JP2002290451A - Communication band control method and communication band control device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] When a user acquires a specific application in an ASP system or the like, a band is set according to the content of the application to be acquired. A user-side network (NW1) and a communication line (T) are provided.
And a communication band control means B is provided between the ASP-side network NW1 and the communication line T, so that the groupware client GC and the groupware server GS can communicate with each other. The communication band control means A or B monitors a communication packet sent out on the communication line T, and describes information for identifying a communication source and a communication partner, information indicating an application to be communicated, and header information of an application protocol. Obtain an application control command as information that has been performed, perform band control based on this application control command,
This is also notified to the other communication band control means, and the band is secured until the communication by the application control command ends.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a communication band control method and a communication band control device for performing band control according to the contents of an application to be communicated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a case where communication is performed via a network, many techniques for controlling a band according to information to be communicated have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-
122296 is one of them. This Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-12
The technique described in No. 2296 (referred to as a first conventional technique) is a bandwidth control method in the fourth transport layer in the OSI seven-layer model, and performs bandwidth control based on a value of a congestion window. is there.

[0003] Another example of a band control method is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-07-327747. This JP
The technology described in 7-327747 (referred to as a second related art) provides a bandwidth control method based on information of an application layer. This is a band control method for dynamically changing the band to be used.

[0004] There is also a technique called Diffserve. This Diffserve (referred to as a third conventional technique) is an IET.
This is a bandwidth control technology on an IP network whose specifications are being discussed in F. In this Diffserve, a flow is identified by a bit string specified in a TOS (Type of service) field of an IP header, packet queuing is performed with different priorities, and an IP address and a port number of a TCP / UDP header used as a transport layer. Bandwidth control based on the information of

Also, RealNetworks RealAudio (No. 4)
In the related art, when the audio data is distributed, the distribution server changes the transfer rate according to the communication band on the user side, thereby realizing the band control specialized for the application.

[0006]

Recently, with the diversification of the network environment, for example, ASP (Application Security)
rvice Provider), there is a system that implements a specific application service function on the provider side and uses a client function on a terminal on the user's network.

[0007] In such an application service system, the applications to be provided are limited. Therefore, if the communication band is set in accordance with the state of the application protocol (for example, the content of the application control command), the application to be transferred can be obtained. Can be transferred in the optimal communication band according to the content of
It is considered that a comfortable application use environment can be provided to the user.

However, in such an application service system, the optimum bandwidth control according to the state of the application protocol cannot be realized by using the above-described conventional techniques as they are.

That is, the first prior art described above is a band control method in the transport layer, and does not perform band control based on application protocol header information (such as an application control command) as a criterion. It is not possible to set an optimal communication band corresponding to the content of the application to be performed.

The second prior art certainly performs a band control method based on information of an application layer. However, the second prior art moves a band to be used in accordance with a display size of an image. It is a band control method that changes the frequency, and this method can be used only for applications that communicate video information.

In the third prior art, the bandwidth control is performed based on the information of the IP address and the port number of the TCP / UDP header corresponding to the transport layer. Since the bandwidth control is not performed using the above as a criterion, it is not possible to set an optimum communication bandwidth corresponding to the content of the application to be communicated.

In the fourth prior art, a bandwidth control specialized for an application is realized by changing a transfer rate in accordance with a communication band of a user on a distribution server side at the time of distribution of audio data. There is a problem that the server side of the application itself needs to have a communication band control function, and the client side itself must also have a communication band control function.

Accordingly, the present invention enables, for example, in an application service system such as an ASP to perform communication band control according to the contents of an application to be acquired, and means for controlling the communication band. An object of the present invention is to provide a general-purpose communication band control that can be used as it is in the related art by being installed on a communication line for performing application communication.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a communication band control method according to the present invention comprises a plurality of information processing means for executing a certain application connected to a communication line; When performing communication between certain information processing means in the means, in the communication band control method for controlling the communication band of the communication line according to the state of communication,
Communication bandwidth control means are provided between one information processing means and the communication line and between the other information processing means and the communication line, respectively. The communication band control means monitors the communication packet sent to the
Information for identifying a communication source and a communication partner, information indicating which application is to be communicated with, and header information of an application protocol are obtained, and band control is performed based on the header information of the application protocol.

In such a communication band control method, an application control command is used as header information of the application protocol, and band control is performed according to the application control command.

If one of the communication band control means analyzes the contents of the communication packet and determines that the communication band is to be changed to a certain value, the other communication band control means determines whether to change the communication band to a certain value. The communication band control means secures the changed communication band until the data transfer process for the application control command of the communication packet ends, and when the data transfer process ends, the original communication is notified. Control to return to the band is performed.

Further, in the communication band control device according to the present invention, a plurality of information processing means for executing a certain application are connected to a communication line, and communication is performed between certain information processing means among the plurality of information processing means. A communication band control device for controlling a communication band of the communication line according to a communication situation, wherein the communication band control device is provided between the one information processing unit and the communication line and the other information processing unit. When the information processing means communicates with each other, a communication packet transmitted on the communication line is monitored, and a communication source and a communication partner are identified from the communication packet. Information that indicates the communication with which application, and the header information of the application protocol. And performs bandwidth control are.

In this communication band control device, an application control command is used as header information of the application protocol, and band control according to the application control command is performed.

When one of the communication band control devices analyzes the contents of the communication packet and determines that the communication band is to be changed to a certain value, the other communication band control device determines whether to change the communication band to a certain value. The communication band control means secures the changed communication band until the data transfer process for the application control command of the communication packet ends, and when the data transfer process ends, the original communication is notified. Control to return to the band is performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, the communication band is controlled based on the header information of the application protocol, so that the optimum band control corresponding to the characteristics of the application can be performed.

[0021] Also, it is determined whether or not the communication is communication for which band control is to be performed, based on information for identifying a communication source and a communication partner obtained from a communication packet and information indicating a communication to which application. Can be.
As a result, if it is determined that the communication should not be subjected to band control, the communication packet can be transferred without performing communication band control processing, so that the influence on traffic of other communication can be reduced. it can.

Further, since the application control command is used as the header information of the application protocol and the bandwidth control is performed according to the application control command, an optimum bandwidth is set according to the contents of the application. For example, if the command is a file transfer, it is possible to set an optimum bandwidth corresponding to the size of the file.

Thus, if the present invention is applied to, for example, an application service system such as an ASP, when a user acquires a specific application, it is possible to set an optimum bandwidth according to the content of the application to be acquired. . For example, if the data size of the application to be transferred is large, a correspondingly large communication band is set, so that a comfortable application use environment can be provided to the user.

Then, after the communication band is changed to a communication band of a certain value, until the data transfer processing for the application control command of the communication packet is completed,
Each communication band control means secures the changed communication band and returns to the original communication band when the data transfer processing is completed. Therefore, the necessary communication band is secured only when necessary, so that there is no waste. A secure communication band is not secured, and an efficient communication band can be set.

Further, since the communication band control device for performing such communication band control is installed on the communication path, it is not necessary for each application to have such a communication band control function. Can be used as it is.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The contents described in this embodiment are as follows.
It includes both the communication band control method and the communication band control device of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the present invention relates to the aforementioned A
An example in which the present invention is applied to an SP system will be described. Figure 1 shows the AS
1 shows a schematic system configuration diagram of a P system, in which a user side network NW1 and an ASP side network NW1.
2 is comprised. Software (hereinafter, referred to as a groupware client) GC for realizing a client function of the groupware application is connected to the user side network NW1. The groupware client GC communicates via the communication band control device A. Connected to line T. On the other hand, software (hereinafter, referred to as a groupware server) GS that realizes a server function of the groupware application is connected to the ASP-side network NW2. The groupware server GS communicates via the communication band control device B. Connected to line T.

In such an ASP system, a client having a groupware client GC acquires a predetermined application from applications existing on a groupware server GS, and acquires the acquired application from a user's personal computer (PC). It can be installed on the terminal and used by the user.

The communication band control device A and the communication band control device B communicate with each other based on the header information of the application protocol in the application layer of the communication packet transmitted and received between the groupware client GC and the groupware server GS. Is controlled to change.

Communication band control device A and communication band control device B
Monitors communication packets transmitted and received between the groupware server GS and the groupware client GC, and acquires the following information (a) to (d) from the communication packet P.

(A) Start and end IP addresses of an IP header (b) TCP (Tran) which is a protocol number of an IP header
smission Control Protocol) or UDP (User Dategram)
Protocol).

(C) Start and end port numbers of TCP and UDP headers.

(D) A byte sequence corresponding to a control command as application protocol header information of an application layer (application control command).

FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication packet transmitted and received between the groupware server GS and the groupware client GC. The communication packet shown in FIG.
It is composed of an IP header section corresponding to the network layer, a TCP / UDP header section corresponding to the transport layer, an application header section corresponding to the application layer, and a data section.

In the IP header portion, the IP address of the start point and the IP address of the end point are described.
In addition to the address and the IP address of the end point, information indicating whether the data is TCP or UDP may be described in subsequent data. TCP / UDP header part contains TCP
In both cases of UDP, a start port number and an end port number are described, and in addition, bandwidth control information (buffer size, etc.) is described only in the case of TCP.

The application header section includes, for example,
The version of the application protocol and the operation name (application control command name) are described.

From such a communication packet, the communication source and the communication destination can be known from the IP header part, and to which application the communication is to be known from the TCP / UDP header part. Further, the status and contents of the application can be known from the application header section.

In such a communication packet, the one that performs communication band control based on the information of the IP header part and the TCP / UDP header part corresponding to the transport layer is as described in the above-mentioned prior art. It has already been realized.

For example, the third conventional technique performs bandwidth control based on information on an IP address and a port number in a TCP / UDP header portion corresponding to a transport layer.
On the other hand, in the present invention, the above-mentioned information (a) to (d) is acquired. That is, it acquires the header information of the application protocol in the application layer, and performs the bandwidth control based on the header information of the application protocol.

As a result, it is possible to perform optimal communication band control corresponding to the traffic characteristics of the application to be used, and this is a great difference from the prior art.

Moreover, in the present invention, the function of controlling the communication band (communication band control devices A and B in FIG. 1) is provided to each application (here, the groupware server GS and the groupware client GC). Instead, one of the features is to provide the communication band controllers A and B on the communication line T. This eliminates the need for each application to have a function for performing band control. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 1, for example, if the communication band control device A receives a communication packet, the communication packet P is obtained from (a) the starting point IP address and the ending point IP address of the IP header described above, and (b) the IP address. TCP or UDP which is the protocol number of the header, (c) TCP or U
The application is identified based on the information of the start port number and the end port number of the DP header. That is, it is determined from these information whether or not the packet is a communication packet for which band control is to be performed. If the communication packet is not a communication packet for which band control is to be performed, the communication packet is transmitted without performing the band control process of the present invention. Transfer as it is.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the packet is a communication packet to be subjected to the bandwidth control, an application control command, which is one of the information described in the header of the application in the communication packet P, is used. Performs communication band control.

At this time, the communication band control device A communicates with another communication band control device (in this case, the communication band control device B) existing on the communication line T to the destination to which the communication packet is transferred. , And notifies the communication band control device B of securing a communication band necessary for performing communication started by the application control command. The communication band control performed here is, for example, control for securing a larger band if the application control command is a file transfer with a large data size.

Thereafter, the communication band control device A and the communication band control device B hold the secured communication band until the data communication started by the application control command is completed. When the data communication based on the application control command is completed, the communication band control device A and the communication band control device B release the secured communication band and return to the original communication band.

A communication band control operation using a specific example will be described below. Here, a groupware server GS and a groupware client G as shown in FIG.
In an ASP system composed of C, in a process in which a client belonging to a groupware client GC uses an application of a server belonging to a groupware server GS, the client requests the server to transfer a file stored in the server. Think about what you want to do.

The communication band controllers A and B shown in FIG. 1 normally secure a bandwidth of 8 Kbps for one client, and receive a data request (for example, an e-mail address) issued from a certain client. If the total data size of the list request or any file request is 1 megabyte or more, control is performed to secure a communication bandwidth of 16 Kbps for the communication line T between the server and the client.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 3A, the information described in the application header of the communication packet as a file transfer request issued from the client includes, for example, "Protoc
ol Version: 1.0 ”and“ Operatio ”as a control command
n: GET FILE LARGE-SIZE.tar.gz ”, and the contents of the path are as follows: Path: / shar / doc / temp.

When a communication packet in which information as shown in FIG. 3A is described in the application header portion is transmitted from the client side to the server side, the communication band control device B transmits the transmitted communication packet to the server. It monitors, analyzes the contents of the communication packet, and detects header information described in the application header section.

On the other hand, the server side sends a response message to the client side, and in order to notify the size of the file specified by the client, information as shown in FIG. Sends a communication packet for the response message to the client. FIG. 3B shows an application header portion of a communication packet for a response message transmitted from the server to the client side. For example, "Protocol Version: 1.0" as a protocol version, and ACK RTRV LARGE as a control command. -SIZE.tar.gz ", and the contents such as" Saize: 2458956 "are described as the file size.

Then, the communication band control device B monitors and analyzes the communication packet of the response message, and detects that 2458956 bytes of file data is transferred from the server to the client. Thereby, the communication band control device B determines a communication band according to the file transfer.

In this case, since the transfer request is for a file of a large size of 1 megabyte or more, it is determined that a wide communication band is necessary, and the communication band is set to the initially set 8 Kbps.
From 16 Kbps to 16 Kbps, and also to the communication band control device A until the file transfer, which is the application control command, is completed.
Is notified to secure the communication band.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the communication line T becomes 16 Kbps by performing such communication band control.

At this time, rules for setting the communication band if the data size to be transferred are large are set in advance in the communication band controllers A and B. , B determine the communication band based on the setting. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, the communication bandwidth is normally set to 8 Kbps and the transmission bandwidth is set to 16 Kbps for data transfer of 1 megabyte or more, so that the communication bandwidth control is performed according to the setting.

Then, the communication band control devices A and B constantly monitor the communication packet between the client and the server, and when detecting that the file transfer process has been completed (detecting the communication packet indicating the end of the file transfer), The communication band controllers A and B notify each other of the end of the data transfer and return the communication band between the client and the server to 8 Kbps. Also in this case, for example, if one communication band control device (for example, communication band control device A) detects a communication packet indicating the end of the file transfer, the communication packet is detected by the other communication band control device (for example, communication band control device B). ).

During the file transfer, the communication packet transmitted between the client and the server by using the communication line T is not subjected to the communication band control as described above without performing the communication band control. Forward the packet.

In the above-described example, when the client makes a data request to the server, the bandwidth control processing is performed when the size of the requested data is explicitly indicated as the header information described in the application header section. However, in some cases, the size of the requested data is not explicitly indicated. In such a case, depending on the type of command, which command is used and which communication band is set in advance, the communication band is controlled based on the setting.

For example, a case will be described in which a client tries to obtain an e-mail address list stored in a server while using an application of the server. In this case, the client sets the header information described in the application header section of the communication packet to "Protocol Version: 1.
0 ”as the control command,“ Operation: GET MAILADDR
ESS LIST & ALL ADDRESS ”.

When such an application protocol transmits a communication packet described in the application header section from the client side to the server side, the communication band control device A monitors the communication packet passing through the communication line T, and Analyze the contents. When the header information described in the application header section of the communication packet is detected, a communication band corresponding to the application control command is determined from the content of the application control command.

In this case, it is determined that a wide communication band is necessary from the contents of the command, and the communication band is changed from the initial 8 Kbps to 1 band.
In addition to performing control to change to 6 Kbps, the communication band control device B is also notified to secure a communication band of 16 Kbps until the transfer processing of the electronic mail address list, which is the application control command, is completed. .

As described above, according to the contents of the application control command, it is possible to set in advance which application control command and how much bandwidth is required. Can be determined corresponding to each application control command.

The communication band controllers A and B constantly monitor the communication packets between the client and the server, and detect that the transfer processing of the e-mail address list has been completed (communication indicating that the transfer of the e-mail address list has been completed). Upon detecting the packet), the communication band controllers A and B notify each other of the end of the data transfer, and return the communication band between the client and the server to 8 Kbps.

In this case, similarly to the example described above, during the transfer of the e-mail address list, the communication packet transmitted between another client and the server passing through the communication line T is not transmitted. The communication packet is transferred without performing the communication band control as described above.

When performing the above-described communication band control, it is necessary to perform band control after mutually agreeing on band control between the communication band control device A and the communication band control device B. These communication band control devices A and B
There are various means for obtaining mutual agreement on band control, and the present invention is not particularly limited to this.
For example, each of the communication band control devices A and B has a management application necessary for performing communication band control, and sets rules for what kind of band control should be performed when a communication packet arrives. This can be realized by setting in the control device in advance. Such an agreement is necessary not only when performing control to extend the communication band but also when performing control to restore the communication band.

As described above, in this embodiment,
For example, when a certain client makes a data request to a certain server, the communication band control devices A and B provided on the communication line T convert the data request communication packet into (a)
Start address and end address of IP header, (b) IP
Header protocol number (TCP or UDP),
(C) A start port number and an end port number of a TCP or UDP header, and (d) a byte string (application control command) corresponding to a control command as header information of an application protocol are obtained, and a communication bandwidth is obtained based on the information. Is determined.

That is, based on the information (a) to (c), it is determined whether or not the application is to be bandwidth-controlled. If it is determined that the application is to be bandwidth-controlled, the application of (d) is performed. Communication band control is performed according to the content of the application control command. As the communication band processing, for example, the communication control device A sets the communication band to 1 based on the application control command from the communication packet passing through the communication line T.
If it is determined to be 6 Kbps, this is also notified to the other communication control device B, and the two communication control devices A and B both have a communication band of 16 Kbps and perform data communication corresponding to the application control command. Until the end, the communication band is secured. When the data transmission by the application control command ends, the communication band is returned to the initial band.

As described above, by performing the band control according to the application control command of the application to be communicated, for example, when large-size data is transferred, a wide area corresponding to the data is transferred only during the data transfer. Communication in an optimal band adapted to the traffic of the application, such as securing a communication band, becomes possible. Further, the communication packet of the application communication other than the target for which the bandwidth control is performed is not processed, and the communication packet is transferred as it is, so that the influence on other communication traffic can be reduced.

Further, the communication band control devices A and B are arranged on the communication line T so that the application (FIG. 1)
In the example, the groupware server GS and the groupware client GC) do not need to have a communication band control function, so that there is no need to modify the application itself, and the conventional application can be used as it is.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the communication started by the application control command is a communication within the same session. However, the communication is not limited to this, and may be a communication that is newly generated in another session. Good. As a result, for example, it is possible to perform control such that the bandwidth may be small for a control session, but the bandwidth is wide for a data transfer session.

In the above-described embodiment, as an example of communication band control, a communication band of 8 Kbps is normally set, and in the case of data transfer with a large data size, 16 Kb is used.
Although the example of the control with the band of ps has been described, it is needless to say that the band control is not limited to the example of the present embodiment. It is possible to set a band.

Further, according to the present invention, a processing program in which a processing procedure for realizing the present invention described above is described is created, and the processing program is recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy disk, an optical disk, or a hard disk. The present invention also includes a recording medium on which the processing program is recorded. Further, the processing program may be obtained from a network.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the communication band is controlled based on the header information of the application protocol, the optimum band control corresponding to the characteristics of the application can be performed. .

It is also possible to determine whether or not the communication is a communication for which band control is to be performed, based on information for identifying a communication source and a communication partner obtained from a communication packet and information indicating a communication to which application. Can be.
As a result, if it is determined that the communication should not be subjected to band control, the communication packet can be transferred without performing communication band control processing, so that the influence on traffic of other communication can be reduced. it can.

Further, since the application control command is used as the header information of the application protocol and the band control is performed according to the application control command, an optimum band according to the contents of the application is set. For example, if the command is a file transfer, it is possible to set an optimum bandwidth corresponding to the size of the file.

Thus, if the present invention is applied to an application service system such as an ASP, for example, when a user acquires a specific application, it is possible to set an optimum bandwidth according to the content of the application to be acquired. . For example, if the data size of the application to be transferred is large, a correspondingly large communication band is set, so that a comfortable application use environment can be provided to the user.

Then, after the communication band is changed to the communication band of a certain value, until the data transfer processing for the application control command of the communication packet is completed,
Each communication band control means secures the changed communication band and returns to the original communication band when the data transfer processing is completed. Therefore, the necessary communication band is secured only when necessary, so that there is no waste. A secure communication band is not secured, and an efficient communication band can be set.

Further, since the communication band control device for performing such communication band control is installed on the communication path, it is not necessary for each application to have such a communication band control function. Can be used as it is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic system diagram illustrating an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ASP system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a data structure of a communication packet used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information described in an application header section of a communication packet used in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A illustrates an application in a communication packet of a file transfer request from a client to a server. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of information described in a header part, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information described in an application header section in a communication packet of a response message from the server side to the client side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information described in an application header section of a communication packet used in the embodiment of the present invention, and is an application header section in a communication packet of an electronic mail address transfer request from a client side to a server side. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information described in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a case where the communication band of the communication line T is 16 Kbps in the system configuration diagram of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 A, B Communication band control device GC Groupware client GS Groupware server NW1 User side network NW2 ASP side network T Communication line

Claims (6)

[Claims] When a plurality of information processing means for executing an application is connected to a communication line and communication is performed between the information processing means among the plurality of information processing means, the information processing means is adapted to perform the communication according to a communication situation. A communication band control method for controlling a communication band of a communication line, wherein a communication band control unit is provided between one information processing unit and the communication line and between the other information processing unit and the communication line. When the units communicate with each other, the communication band control unit monitors a communication packet transmitted on the communication line, and from the communication packet,
A communication band control method comprising: obtaining information for identifying a communication source and a communication partner; information indicating which application is to be communicated; and header information of an application protocol, and performing band control based on the header information of the application protocol. . 2. An application control command is used as header information of the application protocol,
2. The communication bandwidth control method according to claim 1, wherein bandwidth control is performed according to the application control command. 3. When one of the communication band control means analyzes the contents of the communication packet and determines that the communication band is to be changed to a certain value, the other communication band control means transmits the communication packet to the other communication band control means. The communication band control means secures the changed communication band until the data transfer process for the application control command of the communication packet ends, and when the data transfer process ends, the original communication is notified. 3. The communication band control method according to claim 2, wherein the communication band is returned to a band. 4. A plurality of information processing means for executing a certain application are connected to a communication line, and when communication is performed between certain information processing means among the plurality of information processing means, said plurality of information processing means are adapted to perform communication according to a communication situation. A communication band control device for controlling a communication band of a communication line, wherein the communication band control device is provided between one information processing unit and the communication line and between the other information processing unit and the communication line. When the information processing means communicates with each other, a communication packet sent out on the communication line is monitored. Acquiring the header information of the application protocol, and performing bandwidth control based on the header information of the application protocol. Communication bandwidth control apparatus that. 5. The communication band control device according to claim 4, wherein an application control command is used as header information of the application protocol, and band control is performed according to the application control command. 6. When one of the communication band control devices analyzes the contents of the communication packet and determines that the communication band is to be changed to a certain value, the other communication band control device transmits the communication band control device to the other communication band control device. The communication band control means secures the changed communication band until the data transfer process for the application control command of the communication packet ends, and when the data transfer process ends, the original communication is notified. 6. The communication band control device according to claim 5, wherein the communication band is returned to a band.