Background
With the increasing scale of the Internet, various network services are disputed, and advanced multimedia systems are in the endlessly. Because the real-time service is sensitive to the characteristics of network transmission delay, delay jitter and the like, when the network has services such as an FTP (file transfer protocol) with high burstiness or an HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) containing image files and the like, the real-time service is greatly influenced; on the other hand, multimedia services occupy a large amount of bandwidth, so that critical services to be guaranteed by the existing network are difficult to be reliably transmitted.
Based on the above-described current situation, various QoS (quality of service) techniques have been developed. The IETF has proposed many service models and mechanisms to meet the QoS requirements. It is now well accepted by the industry to use the integrated service model (Int-Serv) at the access and edge of the network and the differentiated service model (Diff-Serv) at the core of the network.
Although the differentiated services model (Diff-serv) only sets priority level guarantee QoS measures, the specific effect is difficult to predict although the wire route has the characteristic of high utilization rate. Therefore, the industry starts to introduce an independent bearer control layer for the differentiated services Diff-Serv of the backbone network, and establish a set of special Diff-Serv QoS signaling mechanisms, for example, in order to promote the application of Diff-Serv, the Bandwidth Broker (Bandwidth Broker) model is used to realize network resource and topology management on the QBone test network promoted by IETF and some manufacturers and research institutions, and other manufacturers propose similar QoS server/resource manager technology to manage topology resources and coordinate QoS capabilities of various differentiated services Diff-Serv areas.
The method is that a resource management layer is specially established in the differentiated service Diff-Serv network to manage the topological resources of the network, and because the traditional Diff-Serv definition has limitation, in order to avoid confusion, the resource management differentiated service Diff-Serv model is changed into a network model with an independent bearing control layer (or a centralized resource control layer).
As shown in fig. 1, in a network model with an independent bearer control layer, a bearer network control server (including a Bandwidth Broker (Bandwidth Broker) or a QoS server/resource manager, such as the bearer network resource manager in fig. 1) configures management rules and network topology to allocate resources for a service Bandwidth application of a client. The bearer network control servers of each management domain transmit service bandwidth application requests and results of clients and path information distributed for service application by the bearer network resource manager through signaling.
When the bearer control layer processes the service bandwidth application of the user, the path of the user service is determined. The bearer network resource manager serving as the bearer network control server notifies the edge router to forward the service flow according to the specified path.
Currently, a bearer network implements forwarding of a user service flow according to a specified route according to a path determined by a bearer control layer. The method specifically includes adopting a bearer mode based on the MPLS technology and a bearer mode based on the non-MPLS technology, where the bearer mode based on the non-MPLS technology may be IP, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)/FR (frame relay), etc.; in the bearer network, a resource reservation mode is used to establish a logical path, such as an LSP (label switched path) of MPLS, along a traffic flow path specified by a bearer control layer, and a route and a node series in a bearer mode using a non-MPLS technique.
When the bearer network adopts a technology for bearer transmission, such as MPLS, the method for obtaining an end-to-end logical path according to the network topology can well establish an available logical path for end-to-end. However, when interworking between bearer networks using different bearer technologies is required, for example, if interworking between bearers using non-MPLS technology and bearer networks using MPLS technology is required, there is no corresponding method to solve the multipath problem existing in interworking, so when a bearer network performs service transmission, it is likely that service flows at interworking points cannot flow through a path reserved in advance by a resource manager, resulting in QoS guarantee failure
That is, in a network having independent bearer control layers, different bearer layer technologies exist, such as MPLS, IP, VLAN (virtual local area network), ATM/FR, etc., and the content handled by PDF (policy decision function)/BCF (bearer control function) to which different bearer layer technology entities belong is not identical to the content of interaction, for example: under the condition of MPLS, the resources processed by PDF/BCF are LSP logic paths, and the information such as label stacks and the like are communicated; in the non-MPLS situation, the resources processed by the PDF/BCF may be physical links and IP routes, and when networks of two technologies communicate with each other through the PDF/BCF, the signaling interaction and how to determine the addressing problem between them need to be solved during the communication, otherwise, when the communication is performed, if there are multiple paths, the service flow will probably not be forwarded along the path of the resources reserved by the subsequent network, resulting in that the QoS of the service cannot be guaranteed.
However, in the current network with an independent bearer control layer, when interworking is performed between bearer networks adopting different bearer technologies, it is still impossible to forward the service along the path of the reserved resource, and thus corresponding QoS cannot be guaranteed.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above problems in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for guaranteeing QoS of services in interworking between different bearer layers, so that QoS of service transmission can still be guaranteed when interworking between bearer layers using different transmission technologies is performed.
The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
the invention provides a method for ensuring the QoS of services in the intercommunication of different bearing layer networks, which comprises the following steps:
A. in a network with an independent bearing control layer, based on resource information of an edge gateway function BGF stored in the network with the independent bearing control layer, intercommunication and interaction of resources and control information among different bearing networks are carried out, so that a service transmission path which can ensure service quality through the edge gateway function among different bearing networks is determined;
the resource information of the edge gateway function is BGF link resource, link state and BCF address information of the load control function corresponding to the link;
B. and transmitting the corresponding service needing to ensure the service quality through the service transmission path.
The BGF comprises the following steps:
a GPRS gateway support node GGSN and/or a packet data service node PDSN in a third generation 3G/general packet radio service GPRS network in the network which does not support MPLS;
or,
based on the gateway in the MPLS network.
If the different bearer layer networks include a first bearer network and a second bearer network, the step a includes:
a1, when the entity of the first load network storing the resource information receives the resource application message, according to the target network identity of the service and the resource information, selecting the adjacent BCF in the second load network;
a2, initiating a resource request to the selected BCF;
a3, after the selected BCF receives the resource request, allocating end-to-end QoS resources for the service;
and the step B specifically comprises:
and carrying out forwarding processing on the service based on the end-to-end QoS resource.
The step a2 further includes:
selecting the determined traffic path information in the first bearer layer network to be transmitted to the adjacent BCF,
and when the entity storing the resource information in the first bearer layer network is a policy decision function PDF, the step a3 specifically includes:
and allocating end-to-end QoS resources for services in the first bearing layer network and the second bearing layer network by the PDF and the selected BCF.
The information of the exit node and the entry node comprises: node port addresses and/or identities of egress and ingress nodes.
The service path information further includes: link identification information.
The link identification information specifically includes:
link identification based on IP transport, label switched path, LSP, label stack based on multiprotocol label switching, MPLS, virtual local area network identification, VLAN ID, based on virtual local area network VLAN and/or permanent virtual path, PVC, information based on asynchronous transfer mode, ATM/frame relay, FR.
The step B specifically comprises the following steps:
b1, when the entity with processing function and storing the resource information in the network receives the response message of successful resource allocation for the resource request returned by the selected BCF, the entity issues the corresponding service forwarding strategy to the BGF;
b2, BGF processes service transmission according to said strategy.
The forwarding strategy comprises: policy or session based routing information.
The step B also comprises the following steps:
and the selected BCF sends the logic path information of the subsequent network to the edge equipment of the second bearing layer network, and when the service passes through the edge equipment of the second bearing layer network, the service is forwarded according to the logic path information.
If the resource information configured in the BCF in the second bearer layer network is the resource information of the gateway functioning as the border gateway, step a includes:
a1, selecting a corresponding gateway by the BCF in the second bearing layer network according to the configured resource information of the gateway serving as the BGF;
a2, the BCF in the second bearer layer network also determines the BGF in the first bearer layer network communicating with the gateway according to the configured path information of the gateway, and sends a resource request message to the entity which stores the resource information of the BGF in the first bearer layer network and has a processing function;
a3, after the entity with processing function and storing the resource information of the BGF in the first bearer layer network receives the resource request message sent by the second bearer layer network, determining the path information via the BGF in the first bearer layer network.
The step A comprises the following steps:
and storing the resource information of the BGF on PDF and/or BCF in a network with an independent bearing control layer.
The invention also provides a device for ensuring the service QoS in the intercommunication of different bearing layer networks, which is arranged in a network with an independent bearing control layer, wherein the network with the independent bearing control layer comprises a first bearing network and a second bearing layer network, and the device comprises:
the system comprises an edge gateway function BGF resource information storage unit, a first network layer and/or a second network layer, wherein the BGF resource information storage unit is used for storing BGF resource information in the first network layer and/or the second network layer, and the BGF resource information is BGF link resource, link state and BCF address information corresponding to the link;
and the service transmission control unit is used for carrying out intercommunication and interaction of resources and control information between a first bearing layer network and a second bearing layer network according to the stored BGF resource information, selecting and determining a service transmission path for ensuring the QoS of the service through the BGF for the service between the first bearing layer network and the second bearing layer network, and controlling the transmission of the corresponding service through the service transmission path.
The device is arranged in PDF and/or BCF with an independent bearing control layer network.
The device further comprises:
a resource request information receiving unit, configured to receive a resource request message sent by an entity in the first bearer layer network or the second bearer layer network, and trigger the service transmission control unit.
The service transmission control unit comprises:
the strategy determining unit is used for selecting and determining a service transmission path which ensures the QoS of the service through the BGF for the service according to the stored BGF resource information;
and the strategy issuing unit is used for issuing the determined service transmission path to the corresponding BGF as a basis for the BGF to carry out service forwarding operation.
The technical proposal provided by the invention can be seen that, because the BGF resource information is configured in the network with the independent bearing control layer, the invention can still select the correct path at the intercommunication point when different bearing layer networks are intercommunicated, thereby providing the corresponding QoS guarantee for the corresponding path. The invention effectively solves the problem that the end-to-end QoS of the service can not be completely ensured when the bearing layer networks of different bearing transmission technologies are communicated in the network adopting the independent bearing control layer entity, thereby ensuring that the bearing layer network can ensure the end-to-end QoS of the service under any condition and effectively improving the network performance.
Detailed Description
The core of the invention is to solve the problem of effectively ensuring end-to-end QoS when the bearer networks adopting different bearer technologies are communicated in the network with an independent bearer control layer. Specifically, by storing the resource information of the edge gateway function in the network, for example, storing the corresponding resource information in the PDF/BCF, the processing and interaction of the interworking processes of different bearer networks can be performed based on the resource information, thereby ensuring that the end-to-end service can be forwarded according to the path of the reserved resource, and further ensuring the QoS of the service.
The invention provides a method for realizing network intercommunication of different bearing technologies in a network (BCF network for short) with an independent bearing control layer, which ensures that the end-to-end QoS guarantee of the service borne and transmitted by a bearing network can be realized.
The network applied by the method for ensuring the service QoS in the intercommunication of different bearing layer networks provided by the invention comprises at least two different bearing layer networks, and is assumed to be a first bearing layer network (such as a non-MPLS network) and a second bearing layer network (such as an MPLS network).
Based on the above assumptions, the method of the present invention mainly comprises:
firstly, saving the resource information of BGF of a first bearing layer network in a network with an independent bearing control layer; the resource information of the BGF includes but is not limited to: link resource and state information, address information of a BCF corresponding to a link, and the like, where the resource information of the BGF may be specifically stored in PDF and/or BCF, and the BGF may be GGSN (GPRS gateway support node) and/or PDSN (packet data serving node) in a 3G (third generation)/GPRS (general packet radio service) network, or may also be other entities with similar functions;
(II) determining a service transmission path for ensuring the QoS of the service via BGF in the first bearing layer network according to the resource information, and transmitting the corresponding service through the path, thereby realizing the QoS guarantee from end to end aiming at the corresponding service;
the corresponding specific service delivery processing procedure may be:
(1) when an entity (such as PDF) storing the resource information in the network receives the resource application message, selecting an adjacent BCF in a second bearing layer network according to the target network identity of the service borne in the resource application message and the resource information stored in the step (I);
(2) after the adjacent BCF in the second bearing layer network is selected and determined, the service path information selected and determined in the first bearing layer network can be sent to the adjacent BCF, a resource request is initiated to the corresponding BCF, and the PDF and the BCF distribute end-to-end QoS resources for services in the first bearing layer network and the second bearing layer network;
wherein, the service path information includes but is not limited to: the information of the exit node and the entry node of the service path, and optionally the corresponding link identification information;
the egress node and ingress node information may specifically be: node port addresses and/or identifiers of egress and ingress nodes;
the link identification information may specifically include: link identification based on I P transport, LSP label stack based on MPLS, VLAN ID based on VLAN and/or permanent virtual path PVC information based on ATM/frame relay FR.
(3) After the end-to-end QoS resource allocation is completed, the forwarding processing of the service can be carried out based on the end-to-end QoS resource, and at this time, the end-to-end QoS guarantee can be provided for the corresponding service, so that the problems in the prior art are solved;
the method specifically comprises the following steps: after the BCF receives the resource request and completes the corresponding resource allocation operation, a response message is returned to an entity (such as PDF) storing the resource information in the network, and after the corresponding entity receives the response message which is returned by the BCF and is successful in resource allocation aiming at the resource request, a corresponding service forwarding strategy can be issued to the BGF so that the BGF can carry out service forwarding processing according to the forwarding strategy, wherein the forwarding strategy comprises routing information based on a strategy or a session;
when the BCF sends a response message of successful resource allocation to the corresponding entity, it also needs to send logic path information of its subsequent network to the edge device of the second bearer layer network (such as MPLS network), and when the service passes through the edge device of the second bearer layer network, the edge device forwards the service according to the logic path information.
In the above processing procedure, the intercommunication routing processing from the first bearer layer network to the second bearer layer network is realized, so that the resource allocation processing from the first bearer layer network to the second bearer layer network can be realized, and a corresponding service path for ensuring the QoS is provided.
In addition, in the present invention, in order to implement resource allocation processing initiated by the second bearer network to the first bearer network and further provide a corresponding service path for ensuring QoS, specifically, information of a BGF in the first bearer network may be configured in a BCF in the second bearer network, and then, corresponding resource allocation processing may be implemented based on the configured information, which specifically includes:
firstly, selecting a corresponding BGF by a BCF in a second bearing layer network according to resource information of a gateway serving as the BGF in the second bearing layer network configured in the BCF;
secondly, the BCF also determines BGF which is positioned in a first bearing layer network and communicated with a corresponding gateway according to the configured path information of the gateway, and sends a resource request message to an entity which is positioned in the first bearing layer network and corresponding to the BGF which is communicated with the corresponding gateway and stores resource information of the BGF;
finally, after receiving the resource request message sent by the second bearer network, the entity storing the resource information corresponding to the BGF communicating with the corresponding gateway determines the path information of the BGF communicating with the corresponding gateway in the first bearer network, and provides the required QoS guarantee for the corresponding path.
For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the present invention, a detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention will be given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, a schematic diagram of a network structure of a BCF network to which the present invention is applied will be described by way of example. For example, as shown in fig. 2, in a network to which the present invention can be applied, a BGF (e.g., GGSN in 3 GPP) controlled by PDF/BCF1 adopts a pure IP bearer (which may be referred to as a first bearer network), an ER (edge router)/TPF (transport plane function) controlled by PDF/BCF2, and a following network adopts an MPLS bearer (which may be referred to as a second bearer network).
In fig. 2, the policy decision function PDF and the bearer control function BCF may be set in the same physical entity, or may be set in different physical entities, or may be set in a certain network to exist in only one logical form; the implementation of the invention is not affected no matter how the arrangement is arranged.
In the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, if there is no separate BCF controlling the gateway device (such as GGSN in fig. 3) connected to the PDF, the PDF needs to manage the logical topology and resources of the gateway device in addition to its own policy decision and other functions, and select the egress path of the gateway device for the media stream. At this time, the corresponding PDF completes the combination of the logical functions of the PDF and the BCF0 in fig. 4, and since the control points of the BCF0 and the PDF are both border gateway function devices GGSN, the PDF and the BCF0 can be combined to be the same physical entity. In fig. 3, interworking points are interfaces of the GGSN to the external GW, such as L1, L2; the BCF in fig. 3 controls the external networks, the edge devices are GW1 and GW2, and the PDF controls a non-MPLS network, such as GGSN.
Next, a detailed description will be given of a specific implementation of the method according to the present invention with reference to fig. 2, fig. 3, fig. 4, and fig. 5.
The main working process of the method of the present invention is shown in fig. 5, and specifically includes:
step 51: configuring resource information of a BGF (such as GGSN and the like) in a network with an independent bearing layer, for example, the resource information can be specifically configured and stored on PDF, and the resource information comprises link resources, state information and corresponding address information of a BCF;
in a network with an independent bearer control layer, in order to ensure redundancy and failure recovery capability, network entities often have multiple interfaces to connect to different adjacent entities during interworking, that is, the network entities usually have the capability of multiple paths to reach opposite end users; as in fig. 3, the GGSNs can be connected to gateways GW1 and GW2 via links L1 and L2, respectively, said gateways GW1 and GW2 being controlled by bearer control functions BCF1 and BCF2, respectively. When a media stream needs to reach an opposite end through a GGSN, firstly, a PDF configured with resource information needs to control and determine which adjacent BCF the GGSN requests for resources of a subsequent network, namely, the adjacent BCF needs to be found correctly;
therefore, in order to ensure that the adjacent PDF/BCF can be correctly found, the link resources and the state of the GGSN and the corresponding BCF address may be configured on the PDF, where the link resources include: a normal state or an abnormal state of the link; when the state changes, the GGSN reports the PDF, thereby ensuring that the PDF is configured and stored with the real link state information of the GGSN, further ensuring that the link selection of the PDF is more accurate, and providing reliable QoS for the media stream.
Step 52: in a network with an independent bearing layer, when a QoS authorization request of an application function AF or GGSN is received or a resource application of other PDF/BCF is received, a PDF configured with BGF resource information selects a proper adjacent BCF according to a target network identity (target network identification and/or address) of a media stream, link resources and states of the BGF (such as GGSN) configured by the PDF and an operator policy, and initiates a resource request to the BCF;
if the resource information configuration of the BGF is stored in other entities, the corresponding other entities execute the processing described in the step;
taking configuring corresponding resource information in the PDF as an example, when the PDF initiates a resource request to the BCF, the PDF needs to transmit path information from the GGSN to the adjacent gateway GW selected according to the link resource and state of the GGSN to the BCF through an interface Gu interface between the PDF and the BCF, so that the BCF can know the path information transmitted by the media stream;
the path information may specifically be identities of nodes at two ends of the path, that is, node port addresses or identifiers of the egress node and the ingress node, and the path information may further include an identifier of the link as needed, for example, a link identifier ID in the case of IP, an LSP (label switched path) label stack in the case of MPLS, a VLAN ID (virtual local area network identifier) in the case of VLAN, a PVC (permanent virtual channel) in the case of ATM/FR, and the like;
assuming that in fig. 3, the PDF selects link L1 for the session, the parameters transmitted by the PDF to BC F1 should include the identity information of the egress node GGSN and the identity information of the ingress node GW 1; thus, PDF and BCF can respectively obtain the correct path of the media stream, thereby correctly allocating end-to-end QoS resources to the service and realizing the guarantee of QoS of the corresponding service.
Step 53: after receiving the resource request, the BCF performs corresponding resource allocation operation, and after finishing the corresponding resource allocation operation, returns a resource allocation success response message to the PDF to confirm that the resource allocation operation is successful;
step 54: when PDF receives the response message of successful resource allocation from BCF, PDF sends down media flow forwarding strategy to the GGSN of the boundary equipment;
the forwarding policy includes routing information based on policy/session determined by PDF, for example, when PDF selects link L1 for the session, PDF designates the forwarding route of the media stream corresponding to the session as passing through L1, for example, in GGSN, in ACL (access control list) or TFT (Traffic template) manner; and the GGSN executes a corresponding media stream forwarding process according to the forwarding strategy issued by the PDF.
Step 55: while executing step 54, the BCF further needs to issue logical path information of a subsequent network to the edge device GW1 in the MPLS network, where the logical path information includes MPLS label stacks and the like, and when a media stream flows through the GW1, the media stream is forwarded according to a formulated logical path, that is, the label stack.
In the processing procedure from step 51 to step 55, the process of implementing the guaranteed QoS from the non-MPLS entity (e.g., GGSN) to the MPLS entity (e.g., GW) is implemented.
In the present invention, the service QoS from the MPLS entity (e.g., GW) to the non-MPLS entity (e.g., GGSN) can be guaranteed, and the specific processing procedure is the reverse processing procedure of the processing procedure shown in fig. 5, that is, the BCF to which the MPLS entity belongs selects the path from the MPLS entity to the non-MPLS entity, and the PDF/BCF to which the MPLS entity belongs can perform the subsequent resource request processing to the PDF/BCF to which the non-MPLS entity belongs according to the requirement, thereby implementing the end-to-end QoS guarantee.
The present invention also provides a device for ensuring service QoS in interworking between different bearer layer networks, the specific implementation structure of which is shown in fig. 6, the device is arranged in PDF and/or BCF having an independent bearer control layer network, the independent bearer control layer network includes a first bearer network and a second bearer network, and the device includes the following processing units:
(1) BGF resource information storage unit
The system comprises a first bearer network and/or a second bearer network, a first BCF and a second BCF, wherein the first bearer network and/or the second bearer network are/is used for storing BGF resource information in the first bearer network and/or the second bearer network, and the resource information comprises link resources, state information, address information of the corresponding BCF and the like;
(2) service delivery control unit
The BGF-based service selection method comprises the steps that a service transmission path for ensuring the QoS of the service through the BGF is determined for service selection between a first bearing layer network and a second bearing layer network according to stored BGF resource information, and the corresponding service is transmitted through the service transmission path;
the service transmission control unit comprises:
the strategy determining unit is used for selecting and determining a service transmission path which ensures the QoS of the service through the BGF for the service according to the stored BGF resource information;
and the strategy issuing unit is used for issuing the determined service transmission path to the corresponding BGF as a basis for the BGF to carry out service forwarding operation.
Optionally, the apparatus of the present invention further comprises the following processing unit:
(3) resource request information receiving unit
And the network controller is used for receiving a resource request message sent by an entity in the first bearer layer network or the second bearer layer network and triggering the service transmission control unit.
In summary, the implementation of the present invention enables a network with an independent bearer control layer entity to effectively ensure end-to-end QoS of services when interworking between bearer networks using different bearer technologies.
The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.