JP2003273903A - PACKET SWITCHING DEVICE AND PACKET ROUTING DISTRIBUTION METHOD IN IPoverATM - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a packet switching device for performing load distribution and risk distribution and a packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM. <P>SOLUTION: The packet switching device 1 accepts a call connection request from a portable terminal. A monitoring control part 11 selects a call control part from a used band condition of an IP address and load conditions of call control parts 13 to 16. The selected call control part performs encapsulation by defining the IP address held by itself as a transmitting origin address and defining a packet GW address determined based on routing information as a transmitting destination address and routes a packet from the portable terminal to the packet GW device via an ATM router. The packet GW device releases the encapsulation to the received packet and routes the packet to an ISP (Internet service provider) specified from a user. The ISP receives the packet from the portable terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a packet switching device and a packet routing distribution method in IP over ATM, and more particularly to a packet switching device and an IP device for carrying out load distribution and risk distribution by having a plurality of IP addresses.
A packet routing distribution method for overATM.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional ATM (Asynchronous Transfer M)
In load distribution of IP (Internet Protocol) packet routing using ode), processing is distributed to a plurality of routing processors to make ATM path routes plural. The route is generally determined from the IP address of the transfer destination.

IMT-2000 (International Mobile
Telecommunications 2000) In packet routing in a packet communication network, a packet G passes through a packet switching device according to a connection point requested by a user.
Since the W (gateway) device is determined, its route depends on the IP network between the devices.

For example, in the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 4, there is one route from the packet switching device 6 to the IP network 3, and the load distribution is performed only for the routing processing in the packet switching device 6. , The packet switched by the ATM switch 62 is always transferred to the ATM router 21.

When a failure occurs in the call control unit 63 and the call control unit 64 in the packet switching device 6, the supervisory control unit 61 selects the call control unit 65 so that only the call control unit 65 is loaded. This is what happens.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional technique has the following problems.

That is, when there is only one route from the packet switching device to the IP network as shown in FIG. 4, load distribution is performed for the routing processing in the packet switching device, but in the ATM router. It means that the load does not change.

Further, when a failure occurs in the call control unit in the packet switching apparatus, the load is applied only to the remaining call control units, so that risk distribution is sufficient considering the increase in burst traffic peculiar to packet communication. That is not the case.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
(EN) A packet switching device and a packet routing distribution method in IP over ATM for load distribution and risk distribution by performing IP packet routing by having a plurality of IP addresses.

[0010]

A packet switching device according to the first invention of the present application is an IPov in an IMT-2000 packet communication network.
A packet switching device for performing packet routing in erATM, which monitors the processing load status of the call control unit and selects a call control unit that processes packets so that the processing load becomes even, and a monitoring control unit that is set by itself. A plurality of call control units that perform packet encapsulation processing based on the IP address and the routing information that is held, and an ATM switch that switches the encapsulated packets and has an interface with an ATM network.

In the packet switching device according to the second invention of the present application, in the first invention, the monitoring control unit monitors the failure status of the plurality of call control units and excludes the call control unit that has detected the failure. Is characterized by.

A packet switching device according to a third invention of the present application is characterized in that, in the first invention, the same IP address is set to an arbitrary number of call control units among the plurality of call control units.

In the packet switching device according to the fourth invention of the present application, in the first, second or third invention, the monitor control unit is an IP address having a small used band among the IP addresses set in the plurality of call control units. It is characterized in that the call control unit related to the address is selected.

A packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM of the fifth invention of the present application is a packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM in an IMT-2000 packet communication network provided with a packet switching apparatus having a plurality of IP addresses. Accepts a call connection request from the mobile terminal, and the monitoring control unit of the packet switching device checks the available local IP address according to the call connection request from the mobile terminal so that the bandwidths of the IP addresses are equalized. , An IP address with a small bandwidth is selected, a call control unit with the lowest load is selected from the call control units to which the selected IP address is set, and the selected call control unit is set as described above. IP address of the packet GW device that is determined based on the source IP address and the routing information Was subjected to a destination address, and then encapsulated, ATM switch the ATM corresponding packets processed the call control unit to the transmission source address
Route to the packet GW device via the router,
The packet GW device decapsulates the received packet and routes the packet to a destination designated by the user.

In the packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM of the sixth invention of the present application, in the fifth invention, the monitor control unit monitors the failure status of the call control unit, and excludes the call control unit having the failure. It is characterized by

A packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the packet control method according to the sixth aspect, wherein the supervisory control unit is used when the bandwidth used by the IP address is all in use or when all call control units related to the IP address are If there is a failure, the call control unit associated with another IP address is selected.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The packet routing distribution method in IPoverATM is
The packet switching device using ATM in the IMT-2000 packet communication network is provided with a plurality of IP addresses, so that not only the routing by the destination IP address but also the routing by the source IP address is performed. As a result, in addition to load distribution by the conventional routing processor, load distribution and risk distribution control can be performed in IP address units, so that it is possible to improve load distribution efficiency and reduce packet loss in the packet switching device.

The configuration of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the embodiment of the present invention comprises a packet switching device 1 and an ATM network 2.
, ATM router 21, ATM router 22, IP network 3, packet GW device 41, packet GW device 42, and ISP (Internet Service Provider)
51, ISP52, ISP53, ISP54,
Is equipped with.

The IMT-2000 packet communication network is roughly divided into a user terminal (portable terminal, etc.), a wireless device for transmitting / receiving information to / from the user terminal, and a core network device. The core network device is positioned as a wired switching device, and is a device that transfers information from the wireless device to the ISP side through the IP network. In FIG. 1, the packet switching device 1 and the packet GW devices 41 to 41
42 is a core network device. Note that, in FIG. 1, the user terminal (mobile terminal or the like) and the wireless device are not shown.

The packet switching device 1 includes a monitor control unit 11
The ATM switch 12, the call control unit 13, the call control unit 14, the call control unit 15, and the call control unit 16 are included, and a packet from a mobile terminal (not shown) or a packet from the ISP is received. Forward.

The monitor control unit 11 periodically monitors the processing load status of the call control units 13 to 16 and selects a call control unit to process at the time of packet transfer so that the processing loads are even.
Also, the failure status of the call control units 13 to 16 is monitored, and when a failure is detected, the call control unit that is disabled due to the failure is excluded from the selection target, and another normal call control unit is selected as the selection target.

The ATM switch 12 is built in the packet switching apparatus 1 and switches packets. The paths from the call control units 13 to 16 to the ATM routers 21 to 22 are
The system administrator etc. shall set the connection in advance. That is, PVC (Permanent Virtual Conne
ction) is connected.

A plurality of call control units are mounted, and their own IP addresses are registered in each. The IP addresses registered in the call control units may be different IP addresses in each call control unit, or an arbitrary number of call control units may be grouped into one group, and the call control units belonging to the group may have the same I address.
It may be a P address. In this example, the call control units 13-1
6 are mounted, the call control units 13 to 14 have an IP address-A, the call control units 15 to 16 have an IP address-B,
Is registered as an IP address. Call control unit 13-
16 holds the routing information of the user packet,
Packet encapsulation is performed, and packet GW devices 41 to
The packet routing to 42 is performed. At this time, the IP address registered in the call control units 13 to 16 is set in the packet as the source IP address. Also, the process of decapsulating the packet transmitted from the ISP to the user is performed.

ATM network The network 2 is a network using ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), and the packet switching device 1 and ATM routers 21 to 22 are connected to each other.

The ATM routers 21 to 22 are general-purpose ATs.
The M router connects the ATM network and the IP network. ATM by source IP address (IP address registered in processed call control unit)
The routing to the router is decided. In this example, if the source IP address is IP address-A, the packet is routed to the packet GW device via the ATM router 21, and if the source IP address is IP address-B, A
It goes through the TM router 22.

IP network The network 3 is a network that communicates by the Internet protocol. I
The P network network 3 is a private (in-company) network that cannot be connected from the outside, and the ATM routers 21 to 21 and the packet GW devices 41 to 42 are connected to each other. The IP network 3 is usually IMT-2000.
Installed by operators such as mobile phone networks.

The packet GW devices 41 to 42 are devices having an interface to the connection destination ISPs 51 to 54 that can be designated by the user, and perform IP-based tunneling with the packet switching device 1. The packet GW devices 41 to 42 decapsulate the user packet routed from the packet switching device 1 and route the packet to the ISP designated by the user. Further, the packet from the ISP is routed to the packet switching device 1 designated in advance for routing to the user. At this time, encapsulation processing is performed.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of the monitor control unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 2, the operation of the supervisory control unit will be described.

The monitor control unit 11 checks whether or not there is a usable IP address of its own station in response to a call connection request from the user (step 301) (step 302). The fact that the IP address can be used means that all or one of the call control units associated with the own station IP address is operating normally, and the band of the own station IP address is not in use.

If all the IP addresses of the own station are unavailable, the call connection request from the user is rejected (step 303).

When there is an available local IP address,
If there are a plurality of IP addresses (two in this example), an IP address with a small used band is selected so that the used bands are equal (step 304).

IP address-A is IP address-B
If the used bandwidth is smaller than that, the call control unit 13 or the call control unit 14 is selected (step 305). If the load of the call control unit 13 is lower than that of the call control unit 14, the call control unit 13 is selected ( If the load of the call controller 14 is lower than that of the call controller 13 (step 307), the call controller 14 is selected (step 308).

IP address-B is more IP address-A
If the used bandwidth is smaller than that, the call controller 15 or the call controller 16 is selected (step 306). If the load of the call controller 15 is lower than that of the call controller 16, the call controller 15 is selected ( If the load of the call controller 16 is lower than that of the call controller 15 (step 309), the call controller 16 is selected (step 310).

Thereafter, as call control for this user,
The call control unit selected in steps 307 to 310 is used until the call is disconnected.

Next, the overall operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, it is assumed that the user transmits a packet from the mobile terminal (not shown) to the ISP 51. At this time, it is assumed that the IP address-A uses a smaller bandwidth than the IP address-B and the load of the call control unit 13 is lower than that of the call control unit 14.

The packet switching device 1 receives a call connection request from the mobile terminal.

The monitoring control unit 11 uses an IP with a small used band.
Address-A is selected, and the call control unit 13 with a low load is selected.

The call control unit 13 performs encapsulation using the IP address-A as the transmission source address and the IP address of the packet GW apparatus 41 determined based on the routing information as the transmission destination address, and transmits the packet from the portable terminal. The packet is routed to the packet GW device 41 via the ATM router 21.

The packet GW device 41 decapsulates the received packet and sends the I packet specified by the user.
Route to SP51.

The ISP 51 receives the packet from the portable terminal.

Next, the operation in which the supervisory control unit 11 selects a call control unit when a failure occurs in the call control unit will be described.

For example, if the IP address-A has a smaller bandwidth than the IP address-B and the call controller 13 has a smaller load than the call controller 14, for example, a failure occurs in the call controller 13. In this case, the monitor control unit 11 selects the call control unit 14 with the next lightest load. For example, when a failure occurs in the call control unit 14, the monitor control unit 11 selects the call control unit 13. For example, the call control unit 13 and the call control unit 1
4 has a failure, there is no normal call control unit related to IP address-A, so the monitoring control unit 11 allocates the IP address-B, and the call control unit 15 or the call control unit 1 is assigned.
6 is selected.

As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of IP addresses are set in the packet switching device 1 and the source IP address is set.
By performing the routing by the address, it is possible to efficiently distribute the load to the ATM router.

Further, since the load can be distributed on an IP address basis, packet routing can be continued with the IP addresses set in the call control units 15 and 16 even if the call control units 13 and 14 become faulty. Is possible.
In addition, IP can be added when equipment is added due to increased traffic.
This can be dealt with by adding a call control unit in the packet switching device without increasing the number of nodes as devices.

Next, regarding another embodiment of the present invention,
explain.

The other embodiment of the present invention has the same basic configuration as the above-described embodiment, but further devises the routing between devices.

That is, the packet GW apparatus is provided with a plurality of IP addresses as in the packet switching apparatus.

In addition to the functions of the packet GW devices 41 to 42 in the above-described embodiment, the packet GW device holds a plurality of IP addresses and periodically notifies the packet switching device of available IP addresses. Have.

The packet switching device has the functions of the packet switching device 1 in addition to the functions of the packet switching device 1 in the above-described embodiment.
It has a function of periodically receiving notification of an IP address that can be used from the W device, and determining whether or not the call control unit may select the packet GW device according to the connection point requested by the user before routing. .

As described above, in the present embodiment, the effect that the load of the IP network can be suppressed without transmitting unnecessary packets by knowing the IP address that the partner node can use, Risk distribution and load distribution are possible.

[0053]

The first effect is that the packet routing can be continued when the call control unit fails.

The reason is that a plurality of I
This is because there is provided means for setting the P address, performing load distribution in IP address units, and performing packet routing with another IP address when the call control unit fails for a certain IP address.

The second effect is that when traffic increases, I
That is, the processing load can be dispersed by adding a call control unit without increasing the number of P nodes as devices.

The reason is that the plurality of call control units in the packet switching apparatus are provided with means for distributing the processing load.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of a monitor control unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Packet switching device 2 ATM network 3 IP network 6 Packet switching equipment 11 Monitoring control unit 12 ATM switch 13 Call control unit 14 Call control unit 15 Call control unit 16 Call control unit 21 ATM router 22 ATM router 41 Packet GW device 42 Packet GW device 51 ISP 52 ISP 53 ISP 54 ISP 61 Monitoring control unit 62 ATM switch 63 Call control unit 64 call control unit 65 Call control unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. IPov in an IMT-2000 packet communication network
A packet switching device for performing packet routing in erATM, which monitors the processing load status of the call control unit and selects a call control unit that processes packets so that the processing load becomes even, and a monitoring control unit that is set by itself. A packet switching device comprising: a plurality of call control units that perform packet encapsulation based on stored IP address and routing information that is held; and an ATM switch that switches the encapsulated packets and has an interface with an ATM network. 2. The packet switching device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring control unit monitors the failure status of the plurality of call control units and excludes the call control units that have detected the failure from the selection targets. 3. The packet switching device according to claim 1, wherein the same IP address is set to an arbitrary number of call control units among the plurality of call control units. 4. The monitor control unit is an IP address set in the plurality of call control units, which uses less bandwidth I.
4. The packet switching device according to claim 1, wherein the call control unit associated with the P address is selected. 5. An IP in an IMT-2000 packet communication network provided with a packet switching device having a plurality of IP addresses.
A packet routing distribution method in overATM, wherein a packet switching device accepts a call connection request from a mobile terminal, and a supervisory control unit of the packet switching device checks a usable local IP address according to the call connection request from the mobile terminal. Then, select an IP address with a low bandwidth so that the bandwidths of the IP addresses are even, and select the call controller with the lowest load from the call controllers with the selected IP address. Then, the selected call control unit performs encapsulation using the set IP address as the source address and the IP address of the packet GW device determined based on the routing information as the destination address. The packet processed by the call control unit is sent to the packet GW device via the ATM router corresponding to the source address. A packet routing distribution method in IP over ATM, characterized in that the packet GW device performs routing, decapsulates the received packet, and routes the packet to a destination specified by the user. 6. The packet routing in IPoverATM according to claim 5, wherein the monitor control unit monitors a failure status of the call control unit and excludes the call control unit in failure from the selection target. Dispersion method. 7. The monitor control unit, when the bandwidth used by an IP address is all in use or when all the call control units related to an IP address are in failure, calls the call control units related to other IP addresses. 7. The packet routing distribution method for IP over ATM according to claim 6, wherein the packet routing distribution method is selected.