CN116866249A - Communication system, data processing method and related equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiments of this application disclose a communication system, a data processing method and related equipment, which can be applied to data center networks or private cloud networks, etc. The communication system in the embodiment of the present application includes: a first device, a forwarding device, a controller, and a second device, wherein the first device is configured to generate a first data packet according to the communication path, and the first data packet includes a source routing SR label. and indication information. The SR label is used for communication between forwarding devices on the communication path, and the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device to collect network status parameters; the first device is also used to send the first data packet to the forwarding device, which can cause the forwarding device to Collect network status parameters. The forwarding device is configured to send the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label, which is beneficial to subsequent determination of a target path with better network performance among the communication paths.

Description

A communication system, data processing method and related equipment

This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on September 8, 2020, with application number 202010934858.0 and application name “A communication system, data processing method and related equipment”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication system, a data processing method, and related devices.

Background Art

Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing (ECMP) is a hop-by-hop flow-based load balancing strategy. When there are multiple optional paths for a flow, ECMP can use multiple strategies to select the path and achieve a certain degree of load balancing.

At present, ECMP routing strategies mainly include: hash-based (for example, selecting a path for a flow based on the hash of a five-tuple), round-robin (i.e., each flow is transmitted in round-robin fashion between multiple paths), and path weight-based (i.e., paths with larger weights are assigned more flows).

However, when there are large differences between different flows, such as when elephant flows and mouse flows exist at the same time, ECMP cannot reasonably arrange paths for different flows.

Summary of the invention

The embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, a data processing method and related devices, which are used to determine a suitable communication path through network status parameters.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes: a controller, a first device, a forwarding device and a second device; the controller is used to determine a communication path, and the communication path is used for the first device to communicate with the second device; the controller is also used to send the communication path to the first device; the first device is used to generate a first data packet according to the communication path, and the first data packet includes indication information, and the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device to collect network status parameters; the first device is also used to send the first data packet to the forwarding device; the forwarding device is used to collect network status parameters according to the indication information, and the network status parameters correspond to the forwarding device one-to-one; the forwarding device is also used to add the network status parameters to the first data packet to obtain a second data packet; the forwarding device is also used to send the second data packet to the second device; the second device is used to send a detection report to the controller according to the second data packet, and the detection report is used to determine the target path in the communication path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first device is used to generate a first data packet according to the communication path, the first data packet includes a source routing SR label and indication information, the SR label is used for communication between forwarding devices on the communication path, and the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device to collect network status parameters; the first device is also used to send the first data packet to the forwarding device, so that the forwarding device can collect network status parameters. The forwarding device is used to send a second data packet to the second device according to the SR label, which is conducive to the subsequent determination of the target path with better network performance in the communication path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned first data packet also includes a source routing SR label, and the SR label is used for communication of a forwarding device on a communication path; the forwarding device is specifically used to add a network status parameter to the first data packet from which the SR label is deleted to obtain a second data packet; the forwarding device is specifically used to send the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label.

In this possible implementation, the first data packet generated by the first device also includes an SR label, so that after collecting the network status parameters, the forwarding device directly adds the network status parameters to the first data packet from which the SR label is deleted to obtain a second data packet, and the forwarding device is used to send the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label. This allows the forwarding device to achieve extremely low forwarding latency without having to perform any table lookup operations.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, in the case where the communication path includes multiple forwarding devices, the SR labels are multiple, and the forwarding device is specifically used to add a network status parameter to a first data packet in which the SR label corresponding to itself is deleted to obtain a second data packet, and the second data packet includes the SR label of the next-hop forwarding device.

In this possible implementation, when there are multiple forwarding devices, each forwarding device only deletes the SR label corresponding to itself, so that the SR label is not reused. Each forwarding device can simply determine which SR label is its own, without the need for an additional index to indicate the SR label corresponding to the forwarding device, thereby reducing the number of bytes of the data packet.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the SR label includes an egress port number of a forwarding device.

In this possible implementation, the first data packet generated by the first device also includes an SR label, so that after the forwarding device parses the SR label in the first data packet, it directly forwards the first data packet to the corresponding egress port without performing any table lookup operation, thereby achieving extremely low forwarding delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned detection report includes network status parameters; the controller is also used to determine network indicator information based on the network status parameters; the controller is also used to send network indicator information to the first device; the first device is also used to determine the target path in the communication path based on the network indicator information.

In this possible implementation, the controller can calculate the network indicator information, and the first device can determine the target path based on the network indicator information. On the one hand, the first device can communicate with the second device through the target path with better network performance, thereby improving the communication quality and efficiency between the first device and the second device. On the other hand, the first device determines the target path, and in the case of complex network topology, that is, when there are multiple first devices, the memory consumption caused by the controller determining the target path is reduced.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned detection report includes network status parameters; the controller is also used to determine network indicator information based on the network status parameters; the controller is also used to determine the target path in the communication path based on the network indicator information; the controller is also used to send the target path to the first device.

In this possible implementation, the controller can calculate network indicator information and determine the target path based on the network indicator information. The controller sends the target path to the first device. On the one hand, the first device can communicate with the second device through the target path with better network performance, thereby improving the communication quality and efficiency between the first device and the second device. On the other hand, the controller determines the target path, which helps the controller to grasp the network performance of each communication path in the network topology.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned detection report includes network status parameters; the controller is also used to send the network status parameters to the first device; the first device is also used to determine network indicator information based on the network status parameters; the first device is also used to determine the target path in the communication path based on the network indicator information.

In this possible implementation, the first device can calculate network indicator information, and the first device can determine the target path based on the network indicator information. On the one hand: it can enable the first device to communicate with the second device through a target path with better network performance, thereby improving the communication quality and efficiency between the first device and the second device. On the other hand: the first device calculates the network indicator information and determines the target path, and in the case of a complex network topology, that is, when there are multiple first devices, it reduces the memory consumption caused by the controller calculating the network indicator information and determining the target path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned network status parameters include the inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and the outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameters include the total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device, and the network indicator information includes at least one of the average bandwidth value, transmission delay or bit error rate of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first device in the above-mentioned communication system is further used to send a service data packet to the second device using the target path, and the service data packet is used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

In this possible implementation, the first device can perform service communication with the second device through a target path with better network performance, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of service communication between the first device and the second device.

The second aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which can be executed by a first device or by a component of the first device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The method includes: the first device obtains a communication path, and the communication path is used for the first device to communicate with the second device; the first device generates a first data packet according to the communication path, and the first data packet includes indication information, and the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device on the communication path to collect network status parameters; the first device sends a first data packet to the forwarding device, and the first data packet is used to determine the target path in the communication path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first device generates a first data packet according to the communication path, and instructs the forwarding device on the communication path to collect network status parameters through indication information, so that the first data packet can be used to determine the target path. That is, the communication path between the first device and the second device can be determined by network performance, further improving the quality and efficiency of communication between the first device and the second device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the above steps also include: the first device obtains network indicator information, and the network indicator information is obtained by processing network status parameters; the first device determines the target path in the communication path based on the network indicator information.

In this possible implementation, the communication path between the first device and the second device is determined by network performance, so as to further improve the quality and efficiency of the communication between the first device and the second device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first device in the above step obtains the network indicator information, including: the first device receives the network indicator information sent by the controller.

In this possible implementation, the first device receives the network indicator information sent by the controller, so that the controller can understand the network performance of each communication path in the network topology.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first device in the above steps obtains network indicator information, including: the first device receives network status parameters sent by the controller; the first device calculates the network status parameters to obtain network indication information.

In this possible implementation, the first device calculates network indicator information. On the one hand, the first device can communicate with the second device through a target path with better network performance, thereby improving the communication quality and efficiency between the first device and the second device. On the other hand, the first device calculates network indicator information, and in the case of a complex network topology, that is, when there are multiple first devices, the memory consumption caused by the controller calculating the network indicator information is reduced.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the above steps also include: the first device sends a service data packet to the second device using the target path, where the service data packet is used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

In this possible implementation, the first device can perform service communication with the second device through a target path with better network performance, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of service communication between the first device and the second device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the network status parameters in the above steps include the inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and the outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameters include the total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device, and the network indicator information includes at least one of the average bandwidth value, transmission delay or bit error rate of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first device in the above step obtains the network indicator information, including: the first device calculates the network indicator information in the following manner:

Among them, the current value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the first data packet, the historical value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the last data packet or 0, the current value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the first data packet leaves the port, and the historical value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the last data packet leaves the port or 0.

In this possible implementation, a specific method for calculating network indicator information is provided.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first device in the above steps obtains network indicator information, including: the first device calculates the transmission delay of the forwarding device, and the transmission delay is the difference between the first data packet input port timestamp and the first data packet output port timestamp.

In this possible implementation, the transmission efficiency of the communication between the first device and the second device can be improved by determining the target path through the transmission delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the above steps also include: the first device receives a third data packet sent by a third device, the third data packet includes network status parameters of a forwarding device on a communication path between the first device and the third device, and the third data packet is used to determine a target path in the communication path.

In this possible implementation, when the first device is a receiving end, the first device can determine the target path in the communication path between the first device and the third device through the third data packet, so that the first device can communicate with the third device through the target path with better network performance.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first data packet in the above step further includes a source routing SR label, and the SR label is used for communication of the forwarding device.

In this possible implementation, after the forwarding device receives the first data packet sent by the first device, it can determine the next-hop device on the communication path according to the SR label in the first data packet, so that the forwarding device does not need to perform any table lookup operation and can achieve extremely low forwarding delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the SR label in the above step includes an egress port number of the forwarding device.

In this possible implementation, the SR label includes the egress port number of the forwarding device, so that after the forwarding device receives the first data packet sent by the first device, it can determine the egress port number of the forwarding device according to the SR label in the first data packet, that is, it can determine the next-hop device on the communication path, so that the forwarding device does not need to perform any table lookup operation, and can achieve extremely low forwarding delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first data packet in the above step is used to obtain network status parameters, and/or the first data packet is used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

In this possible implementation, the first device may use the above method to complete the real-time collection of network status parameters using a detection packet or a service data packet, and then determine a more appropriate target path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first device in the above step obtains the communication path, including: the first device receives the communication path sent by the controller.

In this possible implementation, the communication path is determined by the controller and then sent to the first device, thereby reducing the memory consumption caused by the first device determining the communication path through calculation.

The third aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which can be executed by a forwarding device or by a component of the forwarding device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The method includes: the forwarding device receives a first data packet from a first device, the first data packet indication information, the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device to collect network status parameters, and the network status parameters are related to the forwarding device; the forwarding device collects the network status parameters according to the indication information to obtain a second data packet; the forwarding device sends the second data packet to the second device.

In this possible implementation, the forwarding device may collect network status parameters according to the indication information in the first data packet to obtain a second data packet, and send the second data packet to the second device so that the second device learns the network status parameters of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first data packet in the above steps also includes a source routing SR label, the SR label corresponds to a forwarding device, and the SR label is used for communication of the forwarding device; the forwarding device collects network status parameters according to the indication information to obtain a second data packet, including: the forwarding device collects network status parameters; the forwarding device adds the network status parameters to the first data packet from which the SR label is deleted to obtain the second data packet; the forwarding device sends the second data packet to the second device, including: the forwarding device sends the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label.

In this possible implementation, after collecting the network status parameters, the forwarding device directly adds the network status parameters to the first data packet with the SR label deleted to obtain a second data packet, and the forwarding device is used to send the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label. This makes it unnecessary for the forwarding device to perform any table lookup operation, and can achieve extremely low forwarding delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the SR label in the above step includes an egress port number of a forwarding device.

In this possible implementation, the SR label includes the egress port number of the forwarding device, so that after the forwarding device receives the first data packet sent by the first device, it can determine the egress port number of the forwarding device according to the SR label in the first data packet, that is, it can determine the next-hop device on the communication path, so that the forwarding device does not need to perform any table lookup operation, and can achieve extremely low forwarding delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the network status parameter in the above steps includes an inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and an outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameter includes a total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first data packet and the second data packet in the above steps are used to obtain network status parameters, and/or the first data packet and the second data packet are used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

In this possible implementation, the target path may be applied to network status parameter collection or service communication between the first device and the second device.

The fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which can be executed by a controller or by a component of the controller (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The method includes: the controller determines a communication path, and the communication path is used for communication between a first device and a second device; the controller sends the communication path to the first device; the controller receives a detection report sent by the second device, and the detection report is related to a network status parameter, and the network status parameter is related to a forwarding device on the communication path. The detection report is also used to determine a target path in the communication path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the controller sends the communication path to the first device, that is, sends the communication path that needs to measure the network status parameters to the first device, reducing the memory consumption caused by the first device calculating the communication path. And receives the detection report, so that the appropriate target path can be determined according to the detection report.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the detection report in the above steps includes network indicator information, and the network indicator information is obtained by processing network status parameters.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the detection report in the above steps includes network status parameters.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the network status parameter in the above steps includes an inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and an outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameter includes the total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the above steps also include: the controller calculates network indicator information; the controller sends the network indicator information to the first device, so that the first device determines the target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

In this possible implementation, the controller calculates network indicator information and sends the network indicator information to the first device. On the one hand, the first device can determine the target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information. On the other hand, the controller can grasp the network performance of each communication path in the network topology.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the controller in the above steps calculates network indicator information, including: the controller calculates the transmission delay of the forwarding device, and the transmission delay is the difference between the input port timestamp and the output port timestamp.

In this possible implementation, the transmission efficiency of the communication between the first device and the second device can be improved by determining the target path through the transmission delay.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the controller in the above steps calculates network indicator information, including: the controller calculates an average bandwidth value of a forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the controller in the above steps calculates the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device in the following manner:

Among them, the current value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the first data packet, the historical value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the last data packet or 0, the current value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the first data packet leaves the port, and the historical value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the last data packet leaves the port or 0.

In this possible implementation, a specific method for calculating network indicator information is provided.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above steps also include: the controller determines a target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information; and the controller sends the target path to the first device.

In this possible implementation, the controller can calculate network indicator information and determine the target path based on the network indicator information. The controller sends the target path to the first device. On the one hand, the first device can communicate with the second device through the target path with better network performance, thereby improving the communication quality and efficiency between the first device and the second device. On the other hand, the controller determines the target path, which helps the controller to grasp the network performance of each communication path in the network topology.

A fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a first device, the first device comprising:

A receiving unit, used to obtain a communication path, where the communication path is used for the first device to communicate with the second device;

A processing unit, configured to generate a first data packet according to a communication path, wherein the first data packet includes instruction information, and the instruction information is used to instruct a forwarding device on the communication path to collect network status parameters;

The sending unit is used to send a first data packet to the forwarding device, where the first data packet is used to determine a target path in the communication path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit in the above-mentioned first device is also used to obtain network indicator information, and the network indicator information is obtained by processing network status parameters; the processing unit is also used to determine the target path in the communication path based on the network indicator information.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit in the above-mentioned first device is specifically used to receive network indicator information sent by the controller.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit in the above-mentioned first device is specifically used to receive network status parameters sent by the controller; the processing unit is also used to calculate the network status parameters to obtain network indication information.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the sending unit in the first device is further used to send a service data packet to the second device using a target path, and the service data packet is used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the above-mentioned network status parameters include the inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and the outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameters include the total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device, and the network indicator information includes at least one of the average bandwidth value, transmission delay or bit error rate of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processing unit in the first device is specifically configured to calculate the network indicator information in the following manner:

Among them, the current value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the first data packet, the historical value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the last data packet or 0, the current value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the first data packet leaves the port, and the historical value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the last data packet leaves the port or 0.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the processing unit in the above-mentioned first device is specifically used to calculate the transmission delay of the forwarding device, and the transmission delay is the difference between the first data packet inlet port timestamp and the first data packet outlet port timestamp.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit in the above-mentioned first device is also used to receive a third data packet sent by a third device, the third data packet includes network status parameters of a forwarding device on the communication path between the first device and the third device, and the third data packet is used to determine a target path in the communication path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first data packet mentioned above also includes a source routing SR label, and the SR label is used for communication of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the SR label includes an egress port number of a forwarding device.

A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a forwarding device, the forwarding device comprising:

A receiving unit, configured to receive a first data packet from a first device, and indication information of the first data packet, wherein the indication information is used to instruct a forwarding device to collect network status parameters, and the network status parameters are related to the forwarding device;

A processing unit, configured to collect network status parameters according to the indication information to obtain a second data packet;

A sending unit is used to send a second data packet to a second device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the above-mentioned first data packet also includes a source routing SR label, the SR label corresponds to a forwarding device, and the SR label is used for communication with the forwarding device; a processing unit, specifically used to collect network status parameters; and adding the network status parameters to the first data packet with the SR label deleted to obtain a second data packet; a sending unit, specifically used to send the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the SR label includes an egress port number of a forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the above-mentioned network status parameter includes an inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and an outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameter includes a total number of bytes of outbound port data packets of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first data packet and the second data packet are used to obtain network status parameters, and/or the first data packet and the second data packet are used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

A seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a controller, the controller comprising:

a processing unit, configured to determine a communication path, the communication path being used for the first device to communicate with the second device;

A sending unit, configured to send a communication path to the first device;

The receiving unit is used to receive a detection report sent by the second device, the detection report is related to a network status parameter, the network status parameter is related to a forwarding device on a communication path, and the detection report is also used to determine a target path in the communication path.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the above-mentioned detection report includes network indicator information, and the network indicator information is obtained by processing network status parameters.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the above-mentioned detection report includes network status parameters.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the above-mentioned network status parameter includes an inbound port timestamp of the forwarding device and an outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device, or the network status parameter includes the total number of bytes of data packets of the outbound port of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the processing unit in the above-mentioned controller is also used to calculate network indicator information; the sending unit is also used to send the network indicator information to the first device, so that the first device determines the target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the processing unit in the above-mentioned controller is specifically used to calculate the transmission delay of the forwarding device, and the transmission delay is the difference between the inbound port timestamp and the outbound port timestamp.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the processing unit in the above-mentioned controller is specifically used to calculate the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the processing unit in the controller is further configured to calculate an average bandwidth value of the forwarding device in the following manner:

Among them, the current value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the first data packet, the historical value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the last data packet or 0, the current value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the first data packet leaves the port, and the historical value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the last data packet leaves the port or 0.

Optionally, in a possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the processing unit in the above-mentioned controller is also used to determine the target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information; the sending unit is also used to send the target path to the first device.

An eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a first device, comprising: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the first device implements the method in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

A ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a forwarding device, comprising: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the forwarding device implements the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

The tenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a controller, including: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the controller implements the method in the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any possible implementation method of the fourth aspect.

An eleventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the first device provided in the eighth aspect, and/or the forwarding device in the ninth aspect, and/or the controller in the tenth aspect.

In the twelfth aspect of the present application, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and an interface circuit, which is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction to implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, and the interface circuit is used to communicate with other modules outside the chip.

A thirteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions. When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the method in the aforementioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

A fourteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the method in the aforementioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by the fifth aspect, the eighth aspect, the eleventh aspect, the twelfth aspect, the thirteenth aspect, the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the second aspect or different possible implementation methods of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by the sixth aspect, the ninth aspect, the eleventh aspect, the twelfth aspect, the thirteenth aspect, the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the third aspect or different possible implementation methods of the third aspect, and will not be repeated here.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by the seventh aspect, the tenth aspect, the eleventh aspect, the twelfth aspect, the thirteenth aspect, the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof can refer to the technical effects brought about by the fourth aspect or different possible implementation methods of the fourth aspect, and will not be repeated here.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the embodiments of the present application have the following advantages: the first device is used to generate a first data packet according to the communication path, the first data packet includes a source routing SR label and indication information, the SR label is used for communication between forwarding devices on the communication path, and the indication information is used to instruct the forwarding device to collect network status parameters; the first device is also used to send the first data packet to the forwarding device, so that the forwarding device can collect network status parameters. The forwarding device is used to send a second data packet to the second device according to the SR label, and the second device is conducive to the first device to subsequently determine the target path with better network performance in the communication path.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network framework in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a flow chart of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a communication path in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a format of a first data packet in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is another schematic diagram of a communication path in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first device in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a forwarding device in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a controller in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9 is another schematic diagram of the structure of the first device in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art may appreciate that, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

The embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, a data processing method and related devices for determining a suitable communication path through network status parameters.

The communication method provided in the present application can be applied in different communication networks. The communication method is described below using a data center network as an example.

Please refer to Figure 1, the network architecture in the embodiment of the present application includes:

Controller 100 , spine switches 101 and 102 , leaf switches 103 to 105 , and service devices 106 to 108 .

The controller 100 is respectively connected to the backbone switches 101 and 102, the leaf switches 103 to 105, and the service devices 106 to 108. The backbone switch 101 is respectively connected to the leaf switches 103 to 105, the backbone switch 102 is respectively connected to the leaf switches 103 to 105, the leaf switch 103 is connected to the service device 106, the leaf switch 104 is connected to the service device 107, and the leaf switch 105 is connected to the service device 108.

In this embodiment, only two backbone switches 101 and 102, three leaf switches 103 to 105, and three service devices 106 to 108 are used as examples for schematic illustration. In actual applications, there can be more backbone switches, leaf switches, and service devices in the network architecture, which are not specifically limited here.

The way each service device accesses a leaf switch may also be different. FIG1 only schematically illustrates the example of one service device accessing one leaf switch. Multiple service devices may also access one leaf switch, which is not limited here.

The backbone switch 101 and the leaf switches 103 to 105 are generally connected through a wired network, and can also be connected through a wireless network. If they are connected through a wired network, the connection form can be a fiber optic network.

The leaf switch and the service equipment are generally connected through a wireless network, or through a wired network. If connected through a wired network, the connection form can be a fiber optic network. If connected through a wireless network, the connection form can be a cellular wireless network, a WiFi network, or other types of wireless networks.

The communication between service devices can be carried out through leaf switches, or through leaf switches and backbone switches.

The main function of the controller 100 is to manage the devices in the network (backbone switches 101 and 102, leaf switches 103 to 105, and service devices 106 to 108).

The main function of the backbone switches 101 and 102 is to ensure communication between any two leaf switches in the network.

The main functions of leaf switches 103 to 105 are data transfer, connecting backbone switches and service devices, and transmitting data.

The main function of the service devices 106 to 108 is to provide services to users or other devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the service device may be a rack server, a blade server, a computing node, a storage node, etc., which is not specifically limited here.

The first device and the second device in the embodiment of the present application are equivalent to the service device in the architecture shown in Figure 1, the forwarding device is equivalent to the backbone switch or leaf switch in the architecture shown in Figure 1, and the controller is equivalent to the controller in the architecture shown in Figure 1.

It can be understood that the architecture of Figure 1 is just an example. In actual applications, the backbone switch can be connected to a core switch (core) above, and the leaf switch can be connected to a top of rack (TOR) switch below. That is, the specific number of layers of forwarding devices is not limited here, and it can be spine-leaf, spine-leaf-tor, core-spine-leaf-tor and other architectures.

The current data center network (DCN) status is complex, and the path load is affected by various factors (network congestion, switch routing algorithm, etc.) and is uncontrollable. The uneven load and congestion of multiple nodes lead to a low overall link bandwidth value of DCN. As the scale of DCN increases, traditional load balancing methods such as ECMP can no longer meet the load balancing needs of DCN due to the lack of perception of the entire network status, and optimization is urgently needed.

In addition, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is a system for fast data packet switching and routing, which provides addressing, routing, forwarding and switching capabilities for network data traffic.

Multiple network devices supporting MPLS are interconnected to form an MPLS domain. On a forwarding path, the node entering the MPLS domain is called the ingress node, the node leaving the MPLS domain is called the egress node, and the nodes on the forwarding path are called intermediate nodes. The MPLS forwarding process is shown in Figure 1. When a message enters the MPLS domain, the ingress node will query the forwarding information table (forwardinformation dataBase, FIB) and other table items to obtain information such as the outgoing interface and outgoing label, and then push the MPLS label onto the original message, and then forward the message to the next hop. After receiving the message, the intermediate node will check the corresponding table item according to the MPLS label value to obtain the outgoing interface and label of the next hop. If the label value is greater than or equal to 16, the old MPLS label in the message is replaced with the new label, and then the message is forwarded to the next hop; if the label value is equal to 3, it is the penultimate hop forwarding node, and the label needs to be popped out before forwarding. After receiving the message, the egress node directly forwards the traditional IP message. Among them,

However, nodes in an MPLS domain need to be distinguished into different identities such as ingress nodes, intermediate nodes, and egress nodes, which makes the management plane relatively complex.

In addition to being applicable to the data center network shown in Figure 1, the communication method in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to cloud network scenarios, especially public cloud scenarios, where network services are divided into Overlay and Underlay layers. Currently, major network services have been migrated to the Overlay network, while Underlay network services have become very simple, mainly focusing on network connection and congestion control. Using private protocols on the Underlay network will not affect the Overlay service, and it is suitable to introduce source routing messages in private formats to reduce end-to-end forwarding delays. The introduction of INT technology can realize real-time monitoring of network status to achieve load balancing and improve network operation and maintenance efficiency.

In view of the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, a data processing method and related devices. The communication system in the embodiments of the present application is described below.

The present application provides a communication system, which includes: a first device, a forwarding device, a second device and a controller. The first device and the second device are any two service devices in the embodiment shown in FIG1 , and the forwarding device is any switch (backbone switch or leaf switch) in the embodiment shown in FIG1 .

The controller uses the telemetry path planning algorithm to generate an in-band telemetry detection path for the entire network based on the topology information of the entire network. If the network topology does not change, the path planning only needs to be performed once. Whenever an event such as a new node or path failure occurs, the telemetry path planning for the entire network will be retriggered. The controller distributes the planned paths to each server, and the server will generate an INT detection packet with a corresponding source routing label based on each detection path at a certain time interval to complete the path information collection of the entire network. After obtaining the summarized link status of the entire network, the controller synchronizes the information to each server node in the network through the management network.

The service devices run their own control plane processes, which mainly implement two functions:

(1) Forwards the INT detection message sent by the controller to the smart network card, and forwards the INT report sent by the network card to the controller to assist in completing the collection of the entire network status;

(2) After obtaining the whole network status information from the control plane, it selects multiple optimal paths to other hosts in the network through a certain path selection algorithm, and generates a source routing path table and sends it to the smart network card;

At the sending end, the Smart NIC performs path lookup for service messages according to certain rules (such as five-tuple or destination IP) and encapsulates the corresponding source routing label. Since there are multiple available paths to each destination node, the Smart NIC is also responsible for balancing multiple service flows to different paths and ensuring that the forwarding path of the previously established service flow is not affected when the path table is dynamically refreshed.

The forwarding device is responsible for the source routing forwarding and INT information collection of the message. Regardless of whether it is a detection message or a service message, the forwarding device directly forwards the message to the corresponding egress port after parsing the source routing label number in the message without any table lookup operation, which can achieve extremely low forwarding delay. The INT collection unit on the forwarding device determines whether to collect INT information based on whether the message carries the INT collection identifier.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , an embodiment of a communication method in an embodiment of the present application includes:

201. The controller determines a communication path. This step is optional.

Optionally, the controller may determine a communication path for communication between the first device and the second device according to the entire network topology. The entire network topology includes connection relationships between various devices in the network.

Optionally, when the entire network topology changes, that is, when a new point is added or a path failure occurs, the controller may redetermine the communication path.

The communication path in the embodiment of the present application can be one path or multiple paths, which is not specifically limited here.

In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple algorithms for the controller to determine the communication path, which may be a hop-by-hop utilization-aware load balancing architecture (HULA) algorithm or an INT-path algorithm based on a depth-first search (DFS), etc., which are not specifically limited here.

202. The controller sends a communication path to the first device. This step is optional.

Optionally, after determining the communication path, the controller sends the communication path to the first device.

After the controller determines the communication path, the controller can send the planned path to each service device (ie, the first device or the second device) through the management network, and each service device will only receive information about the communication path that it needs to detect.

The communication path information in China in the embodiment of the present application may include an output port, an IP address or a device identifier of a forwarding device on the communication path, etc., which is not specifically limited here.

203. The first device generates a first data packet according to the communication path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first device may obtain the communication path in addition to step 201 and step 202. The first device may also obtain the entire network topology first and determine the communication path according to the entire network topology. The communication path may also be determined by other devices, which is not limited here.

Optionally, the first device may send the first data packet at a certain time interval, and the specific time interval may be adjusted according to the network scale.

Exemplarily, there are multiple forwarding devices on the communication path, and the communication path obtained by the first device is shown in Figure 3. Among them, one communication path is: "first device-first forwarding device-second forwarding device-third forwarding device-fourth forwarding device-fifth forwarding device-second device". Another communication path is: "first device-first forwarding device-second forwarding device-sixth forwarding device-fourth forwarding device-fifth forwarding device-second device". Among them, the first device is connected to the first forwarding device through port 3 of the first forwarding device, port 1 of the first forwarding device is connected to port 3 of the second forwarding device, port 1 of the second forwarding device is connected to port 1 of the third forwarding device, port 2 of the third forwarding device is connected to port 1 of the fourth forwarding device, port 3 of the fourth forwarding device is connected to port 1 of the fifth forwarding device, and the fifth forwarding device is connected to the second device through port 3. Port 2 of the second forwarding device is connected to port 1 of the sixth forwarding device, and port 2 of the sixth forwarding device is connected to port 2 of the fourth forwarding device.

After the first device acquires the communication path, it generates a first data packet according to the communication path. The first data packet includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the forwarding device collects network status parameters.

Optionally, the first data packet further includes an SR label, and the SR label is used for communication between forwarding devices on the communication path, wherein one forwarding device corresponds to one SR label.

This embodiment proposes a fusion message format of source routing (SR) and in-band network telemetry (INT).

As shown in Figure 4. Among them, the first data packet uses Ethernet (ETH) to identify the high-level protocol, and the reserved Ethernet type 0x0700 is used as the SR protocol type in the first data packet; the sr_len field value in SR_OPTION is the total length of SR_OPTION and all SR label fields; SR_1 represents the SR label of the first forwarding device, wherein int_flag is used to indicate whether INT information needs to be collected for the first forwarding device, int_flag is 1 to indicate collection, and 0 to indicate no collection, and the next_port field indicates the egress port number to which the first device needs to forward the first data packet. Rsvd is used to indicate a reserved field, which can be set as needed. SR_N represents the SR label of the Nth forwarding device. The first data packet can also use the reserved Ethernet type 0x0701 as the INT protocol type, immediately following the SR label. The int_type field in INT_OPTION is used to indicate whether it is the first data packet sent by the control plane. int_num is used to record the number of INT information collected.

SR_1 and SR_N in FIG. 4 are SR tags, and the int_flag field is the indication information in the first data packet.

In the INT message format of the P4 Alliance or IOAM standard, INT information exists as an option header of the inner message, and the switch needs to perform deep message parsing to insert INT information, which increases the complexity and forwarding delay of the switch. The private message format proposed in this application can take into account both efficient forwarding based on source routing and real-time collection of network status. It is more suitable for closed data center networks and public cloud scenarios.

It is understandable that the format of the first data packet can be set according to actual needs. FIG. 4 is only an example of the format of the first data packet, and the specific format of the first data packet is not limited here.

The first data packet in the embodiment of the present application may be a detection packet or a service data packet, which is not specifically limited here.

In addition, the first device may generate multiple groups of data packets for multiple communication paths so that the multiple groups of data packets cover the entire network path.

Optionally, the first data packet is a detection data packet or a business data packet, which is not specifically limited here. When the first data packet is a detection data packet, the first device can obtain the network performance (network status parameters or network indicator information) of the communication path through the first data packet, and then determine the target path for business communication.

204. The first device sends a first data packet to the forwarding device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding device is a device such as a switch or a router that can forward data. The number of forwarding devices can be one or more, which is not specifically limited here.

After generating the first data packet, the first device sends the first data packet to the forwarding device.

205. The forwarding device generates a second data packet according to the first data packet.

The forwarding device receives the first data packet from the first device, collects the network status parameters of the forwarding device according to the indication information in the first data packet (eg, the int_flag field in FIG. 3 ), and adds the network status parameters to the first data packet to obtain a second data packet.

Optionally, if the first data packet also includes an SR label, the forwarding device deletes the SR label corresponding to the forwarding device in the first data packet to obtain a second data packet.

Optionally, when the indication information indicates that the forwarding device collects network status parameters (for example, the int_flag field in Figure 4 is 1), the forwarding device collects the network status parameters and deletes the SR label corresponding to the forwarding device, and adds the network status parameters to the first data packet with the SR label deleted to obtain a second data packet.

Optionally, when the indication information indicates that the forwarding device does not collect network status parameters (for example, the int_flag field in FIG. 4 is 0), the forwarding device does not collect network status parameters, deletes the SR label corresponding to the forwarding device in the first data packet, and obtains a second data packet.

In the embodiment of the present application, the network status parameters may be the port number of the quasi-forwarding device, the egress port number of the forwarding device, the ingress port timestamp of the forwarding device, the egress port timestamp of the forwarding device, the queue depth when entering the egress port, the queue depth when leaving the egress port, the total number of bytes of data packets of the egress port of the forwarding device or the total number of bytes of the egress port, etc., which are not limited here.

For ease of understanding, the above example is continued, and the number of forwarding devices on the communication path is 5 as an example for schematic explanation. The number of forwarding devices can be one or more, and is not specifically limited here.

As shown in FIG5 , a communication path is taken as an example for schematic illustration. The number of forwarding devices on the communication path is 5, namely, the first forwarding device, the second forwarding device, the third forwarding device, the fourth forwarding device, and the fifth forwarding device. It is assumed that the int_flag field in FIG4 is 1, that is, the indication information indicates that the 5 forwarding devices collect network status parameters.

After the first device generates the A data packet 500 according to the communication path, the first device sends the A data packet 500 to the first forwarding device. After receiving the A data packet 500, the first forwarding device determines that the network status parameters need to be collected according to the indication information in the A data packet 500. The first forwarding device collects the network status parameters of the first forwarding device to obtain the INT1 information. The first forwarding device deletes the SR label -SR1(1) corresponding to the first forwarding device, and adds the collected INT1 information to obtain the B data packet 501. The first forwarding device can know from SR1(1) that the first forwarding device transfers the B data packet 501 out of port 1. That is, the B data packet 501 is sent to the second forwarding device. The 1 in the bracket of SR1(1) is equivalent to next_port in Figure 4.

After the second forwarding device obtains the B data packet 501, it determines that the network status parameters need to be collected according to the indication information in the B data packet 501. The second forwarding device collects the network status parameters of the second forwarding device to obtain INT2 information, and the second forwarding device deletes the SR label -SR2(1) corresponding to the second forwarding device, and adds the collected INT2 information to obtain the C data packet 502. According to SR2(1), the second forwarding device knows that the second forwarding device forwards the C data packet 502 from port 1. That is, the C data packet 502 is sent to the third forwarding device.

After the third forwarding device obtains the C data packet 502, it determines that the network status parameters need to be collected according to the indication information in the C data packet 502. The third forwarding device collects the network status parameters of the third forwarding device to obtain INT3 information, and the third forwarding device deletes the SR label -SR3(2) corresponding to the third forwarding device, and adds the collected INT3 information to obtain the D data packet 503. According to SR3(2), the third forwarding device knows that the third forwarding device forwards the D data packet 503 from port 2. That is, the D data packet 503 is sent to the fourth forwarding device.

The operation of the fourth forwarding device is similar to that of the other forwarding devices mentioned above, and will not be described in detail here.

After receiving the E data packet 504 sent by the fourth forwarding device, the fifth forwarding device determines that the network status parameters need to be collected according to the indication information in the E data packet 504. The fifth forwarding device collects the network status parameters of the fifth forwarding device to obtain INT5 information, and the fifth forwarding device deletes the SR label -SR5(3) corresponding to the fifth forwarding device, and adds the collected INT5 information to obtain the F data packet 505. According to SR5(3), the fifth forwarding device knows that the fifth forwarding device forwards the F data packet 505 from port 3. That is, the F data packet 505 is sent to the second device.

Optionally, the fifth forwarding device is the last-hop forwarding device. The fifth forwarding device may resolve that all SR labels are exhausted, and further strip the Ethernet type field and the SR label header that identify the SR.

The number of forwarding devices in the communication path shown in FIG. 5 and the specific communication path are only examples and are not specifically limited here.

Based on the above description, the forwarding device directly uses the next_port value in the first SR label as the outgoing port number, so there is no need to do any routing table or label lookup, achieving extremely low forwarding delay, and the used SR label will be deleted to prevent it from being reused. At the same time, the int_flag field in the SR is used to decide whether to add INT information to the first data packet.

Optionally, the INT information is arranged in a stack (ie, the INT information that arrives first is arranged at the end).

The optional format of the network status parameter (ie, INT information) in the embodiment of the present application is shown in Table 1:

Table 1

INT information field name Length (bits) meaning sw_id 16 Switch ID ingress_port 16 Inbound port number egress_port 16 Outgoing port number ingress_global_timestamp 48 Inbound port timestamp egress_global_timestamp 48 Outgoing port timestamp enq_qdepth twenty four The queue depth when entering the egress port deq_qdepth twenty four The queue depth when leaving the egress port egress_packet_count 32 Total number of outbound port data packets egress_byte_count 32 Total number of bytes outgoing from the port

The INT information field name, the length of the INT information field, and the meaning of the INT information shown in Table 1 are only examples and are not specifically limited here.

Optionally, for the subsequent calculation of network indicator information, the forwarding device may record the total number of bytes accumulated passing through each port and the timestamp.

The first device in the embodiment of the present application can be a transmitting end or a receiving end, which is not limited here. When the first device is a receiving end, the first device can also receive a third data packet sent by a third device, and the third data packet is used to collect network status parameters of a forwarding device on the communication path between the first device and the third device, and the third data packet is also used to determine a target path in the communication path between the first device and the third device.

206. The forwarding device sends a second data packet to the second device.

After generating the second data packet, the forwarding device sends the second data packet to the second device according to the SR label.

Exemplarily, continuing the above example, after the fifth forwarding device obtains the F data packet 505, the fifth forwarding device knows according to SR5(3) that the fifth forwarding device forwards the F data packet 505 out of port 3, that is, sends the F data packet 505 to the second device.

207. The second device generates a detection report according to the second data packet.

There are many situations of detection reports in the detection reports in the embodiments of the present application, which are described below respectively:

1. The detection report includes network status parameters.

After receiving the second data packet sent by the forwarding device, the second device packages the network status parameters in the second data packet to generate a detection report.

Exemplarily, continuing with the above example, the second device packages the INT1 information, INT2 information, INT3 information, INT4 information and INT5 information to generate a detection report.

2. The detection report includes network indicator information.

The network indicator information in the embodiment of the present application may be an average bandwidth value, transmission delay or bit error rate of a forwarding device, etc., which is not specifically limited here.

After the second device receives the second data packet sent by the forwarding device, it calculates the network indicator information according to the network status parameters in the second data packet.

Exemplarily, the second device obtains the inbound port timestamp and the outbound port timestamp of the forwarding device from the second data packet, calculates the difference between the two, and obtains the transmission delay of the forwarding device.

Exemplarily, the second device obtains the current value of the total number of bytes of the forwarding device outbound port and the current value of the outbound port timestamp from the second data packet. The second device can receive the historical value of the total number of bytes and the historical value of the outbound port timestamp sent by the forwarding device. And use the following formula to calculate the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device:

If there are multiple forwarding devices, the maximum value of the average bandwidth values of the multiple forwarding devices can be determined as the link bandwidth value; if there is only one forwarding device, the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device can be determined as the link bandwidth value. It can be understood that if there are multiple forwarding devices, any one of the average bandwidth values of the multiple forwarding devices can also be determined as the link bandwidth value, which is not limited here.

Optionally, after calculating the average bandwidth value, the average link utilization may be obtained by dividing it by the full bandwidth.

If the first data packet is the first data packet transmitted, the historical value in the above formula defaults to 0; if the first data packet is the Nth data packet transmitted, the first device records the total number of bytes of each data packet transmitted and the outbound port timestamp. The advantage of using the difference between the current value and the historical value to calculate the bandwidth value is that when a data packet is lost, the information of the next data packet can still accurately reflect the average link utilization during this period, but the statistical interval increases, but the statistical information will not be lost.

There are many situations of detection reports in the detection reports in the embodiments of the present application. The above two situations are just examples and are not limited to them here.

208. The second device sends a detection report to the controller.

After generating the detection report, the second device sends the detection report to the controller.

209. The controller determines network indicator information according to the detection report. This step is optional.

In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple ways for the controller to determine the network indicator information according to the detection report, which are described below respectively:

1. When the detection report includes network status parameters, the controller obtains network indicator information by calculating the network status parameters. The calculation method is similar to the method in which the forwarding device calculates the network indicator information in step 207, and is not limited here.

2. When the detection report includes network indicator information, the controller determines the network indicator information by receiving the detection report sent by the second device.

In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple ways for the controller to determine network indicator information based on the detection report. The above two ways are just examples and are not specifically limited here.

After the controller determines the network indicator information, the network indicator information may be stored in a database of the controller.

Exemplarily, when the network indicator information is an average bandwidth value, the controller may record the network status parameters and the network indicator information in an average bandwidth value table, as shown in Table 2:

Table 2

Switch ID Port Number Total bytes historical value Outbound port timestamp history value Average bandwidth

Among them, the content recorded in Table 2 is just an example, and the recorded content is set according to actual needs and is not specifically limited here.

210. The controller sends network indicator information to the first device.

After determining the network indicator information, the controller sends the network indicator information to the first device.

Optionally, a master-slave replication relationship is established between the database of the first device and the database of the controller. After the network indicator information is updated in the database of the controller, it can be updated in real time to the database of the first device to achieve data synchronization.

211. The first device determines a target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

After the first device receives the network indicator information sent by the controller, the first device may determine a target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

After the first device obtains network indicator information of multiple paths, it determines the target path.

For example, communication path A passes through three forwarding devices, the average bandwidth value of the first forwarding device is 20Gbit/s, the average bandwidth value of the second forwarding device is 40Gbit/s, and the average bandwidth value of the third forwarding device is 30Gbit/s. Then the first device determines that the link bandwidth value of communication path A is 40Gbit/s. Similarly, the link bandwidth value of communication path B is 10Gbit/s, then the first device determines the communication path with the smaller link bandwidth value as the target path, that is, the first device determines communication path B as the target path.

For example, communication path A passes through three forwarding devices, the transmission delay of the first forwarding device is 3-10 microseconds, the transmission delay of the second forwarding device is 0.03s, and the transmission delay of the third forwarding device is 0.04s. The first device determines that the transmission delay of communication path A is 0.09s. Similarly, the transmission delay of communication path B is 0.11ms, then the first device determines that the communication path with less transmission delay is the target path, that is, the first device determines that communication path A is the target path.

In addition, when the network scale is large, the number of communication paths may be dozens or hundreds, etc. The first device can determine the target path by selecting the optimal TopK paths.

For data center networks, this application also provides several ways to reduce computation.

1. When calculating the paths of all service devices under the leaf switch, the optional paths on the backbone switch (switches above the leaf) are the same, so there is no need to calculate each service device as the end point, and only the leaf switch needs to be selected as the end point. In other words, the selection of the end point is optimized.

2. When the service device calculates the path to each leaf switch, there is no dependency between each round of calculation, so parallel computing can be used, such as introducing multi-threading or multi-node parallel computing, by dividing the destination leaf switches into multiple groups, each group as a thread or path calculation node input for independent calculation. That is, each service device calculates a part of the network indicator information.

3. All service devices under each leaf switch have the same available paths to other leaf switches, so only one service device is needed to complete the calculation. Combined with the above point 2, the calculation tasks grouped according to the destination leaf switch can be assigned to multiple service devices under the current leaf switch for parallel calculation, which is to optimize the selection of the starting point.

Exemplarily, the data center network includes 30 backbone switches and 30 leaf switches. Each backbone switch is connected to 30 service devices downstream, with a total of 900 nodes. There are 30 paths between every two service devices across the backbone switches. Assuming K is 16, each service device node needs to calculate approximately 870 30-choose-16 calculations to other nodes. After adopting the above method of reducing calculations, each service device only needs to calculate one 30-choose-16 calculation to a certain destination backbone switch.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first device can generate a first data packet according to the communication path, and the first data packet can include a source routing SR label and indication information, the SR label is used for communication between forwarding devices on the communication path, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the forwarding device collects network status parameters; the first device sends the first data packet to the forwarding device. This allows the forwarding device to know whether to collect network status parameters, which is beneficial for the first device to subsequently determine the target path with better network performance in the communication path.

Corresponding to the method provided in the above method embodiment, the present application embodiment also provides a corresponding device, including a module for executing the corresponding module of the above embodiment. The module can be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is an embodiment of a first device in an embodiment of the present application. The first device 600 includes:

A receiving unit 601 is used to obtain a communication path, where the communication path is used for communication between a first device and a second device;

A processing unit 602 is used to generate a first data packet according to the communication path, where the first data packet includes instruction information, and the instruction information is used to instruct a forwarding device on the communication path to collect network status parameters;

The sending unit 603 is configured to send a first data packet to the forwarding device, where the first data packet is used to determine a target path in the communication path.

In a possible design, the receiving unit 601 is further used to obtain network indicator information, where the network indicator information is obtained by processing the network status parameters;

The processing unit 602 is further configured to determine a target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

The sending unit 603 is further configured to send a service data packet to the second device using the target path, where the service data packet is used to transmit service information between the first device and the second device.

In this embodiment, the operations performed by each unit in the first device are similar to those described in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the processing unit 602 generates a first data packet according to the communication path, and instructs the forwarding device on the communication path to collect network status parameters through the indication information, so that the first data packet can be used to determine the target path. That is, the communication path for the first device to communicate with the second device can be determined by the network performance, further improving the quality and efficiency of the communication between the first device and the second device.

Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is an embodiment of a forwarding device in an embodiment of the present application. The forwarding device 700 includes:

A receiving unit 701 is used to receive a first data packet from a first device, and the first data packet indication information is used to instruct a forwarding device to collect network status parameters, and the network status parameters are related to the forwarding device;

The processing unit 702 is used to collect network status parameters according to the indication information to obtain a second data packet;

The sending unit 703 is configured to send a second data packet to the second device.

In one possible design, the first data packet further includes a source routing SR label, the SR label corresponds to the forwarding device, and the SR label is used for communication of the forwarding device;

In one possible design, the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to collect network status parameters, and add the network status parameters to the first data packet from which the SR tag is deleted to obtain a second data packet;

In one possible design, the sending unit 703 is specifically configured to send a second data packet to a second device according to the SR label.

In this embodiment, the operations performed by each unit in the forwarding device are similar to those described in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the processing unit 702 collects network status parameters according to the indication information in the first data packet to obtain a second data packet. The sending unit 703 sends the second data packet to the second device so that the second device learns the network status parameters of the forwarding device.

Please refer to FIG8 , which is an embodiment of a controller in an embodiment of the present application. The controller 800 includes:

The processing unit 801 is configured to determine a communication path, where the communication path is used for the first device to communicate with the second device;

A sending unit 802, configured to send a communication path to a first device;

The receiving unit 803 is used to receive a detection report sent by the second device, where the detection report is related to a network status parameter, the network status parameter is related to a forwarding device on the communication path, and the detection report is also used to determine a target path in the communication path.

In one possible design, the processing unit 801 is also used to calculate network indicator information; the sending unit 802 is also used to send the network indicator information to the first device, so that the first device determines the target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information.

In one possible design, the processing unit 801 is specifically used to calculate the transmission delay of the forwarding device, where the transmission delay is the difference between the input port timestamp and the output port timestamp.

In one possible design, the processing unit 801 is specifically used to calculate the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device.

In one possible design, the processing unit 801 is specifically configured to calculate the average bandwidth value of the forwarding device in the following manner:

Among them, the current value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the first data packet, the historical value of the total number of bytes includes the byte value of the last data packet or 0, the current value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the first data packet leaves the port, and the historical value of the port outbound timestamp includes the timestamp when the last data packet leaves the port or 0.

In one possible design, the processing unit 801 is further configured to determine a target path in the communication path according to the network indicator information;

In one possible design, the sending unit 802 is also used to send the target path to the first device.

In this embodiment, the operations performed by each unit in the controller are similar to those described in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the sending unit 802 sends the communication path to the first device, that is, sends the communication path that needs to measure the network status parameter to the first device, reducing the memory consumption caused by the first device calculating the communication path. The receiving unit 803 receives the detection report so that a suitable target path can be determined according to the detection report.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the structure of the first device of the present application may be as shown in Figure 9. The first device 900 includes a host and a smart network card.

The host and the smart network card communicate through a control channel, which is used to send the source routing path table and send and receive INT detection packets. The control channel can be in the form of a physical function (PF) channel or a virtual function (VF) channel of a high-speed serial computer expansion bus (peripheral component interconnect express, PCIe), or other dedicated interfaces. After the host completes the Top K routing, it sends the path table to the smart network card and stores it in the path table. Depending on the running business, the network card will also maintain a business forwarding table or flow table. In addition to maintaining the status information of the specific flow, the flow table also reserves a source routing space for storing the source routing forwarding label of the current flow.

Business forwarding includes sending (TX) and receiving (RX). When a business message needs to be sent, the network card will check the source routing space in the flow table after searching the flow table. This space of the newly created flow is invalid. It is necessary to further query the source routing path table to obtain the corresponding label and store it in the source routing space in the flow table. The subsequent messages of the flow can directly obtain the source routing label from the flow table without a second table query, which improves efficiency. In addition, the path table can be refreshed independently at any time, and the source routing space in the flow table is not affected, which can ensure that the path of the existing business flow is always consistent. This offloading method decouples the source routing control plane and the business plane, and only associates them through the network card configuration. Users and business software are not aware of the existence of the source routing selection mechanism. If you need to turn off source routing forwarding, you only need to turn off the enable configuration, and the network card will no longer perform source routing lookup and encapsulation.

Since the source routing path table only needs to be queried once when a new flow is created, the table lookup performance requirements are not high. In the unloading framework of the present invention, only part of the path table is cached on the network card, and the full path table is stored in the memory of the host control plane, which can greatly reduce the demand for network card resources. K equivalent paths to the same destination node are grouped together in the path table. Whenever a new flow is established, the intelligent network card selects a new path by polling routing, thereby achieving load balancing between the K paths. For business models with obvious elephant flows and mouse flows, weights can be considered when selecting routing balance. Through the routing balance of the K paths by the network card and the real-time refresh of the Top K paths in cooperation with the control plane, the existing congested paths are actively avoided, thereby achieving effective load balancing of the entire network.

After parsing the source routing label number in the data packet, the forwarding device directly forwards the data packet to the corresponding outbound port without any table lookup operation, which can achieve extremely low forwarding delay. This forwarding method also greatly reduces the complexity of the forwarding logic of the forwarding device, and there is no need to distinguish between switches at the edge and center of the network in configuration management.

Please refer to Figure 10, which is a possible schematic diagram of the communication device 1000 involved in the above-mentioned embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device can specifically be the first device, forwarding device, controller or second device in the aforementioned embodiments. The communication device 1000 may include but is not limited to a processor 1001, a communication port 1002, a memory 1003, and a bus 1004. In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 1001 is used to control and process the actions of the communication device 1000.

In addition, the processor 1001 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements a computing function, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and the like. Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the communication device shown in Figure 10 can be specifically used to implement the functions of the steps performed by the first device, forwarding device, controller or second device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5, and to achieve the technical effects corresponding to the first device, forwarding device, controller or second device. The specific implementation method of the communication device shown in Figure 10 can refer to the description in the various method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5, and will not be repeated here one by one.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes a method as described in a possible implementation method of the first device in the aforementioned embodiment, wherein the first device can specifically be the first device in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes a method as described in the possible implementation method of the forwarding device in the aforementioned embodiment, wherein the forwarding device can specifically be the forwarding device in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes a method as described in a possible implementation method of the controller in the aforementioned embodiment, wherein the controller can specifically be the controller in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product storing one or more computers. When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation mode of the above-mentioned first device, wherein the first device can specifically be the first device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product storing one or more computers. When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation of the above-mentioned forwarding device, wherein the forwarding device can specifically be the forwarding device in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product storing one or more computers. When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation of the above-mentioned controller, wherein the controller can specifically be the controller in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product storing one or more computers. When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation mode of the above-mentioned second device, wherein the second device can specifically be the second device in the method embodiments corresponding to the aforementioned Figures 2 to 5.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a first device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation of the first device. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the first device. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, wherein the first device may specifically be the first device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a forwarding device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation of the forwarding device. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data for the forwarding device. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, wherein the forwarding device may specifically be the forwarding device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting the controller to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation of the above controller. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the controller. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices, wherein the controller can specifically be the controller in the method embodiment corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a second device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation of the second device. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data for the second device. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, wherein the second device may specifically be the second device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a network system architecture, which includes the above-mentioned communication device, and the communication device can specifically be the first device, and/or forwarding device, and/or controller and/or second device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2 to 5 above.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

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

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application 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-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims (14)

1. A service device, characterized in that the service device includes a host and an intelligent network card, and the host communicates with the intelligent network card through a control channel, wherein: The host is used to select multiple paths, generate a routing path table, and send it to the smart network card; The smart network card is used to perform path search for multiple service messages based on the routing path table according to preset rules, and balance the multiple service messages to different paths. 2. The service device according to claim 1, characterized in that the smart network card is used to perform path search for multiple service messages based on the routing path table according to preset rules, and search the multiple service messages according to preset rules. The text is balanced into different paths, including: The smart network card is used for: Search the flow table according to each service packet in the multiple service packets. If there is no path corresponding to the service packet in the flow table, Load the path corresponding to the service message in the routing path table into the flow table; Perform path search according to the preset rules, and determine the current path from the multiple paths, wherein the current path corresponding to each service message is different, or the current paths of some service messages in the multiple service messages are different. ; Balance multiple service packets to the corresponding different paths. 3. The service device according to claim 1, characterized in that the smart network card is used to perform path search for multiple service messages based on the routing path table according to preset rules, and search the multiple service messages according to preset rules. The text is balanced into different paths, including: The smart network card is used for: Search the flow table according to each service packet in the multiple service packets to obtain multiple paths corresponding to the service packets in the flow table, where the multiple paths are the route from the smart network card to the routing table. The path table is loaded into the flow table; path search is performed according to the preset rules, and the current path is determined from the multiple paths, where the current path corresponding to each service message is different, or multiple service messages The current paths of some service packets in are different; Balance multiple service packets to the corresponding different paths. 4. The service device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the smart network card is used to perform path search according to the preset rules, and determining the current path from the multiple paths includes: The smart network card is used to select one of the multiple paths as the current path through polling routing; Alternatively, the smart network card is configured to determine one of the multiple paths as the current path based on the weights of the multiple paths. 5. The service device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the smart network card is also used to encapsulate the path corresponding to the service message in each service message. The above service packet is sent to the router. 6. The service device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the plurality of paths are paths between the service device and the destination device with path delays less than or equal to a first preset threshold. path; or The multiple paths are paths with a bandwidth greater than or equal to the second preset threshold among the multiple paths between the service device and the destination device. 7. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to service equipment. The service equipment includes a host and an intelligent network card. The host communicates with the intelligent network card through a control channel. The method includes: The host selects multiple paths, generates a routing path table, and sends it to the smart network card; Based on the routing path table, the smart network card performs path search for multiple service messages according to preset rules, and balances the multiple service messages to different paths. 8. The communication method according to claim 7, characterized in that, based on the routing path table, the smart network card performs path search for multiple service messages according to preset rules, and balances the multiple service messages to Different paths include: The smart network card searches the flow table according to each service packet in the plurality of service packets. If there is no path corresponding to the service packet in the flow table, Load the path corresponding to the service message in the routing path table into the flow table; Perform path search according to the preset rules, and determine the current path from the multiple paths, wherein the current path corresponding to each service message is different, or the current paths of some service messages in the multiple service messages are different. ; Balance multiple service packets to the corresponding different paths. 9. The communication method according to claim 7, characterized in that, based on the routing path table, the smart network card performs path search for multiple service messages according to preset rules, and balances the multiple service messages to Different paths include: The smart network card searches the flow table according to each service message in the multiple service messages, and obtains multiple paths corresponding to the service messages in the flow table, where the multiple paths are the paths of the smart network card. Load from the routing path table to the flow table; Perform path search according to the preset rules, and determine the current path from the multiple paths, wherein the current path corresponding to each service message is different, or the current paths of some service messages in the multiple service messages are different. ; Balance multiple service packets to the corresponding different paths. 10. The communication method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the path search according to the preset rules and determining the current path from the multiple paths includes: Select one of the multiple paths as the current path through polling routing; Alternatively, one of the multiple paths is determined as the current path based on the weights of the multiple paths. 11. The communication method according to any one of claims 7-10, characterized in that the communication method further includes: the intelligent network card encapsulates the path corresponding to the service message in each service message. , sending the service packet to the router. 12. The communication method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that the plurality of paths are paths between the service device and the destination device with path delays less than or equal to the first preset value. path to the threshold; or The multiple paths are paths with a bandwidth greater than or equal to the second preset threshold among the multiple paths between the service device and the destination device. 13. A data packet, characterized in that the data packet includes a source routing SR label, indication information and an egress port number. The SR label is used to represent communication between forwarding devices on the communication path. The indication information is To indicate whether the forwarding device collects network status parameters, the egress port number indicates the egress port number to which the data packet is forwarded. 14. The data packet according to claim 13, wherein the egress port number is the egress port number forwarded by the first device to the forwarding device; Alternatively, the egress port number is the egress port number forwarded by the forwarding device to the next hop forwarding device.