JPH11163839A - Health check system and health check method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a health check system and a health check method by which higher reliability than that of a conventional health check method and a network traffic is relieved in the case of the health check applied by an NMS to an NE. SOLUTION: In the case that a packet other than a health check is sent from a non-health check packet generator 21 toward an NMS, the non-health check packet generator 21 sends a reset signal to a timer 23. On the other hand, a communication state discrimination section 12 in the inside of the NMS 1 discriminates a communication state between the NMS 1 and the NE with respect to all management NE. In the case that neither a health check packet nor a non-health check packet is received from a specific NE for a prescribed predetermined period, it is discriminated that the communication state between the NE and the NMS 1 is abnormal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art NMS (Network Management System,
Network management system (NE)
(t, network element) is performed to manage the communication state between the NEs constituting the communication network and the NMS monitoring them.

FIG. 4 shows a sequence chart of a conventional typical health check. In this example, a health check packet is transmitted from the NE to the NMS at a period of Δt. At this time, regardless of the presence or absence of a packet other than the health check, the NE attempts to transmit the health check in the Δt cycle.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

[0005] A first problem is that the NMS may detect an abnormal communication state even though the communication state between the NMS and the NE is normal. For example, one NE
This is a case where a failure occurs on the routing path from the NMS to the NMS and rerouting is performed, or a large amount of notification packets from the NE happen to be queued and transmission of the health check packet is delayed.

[0006] The reason is that, although the notification packet from the NE normally reaches the NMS within the range of the timer value, the NMS does not judge that the communication state is normal until the health check packet is received. Because.

A second problem is that a load of network traffic is applied.

The reason is that, regardless of the presence or absence of a packet other than the health check, the NE sends the health check at a fixed period.

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a health check system that provides higher reliability and reduces network traffic in a health check performed by an NMS on an NE compared to a conventional health check method. And a health check method therefor.

[0010]

A health check system according to the present invention is a health check system in which a health check packet is transmitted from a network element to a network management system at a predetermined cycle. If a packet other than a health check is sent from the network element to the network management system after the packet is sent to the network management system and before the next health check packet is sent, the network element resets the timer value and re-starts the network management. The network management system has means for starting counting in order to send a health check packet to the system at a predetermined cycle. Even in the case of receiving any of the Tsu door,
It has means for monitoring the communication state with the network element by counting as a health check packet.

The network element generates a non-health check packet other than a health check, and a non-health check packet generator, which is a generic name of a module, and a health check packet which generates a health check packet triggered by an input from a timer. A packet generator, and a timer that counts a health check packet transmission interval of a predetermined cycle and provides a trigger signal to the health check packet generator when the timer value reaches the predetermined health check packet transmission interval. May be configured.

The network management system includes a non-health check packet processing unit, which is a general term for modules for processing packets other than health checks, and communicates between the network management system and the network element based on packets from the network element. A communication state determination unit which is a module for determining a state may be included.

The non-health check packet generator may have means for sending a reset signal to a timer when a packet other than a health check is sent to the network management system.

[0014] The communication state determination unit has means for determining that the communication state between the network management system and the network element is abnormal when a packet from a specific network element has not arrived for a certain period of time. Is also good.

According to the health check method of the health check system of the present invention, after a health check packet is sent from a network element to a network management system, before a next health check packet is sent, a packet other than the health check packet is sent. When sent from the network element to the network management system, the network element resets the timer value and starts counting again to send a health check packet to the network management system at a predetermined cycle. Regardless of whether a health check packet or a packet other than a health check is received, the packet is counted as a health check packet and is used to monitor the state of communication with the network element. And a floor.

[0016] Therefore, the communication state between the NMS and the NE can be managed in a manner conforming to the original meaning of the health check, so that the communication state between the NMS and the NE can be managed more accurately than in the conventional method. That is, even when a large amount of packets are transmitted from a specific NE and a health check packet cannot be transmitted, the communication state can be accurately managed.

Further, since the NE sends only a minimum necessary health check packet to the network, network traffic can be reduced.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the simplest example. It is assumed that the health check packet that the NE normally throws at the NMS at regular intervals is Δt. At a certain time, a health check packet is transmitted from the NE (Health Check Packet-1 in FIG. 1). If a packet other than the health check is transmitted from the NE to the NMS before Δt (shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1) after the next health check packet is transmitted, the NE sets the timer value at that time. Reset and start counting again for sending the health check packet after Δt. On the other hand, N
Even if the MS receives a health check packet as well as any other type of packet, it counts this as a health check packet and monitors the state of communication with the NE. As a result, the reliability of the health check itself can be improved, and network traffic can be reduced.

Referring to FIG. 2, the present embodiment employs NM
S (Network Management System) 1 and NE (Network
Element) 2.

The NMS 1 includes a non-health check packet processing unit (Non Health Check Packet Handling Module) 11.
And communication status judgment unit (Health Check Handling Module)
12 are provided.

The non-health check packet processing unit 11 is a general term for modules that process packets other than health check packets.

The communication state determining unit 12 is a module that determines a communication state between the NMS and the NE based on a packet from the NE. If a packet from a certain NE has not arrived at all for a certain period, it is determined that the state of communication with this NE is abnormal.

The NE 2 includes a non-health check packet generator (Non Health Check Packet Generator) 21 and a health check packet generator (Health Check Packet Gene).
(Timer) 22 and a Timer (Timer) 23.

The non-health check packet generator 21 is a general term for modules that generate packets other than health check packets.

The health check packet generator 22 is a module for generating a health check packet triggered by an input from a timer.

The timer 23 counts the health check packet transmission interval Δt held in advance, and sends a trigger signal to the health check packet generator 22 when the timer value reaches Δt.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The operation will be described separately for the inside of the NE 2 and the inside of the NMS 1.

First, the timer 23 always operates inside the NE 2. Each time the timer value counts Δt,
A trigger signal for sending a health check packet to the NMS 1 is sent to the health check packet generator 22. Upon receiving the trigger signal from the timer, the health check packet generator 22 sends a health check packet to the NMS 1 immediately. There are two causes for resetting the timer 23, that is, returning the timer value to zero. That is, the first is when the timer value becomes Δt. At this time, the timer 23 returns the timer value to 0 by itself. Another personnel is when a packet other than a health check is transmitted from the non-health check packet generator 21 to the NMS. At this time, the non-health check packet generator 21 sends a reset signal to the timer 23.

On the other hand, inside the NMS 1, the communication state determination unit 1
2 has determined the communication state between the NMS 1 and the NE for all management NEs. If neither a health check packet nor a non-health check packet is sent from a specific NE for a predetermined period of time, this NE
It is determined that the communication state between the NMS 1 and NMS 1 is abnormal.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described using a specific example with reference to FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the Δt interval of a health check packet that is normally thrown periodically is 60 seconds. Assuming that the timer value in the timer 23 is 10 at time t = 0, t = 5 unless the timer 23 is reset in the middle.
At the time of 0, the timer value becomes 60, and the trigger signal should be issued from the timer 23 to the health check packet generator 22. However, in this example, t = 4
When the non-health check packet generator 21 sends a packet other than the health check packet to the NMS 1 at 0, the timer 23 is reset at the same time. Therefore, the timer value returns to 0 at t = 40. Next, the timer value can be 60 when t = 100.
In this example, since the non-health check packet was not sent to the NMS 1 from t = 40 to t = 100, the timer value becomes 60 when t = 100,
As a result, a trigger signal is issued from the timer 23 to the health check packet generator 22. The health check packet generator 22 receiving this sends a health check packet to the NMS 1.

In this example, inside the NMS 1, the communication state determination unit 12 determines the communication state between the NMS 1 and the NE 2, but the non-health check packet at t = 40, t =
Since both of the health check packets in 100 are used as judgment materials, the performance of the communication state judgment does not deteriorate as compared with the conventional health check method as shown in FIG.

[0034]

The first effect is that the communication state between the NMS and the NE can be managed more accurately than in the conventional system. Even when a large amount of packets are transmitted from a specific NE and a health check packet cannot be transmitted, the communication state can be accurately managed.

The reason is that the communication state between the NMS and the NE can be managed in a manner that conforms to the original meaning of the health check. The essence of the health check is to confirm that the packet transmitted from the NE has reached the NMS regardless of the type of the packet.

A second effect is that network traffic can be reduced.

The reason is that the NE transmits only the minimum necessary health check packet to the network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sequence chart of a health check according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a health check system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation of a health check according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sequence chart of a conventional typical health check.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 NMS (Network Management System) 2 NE (Network Element) 11 Non-health check packet processing unit (Non Health
Check Packet Handling Module 12 Communication status judgment unit (Health Check Handling Modu)
le) 21 Non-health check packet generator (Non Health
Check Packet Generator 22 Health Check Packet Generator
Packet Generator) 23 Timer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A health check system in which a health check packet is transmitted from a network element to a network management system at a predetermined cycle, wherein after the health check packet is transmitted from the network element to the network management system, If a packet other than a health check is sent from the network element to the network management system before the health check packet is sent, the network element resets a timer value and returns a predetermined value to the network management system again. The network management system further includes means for starting counting in order to send out the health check packet in a periodic manner, wherein the network management system includes a packet other than the health check packet or the health check packet. A health check system that counts the health check packet and monitors the state of communication with the network element regardless of which of the received data is received. 2. The non-health check packet generator, which is a generic term for a module that generates packets other than the health check, and a module that generates the health check packet triggered by an input from the timer. A health check packet generator, counting a health check packet transmission interval of a predetermined cycle, and when a timer value reaches a predetermined health check packet transmission interval, a trigger signal is sent to the health check packet generator. The health check system according to claim 1, further comprising a timer for giving. 3. The non-health check packet processing unit, which is a generic term for a module that processes packets other than the health check, based on a packet from the network element,
The health check system according to claim 1, further comprising a communication state determination unit that is a module that determines a communication state between the network management system and the network element. 4. The health according to claim 2, wherein the non-health check packet generator has means for sending a reset signal to the timer when sending a packet other than the health check to the network management system. Check system. 5. The communication state determination unit, wherein when a packet from a specific network element has not arrived at all for a predetermined period, a communication state between the network management system and the network element is determined to be abnormal. The health check system according to claim 3, comprising: 6. A packet other than a health check is transmitted from the network element to the network after the health check packet is transmitted from the network element to the network management system and before the next health check packet is transmitted. When sent to a management system, the network element resets a timer value and starts counting again to send a health check packet to the network management system at a predetermined cycle. Regardless of whether a health check packet or a packet other than the health check is received, the packet is counted as the health check packet and used for monitoring the communication state with the network element. Health Check method of health check system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a step.