer are In the row comparison, if the matching domain information in the flow entry obtained by the aggregation is the same as the matching domain information in the flow table of the hardware layer, or the matching domain information in the flow table of the hardware layer includes the flow entry obtained by the aggregation. Matching the domain information determines that it supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. Otherwise, it determines that it does not support the flow entry of the hardware layer.

Exemplarily, the matching domain information in the aggregated flow entry includes three matching fields A, B, and C. The matching domain information in the flow table of the hardware layer also includes three matching fields A, B, and C, and then The switch supports flow table entries at the hardware layer.

Exemplarily, the matching domain information in the aggregated flow entry includes three matching fields A, B, and C. The matching information in the flow table of the hardware layer includes five matching fields A, B, C, D, and E. Since the matching information A, B, C, D, and E in the flow table of the hardware layer includes the matching domain information A, B, and C in the aggregated flow entry, the determination switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer.

Exemplarily, the matching domain information in the aggregated flow entry includes three matching fields A, B, and C. The matching information in the flow table of the hardware layer includes five matching fields A, B, D, E, and F. Since the matching information in the matching information in the flow table of the hardware layer does not include the matching field C, it is determined that the switch does not support the flow entry of the hardware layer.

Step S206a: When the switch itself supports the flow entry of the hardware layer, the flow entry of the hardware layer is configured into the flow table of the hardware layer.

Since the flow entry extracted from the extended ofp_flow_mod message is all the flow entry matching the data packet, the switch can directly aggregate all the extracted flow entry into a hardware layer flow entry, and the switch supports the hardware. When the flow entry of the layer is configured, the flow entry of the hardware layer is configured in the flow table of the hardware layer. After the switch receives the data packet, the switch can directly find the matching flow entry in the flow table of the hardware layer. And forwarding the data packet according to the packet forwarding rule of the matched flow entry, instead of saving the received flow entry to the software layer as in the prior art, and finding the matching with the data packet in the flow table of the software layer After all the flow entries are added, all the flow entries can be aggregated into the flow entries of the hardware layer.

Step S206b: When the switch does not support the flow entry of the hardware layer, all the extracted flow entries are configured in the flow table of the software layer.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the switch does not support the flow entry of the hardware layer, it indicates that when the same data packet is received, the data packet cannot be forwarded at the hardware layer, in order to implement the data packet. Forwarding, all the extracted flow entries are configured in the flow table of the software layer, so that when the hardware layer cannot forward the data packet, the software layer can implement the data packet forwarding.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the switch does not support the flow entry of the hardware layer, all the extracted flow entries are saved to the flow table of the software layer, and another possible In the implementation manner, after the switch extracts all the flow entries in the extended ofp_flow_mod message, the switch saves all the extracted flow entries to the flow table of the software layer, and aggregates all the extracted flow entries into a flow table of the hardware layer. When the flow entry of the hardware layer is supported by the hardware layer, the flow entry of the hardware layer is configured in the flow table of the hardware layer, and the flow of the hardware layer is discarded when the flow entry of the hardware layer is not supported by itself. The entry, that is, in this implementation manner, the switch first configures all the extracted flow entry items into the flow table of the software layer regardless of whether the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer.

In the method for configuring a flow entry, the controller can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so the switch sends the switch to the controller. All the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained, and all the flow entries matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the flow table entries of the hardware layer and configured into the flow table of the hardware layer. Compared with the prior art, the method for configuring a flow entry in the embodiment of the present invention shortens the configuration of the flow entry of the hardware layer by not searching for the flow entry matching the data packet in the flow table of the software layer. The hardware layer time, which in turn shortens the packet forwarding delay.

The method for configuring a flow entry provided by any one of the foregoing embodiments may further include: after receiving the response message sent by the controller, forwarding the data packet to be forwarded.

Specifically, there are multiple implementation manners for forwarding data packets to be forwarded. In a possible implementation, after receiving the response message sent by the controller, the data packet to be forwarded is directly forwarded through all the flow entries that are matched by the data packet to be forwarded in the response message. In another In a possible implementation, after all the flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded carried in the response message are configured to the software layer, the data packet to be forwarded is forwarded from the software layer, and another possible In the implementation manner, after the flow entry of the hardware layer obtained by the aggregation is configured to the hardware layer, the data packet to be forwarded is forwarded from the hardware layer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a method for sending a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method may include:

Step S301: The controller receives a request message sent by the switch for requesting the sending of the flow entry.

The request message carries a data packet to be forwarded.

Step S302: The controller generates all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded.

Specifically, the controller determines, by using information in the data packet to be forwarded, a flow entry that matches the data packet to be forwarded.

Exemplarily, after receiving the data packet with the Mpls_label of 10 and the destination IP address of 192.168.0.6, the controller generates the T0_1 flow entry and the T2_1 flow entry as shown in FIG. 4, and then T0_1 and T2_1 through a message. The two flow entries are bound together and delivered to the switch. Specifically, the controller determines the flow table T0 table and the T1 table that match the data packet through the Mpls_label and the destination IP, and then determines the flow table entries T0_1 and T2_1 that match the data packet in the T0 table and the T1 table. It should be noted that the Mpls_label in the T0 table is a matching field supported by the T0 table, the Eth_type, Src_ip, and Dst_ip in the T1 table are matching fields supported by the T2 table, and the actions in the T0 table and the T1 table indicate forwarding actions.

Step S303: The controller returns a response message to the switch.

The response message carries all the flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded, and all the flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded are used to be aggregated into the flow table entry of the hardware layer, and the flow table of the hardware layer. The item is used to configure the flow table to the hardware layer of the switch.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, the extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended fpt_flow_mod message can carry multiple multiple times through the defined array. Flow entry.

The ofp_flow_mod message is a message defined by the OpenFlow protocol in the prior art. Each of the ofp_flow_mod messages in the prior art can only carry one flow entry, that is, if there are multiple flow entries to be delivered by the controller, It needs to issue multiple ofp_flow_mod messages.

In this embodiment, the extended ofp_flow_mod message carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier in addition to all the flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded. The message type identifier is used to indicate that the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the number of flow entry entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended ofp_flow_mod message.

In the method for sending a flow entry, the controller can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so that the switch sends the switch to the controller. All the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained, and all the flow entries matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the flow table entries of the hardware layer and configured into the flow table of the hardware layer. The method for sending a flow entry in the embodiment of the present invention does not need to find a flow entry matching the data packet in the flow table of the software layer, so that the switch configures the flow entry of the hardware layer to the flow of the hardware layer. The time of the table is shortened, which in turn reduces the delay for the switch to forward packets.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for configuring a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus may include: a sending module 501, a receiving module 502, an extracting module 503, and a hardware configuration module 504. among them:

The sending module 501 is configured to send a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry to the controller.

The request message carries a data packet to be forwarded.

The receiving module 502 is configured to receive a response message returned by the controller.

The extracting module 503 is configured to extract, from the response message received by the receiving module 502, all flow entries that match the data packet.

The hardware configuration module 504 is configured to aggregate all the flow entries extracted by the extraction module 503 into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and configure the flow entry of the hardware layer to the flow entry of the hardware layer when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. In the flow table of the hardware layer.

In the device for configuring a flow entry, the controller can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so the switch sends the switch to the controller. All the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained, and all the flow entries matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the flow table entries of the hardware layer and configured into the flow table of the hardware layer. In the process of configuring a flow entry, the device for configuring a flow entry in the embodiment of the present invention shortens the flow entry of the hardware layer by not searching for a flow entry matching the data packet in the flow table of the software layer. The configuration time, which in turn shortens the forwarding delay of the packet, and. Reduce the number of packets lost.

The apparatus for configuring a flow entry provided by the foregoing embodiment may further include: a forwarding module.

The forwarding module is configured to forward the data packet to be forwarded by all the flow entry items that are matched by the data packet to be forwarded and carried in the response message received by the receiving module 502.

The apparatus for configuring a flow entry provided by the foregoing embodiment may further include: a software configuration module.

The software configuration module is configured to configure all flow entries extracted by the extraction module 503 into a flow table of the software layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message received by the receiving module 502 in the foregoing embodiment is an extended ofp_flow_mod message.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for sending a flow entry according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device may include: a receiving module 601, a flow entry generating module 602, and a sending module 603. among them:

The receiving module 601 is configured to receive a request message sent by the switch for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded.

The flow entry generation module 602 is configured to generate all flow entry items that match the data packet received by the receiving module 601.

The sending module 603 is configured to return a response message to the switch, where the response message carries all flow entries that are generated by the flow entry generation module 602 and that match the data packet.

All the flow entries matching the data packet are used to be aggregated into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and the flow entry of the hardware layer is configured to be configured in the flow table of the hardware layer of the switch.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message returned by the sending module 603 to the switch is an extended ofp_flow_mod message.

Specifically, the extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended fpt_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow entry items simultaneously through the defined array.

The device for sending a flow entry according to the embodiment of the present invention can bind all the flow entries matching the data packet to the switch through a message, so that the switch receives the message sent by the controller. All the flow entries matching the data packet can be obtained, and all the flow entries matching the data packet can be directly aggregated into the flow table entry of the hardware layer and configured into the flow table of the hardware layer. The method for sending a flow entry in the embodiment of the present invention does not need to find a flow entry matching the data packet in the flow table of the software layer, so that the switch configures the flow entry of the hardware layer to the flow of the hardware layer. The time in the table is shortened, which in turn shortens the forwarding delay of the data packet and reduces the packet loss amount of the data packet.

The device for configuring the flow entry shown in FIG. 5 is applied to the switch in the switch, and the switch of the device configured with the flow entry shown in FIG. 5 is configured to shorten the configuration time of the flow entry of the hardware layer. , thereby shortening the forwarding delay of the data packet, and reducing the number of packet loss of the data packet.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a switch 70 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The switch 70 may include at least a memory 701 and a processor 702 connected to the memory 701 through a communication bus.

The memory 701 can be used to store software programs and modules. The processor 702 executes various functional applications and data processing of the switch 70 by running software programs and modules stored in the memory 701. The memory 701 can mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area can store an operating system, an application required for at least one function; and the storage data area can store data created according to the use of the switch 70. Further, the memory 701 may include a high speed random access memory, and may also include a nonvolatile memory such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The processor 702 is the control center of the switch 70, connecting various portions of the entire server using various interfaces and lines, by running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 701, and recalling data stored in the memory 701, The various functions and processing data of the switch 70 are performed to perform overall monitoring of the switch 70. Optionally, the processor 702 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the processor 702 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, where the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, an application, and the like. The modem processor primarily handles wireless communications. It can be understood that the above modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 702.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the processor 7602 included in the switch 70 has the following functions:

Sending a request message to the controller for requesting the sending of the flow entry, the request message carrying the data packet to be forwarded; receiving a response message returned by the controller, the response message carrying all the flow tables matching the data packet to be forwarded All the flow entries that match the data packets to be forwarded are extracted from the response message; all the flow entries that are extracted are aggregated into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer, Configure the flow entry of the hardware layer to the flow table of the hardware layer.

The device for sending a flow entry shown in FIG. 6 is specifically applied to a controller, and a controller for deploying a device that sends a flow entry as shown in FIG. 6 can be configured to configure a hardware layer of the switch. The time of the flow entry is shortened, which shortens the delay of forwarding packets and reduces the number of packets lost.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller 80 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The switch 80 may include at least a memory 801 and a processor 802 connected to the memory 801 through a communication bus.

Among them, the memory 801 can be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor 802 executes various functional applications and data processing of the controller 80 by running software programs and modules stored in the memory 801. The memory 801 may mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area may store an operating system, an application required for at least one function; and the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the controller 80. Further, the memory 801 may include a high speed random access memory, and may also include a nonvolatile memory such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

Processor 802 is the control center of controller 80, which connects various portions of the server with various interfaces and lines, by running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in memory 801, and recalling data stored in memory 801. The various functions and processing data of the controller 80 are executed to perform overall monitoring of the controller 80. Optionally, the processor 802 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the processor 802 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, where the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, an application, and the like. The modem processor primarily handles wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the above described modem processor may also not be integrated into the processor 802.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the processor 802 included in the controller 80 has the following functions:

Receiving a request message sent by the switch to send a flow entry, the request message carrying the data packet to be forwarded; generating all flow entries matching the data packet to be forwarded; returning a response message to the switch, and carrying the response message All the flow entries matching the data packets to be forwarded, and all the flow entries matching the data packets to be forwarded are used to aggregate the flow entries of the hardware layer, and the flow entries of the hardware layer are configured to be configured to the switch. In the flow table of the hardware layer.

The various embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same similar parts between the various embodiments may be referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the method part.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, apparatus, and devices may be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the unit is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some communication interface, device or unit, and may be electrical, mechanical or otherwise.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

The functions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a standalone product. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, which is essential or contributes to the prior art, or a part of the technical solution, may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium, including The instructions are used to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and the like. .

The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments are obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but the scope of the invention is to be accorded

Claims

A method for configuring a flow entry, the method comprising:

The switch sends a request message to the controller for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

Receiving, by the switch, a response message returned by the controller, where the response message carries all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

The switch extracts, from the response message, all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded;

The switch aggregates all the extracted flow entries into the flow entry of the hardware layer, and configures the flow entry of the hardware layer to the hardware layer when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer. In the flow table.
The method of claim 1 further comprising:

The data packet to be forwarded is forwarded by all the flow entry items that are carried in the response message and that match the data packet to be forwarded.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the switch and the controller communicate through an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, the extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod A message can carry multiple flow table entries at the same time through a defined array.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the response message further carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier, and the message type identifier is used to indicate that the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, The number of flow entry entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended ofp_flow_mod message.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method further comprises: configuring all the extracted flow entry items into a flow table of the software layer.
A method for sending a flow entry, the method comprising:

The controller receives a request message sent by the switch for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

The controller generates all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

Returning, by the controller, a response message to the switch, where the response message carries all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded, where all flow entries matching the data packet are used. The flow table entry is aggregated into a hardware layer, and the flow entry of the hardware layer is used to be configured in a flow table of a hardware layer of the switch.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the controller and the switch communicate through an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, the extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod A message can carry multiple flow table entries at the same time through a defined array.
An apparatus for configuring a flow entry, characterized in that the device comprises:

a sending module, configured to send, to the controller, a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

a receiving module, configured to receive a response message returned by the controller, where the response message carries all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

An extracting module, configured to extract, from the response message received by the receiving module, all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

a hardware layer configuration module, configured to aggregate all flow entries extracted by the extraction module into flow entry entries of the hardware layer, and when the switch supports the flow entry of the hardware layer, the hardware layer The flow entry is configured in the flow table of the hardware layer.
The device according to claim 10, wherein the device further comprises:

And a forwarding module, configured to forward the data packet to be forwarded by using all the flow entry that is matched by the data packet to be forwarded in the response message that is received by the receiving module.
The device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the switch and the controller communicate through an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.
The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message is in an ofp_flow_mod message The message obtained after defining an array, and the extended ofp_flow_mod message can carry multiple flow table entries simultaneously through the defined array.
The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the response message further carries a message type identifier and a flow entry quantity identifier, and the message type identifier is used to indicate that the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, The number of flow entry entries is used to indicate the number of flow entry entries carried in the extended ofp_flow_mod message.
The device according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the device further comprises:

The software layer configuration module is configured to configure all the extracted flow entry items into the flow table of the software layer.
A device for sending a flow entry, characterized in that the device comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive, by the switch, a request message for requesting the sending of the flow entry, where the request message carries the data packet to be forwarded;

a flow entry generation module, configured to generate all flow entry items that match the data packet to be forwarded;

a sending module, configured to return a response message to the switch, where the response message carries all flow entries that match the data packet to be forwarded, where all flows that match the data packet to be forwarded The entry is used to aggregate the flow entry of the hardware layer, and the flow entry of the hardware layer is used to be configured in the flow table of the hardware layer of the switch.
The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the controller and the switch communicate through an OpenFlow protocol, and the request message and the response message are transmitted through the OpenFlow protocol.
The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the response message is an extended ofp_flow_mod message, the extended ofp_flow_mod message is a message obtained after defining an array in the ofp_flow_mod message, and the extended ofp_flow_mod A message can carry multiple flow table entries at the same time through a defined array.