WO2017075743A1

WO2017075743A1 - Topology discovery method for hfc network, network device, and network system

Info

Publication number: WO2017075743A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/093567
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张小龙; 沈承虎
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2015-11-02
Filing date: 2015-11-02
Publication date: 2017-05-11
Also published as: CN107683584B; CN107683584A

Abstract

The present invention provides a topology discovery method for an HFC network, a network device, and an HFC network system, for use in quickly and accurately obtaining a topological structure of an HFC network. The method in the embodiments of the present invention comprises: a network device in an HFC network receives an MAP message broadcasted by a CMTS and parses the MAP message to obtain an uplink time of network elements in the HFC network; the network device then monitors uplink signals at the uplink time of the various network elements, and determines whether the uplink signals of the various network elements pass the network device, so as to obtain an uplink signal detection result, wherein the uplink signal detection result indicates the connection relation between the network device and the various network elements; and the network device then sends the uplink signal detection result to a server, such that the server analyzes the uplink signal detection result to obtain the topological structure of the HFC network. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention can quickly and accurately detect a topological structure of network elements in an HFC network without uplink burst packet demodulation and a CM having a test signal transmission capability.

Description

Method, network device and network system for HFC network topology discovery

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method, network device, and network system for discovering HFC network topology.

Background technique

Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) network technology is an economical and practical integrated digital service broadband network access technology. The HFC usually consists of three parts: the optical fiber trunk line, the coaxial cable branch line and the user wiring network. The program signal from the cable TV station first becomes the optical signal transmitted on the trunk line, and after the user area is converted into the electric signal, it is distributed. The device is distributed to the user via a coaxial cable.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical HFC network. As shown in FIG. 1 , the HFC network includes the following devices and devices: a network management system, a Cable Modem Terminal System (CMTS), an optical station, and a cable. Cable Modem (CM), Set Top Box (STB) on the user side, and Personal Computer (PC). It can be seen that the CMTS is located on the metropolitan area network side, also known as the head end, and the CM is located at the user end.

Topology discovery is to use some techniques to obtain the existence information of the network nodes and the connection relationship information between them, and draw the entire network topology diagram based on this. Relative to the HFC network, it is to obtain the topological relationship between the CMTS and all CM lines. With the topology map of the HFC network, network operation and maintenance and troubleshooting can be greatly facilitated. Network administrators can quickly locate faulty nodes based on the topology map.

Currently, the topology discovery of the HFC network is mainly to add an intelligent modem module to the network element (amplifier/branch/distributor), and the intelligent modem module sends a test signal to the CMTS (or topology server) on the CM. Demodulation is performed, and the identification information of the local network element is added to the test signal. In this way, the test signals arrive at the CMTS and all the network elements are recorded (for example: A-B-C-...). The topology server analyzes the test information sent by all CMs to obtain the topology of the HFC network.

However, this method requires all intelligent modem modules to demodulate the uplink bursts, which is equivalent to the function of the CMTS. The modules are complex, expensive, difficult to implement, and also require CM tools. The ability to send test signals can be detected. Otherwise, only the topology relationship between NEs can be detected. It is impossible to know which network element the CM is in.

Summary of the invention

The invention provides a method, a network device and a network system for discovering an HFC network topology, which can quickly and accurately obtain the topology of the HFC network.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for discovering a topology of an HFC network, where the method includes: receiving, by the network device, a MAP message broadcasted by the CMTS, and parsing the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to the network element in the HFC network, where The uplink time indicates the time interval for the network element to send the uplink signal to the coaxial cable access device CMTS, and then monitors the uplink signal of the network element at the uplink time of the network element to confirm whether the uplink signal of the network element passes. The network device obtains an uplink signal detection result, and then the network device sends an uplink signal detection result to the server, where the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element, and is used by the server to pass It is analyzed to obtain the topology of the HFC network.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the network device in the HFC network can analyze the MAP message broadcasted by the CMTS to obtain the uplink time of the network element in the HFC network, and monitor the uplink signal at each uplink time to pass the uplink signal through the network. The device determines whether the corresponding network element is downstream of the network device, and sends the uplink signal detection result to the server, so that the server can analyze the uplink signal detection result to obtain the topology of the HFC network. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the topology relationship between the NEs in the HFC network can be quickly and accurately detected without the need for the uplink burst packet demodulation and the capability of the CM to transmit the test signal. .

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the network device monitors an uplink signal of the network element in an uplink time of the network element, and determines whether the uplink signal of the network element passes the network device. The specific manner of obtaining the uplink signal detection result is: determining whether the uplink signal of the corresponding network element is detected in the uplink time of a certain network element, and if it is detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device; If not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device. In this way, the network device can obtain which network elements in the HFC network are located downstream of the node (the network device) and which network devices are not located downstream of the node (the network device), thereby improving the achievability of the solution.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the specific manner of the network device determining whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected in the uplink time of the network element may be The uplink signal of the corresponding network element is detected by monitoring the amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency RF port in the uplink time of the network element. If the amplitude strength is greater than the preset threshold, it is determined that the uplink signal of the corresponding network element is detected.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, by the network device, whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected in the uplink time of the network element may be specifically Perform spectrum analysis on the uplink time of the network element to determine whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected.

In this way, the network device can detect the uplink signal of the network element in the uplink time of a certain network element by using the foregoing two methods, thereby improving the achievability of the solution.

With reference to the first aspect, the first possible implementation of the first aspect to the third possible implementation of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the network device parses the MAP message The specific manner of obtaining the uplink time corresponding to the network element in the HFC network is to parse the MAP message to obtain a MAP information unit structure table, where the MAP information unit structure table includes the identifier of the network element in the HFC network and the corresponding uplink time.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for discovering a topology of an HFC network, where the server receives multiple uplink signal detection results sent by multiple network devices, where multiple network devices include a first network device, The uplink signal detection result of the network device indicates whether the uplink signal sent by the network element in the HFC network passes through the first network device (that is, the uplink signal result of the network device indicates whether the uplink signal result of the network element in the HFC network passes the Network device); After that, the server performs statistical analysis on multiple uplink signal detection results to obtain the topology of the HFC network.

Therefore, the server in the HFC network can analyze the topology of the HFC network according to the detection results of multiple uplink signals sent by multiple network devices in the HFC, so that the uplink burst packet demodulation is not required, and the CM is not needed. With the ability to transmit test signals, the topology relationship between the NEs in the HFC network is quickly and accurately detected, thereby completing topology discovery.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the server performs statistical analysis on multiple uplink signal detection results to obtain a topology of the HFC network in a specific manner: combining multiple uplink signal detection results To construct an adjacency matrix formed by network elements in the HFC network, and then The elementary transformation of the adjacency matrix is performed to obtain the simplest adjacency matrix, which represents the direct connection relationship of each network element. Therefore, the server can obtain the topology of the HFC network according to the simplest adjacency matrix. In this way, the server can obtain the connection relationship of each network element in the intuitive HFC network by means of matrix elementary transformation, thereby quickly obtaining the topology diagram of the HFC network.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device, including a receiving unit, configured to receive an allocation mapping MAP message broadcasted by a coaxial cable access device CMTS, and a parsing unit configured to parse the MAP message to obtain an HFC. The uplink time corresponding to the network element in the network, the uplink time indicates the time interval for the network element to send the uplink signal to the coaxial cable office access device CMTS, and the monitoring unit is configured to monitor the network element during the uplink time of the network element, and confirm Whether the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device to obtain an uplink signal detection result; the sending unit is configured to send the uplink signal detection result to the server, and the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element, and is used for the server pair. The uplink signal detection result is analyzed to obtain the topology of the HFC network.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the monitoring unit is configured to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected during an uplink time of the network element, and if the monitoring is performed, the uplink signal detection result The uplink signal of the recording network element passes through the network device. If not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the monitoring unit is configured to monitor, by using an uplink device, an amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency RF port. Determining whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected. If the amplitude strength is greater than the preset threshold, determining that the uplink signal of the network element is detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device, and if the amplitude is lighter than the preset The threshold value determines that the uplink signal of the network element is not detected, and the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the monitoring unit is configured to perform spectrum analysis on an uplink time of the network element to determine whether the network element is detected. If the uplink signal is detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device. If not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

With reference to the third aspect, the first possible implementation of the third aspect to the third possible implementation of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the third aspect, the parsing unit is specifically configured to be used The MAP message is parsed to obtain a MAP information unit structure table, and the MAP information unit structure table includes the identifier of the network element in the HFC network and the corresponding uplink time.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device, where the network device includes a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter, where the receiver is configured to perform the steps performed by the receiving unit in the third aspect, and the processor is configured to: Performing the parsing unit of the third aspect and the steps performed by the monitoring unit, the transmitter is configured to perform the steps performed by the transmitting unit of the third aspect.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a server, where the server includes a receiver and a processor, where the receiver is configured to receive multiple uplink signal detection results sent by multiple network devices, where multiple network devices are included. The first network device, the uplink signal detection result of the first network device indicates whether the uplink signal sent by the network element in the HFC network passes the first network device, and the processor is configured to perform statistical analysis on the detection result of the multiple uplink signals to obtain the HFC. The topology of the network.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is specifically configured to perform the steps in the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect: combining the multiple uplink signal detection results The adjacency matrix formed by the network elements in the HFC network is constructed, and the adjacency adjacency matrix is obtained by elementary transformation of the adjacency matrix, and then the topology of the HFC network is obtained according to the simplest adjacency matrix.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an HFC network system, including a server and at least one network device, where the network device is configured to perform the method steps in the foregoing first aspect, where the server is configured to perform the method in the foregoing second aspect. step. The network device may exist as an entity independent of other network devices in the existing HFC network, or may be integrated with other network devices in the existing HFC network.

In a seventh aspect, the present invention also provides a computer storage medium storing a program that performs some or all of the steps of the HFC network topology discovery method of the first aspect above.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the solution of the embodiment of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

In the embodiment of the present invention, the network device in the HFC network has the capability of parsing the MAP message broadcasted by the CMTS, and after obtaining the uplink time of each network element in the HFC network, the uplink of each network element is performed at the uplink time of each network element. The signal is monitored to determine whether the corresponding network element is downstream of the network device by whether the uplink signal passes through the network device, so that the server can analyze the uplink signal detection result to obtain the topology of the HFC network. Therefore, the topology relationship among network elements in the HFC network can be quickly and accurately detected.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an HFC network according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

2 is a flowchart of a method for discovering a topology of an HFC network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of a partial network of the HFC network shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of a MAP message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a MAP message unit structure table corresponding to the HFC local network diagram shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is an uplink signal detection result monitored by T2 in the HFC local network diagram shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a simplified table of the uplink signal detection result of FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a server side in an HFC network topology discovery method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is an adjacency matrix obtained by the server on the basis of the schematic diagram of the HFC network shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a simplified connection matrix obtained by a server according to the adjacency matrix of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of hardware of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of hardware of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an HFC network system 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, based on All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

The terms "first", "second" and the like in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or order. It should be understood that this makes The data used may be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a sequence other than what is illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "comprises" and "comprises" and "the" and "the" are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product, or device that comprises a series of steps or modules is not necessarily limited to Those steps or modules, but may include other steps or modules not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products or devices, the division of the modules presented herein is merely a logical division. There may be additional divisions in the implementation of the actual application, for example, multiple modules may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored, or not executed, and the displayed or discussed mutual coupling. The direct coupling or the communication connection may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the modules may be electrical or the like, which is not limited herein. Moreover, the module or the sub-module described as the separate component may or may not be physically separated, may not be a physical module, or may not be divided into a plurality of circuit modules, and may select a part thereof according to actual needs or All modules are used to achieve the objectives of the embodiments of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method, a network device, a server and a network system for discovering an HFC network topology, which can quickly and accurately obtain the topology of the HFC network. The details are described below.

2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for discovering a topology of an HFC network according to the present invention. The method in this embodiment may be implemented by a topology discovery intelligent module embedded in the network device in FIG. 1, or may be inserted into an HFC. A separate network device in the network (independent of each network device in Figure 1) is completed.

For convenience of description, the following embodiments are described by taking an intelligent module embedded in each network device as an example. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a certain local network of the HFC network shown in FIG. 1, and a total of five CMs are shown in the figure. 5 other network devices, specifically including an amplifier A1, two branchers T1 and T2, and two distributors S1 and S2. The top five network devices are embedded with a topology discovery intelligent module, and the five network devices are The network topology discovery method in the embodiment of the present invention is completed.

With reference to Figure 2, the method of this embodiment includes:

201. The network device receives a distribution map (MAP) message of the CMTS broadcast.

All CM and other network settings in the HFC uplink transmission system based on the Data-over-Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) The devices all share the same uplink channel. To prevent collisions, the CMTS periodically broadcasts MAP messages to all CMs and other network devices according to the uplink bandwidth requests of each CM and other network devices. The MAP message specifies that different CMs and other network devices use different time slots for uplink transmission in sequence. Only one network element (the network element refers to the CM and other network devices in the HFC network) is allowed to be used in a certain time slot. After receiving the MAP message, the CM or other network device selects its own time slot for uplink data transmission.

4 is a structure of a MAP information unit, in which a service flow identifier (SID) corresponds to a different CM or other network device; an Interval Usage Code (IUC) is a different time slot type; Offset is a time slot. The starting offset (in microslots). The MAP message unit specifies that the CM or other network device corresponding to the SIDi must transmit uplink data within the time interval of Offseti and Offset(i+1).

Specifically, in the HFC local network diagram of FIG. 3, since the five CMs plus five other network devices (amplifier A1, two branches T1, T2, and two allocators S1, S2) have uplink bandwidth requests The CMTS will broadcast MAP messages to these 10 devices in the downlink. After receiving the MAP message, the CM and other network devices will send the uplink data in the uplink time specified by the MAP message.

202. The network device parses the MAP message to obtain an uplink time of the network element in the HFC network.

After receiving the MAP message broadcasted by the CMTS, the network device parses the MAP message to obtain a MAP message unit structure table as shown in FIG. 4 and a correspondence between the SID in the MAP message unit structure and each network element (CM and other network devices). Relationship, the MAP message unit structure table includes the uplink time of each network element, that is, the time interval between Offseti and Offset(i+1). The specific analysis method is prior art, and will not be described in detail herein.

As shown in FIG. 5, the MAP message unit structure, the SID, and the corresponding relationship of the network elements obtained by the network device after parsing the MAP message are as shown in FIG. 5. The SID corresponding to CM1 is SID 1, the interval usage code is IUC1, the offset from the uplink time is Offset1, and the other SID, IUC, and Offset corresponding to CM2, CM3, CM4, CM5, S1, S2, T1, T2, and A1. As shown in the figure, it will not be described in detail.

203. The network device monitors an uplink signal of the network element in an uplink time of the network element, and determines whether an uplink signal of the network element passes the network device to obtain an uplink signal detection result.

Because the different time intervals in the MAP message correspond to different SIDs, only the time interval The device corresponding to the home SID can send the uplink service signal during this time interval. Therefore, at each time interval in the MAP message, the network device monitors whether there is a service signal from the downstream uplink channel at the local node to obtain an uplink signal detection result.

In a specific implementation manner, the network device monitors whether there is a service signal from the downstream uplink channel at the local node in each time interval in the MAP message, and if the service signal is detected in the time interval, the time interval is indicated. The network element (CM or other network device) corresponding to the SID is located downstream of the network device, and the service signal sent by the uplink element of the network element can reach the CMTS through the network device, and the network device records the uplink signal detection result into the table. The tag 1 indicates that the service signal is received at the time interval, and the network element corresponding to the corresponding SID is located downstream of the network device, and the tag 0 indicates that no service signal is received at the time interval, and the network element corresponding to the corresponding SID is not located in the network. Downstream of the device.

Taking the HFC local network shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the network device T2 monitors the uplink channel service signal passing through the node, that is, the uplink signal detection result is as shown in FIG. 6.

The SID corresponding to T2 is SID9, and the node detects the signal sent by the device whose SID is SID1, SID2, SID3, SID4, SID6, SID7 in the corresponding time interval in the MAP message, that is, CM1, CM2, CM3, CM4, S1 are detected. The signals sent by S2 indicate that CM1, CM2, CM3, CM4, S1, and S2 are located downstream of the T2 node; no corresponding uplink signals are detected at the time intervals corresponding to SID5, SID8, and SID10, indicating that CM5, T1, and A1 are not located. Downstream of the T2 node.

On the basis of FIG. 6, the simplified table of the uplink signal detection results obtained by T2 is as shown in FIG.

In addition, in a specific implementation manner, the method for determining whether the network device has a signal during monitoring may include the following two types:

The first type: the amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency (RF) port is monitored at the uplink time of each network element to determine whether the uplink signal of the corresponding network element is detected. If the amplitude strength is greater than the threshold, it is determined that the network element is monitored. The uplink signal, conversely, if the amplitude strength is less than the threshold, it is determined that the uplink signal of the network element is not detected.

The second type is to perform spectrum analysis on the uplink time of the network element to determine whether the uplink signal of the corresponding network element is detected.

204. The network device sends the uplink signal detection result to the server.

After obtaining the uplink signal detection result, the network device sends the uplink signal detection result to the server, and may also collect the uplink signal detection result of step 203 in a period of time, and then send the statistics result to the server to ensure uplink. The accuracy of the signal detection results.

Optionally, the network device adds the identifier of the node when sending the uplink signal detection result, so that the server distinguishes the network device that sends the detection result of each uplink signal, and performs topology discovery. It should be noted that, when the network device sends the uplink signal detection result, the identifier of the local node does not have to be marked. The identifier of the network device corresponding to the currently sent uplink signal detection result may be obtained by the server itself.

The server collects the uplink signal detection result sent by all network devices and performs statistical analysis to obtain the topology relationship of each network element in the HFC network.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the network device in the HFC network receives the allocation mapping MAP message of the CMTS broadcast, and parses the MAP message to obtain the uplink time of the network element in the HFC network; after that, the network device is in the uplink of the network element. The uplink signal is monitored to obtain an uplink signal detection result, and the uplink signal detection result indicates whether the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device; after that, the network device sends the uplink signal detection result to the server, so that the server uplinks the uplink signal. The signal detection results are analyzed to obtain the topology of the HFC network. In the embodiment of the present invention, by adding a network device in the HFC network, the uplink cell burst demodulation is not required, and the capability of the CM to transmit the test signal is not required, and the network elements in the HFC network can be quickly and accurately detected. Topological relationships for topology discovery.

The following is a detailed analysis of the HFC network topology relationship from the server side to the server based on the uplink signal detection result sent by each network device.

The server in the embodiment of the present invention specifically refers to a topology server.

With reference to FIG. 8, a flowchart of an embodiment of the HFC network topology discovery method of the present invention includes:

801. The server receives multiple uplink signal detection results sent by multiple network devices.

After the network device in the HFC network obtains the uplink signal detection result according to the process described in FIG. 2, the uplink signal detection result is sent to the server at the uplink time interval allocated by the MAP message to the network device, and the server collects multiple network device transmissions. Uplink signal detection result. The uplink signal detection result of a network device indicates which nodes in the HFC network are located downstream of the network device.

802. The server performs statistical analysis on multiple uplink signal detection results to obtain an extension of the HFC network. Plop the structure.

After collecting the uplink signal detection results sent by multiple network devices, the server performs statistical analysis on the detection results of the uplink signals, and then obtains the topology of the HFC network.

There are various methods for performing statistical analysis on the uplink signal detection result. In a specific implementation, the adjacency matrix may be used to perform statistical analysis on multiple uplink signal detection results. The details are described below.

The adjacency matrix is a matrix formed by combining statistical result vectors sent by all network devices. Any element of the matrix indicates whether the uplink service of the SID corresponding to the matrix row needs to pass through the network element corresponding to the matrix column to reach the CMTS, that is, It is said that the network device corresponding to the SID of the matrix row is under the network device corresponding to the array. Any column of the matrix indicates which network devices exist downstream of the network device corresponding to the column. So the adjacency matrix illustrates the topology of the HFC network.

Taking the HFC local network shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the adjacency matrix available to the server is shown in FIG. 9. In the first behavior example, the uplink data of CM1 must pass S1, T1, T2, and A1 when it reaches the CMTS; for the first column, CM1 and CM2 are downstream of S1.

Since the HFC network is a tree or a star structure, there is a set inclusion and inclusion relationship between the network elements. For adjacency matrices, there is an inclusion and inclusion relationship of the column vectors. In order to facilitate the analysis, the adjacency matrix can be subjected to elementary column transformation, and the linear relationship between the column vectors (ie, the inclusion relationship) is eliminated, and the column-equivalent adjacency matrix of the column-independent column is obtained. The column's minimally adjacency matrix ultimately expresses the directly connected relationship between the devices, so there is no cross-device inclusion relationship.

Figure 10 is a column-simplified adjacency matrix obtained from the matrix of Figure 9. As shown in Figure 10, CM1 and CM2 are directly connected to S1; CM5 and T2 are directly connected to T1.

When performing topology discovery on the adjacency matrix, you can first analyze the topology relationship among network devices except the CM in the HFC network, that is, the topology of the backbone line; then explore the topological relationship between each CM and other network devices.

As shown in FIG. 10, first look at the direct connection relationship of each network device in the adjacent square matrix M2 formed between S1, S2, T1, T2, and A1. Obviously, the connection relationship between the network elements is {S1, S2} ∈ T2 ∈ T1 ∈ A1; then analyze the adjacency matrix M1 between each CM and other network devices, it is obvious that the CM and other network devices are straight. The relationship is {CM1, CM2} ∈ S1, {CM3, CM4} ∈ S2, CM5 ∈ T1. Minute Do not get the direct connection between the network devices except CM, and the network devices and CM, you can get the topology of the entire HFC network, the results shown in Figure 3.

The above is a description of the HFC network topology discovery method. The network device in the embodiment of the present invention is introduced from the perspective of the function module implementation.

With reference to Figure 11, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device 11, which includes:

The receiving unit 1101 is configured to receive an allocation mapping MAP message broadcast by the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS;

The parsing unit 1102 is configured to parse the MAP message received by the receiving unit 1101 to obtain an uplink time corresponding to the network element in the HFC network, where the uplink time indicates a time interval for the network element to send an uplink signal to the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS. ;

The monitoring unit 1103 is configured to monitor each network element in the uplink time of each network element parsed by the parsing unit 1102, and confirm whether the uplink signal of each network element passes the network device 11 to obtain an uplink signal detection result, and the uplink signal detection is performed. The result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and each network element;

The sending unit 1104 is configured to send the uplink signal detection result monitored by the monitoring unit 1103 to the server, where the server analyzes the uplink signal detection result to obtain a topology of the HFC network.

In some specific implementations, the monitoring unit 1103 is specifically configured to determine whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected during the uplink time of the network element, and if the monitoring is performed, the uplink signal detection result records the uplink signal of the network element through the network device, if If not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

In some specific implementations, the monitoring unit 1103 is configured to monitor, by using an amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency RF port, an uplink signal of the radio frequency RF port to detect whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected, and if the amplitude strength is greater than a preset threshold, After the uplink signal of the network element is detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device, and if the amplitude is less than the preset threshold, it is determined that the uplink signal of the network element is not detected, and the uplink signal detection result record is recorded. The uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

In some implementations, the monitoring unit 1103 is configured to perform spectrum analysis on the uplink time of the network element to determine whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected. If the uplink signal is detected, the uplink signal detection result records the uplink signal of the network element. After the network device is not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.

In some specific implementations, the parsing unit 1102 is specifically configured to parse the MAP message. The MAP information unit structure table, the MAP information unit structure table includes the identifier of the network element in the HFC network and the corresponding uplink time.

For the process of the interaction between the functional modules of the network device 11 in the embodiment of the present invention, refer to the interaction process in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and details are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving unit 1101 of the network device 11 of the HFC network receives the allocation mapping MAP message of the CMTS broadcast, and then the parsing unit 1102 parses the MAP message to obtain the uplink time of the network element in the HFC network; The monitoring unit 1103 monitors the uplink signal at the uplink time of each network element to obtain an uplink signal detection result, where the uplink signal detection result indicates whether the uplink signal of the network element passes the network device; after that, the sending unit 1104 detects the uplink signal. The result is sent to the server, so that the server analyzes the uplink signal detection result to obtain the topology of the HFC network. In the embodiment of the present invention, the network device 11 can quickly and accurately detect the topological relationship among the network elements in the HFC network, without requiring the uplink burst packet demodulation and the capability of the CM to send the test signal. Implement topology discovery.

The network device in the embodiment of the present invention is introduced from the perspective of hardware structure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In an actual application, the network device 12 is located in an HFC network, and may be an independent network device or an HFC network as shown in FIG. 2 . The amplifier A1, the splitter T1, the splitter T2, the splitter S1 or the splitter S2 are implemented in these HFC network devices by embedding the topology discovery intelligent module to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, the network device 12 includes at least one network interface or other communication interface, at least one receiver 1201, at least one transmitter 1203, and at least one processor 1202 to implement connection communication between the devices through at least one network interface ( The communication connection between the network device and at least one other network element in the HFC network may be implemented by wired or wireless, and may use an Internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, or the like.

In addition, the network device may further include a read only memory or a random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor 1202. The memory may also include a portion of the memory, which may include a high speed random access memory (RAM), or Also included is a non-volatile memory.

The memory stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or a subset of them, or their extended set:

Operation instructions: include various operation instructions for implementing various operations.

Operating system: Includes a variety of system programs for implementing various basic services and handling hardware-based tasks.

The receiver 1201 is configured to perform the step performed by the receiving unit 1101, that is, receive the allocation mapping MAP message of the CMTS broadcast;

The processor 1202 is configured to execute the steps performed by the parsing unit 1102 and the monitoring unit 1103, and details are not described herein.

The transmitter 1203 is configured to execute the step performed by the sending unit 1103, and send an uplink signal detection result indicating a connection relationship between the network device and each network element to the server, and send the uplink signal detection result to the server, where the uplink signal detection is detected by the server. The results were analyzed to obtain the topology of the HFC network.

For the information exchange process between the receiver 1201, the processor 1202, and the transmitter 1203 of the network device 12 in the embodiment of the present invention, refer to the interaction process in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and details are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the receiver 1201 of the network device 12 of the HFC network receives the allocation mapping MAP message of the CMTS broadcast, and the processor 1202 parses the MAP message to obtain the uplink time of the network element in the HFC network; The processor 1202 monitors the uplink signal in the uplink time of each network element to obtain an uplink signal detection result, where the uplink signal detection result indicates whether the uplink signal of the network element passes the network device; after that, the transmitter 1203 detects the uplink signal. Send to the server, so that the server analyzes the uplink signal detection result to obtain the topology of the HFC network. In the embodiment of the present invention, the network device 12 can quickly and accurately detect the topological relationship among the network elements in the HFC network, without requiring the uplink burst packet demodulation and the capability of the CM to send the test signal. Implement topology discovery.

The server 13 in the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

Specifically, the server 13 includes at least one network interface or other communication interface, at least one receiver 1301, and at least one processor 1302 to implement connection communication between the devices, by at least A network interface (which may be wired or wireless) implements a communication connection between the network device and at least one other network element in the HFC network, and may use an Internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, or the like.

The receiver 1301 is configured to receive a plurality of uplink signal detection results sent by the network device as shown in FIG. 11, where the plurality of network devices include the first network device, and the uplink signal detection result of the first network device indicates the HFC. Whether the uplink signal sent by the network element in the network passes through the first network device, that is, the uplink signal detection result of one of the network devices indicates whether the uplink signal sent by the network element in the HFC network passes through the network device.

The processor 1302 is configured to perform statistical analysis on multiple uplink signal detection results to obtain a topology of the HFC network.

In some implementations, the processor 1302 is further configured to perform the following steps:

The processor 1302 is specifically configured to combine multiple uplink signal detection results to construct an adjacency matrix formed by network elements in the HFC network, perform elementary transformation on the adjacency matrix to obtain a simplest adjacency matrix, and obtain the simplest adjacency matrix according to the simplest adjacency matrix. The topology of the HFC network.

Similar to the network device 11, the server 13 may include other components, such as a memory, for storing the operation instructions, data structures, and various basic services performed by the processor 1302 in addition to the above receiver 1301 and the processor 1302. System program in the operating system. The memory can include read only memory and random access memory.

In the embodiment of the present invention, after the receiver 1301 of the server 13 receives the uplink signal detection result sent by the multiple network devices, the processor 1302 performs statistical analysis on the uplink signal results to obtain a topology diagram of the HFC network, thereby combining the network devices. The fast and accurate detection of the topological relationship among the NEs in the HFC network is implemented to achieve the HFC network topology discovery.

In addition, the present invention also provides a computer storage medium storing a program, the program including some or all of the steps of the network device performing a HFC network topology discovery.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an HFC network system, including a server 1402 and at least one network device 1401, wherein the network device 1401 performs the method steps performed by the network device in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIG. 2, The server 1402 performs the method steps performed by the server in the aforementioned embodiment shown in FIG. The network device 1401 may be integrated with other network devices in the existing HFC network, and the network architecture diagram integrated may be as shown in FIG. 3; An entity that is independent of other network devices in the existing HFC network exists. This is not limited here.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the various embodiments are different, and the details that are not detailed in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

A person skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the system, the device and the unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method 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 interface, device or unit, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

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 above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a standalone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, which is essential or contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium. A number of instructions are included 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, Read-Only Memory), A variety of media that can store program code, such as random access memory (RAM), disk, or optical disk.

The principles and embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to specific examples. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of understanding the method of the present invention and the core idea thereof. Also, the present invention is based on the present invention. The present invention is not limited by the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A method for discovering a topology of a cable coaxial cable hybrid network HFC network, characterized in that it comprises:

The network device receives the allocation mapping MAP message broadcasted by the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS;

The network device parses the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to the network element in the HFC network, and the uplink time indicates a time interval at which the network element sends an uplink signal to the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS. ;

The network device monitors the network element at an uplink time of the network element, and determines whether an uplink signal of the network element passes the network device to obtain an uplink signal detection result;

The network device sends the uplink signal detection result to the server, where the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element, and is used by the server to perform the uplink signal detection result. The topology of the HFC network is obtained by analysis.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the network device monitors an uplink signal of the network element at an uplink time of the network element, and confirms whether an uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device. Obtaining the uplink signal detection results includes:

Determining, by the network device, whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected during an uplink time of the network element;

If detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device;

If not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining, by the network device, whether the uplink signal of the network element is monitored during an uplink time of the network element comprises:

The network device detects whether the uplink signal of the network element is monitored by monitoring the amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency RF port in the uplink time of the network element, and if the amplitude strength is greater than a preset threshold, determining that the monitoring device is The uplink signal of the network element.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining, by the network device, whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected during an uplink time of the network element comprises:

The network device performs spectrum analysis on an uplink time of the network element to determine whether to monitor The uplink signal to the network element.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the network device parses the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to a network element in the HFC network, including:

The network device parses the MAP message to obtain a MAP information unit structure table, where the MAP information unit structure table includes an identifier of the network element in the HFC network and a corresponding uplink time.
A network device, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive an allocation mapping MAP message broadcast by the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS;

a parsing unit, configured to parse the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to a network element in the HFC network, where the uplink time indicates a time when the network element sends an uplink signal to the coaxial cable local end access device CMTS interval;

a monitoring unit, configured to monitor the network element at an uplink time of the network element, to confirm whether an uplink signal of the network element passes the network device to obtain an uplink signal detection result;

a sending unit, configured to send the uplink signal detection result to the server, where the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element, and is used by the server to detect the uplink signal An analysis is performed to obtain the topology of the HFC network.
The network device according to claim 6, wherein:

The monitoring unit is configured to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected during an uplink time of the network element, and if the monitoring is performed, the uplink signal detection result records an uplink signal of the network element by using the If the network device does not detect, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.
The network device according to claim 7, wherein:

The monitoring unit is configured to: determine, by monitoring an amplitude of a signal of the radio frequency RF port, in an uplink time of the network element, to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected, if the amplitude strength is greater than a preset threshold, Determining that the uplink signal of the network element is detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element passes through the network device, and if the amplitude is slightly less than a preset threshold, determining that the The uplink signal of the network element, the uplink signal detection result is recorded on the network element The line signal does not pass through the network device.
The network device according to claim 7, wherein:

The monitoring unit is configured to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected by performing spectrum analysis on an uplink time of the network element. If the uplink signal is detected, the uplink signal detection result records the network element. The uplink signal passes through the network device, and if not detected, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.
A network device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that:

The parsing unit is configured to parse the MAP message to obtain a MAP information unit structure table, where the MAP information unit structure table includes an identifier of the network element in the HFC network and a corresponding uplink time.
A network device, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive an allocation mapping MAP message broadcast by the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS;

a processor, configured to parse the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to a network element in the HFC network, where the uplink time indicates a time when the network element sends an uplink signal to the coaxial cable central office access device CMTS The network element is monitored at the uplink time of the network element to check whether the uplink signal of the network element passes the network device to obtain an uplink signal detection result.

a transmitter, configured to send the uplink signal detection result to a server, where the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element, and is used by the server to detect the uplink signal An analysis is performed to obtain the topology of the HFC network.
The network device according to claim 11, wherein:

The processor is configured to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected during an uplink time of the network element; if the uplink signal is detected, the uplink signal of the network element is recorded by the uplink signal detection result. If the network device does not detect, the uplink signal detection result records that the uplink signal of the network element does not pass through the network device.
A network device according to claim 12, wherein:

The processor is configured to monitor, by using an amplitude of the signal of the radio frequency RF port, an uplink signal of the radio frequency RF port to determine whether the uplink signal of the network element is detected, and if the amplitude strength is greater than a preset threshold, It is determined that the uplink signal of the network element is monitored.
A network device according to claim 12, wherein:

The processor is configured to perform spectrum analysis on an uplink time of the network element to determine whether an uplink signal of the network element is detected.
A network device according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that:

The processor is configured to parse the MAP message to obtain a MAP information unit structure table, where the MAP information unit structure table includes an identifier of the network element in the HFC network and a corresponding uplink time.
An HFC network system, comprising:

a server and at least one network device;

The network device is configured to receive an allocation mapping MAP message broadcasted by the coaxial cable access device CMTS, and parse the MAP message to obtain an uplink time corresponding to the network element in the HFC network, where the uplink time indication is The time interval at which the network element sends the uplink signal to the coaxial cable access device CMTS; after that, the network element is monitored at the uplink time of the network element, and whether the uplink signal of the network element is confirmed The network device is configured to obtain an uplink signal detection result, and the uplink signal detection result is sent to the server, where the uplink signal detection result indicates a connection relationship between the network device and the network element;

The server is configured to receive a plurality of uplink signal detection results sent by the multiple network devices, where the multiple network devices include a first network device, and an uplink signal detection result of the first network device indicates an HFC network Whether the uplink signal sent by the network element passes through the first network device; after that, statistical analysis is performed on the multiple uplink signal detection results to obtain a topology of the HFC network.