JP2014099798A - Communication system, communication control method and communication control device - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To reduce transfer processing performance such as an increase in cost, an increase in delay due to communication between communication devices, an increase in the size of a table held by a selection device, and an increase in delay due to an uneven processing load of each communication device. To solve the drop in transfer processing performance.
When a selection device IF6 selects an appropriate communication device GW2 for each packet, the same communication device GW2 is selected as a transfer destination for packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer, and The selection can be made in consideration of both the reduction of the size of the table held by the selection device IF6 and / or the equal distribution of the processing load of each communication device.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication control method, and a communication control device, and more particularly to a technique for selecting a processing device for a packet transmitted and received between a terminal and a service providing server.

  In recent years, research and standardization activities for the 3.9th generation mobile communication system and the 4th generation mobile communication system have been promoted as a method for realizing higher speed and higher quality of mobile radio communication. 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), a standardization organization that formulates LTE (Long Term Evolution), one of the 3.9th generation mobile communication systems, and LTE Advanced, which is one of the 4th generation mobile communication systems. ) Formulates TS (Technical Specification) as a specification of the above-mentioned standard.

  One of the gateways in 3GPP TS, P-GW (PDN Gateway, PDN is an abbreviation of Packet Data Network) can have an interface with a plurality of devices, and C-Plane (Control Plane) Control packet reception and transmission, and U-Plane (User Plane) data packet reception and transmission are performed. A U-Plane data packet is transmitted from a service providing server belonging to an IP (Internet Protocol) network to a terminal in a downlink (DL) direction (hereinafter referred to as a DL packet), and transmitted from the terminal to the service providing server. Can be classified into packets in the uplink (UL) direction (hereinafter referred to as UL packets). In 3GPP TS, the P-GW identifies the terminal, session, bearer, etc. to which each packet belongs for each of the received DL packet and UL packet, and based on the result, a transmission byte for charging and statistics Specifications for counting the number of packets, the number of transmission packets, etc., and assigning an appropriate sequence number to the transmission packets are defined.

  In 3GPP TS, P-GW performs packet filtering for associating QoS (Quality of Service) conditions applied to each packet for each received DL packet and UL packet. Based on this, specifications for applying band control are defined. Here, the bandwidth control is, for example, packet transfer rate control or packet discard. The above-mentioned QoS conditions are notified to the P-GW by receiving a C-Plane packet from a node PCRF (Policy and Charging Rule Function) that manages QoS and charging policies, or in advance to the P-GW. Is set.

  A P-GW in a 3GPP TS is a logical entity to the last, and may be physically configured as an aggregate of a plurality of hardware. The P-GW is, for example, a CGW (C-Plane Gateway) which is hardware for analyzing a C-Plane reception packet and generating a C-Plane transmission packet, a U-Plane reception packet analysis, and a U-Plane transmission packet. A plurality of UGWs (U-Plane Gateways), which are hardware for generating the above, may be installed. The P-GW transfers the C-Plane packet and U-Plane packet received from the functional entity other than the P-GW to the CGW and UGW, and receives the C-Plane packet and U-Plane received from the CGW and UGW. You may make it provide IF (Interface) which is the hardware which transfers the packet to functional entities other than P-GW.

In Non-Patent Document 1, requirements regarding the operation of the P-GW and specifications regarding connection and disconnection of a new call are defined.
Further, in Patent Document 1, when there are a plurality of AGWs (Access Gateways) that analyze U-Plane reception packets and generate U-Plane transmission packets, an appropriate AGW is used as a transfer destination of received U-Plane packets. A technique for selecting is disclosed.

JP 2009-253678 A

3GPP TS 23.401 V11.1.0, (2012-3), Technical Specification

In a communication apparatus such as the 3GPP TS and the P-GW similar to Patent Document 1 described above, when a UGW that is a U-Plane packet processing apparatus is divided into a plurality of hardware, the U-Plane received packet in the IF Depending on the method of selecting the transfer destination UGW, packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer may be transferred to different UGWs. At this time, functions such as giving a sequence number for each session, charging for each session or each bearer and the number of transmission bytes for statistics, and bandwidth limitation related to transmission throughput for each user or each session or each bearer, It must be done in coordination between them. However, for that purpose, very complicated processing is required, and there is a concern that transfer processing performance is reduced such as an increase in development cost and an increase in delay.
Therefore, it is desirable that the IF selects the same UGW as a transfer destination for U-Plane packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer.

Further, in a communication apparatus such as the 3GPP TS and the P-GW similar to Patent Document 1 described above, when a CGW that is a C-Plane packet processing apparatus is divided into a plurality of hardware, C-Plane reception in IF Depending on the method of selecting a packet transfer destination CGW, packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer may be transferred to different CGWs. At this time, when a C-Plane packet indicating a response to the C-Plane received packet is generated by the CGW, a transmission throughput upper limit value set in a user unit, a session unit, or a bearer unit set in the C-Plane packet indicating the response And the like need to be held in each CGW or stored in another device. However, in this case, compared to the case where the users, sessions, and bearers in charge of each CGW are allocated and allocated, an increase in memory capacity cost due to an increase in information that must be held in each CGW, There is a concern that transfer processing performance may be degraded due to an increase in delay for inquiring information from the apparatus.
Therefore, it is desirable that the IF selects the same CGW as a transfer destination for C-Plane packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer.

As a method for selecting the transfer destination UGW or the transfer destination CGW in the IF to satisfy these requirements, for example, the following two proposals are conceivable.
As a first proposal, a method is conceivable in which a routing table indicating the corresponding transfer destination UGW or transfer destination CGW is set in the IF for the user identifier, session identifier, or bearer identifier set in the packet. However, in this method, it is necessary to set a huge routing table having the same number of entries as the total number of users, the total number of sessions, or the total number of bearers supported by one P-GW in the IF. In general, in a hardware chip used in a device that requires high-speed packet transfer processing such as IF, the time required for a search increases as the number of entries in the routing table increases. When IF is set to IF, there is a concern that transfer processing performance may be degraded due to an increase in delay or the like.

  As a second proposal, a hash calculation using the user identifier, session identifier, or bearer identifier set in the packet as an input value is performed, and the transfer destination UGW or the transfer destination CGW corresponding to the output result of the hash calculation is performed. A method of setting the table indicating the IF to IF is conceivable. However, with this method, it is possible to evenly distribute the number of users, sessions, or bearers transferred to each UGW or CGW, but the number of packets and bytes that each user communicates with each session or each bearer, etc. The amount of traffic is not necessarily equivalent. Therefore, for example, if the selection result of the transfer destination UGW or transfer destination CGW of a heavy traffic session or a bearer with a large traffic volume, such as a heavy user or a premium user of a high-price plan, is biased, processing of the corresponding UGW or CGW There is a concern that only the load becomes high, transfer delay increases due to congestion, and the like, and the transfer processing performance required for the entire P-GW cannot be satisfied.

  In view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide the same user or the same session when the selection device selects an appropriate communication device for each packet in a wireless or wired communication system when there are a plurality of communication devices. Or, for packets belonging to the same bearer, select the same communication device as the transfer destination and consider both reduction in the size of the table held by the selected device and / or equal distribution of the processing load of each communication device Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, a communication control method, and a communication control apparatus that enable the selection.

According to the first solution of the present invention,
A communication system,
A plurality of communication devices (GWs) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection device (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication device from among the plurality of communication devices as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication device;
A policy management device (PS) that holds logic for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet in the selection device, and that provides conditions for the transfer destination communication device created by the logic to the selection device;
With
The selection device is:
A first table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to broadband communication, provided from the policy management device;
A second table for storing a condition for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication provided from the policy management device;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication device,
The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management device, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication device for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication device using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, selects the transfer destination communication device using the second table,
A communication system is provided in which the processing unit transfers the packet to the transfer destination communication device of the selected packet.

According to the second solution of the present invention,
A communication control method in a communication system, comprising:
The communication system is:
A plurality of communication devices (GWs) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection device (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication device from among the plurality of communication devices as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication device;
A policy management device (PS) that holds logic for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet in the selection device, and that provides conditions for the transfer destination communication device created by the logic to the selection device;
With
The selection device is:
A first table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to broadband communication, provided from the policy management device;
A second table for storing a condition for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication provided from the policy management device;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication device,

The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management device, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication device for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication device using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, selects the transfer destination communication device using the second table,
A communication control method is provided in which the processing unit transfers a packet to the transfer destination communication device of a selected packet.

According to the third solution of the present invention,
A communication control device,
A plurality of communication units (GW) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection unit (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication unit from among the plurality of communication units, as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication unit,
With
The selection unit includes:
Broadband communication provided from a policy management unit (PS) that holds logic for selecting a packet transfer destination communication unit in the selection unit and provides the selection unit with conditions relating to the transfer destination communication unit created by the logic A first table storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication unit of packets belonging to
A second table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication unit of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, provided from the policy management unit;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication unit,
The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management unit, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication unit for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication unit using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-wideband communication, selects the transfer destination communication unit using the second table,
A communication control device is provided, wherein the processing unit transfers a packet to the transfer destination communication unit of a selected packet.

  According to the present invention, when there are a plurality of communication devices in a wireless or wired communication system, when the selection device selects an appropriate communication device for each packet, the packet belongs to the same user or the same session or the same bearer. On the other hand, communication that enables selection in consideration of both the reduction of the size of the table held by the selection device and / or the equal distribution of the processing load of each communication device by selecting the same communication device as the transfer destination. A system, a communication control method, and a communication control apparatus can be provided.

It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the function structure of the communication system based on the Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows one structural example of the communication system based on 1st Example. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the selection apparatus (IF) based on a 1st Example. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an IF memory unit according to the first embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the policy management apparatus (PS) based on a 1st Example. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a PS memory unit according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information which determines the packet which belongs to a 1st Example, and determines the packet which belongs to a broadband user or a broadband session or a broadband bearer, and determines a forwarding destination GW. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information which determines the packet which belongs to a non-broadband user, a non-wideband session, or a non-wideband bearer, and determines the forwarding destination GW based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information for resolving the address of GW selected as transfer destination GW of the packet which IF received based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information of the processing throughput of each GW used as the transfer destination of the packet which IF received based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information of the number of the broadband users or broadband sessions or broadband bearers currently connected to each GW used as the transfer destination of the packet which IF received based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the information which shows whether each GW used as the transfer destination of the packet which IF received based on 1st Example is now working. It is a figure which shows an example of the selection process of the transfer destination GW of the received packet in IF based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the entry addition process with respect to the transfer destination GW table for broadband communication in PS based on 1st Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the transfer destination GW update process of one or both of the transfer destination GW table for wideband communication and the transfer destination GW table for non-wideband communication according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the update process of one or both of the forwarding destination GW table for broadband communications and the forwarding destination GW2 table for non-broadband communications at the time of the change of the identification information of the user or session or bearer in the PS according to the first embodiment It is. It is explanatory drawing about the update (1) of the transfer destination GW2 table 331 (661) (FIG. 7) for broadband communications. It is explanatory drawing about the update (2) of the transfer destination GW2 table 331 (661) (FIG. 7) for broadband communications.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Before describing various embodiments, an outline thereof will be described.
A typical embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows. That is, a server device connected to a network, a terminal device connected to the network and communicating packets with the server device, a communication device relaying communication of the packets, and an appropriate communication device And a control method therefor, wherein when the plurality of communication devices exist, the selection device uses the same user when selecting an appropriate communication device for each packet. Or, for packets belonging to the same session or the same bearer, select the same communication device as the transfer destination and reduce the size of the table held by the selected device and / or evenly distribute the processing load of each communication device. It is characterized by selecting in consideration of both.

  FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram for explaining an overview of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a selection device (Interface) (hereinafter referred to as IF) 6 is a service providing server (Service Server, hereinafter referred to as SS) 1, a communication device (gateway: Gateway, hereinafter referred to as GW) 2, or a policy management device (Policy Server). , Hereinafter referred to as PS) 3, or base station (hereinafter referred to as BS) 4, terminal (Mobile Station, hereinafter referred to as MS) 5, or other external communication device (External Gateway, hereinafter referred to as EG) 7 to C- A Plane or U-Plane packet is received. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, when receiving a packet, the IF 6 determines the packet type. The IF 6 performs GW2 selection for broadband communication or GW2 selection for non-wideband communication according to the determination result of whether or not the communication is broadband communication, and transfers the packet to the selected GW2. PS3 acquires broadband communication related information. The PS 3 creates broadband communication identification information and a selection destination GW 2 list (including addition / deletion of entries), and notifies the IF 6 of information related to broadband communication. For example, the IF 6 determines the transfer destination of the received packet according to the processing example shown in FIG. 13 described later (details will be described later). 1 and 13 show an example in which a user or session or bearer is classified into two types of broadband communication and non-broadband communication, but classification based on the traffic volume of the user or session or bearer is 2 Not only the type but also three or more types may be used. When there are three or more classifications based on the traffic volume of the user, session, or bearer, the classification of the user, session, or bearer to which the packet received by the IF 6 belongs is compared with the two types of cases described here. The difference is that the number of tables and steps increases depending on the number of classifications.

  When there are a plurality of GWs 2 by this communication system, when the IF 6 selects an appropriate GW 2 for each packet, the same GW 2 is selected as a transfer destination for packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer. In addition, it is possible to perform selection considering both reduction of the size of the table held by the IF 6 and equal distribution of the processing load of each GW 2.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to the drawings.

1. System and equipment

<System configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the communication system according to the first embodiment. The communication system of the first embodiment includes an MS 5 that performs wireless communication or wired communication with the BS 4, an IF 6 that communicates with the MS 5 via the BS 4, a GW 2 that communicates with the IF 6, a SS 1 that communicates with the IF 6, and a communication with the IF 6. PS3 that performs communication and EG7 that communicates with IF6.
Here, PS3, GW2, and IF6 may be mounted on the same device or different devices. BS4 can be omitted. In this case, MS5 communicates with IF6 without going through BS4, and IF6 communicates with MS5 without going through BS4. Moreover, GW2 and PS3 may communicate via IF6, and may communicate not via IF6.

FIG. 2 shows the components of the communication system of the present embodiment one by one, but the number of these components is actually arbitrary. For example, the communication system of the present embodiment may include a plurality of MSs 5 communicating with one BS 4, may further include a plurality of BSs 4, may further include a plurality of PS 3s, and may further include a plurality of GWs 2. Further, a plurality of SS1s may be included, a plurality of IFs 6 may be included, and a plurality of EGs 7 may be further included.

<Apparatus configuration: IF6>
FIG. 3 shows a functional block of one configuration example of the IF 6 used in this embodiment. The IF 6 includes, for example, an SS interface unit 61, a BS interface unit 62, a PS interface unit 63, a GW interface unit 64, an EG interface unit 65, a memory unit 66, and a processing unit 67.
The SS interface unit 61 is an interface with SS1. Using the SS interface unit 61, the IF 6 transmits and receives IP packets to and from SS1.
The BS interface unit 62 is an interface with the BS 4. The IF 6 transmits and receives IP packets to and from the BS 4 using the BS interface unit 62. In the case of a communication system in which the BS 4 is omitted, the IF 6 directly transmits and receives IP packets to and from the MS 5 without using the BS 4 using the BS interface unit 62.
The PS interface unit 63 is an interface with PS3. The IF 6 transmits and receives IP packets to and from the PS 3 using the PS interface unit 63. In the case of a communication system in which PS3 is omitted or IF6 and PS3 are mounted on the same device, this interface unit can be omitted.
The GW interface unit 64 is an interface with the GW 2. Using the GW interface unit 64, the IF 6 transmits and receives IP packets to and from the GW 2.
The EG interface unit 65 is an interface with the EG 7. Using the EG interface unit 65, the IF 6 transmits and receives IP packets to and from the EG 7.

Note that the interface units 61-65 in the IF 6 described above may be collectively referred to as an IF 6 interface unit or a network interface unit. These interface units are connected to the memory unit 66 and the processing unit 67 by an internal bus or the like.
The memory unit 66 stores / manages information such as IP packets to be transmitted / received and addresses of SS1, GW2, PS3, BS4, and EG7 to be connected as necessary.
The processing unit 67 is configured by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU). The processing unit 67 manages information held in the memory unit 66, and further executes various programs stored in the memory unit 66, thereby performing various processes such as IP packet construction or analysis. Packet transmission / reception processing, packet type determination, broadband communication determination, packet transfer destination GW2 selection, and the like are performed.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a configuration example of the memory unit of the IF 6 of the present embodiment.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the memory unit 66 holds a table 661 to a table 663.
The table 661 is a transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, and shows information for determining a packet belonging to a broadband communication user, a broadband communication session, or a broadband communication bearer and determining the transfer destination GW2. By using the table 661, information such as the identifier of the broadband communication user or the broadband communication session or the broadband communication bearer and the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. Details of the table 661 will be described later (see FIG. 7).
The table 662 is a transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication, and shows information for determining a packet belonging to a non-wideband communication user, a non-wideband communication session, or a non-wideband communication bearer and determining the transfer destination GW2. By using the table 662, information such as the virtual node ID and the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. Details of the table 662 will be described later (see FIG. 8).
The table 663 is an address table of the transfer destination GW2, and shows information on the MAC address and IP address of each GW2 that is a transfer destination of the packet received by the IF6. By using the table 663, information such as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2, the MAC address of the transfer destination GW2, and the IP address of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. Details of the table 663 will be described later (see FIG. 9).

<Details of each table held in the memory unit 66 of the IF 6>
FIG. 7 shows a table 661 as an example of information held in the memory unit 66 of the IF 6 of this embodiment. The table 661 shows information for determining a packet belonging to a broadband communication user, a broadband communication session, or a broadband communication bearer and determining a transfer destination GW2.
The table 661 stores, for example, an identifier of a broadband communication user, a broadband communication session, or a broadband communication bearer (wideband communication identifier: Heavy Traffic ID), and an identifier of the transfer destination GW2 (GW2 ID).
The identifier of the broadband communication user or the broadband communication session or the broadband communication bearer is a parameter for identifying the broadband communication user or the broadband communication session or the broadband communication bearer. The identifier of the broadband communication user or the broadband communication session or the broadband communication bearer may be, for example, a per-user identifier such as one or both of an IPv4 address and an IPv6 Prefix allocated to the MS 5 or an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). In addition, it may be a session unit identifier such as TEID (Tunnel Endpoint IDentifier) in GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol. It can be a bearer unit identifier or a combination of these. In may be indicated.
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
Note that the initial value of the information included in the table 661 may be set in advance in IF6, or may be set by a packet received by IF6 from PS3 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. These pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the IF 6 from the PS 3 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 8 shows a table 662 as an example of information held in the memory unit 66 of the IF 6 of this embodiment. The table 662 shows information for determining a packet belonging to a non-wideband communication user, a non-wideband communication session, or a non-wideband communication bearer, and determining a transfer destination GW2.
The table 662 stores, for example, a virtual node ID (Virtual Node ID) and an identifier (GW2 ID) of the transfer destination GW2.
The virtual node ID is a parameter for determining the corresponding transfer destination GW2 when the user or session or bearer to which the packet received by the IF 6 belongs is determined to be non-broadband communication. The virtual node ID may be managed by a numerical value corresponding to the output result of the hash calculation using the identifier of the user or session or bearer to which the packet received by the IF 6 belongs, for example.
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
Note that the initial value of the information included in the table 662 may be set in advance in IF6, or may be set by a packet received by IF6 from PS3 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. These pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the IF 6 from the PS 3 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 9 shows a table 663 as an example of information held in the memory unit 66 of the IF 6 of this embodiment. The table 663 shows information for resolving the address of GW2 selected as the transfer destination GW2 of the packet received by IF6.
The table 663 stores, for example, an identifier (GW2 ID) of the transfer destination GW2, a MAC address (GW2 MAC) of the transfer destination GW2, an IP address (GW2 IP) of the transfer destination GW2, and the like.
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
The MAC address of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter indicating a MAC address for transferring each GW2 as a destination.
The IP address of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter indicating a MAC address for transferring each GW2 as a destination. For example, the IP address of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed with an IPv4 address, may be managed with an IPv6 Prefix, or may be managed with an IPv6 full address. When IPv4 and IPv6 addresses coexist, a parameter indicating the IP version may be separately set in this table for distinction.
Note that the initial value of the information included in the table 663 may be set in advance in IF6, or may be set by a packet received by IF6 from PS3 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. These pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the IF 6 from the PS 3 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

<Device configuration: PS3>
FIG. 5 shows a functional block of a configuration example of PS3 used in this embodiment. The PS 3 includes, for example, an IF interface unit 31, a GW interface unit 32, a memory unit 33, and a processing unit 34.
The IF interface unit 31 is an interface with the IF 6. Using the IF interface unit 31, the PS 3 transmits and receives IP packets to and from the IF 6. In the case of a communication system in which PS3 and IF6 are mounted on the same device, this interface unit can be omitted.
The GW interface unit 32 is an interface with the GW 2. Using the GW interface unit 32, PS3 transmits and receives IP packets to and from GW2. In the case where PS3 and GW2 always communicate via IF6, or in the case of a communication system in which PS3 and GW2 are mounted on the same device, this interface unit can be omitted.

Note that the PS3 interface units 31-32 described above may be collectively referred to as PS3 interface units or network interface units. These interface units are connected to the memory unit 33 and the processing unit 34 by an internal bus or the like.
The memory unit 33 stores and manages information such as the IP packet to be transmitted and received, the IF 6 to be connected, and the address of the GW 2 as necessary.
The processing unit 34 is configured by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU). The processing unit 34 manages information held in the memory unit 33, and further executes various programs stored in the memory unit 33, thereby performing various processes such as IP packet construction or analysis. Packet transmission / reception processing, packet type determination, broadband communication determination, creation and update of a transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and a transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication are performed.
Although a detailed description of the internal configuration is omitted, SS1, GW2, BS4, MS5, and EG7, which are components other than IF6 and PS3 that constitute the communication system of the present embodiment, are similarly provided in the network interface. Unit, a memory unit, and a processing unit. These processing units are also realized by the CPU in the same manner as the processing unit 67 of the IF 6, and execute and process a function program set for each apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a configuration example of the memory section of the PS3 of this embodiment.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the memory unit 33 holds tables 331 to 335.
The table 331 is a transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, and shows information for determining a packet belonging to a broadband communication user, a broadband communication session, or a broadband communication bearer and determining the transfer destination GW2. By using the table 331, information such as an identifier of a broadband communication user or a broadband communication session or a broadband communication bearer and an identifier of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. The table 331 may be managed in the same manner as the table 661 (see FIG. 7).
The table 332 is a transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication, and shows information for determining a packet belonging to a non-wideband communication user, a non-wideband communication session, or a non-wideband communication bearer and determining the transfer destination GW2. By using the table 332, information such as a virtual node ID and an identifier of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. The table 332 may be managed in the same manner as the table 662 (see FIG. 8).
A table 333 is a GW2 unit processing throughput table, and shows information on the processing throughput of each GW2 that is a transfer destination of a packet received by the IF6. By using the table 333, information such as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 and the processing throughput of the transfer destination GW2 can be managed. Details of the table 333 will be described later (see FIG. 10).
The table 334 is a GW2-unit wideband communication number table, and indicates information on the number of broadband communication users, broadband communication sessions, or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW2 that is a transfer destination of the packet received by the IF6. By using the table 334, it is possible to manage information such as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 and the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW2. Details of the table 334 will be described later (see FIG. 11).
The table 335 is an operating GW2 identification table, and indicates information on whether or not each GW2 that is a transfer destination of a packet received by the IF 6 is currently operating. By using the table 335, it is possible to manage information such as an identifier of the transfer destination GW2 and a flag indicating whether or not each GW2 is currently operating. Details of the table 335 will be described later (see FIG. 12).

<Details of each table held by the memory unit 33 of the PS3>
FIG. 7 shows a table 331 as an example of information held in the memory unit 33 of the PS3 of this embodiment. The table 331 may be managed in the same manner as the table 661.
The initial value of the information included in the table 331 may be set in advance in PS3, or may be set by a packet received by PS3 from IF6 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. Further, these pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the PS 3 from the IF 6 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 8 shows a table 332 as an example of information held in the memory unit 33 of the PS 3 of this embodiment. The table 332 may be managed in the same manner as the table 662.
Note that the initial value of the information included in the table 332 may be set in advance in PS3, or may be set by a packet received by PS3 from IF6 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. Further, these pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the PS 3 from the IF 6 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 10 shows a table 333 as an example of information held by the memory unit 33 of the PS3 of this embodiment. A table 333 indicates information on the processing throughput of each GW 2 that is a transfer destination of a packet received by the IF 6.
The table 333 stores, for example, an identifier (GW2 ID) of the transfer destination GW2, a processing throughput (Throughput) of the transfer destination GW2, and the like.
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
The processing throughput of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for indicating the processing throughput performance of the transfer destination GW2. The processing throughput performance of the transfer destination GW2 may be, for example, a static value based on the hardware performance of the GW2, or information such as the CPU usage rate and the peak value or average value of the transmission throughput acquired as the current processing load of the GW2. It may be a dynamic value based on. In addition, the PS 3 may acquire a parameter indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 directly from the GW 2 or may acquire it via a device that manages the statistical information acquired by the maintenance management device. Good.
The initial value of the information included in the table 333 may be set in advance in PS3, or may be set by a packet received by PS3 from IF6 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. Further, these pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the PS 3 from the IF 6 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 11 shows a table 334 as an example of information held in the memory unit 33 of the PS3 of this embodiment. The table 334 shows information on the number of broadband communication users, broadband communication sessions, or broadband communication bearers that are connected to each GW 2 that is a transfer destination of the packet received by the IF 6.
The table 334 stores, for example, the identifier (GW2 ID) of the transfer destination GW2, and the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW2 (Number of Heavy Traffic).
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
The number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW 2 is the same as the broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer currently connected to each GW 2 to which the packet received by the IF 6 is transferred. Is a parameter for indicating the number of.
The initial value of the information included in the table 334 may be set in advance in PS3, or may be set by a packet received by PS3 from IF6 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. Further, these pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the PS 3 from the IF 6 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.

FIG. 12 shows a table 335 as an example of information held by the memory unit 33 of the PS3 of this embodiment. The table 335 is an operating GW2 identification table, and indicates information on whether or not each GW2 that is a transfer destination of a packet received by the IF 6 is currently operating.
For example, by using the table 335, an identifier (GW2 ID) of the transfer destination GW2, a flag indicating whether each GW2 is currently operating (Working Flag), and the like are stored in the table 335.
The identifier of the transfer destination GW2 is a parameter for the IF 6 to uniquely identify the GW2. For example, the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 may be managed as a numerical value or may be managed as an arbitrary character string.
The flag indicating whether or not each GW2 is currently operating is a parameter for indicating whether or not each GW2 that is a transfer destination of the packet received by the IF 6 is operating. For example, when information indicating a failure of GW2 with PS3 is notified, the setting value corresponding to GW2 of this flag is set to “NO”, and information indicating recovery from the failure of GW2 with PS3 is notified. If the information indicating that the GW 2 with the PS is normal is notified, the setting value of the flag corresponding to the GW 2 is set to “YES”.
The initial value of the information included in the table 335 may be set in advance in PS3, or may be set by a packet received by PS3 from IF6 or GW2 or a command input by an operator. Further, these pieces of information can be updated by a packet received by the PS 3 from the IF 6 or GW 2 or a command input by the operator.
Above, description about an example of the apparatus structure of a present Example is complete | finished.

2. Processing Subsequently, an example of the operation processing of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
In the following, a case where a user or session or bearer is classified into two types of broadband communication and non-broadband communication will be described as an example. There may be more than one type. When there are three or more classifications based on the traffic volume of the user, session, or bearer, the classification of the user, session, or bearer to which the packet received by the IF 6 belongs is compared with the two types of cases described below. The difference is that the number of tables and steps increases depending on the number of classifications.

<Operation processing: Selection of transfer destination GW2 of received packet in IF6>
FIG. 13 shows an example of the selection process of the transfer destination GW2 of the received packet in the IF 6 of this embodiment.
In step S601, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 receives the packet at the SS interface unit 61, the BS interface unit 62, the PS interface unit 63, the GW interface unit 64, or the EG interface unit 65. In this case, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 determines the packet type such as the type of the C-Plane or U-Plane of the packet and the opposite device that is the transmission source of the packet, based on the header analysis of the received packet, for example. Then, it is determined whether or not the packet needs to be transferred to GW2.
If it is determined that there is no need to transfer the packet to GW2, in step S602N, the processing unit 67 of IF6 selects an appropriate transfer destination of the packet based on the type and content of the received packet, and ends the process. To do.
If it is determined that the packet needs to be forwarded to GW2, in step S603Y, the processing unit 67 of IF6 searches the transfer destination GW2 table 661 for broadband communication stored in the memory unit 66, and the packet is It is determined whether the packet is used for communication of a broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer. For example, when the received packet is a U-Plane DL packet, the table 661 may be managed as shown in FIG. When the table 661 is managed as shown in FIG. 7, the IF6 processing unit, for the destination IPv4 address or the destination IPv6 Prefix included in the IP header of the packet, the broadband communication identifier (Heavy Traffic ID) managed in the table 661. ) Is searched for a match. If there is a match, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 determines that the packet is a packet used for communication of the broadband communication user. If there is no match, the packet is used for communication of the broadband communication user. It is determined that the packet is not used.

If it is determined in step S603Y that the packet is a packet used for broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer communication, in step S604Y, the processing unit 67 of IF6 is held in the memory unit 66. Based on the search result of the table 661, GW2 which is a packet transfer destination is determined. For example, if the table 661 is managed as shown in FIG. 7, the IF 6 extracts from the table 661 the identifier of the packet transfer destination GW2 corresponding to the broadband communication user IP address that matches in the search result in step S603Y.
If it is determined in step S603Y that the packet is not a packet used for broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer communication, the processing unit 67 of IF6 is held in the memory unit 66 in step S605N. A packet transfer destination GW2 selection logic for non-wideband communication is applied to determine GW2 to be a packet transfer destination. For example, when the received packet is a U-Plane DL packet, the IF6 processing unit 67 inputs the destination IPv4 address or the destination IPv6 Prefix included in the IP header of the packet as the packet transfer destination GW2 selection logic for non-wideband communication. A hash calculation using a key may be applied. Here, the hash calculation refers to, for example, CRC16-CCITT. At this time, for example, when the transfer destination GW2 table 662 for non-broadband communication held in the memory unit 66 is managed as shown in FIG. 8, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 displays the output result of the hash calculation as a virtual The table 662 is searched as a node ID (Virtual Node ID), and the identifier of the packet transfer destination GW2 corresponding to the virtual node ID is extracted from the table 662. Further, as the packet transfer destination GW2 selection logic for non-wideband communication, the hash calculation and a pair of the identifier of the non-wideband communication user or the non-wideband communication session or the non-wideband communication bearer and the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 are held as an entry. You may use a table together. The table may be held in the same format as the table 661 shown in FIG. For example, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 first uses the table for the identifier of the non-wideband communication user, the non-wideband communication session, or the non-wideband communication bearer to which the packet received in step S601 or the received packet included in the memory unit 66 belongs. Search for a match among the identifiers of the managed non-broadband communication user or non-broadband communication session or non-broadband communication bearer. If there is a match, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 corresponds to the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 registered in combination with the identifier of the matched non-wideband communication user or non-wideband communication session or non-wideband communication bearer. If GW2 is determined as the transfer destination GW2 and there is no match, the transfer destination GW2 may be determined based on the hash calculation.
In step S606, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 transfers the packet received in step 601 to the GW 2 that is the transfer destination of the packet determined in step 604Y or step 605N. At this time, the processing unit 67 of the IF 6 may transfer the packet received in step 601 to the GW 2 as it is, or may transfer the packet to the GW 2 after rewriting the header or the like. For example, when the table 663 held in the memory unit 66 of IF6 is managed as shown in FIG. 9, the processing unit 67 of IF6 uses the identifier of GW2 determined as the transfer destination in step 604Y or step 605N to the table 663. Search from. Then, the processing unit 67 of IF6 sets the MAC address of GW2 extracted from the table 663 to the destination MAC address of the Ether header of the packet received at Step 601, and between the Ether header and the IP header of the packet received at Step 601. Alternatively, an Outer IP header in which the GW2 IPv4 address corresponding to the identifier of the GW2 extracted from the table 663 is set as a destination at an appropriate position before or after the packet is transferred to the GW2. Good.

<Operation processing: Creation of one or both of a transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and a transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication in PS3, GW2, or IF6>
An example of processing for creating one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication in PS3, GW2, or IF6 is shown below.
(Wide-band communication)
PS3 holds broadband communication determination conditions based on the carrier's policy, and determines whether or not to register each user, each session, and each bearer communicating using GW2 in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication. judge. Here, the determination condition for broadband communication is, for example, the number of received packets or received bytes within a certain time from the history of received packets or received bytes for each user, session, or bearer measured by GW2. It may be determined whether the total amount exceeds the threshold value held in PS3. At this time, the threshold value held in PS3 may be set individually for each user, for each session, or for each bearer, or may be set in common. In addition, for example, broadband communication may be determined based on subscriber information or billing amount in user units, session units, or bearer units as determination conditions for broadband communication. For example, for subscribers who have subscribed to a certain high-priced plan, PS3 holds subscribers who guarantee higher bandwidth communications, such as when the upper limit bandwidth is larger than other users. A user whose information indicates that he / she is subscribed to a certain high price plan may be determined by the PS 3 as a broadband communication user. In addition, the determination condition for broadband communication may be a single condition or may be a determination condition that matches a plurality of conditions.

Here, the holding of the determination conditions for the broadband communication and the determination of the broadband communication may be performed by the GW 2 or the IF 6. The retention of the broadband communication determination conditions and the broadband communication determination may be performed by only one device of PS3, GW2, or IF6, or may be performed by a plurality of devices.
The PS 3 (processing unit 34) uses the broadband communication to identify the identifier of the transfer destination GW 2 corresponding to each user, each session, or each bearer determined to be broadband communication based on the broadband communication determination conditions based on the policy of the communication carrier. To the destination transfer destination GW2 table. For example, the PS3 is configured so that the ratio of the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW2 and the number of broadband communication users, broadband communication sessions, or broadband communication bearers is as uniform as possible with respect to the currently operating GW2. An identifier may be set. Here, the processing throughput performance of GW2 may be a static value based on the hardware performance of GW2, or information such as the CPU usage rate and the peak value or average value of transmission throughput acquired as the current processing load of GW2. It may be a dynamic value based on. In addition, the PS 3 may acquire a parameter indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 directly from the GW 2 or may acquire it via a device that manages the statistical information acquired by the maintenance management device. Good.

For example, in the memory unit 33 of PS3, the transfer destination GW2 table 331 for broadband communication is managed as shown in FIG. 7, and the GW2 unit processing throughput table 333 is managed as shown in FIG. Assume that the table 335 is managed as shown in FIG. In this case, the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 reads the identifier of each currently operating GW 2 in the table 335 and the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW 2 in the table 333 from the memory unit 33, and each GW 2 in the table 333. The table 335 is currently in operation so that the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance and the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers to which the GW 2 is the transfer destination in the table 331 is as uniform as possible. May be assigned as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2. Further, for example, the processing unit 34 of the PS3, the identifier of each currently operating GW2 in the table 335, the number of heavy traffic of each GW2 in the table 334 (see FIG. 11), and the processing throughput performance of each GW2 in the table 333 For each GW2 currently in operation,
(Number of broadband users connected to GW2) / (Processing throughput performance)
And the identifier of the GW2 in the table 331 may be assigned as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 so that the values are as uniform as possible in each GW2. Further, the PS3 processing unit 34 indicates the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 when a value indicating the predicted traffic is set for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer. Instead of the ratio between the value and the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 from the table 335 and table 333 and the prediction of the broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer The identifier of the currently operating GW2 in the table 335 may be assigned as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 so that the ratio is as uniform as possible using the ratio with the total amount of communication performed. Here, the amount of traffic predicted for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer is, for example, the number of received packets or the number of received bytes in the user unit, the session unit, or the bearer unit measured by the GW2. From these histories, a representative value such as an average or maximum value of throughput or PPS (Packet Per Second) may be used, or an upper limit band of QoS, user unit, session unit, or bearer unit may be used.

(Non-wideband communication)
Whether the PS3 holds the determination condition for non-broadband communication based on the policy of the communication carrier and registers each user, each session, and each bearer communicating using the GW2 in the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication Determine whether. Here, the determination condition for non-broadband communication may be, for example, the determination condition for broadband communication that is not determined as broadband communication.
In addition, as a determination condition for non-broadband communication, for example, the total number of received packets and received bytes within a certain time from the history of received packets and received bytes in units of users, sessions, or bearers measured by GW Non-broadband communication may be determined based on whether or not is lower than the threshold value held in PS3. The threshold value here is set to the same value as the threshold value used to determine whether or not the total number of received packets and received bytes within a certain period of time exceeds the threshold stored in GW2. May be set, or different values may be set. At this time, the threshold value held in PS3 may be set individually for each user, for each session, or for each bearer, or may be set in common. Further, for example, as a determination condition for non-broadband communication, non-broadband communication may be determined based on subscriber information or charge amount in units of users, sessions, or bearers. For example, for subscribers who are subscribed to a certain low price plan, the subscription that PS3 holds when guaranteeing narrower bandwidth communication, such as when the upper limit bandwidth is smaller than other users PS3 may determine a user whose subscriber information indicates that he / she is subscribed to a certain low price plan as a non-broadband communication user. The determination condition for non-broadband communication may be a single condition, or may be a determination condition that matches a plurality of conditions.

Here, retention of the determination conditions for non-wideband communication and determination of non-wideband communication may be performed by the GW 2 or IF 6. The holding of the determination conditions for non-broadband communication and the determination of non-wideband communication may be performed only by any one device of PS3, GW2, or IF6, or may be performed by a plurality of devices.
The PS3 (processing unit 34) sets the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 corresponding to each user, each session, and each bearer determined to be non-broadband communication based on the non-broadband communication determination condition based on the policy of the communication carrier. Register in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication. For example, the PS3 is configured so that the ratio of the processing throughput performance of the GW2 and the number of non-broadband communication users or non-broadband communication sessions or non-broadband communication bearers is as equal as possible to the GW2 currently in operation. An identifier may be set. Here, the processing throughput performance of GW2 may be a static value based on the hardware performance of GW2, or information such as the CPU usage rate and the peak value or average value of transmission throughput acquired as the current processing load of GW2. It may be a dynamic value based on. In addition, the PS 3 may acquire a parameter indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 directly from the GW 2 or may acquire it via a device that manages the statistical information acquired by the maintenance management device. Good.

For example, in the memory unit 33 of PS3, the transfer destination GW2 table 332 for non-wideband communication is managed as shown in FIG. 8, and the GW2 unit processing throughput table 333 is managed as shown in FIG. When the GW2 table 335 is managed as shown in FIG. 12, the PS3 processing unit 34 manages the value indicating the GW2 processing throughput performance of the table 333 and the virtual node ID of the table 332 managed by the memory unit 33. Among them, the identifier of the currently operating GW2 in the table 335 may be assigned as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 so that the ratio with the number of transfer destinations of the GW2 becomes as uniform as possible. Further, for example, the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 reads the identifier of each currently operating GW 2 in the table 335, the table 332 (see FIG. 8), and a value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 in the table 333, and is currently operating. For each GW2
(Number of virtual node IDs with GW2 as the transfer destination) / (processing throughput performance)
And the identifier of the GW2 in the table 332 may be assigned as the identifier of the transfer destination GW2 so that the values are as uniform as possible in each GW2.

(Add, update, delete)
When PS3 satisfies the conditions set in PS3, information on a new user, session, bearer, or transfer destination GW2 is added to one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication. Or information on the user, session, bearer, or transfer destination GW2 that is already registered in one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication may be updated. Alternatively, the information on the user, session, bearer, or transfer destination GW2 that is already registered in one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication may be deleted.
For example, the PS 3 may add an entry to the transfer destination GW 2 table for broadband communication upon reception of a packet indicating establishment of a new MS 5 or a new bearer transmitted from the GW 2. Here, the processing unit 34 of PS3 analyzes whether or not the received packet is a packet indicating an entry addition request for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, for example, analysis of a value indicating the packet type included in the header of the received packet The packet may be determined to be an entry addition request to the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication based on the identification information of the user, session, bearer, etc. included in the packet when the broadband communication determination condition is satisfied. May be. Details of an example of this process will be described later as an entry addition process for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication in PS3. In addition, when the identification information of the MS 5, the identification information of the session, or the identification information of the bearer included in the packet is registered in the transfer destination GW 2 table for non-wideband communication, the PS 3 may delete the information.

In addition, for example, the GW 2 determines, for a user, a session, or a bearer connected to the GW 2, from a history of the number of received packets or the number of received bytes in a user unit, a session unit, or a bearer unit measured by the GW 2 within a certain time. It is determined whether the total number of received packets and received bytes exceeds the threshold held by GW2, and a user, session, or bearer that is not registered in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication is newly determined as broadband communication. In this case, the information on the user, the session, and the bearer may be added to the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication. In addition, the GW 2 may delete the information when the information on the user, the session, or the bearer is registered in the transfer destination GW 2 table for non-broadband communication.

In addition, for example, the GW 2 determines, for a user, a session, or a bearer connected to the GW 2, from a history of the number of received packets or the number of received bytes in a user unit, a session unit, or a bearer unit measured by the GW 2 within a certain time. It is determined whether or not the total number of received packets and received bytes is below the threshold held by GW2, and the user, session or bearer already registered in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication is not broadband communication. When it is determined that the user, the session, or the bearer information may be deleted from the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication. The threshold value here is set to the same value as the threshold value used to determine whether or not the total number of received packets and received bytes within a certain period of time exceeds the threshold stored in GW2. May be set, or different values may be set. In addition, the GW 2 may add information on the user, the session, and the bearer to the transfer destination GW 2 table for non-broadband communication.
Further, for example, when PS3 receives a notification packet transmitted from GW2 or IF6 and indicating a transfer destination GW2 update request for one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication. Based on information included in the packet, a part or all of the information of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication is updated to another GW2. May be. Here, as a trigger for transmitting a notification packet indicating a transfer destination GW2 update request of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication, for example, GW2 or IF6, a maintenance management device, or the like It may be triggered by the occurrence of a failure or congestion of a GW2, or the occurrence or recovery of congestion, and the difference between the maximum and minimum values of the processing load of each GW2 exceeds the threshold by the GW2, IF6, maintenance management device, etc. It may be triggered by the fact that it has been detected. Details of an example of this process will be described later as an update process of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication in PS3.

In addition, for example, when PS3 receives a notification packet transmitted from GW2 indicating that the identification information of a certain user or session or bearer has changed, the PS3 includes the identification information of the user or session or bearer included in the packet. Based on this, the identification information corresponding to the user, session or bearer registered in one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication is updated. One or both entries of the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication may be updated or added or deleted.
Here, for example, a case of a Dual Stack session in which two MS5 identifiers of IPv4 address and IPv6 Prefix are assigned in the same session as the IP address of MS5 is assumed. In this case, the change in the identification information of the user or session or bearer is a transition from a state in which only IPv6 Prefix is assigned to a state in which both IPv4 address and IPv6 Prefix are assigned and vice versa. In a session where IPv6 Prefix is assigned as the IP address of MS5, or when MS5's IP address changes from IPv6 Prefix to IPv4 address when MS5 is handed over to an access network that supports only IPv4. Point to. Details of an example of this process will be described later as an update process of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication when the identification information of the user or session or bearer changes.

<Operation processing: entry addition processing for one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication in PS3>
FIG. 14 shows an example of entry addition processing for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication in PS3. For example, in the case of managing the identifier of a non-wideband communication user, a non-wideband communication session, or a non-wideband communication bearer in the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication, an entry is added to the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication in PS3. As processing, the same procedure as this processing may be applied.
In step S301, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 analyzes the packet received from the IF interface unit 31 or the GW interface unit 32, and determines that the packet indicates an entry addition request for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication. The received packet is analyzed, and information indicating an entry addition request for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication is extracted. Here, the processing unit 34 of PS3 analyzes whether or not the received packet is a packet indicating an entry addition request for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, for example, analysis of a value indicating the packet type included in the header of the received packet The packet may be determined to be an entry addition request to the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication based on the identification information of the user, session, bearer, etc. included in the packet when the broadband communication determination condition is satisfied. May be. Here, as the determination of the broadband communication, for example, based on the identification information of the user, the session, or the bearer included in the packet, the QoS, billing setting information required for the user, the session, the bearer, Or you may determine using the result of having searched the subscriber information, the past communication history, etc. of the user unit regarding this bearer, the session unit, or the bearer unit.
In step S302, the processing unit 34 of PS3 stores the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication held in the memory unit 33 based on the information indicating the entry addition request for the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication extracted in step S301. Add an entry. For example, in the PS3 memory unit 33, the transfer destination GW2 table 331 for broadband communication is managed as shown in FIG. 7, the GW2 unit processing throughput table 333 is managed as shown in FIG. 10, and the GW2 unit wideband is managed. It is assumed that the communication number table 334 is managed as shown in FIG. 11 and the active GW2 table 335 is managed as shown in FIG. In this case, the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 is connected from the memory unit 33 to the identifier of the currently operating GW 2 in the table 335, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW 2 in the table 333, and the GW 2 being connected to each GW 2 in the table 334. The number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or the number of broadband communication bearers is read out, the GW2 having the smallest ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is selected, and the user extracted in step S301 Alternatively, the identification information of the session or bearer and the identifier of the selected GW2 may be added as a new entry in the table 331. Here, the total transfer amount in each GW 2 may be, for example, the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW 2 extracted from the table 334, or each GW 2 extracted from the table 334. Estimated communication obtained by multiplying the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to the network node and the number of virtual node IDs set as transfer destinations with each GW2 extracted from the table 332 by multiplying them by different weight values. It can be in quantity. At this time, when a value indicating the predicted traffic is set for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 and the broadband communication user or Instead of the ratio with the number of broadband communication sessions or the number of broadband communication bearers, from table 335 and table 333, a value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the expected traffic of the broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer are calculated. A ratio with the sum may be used.

Here, the amount of traffic predicted for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer is, for example, the number of received packets or the number of received bytes in the user unit, the session unit, or the bearer unit measured by the GW2. From these histories, a representative value such as an average or maximum value of throughput or PPS (Packet Per Second) may be used, or an upper limit band of QoS, user unit, session unit, or bearer unit may be used.
In step S303, the processing unit 34 of PS3 generates a packet indicating a request for adding an entry in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication added in step S302, and transmits the packet to IF6 using the IF interface unit 31. The IF 6 that has received this packet adds the same entry as the entry in the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication added in step S302 to the transfer destination GW2 table 661 for broadband communication held in the memory unit 66.

<Operation processing: One or both of the transfer destination GW2 update processing of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication in PS3>
FIG. 15 shows an example of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 update processing of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication in PS3.
In step S311, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 analyzes the packet received from the IF interface unit 31 or the GW interface unit 32, and either or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication. When it is determined that the packet indicates a transfer destination GW2 update request, the received packet is analyzed to indicate a transfer destination GW2 update request of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication. Extract information. Here, the processing unit 34 of PS3 determines whether the received packet is a packet indicating a transfer destination GW2 update request of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication, for example. The determination may be made by analyzing the value indicating the packet type included in the header of the received packet.
In step S312, the processing unit 34 of PS3 stores the memory based on the information indicating the transfer destination GW2 update request for one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication extracted in step S311. One or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication held in the unit 33 are updated.

(Wide-band communication)
For example, as an example of processing for updating the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, the PS3 memory unit 33 manages the transfer destination GW2 table 331 for broadband communication as shown in FIG. Is managed as shown in FIG. 10, the GW2 unit broadband communication number table 334 is managed as shown in FIG. 11, and the active GW2 identification table 335 is managed as shown in FIG. As an example of a packet indicating an update request, it is assumed that a packet indicating that GW2 with GW2 identifier = G # 1 is congested is received. In this case, for example, the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 reads the number of broadband communication users, broadband communication sessions, or broadband communication bearers that can be processed by the GW 2 of GW 2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S 311, and the memory unit 33. From the identifier of the currently operating GW2 in the table 335, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW2 in the table 333, and the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW2 in the table 334 GW2 is selected so that the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is the smallest among GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1. Then, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 selects one of the entries having the GW2 identifier = G # 1 as the transfer destination in the table 331, and selects the GW2 identifier of the entry as the processing throughput performance of the GW2. The process of updating to the GW2 identifier of GW2 in which the ratio between the indicated value and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is the smallest among GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1 is executed. The processing unit 34 of the PS3 can process this process with the GW2 with the GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 with the number of entries having the GW2 identifier = G # 1 as the transfer destination in the table 331. GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1 has a ratio of a value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 that is below the threshold based on the number of communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers. In the GW2 that is the smallest in the above, the value of the ratio is repeated until the condition that the value of the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW2 held in the memory unit 33 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is exceeded is satisfied. May be.

Note that, instead of updating the plurality of entries in FIG. 7 at once, the update process of a single entry is repeated. When the transfer destination GW2 of a single entry is updated, the update destination GW2 (For example, GW2 of “G # 3”) will increase, and at that time, “the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is other than GW2 identifier = G # 1. This is because there is a possibility that “GW2 that is the smallest among the GW2” changes to another GW2. For example, “GW2 where the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is the smallest among GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1” at the start of update processing is “G # 3”. In the case of GW2, the entry of “G # 1” in FIG. 7 (for example, the first line in FIG. 7) is updated to “G # 3” (see FIG. 17A). After that, “a broadband communication user or a broadband communication session in which the number of entries whose GW2 identifier = G # 1 is the transfer destination in the table 331 can be processed by the GW2 having the GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311; When the update processing end condition such as “reach below the threshold based on the number of broadband communication bearers” is not satisfied, another entry of “G # 1” in FIG. 17A (for example, three rows in FIG. 17A) It is determined that it is necessary to update the eye), and it is updated as such (see FIG. 17B).
On the other hand, again, the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 at that time (the state in which the first row is updated to “G # 3” as shown in FIG. 17A). Assume another case when GW2 identifier = GW2 which is the smallest among GW2 other than G # 1 ”is determined. At this time, when the entry in the first row in FIG. 17A is updated to “G # 3” (see FIG. 17A), the “total transfer amount in GW2” in GW2 of “G # 3” is “GW2 at which the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is the smallest among GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1” is other than “G # 3”. GW2 (for example, GW2 of “G # 4”), another entry of “G # 1” in FIG. 17A (for example, the third line in FIG. 17A) is “G Instead of updating to “# 3”, updating to “G # 4” is an appropriate process (see FIG. 17C).

Here, the total transfer amount in each GW 2 may be, for example, the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to each GW 2 extracted from the table 334, or each GW 2 extracted from the table 334. Estimated by multiplying the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers connected to the network node and the number of virtual node IDs set as transfer destinations with each GW 2 extracted from the table 332 by multiplying them by different weight values. The amount of communication may be used. Here, the threshold value based on the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers that can be processed by the GW2 with GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 is, for example, received in step S311 For the number of broadband communication users or broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers that can be processed by GW2 of GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet, processing is performed by GW2 of GW2 identifier = G # 1 held in the memory unit 33 It may be a value multiplied by a value indicating a necessary margin. At this time, when a value indicating the predicted traffic is set for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 and the broadband communication user or Instead of the ratio with the number of broadband communication sessions or broadband communication bearers, the ratio of the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the sum of the predicted traffic of the broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer is used. Also good. Here, the amount of traffic predicted for each of the broadband communication user, the broadband communication session, or the broadband communication bearer is, for example, the number of received packets or the number of received bytes in the user unit, the session unit, or the bearer unit measured by the GW2. From these histories, a representative value such as an average or maximum value of throughput or PPS (Packet Per Second) may be used, or an upper limit band of QoS, user unit, session unit, or bearer unit may be used.

(Non-wideband communication)
Further, for example, as an example of processing for updating the transfer destination GW2 table for non-wideband communication, the transfer destination GW2 table 332 for non-wideband communication is managed as shown in FIG. The processing throughput table 333 is managed as shown in FIG. 10, and the active GW2 identification table 335 is managed as shown in FIG. 12. In step S311, as an example of a packet indicating an update request, GW2 identifier = G # Assume that a packet indicating that one GW 2 is congested is received. In this case, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 reads the number of virtual node IDs that can be processed by the GW2 with the GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 by using the table 332 or the like, for example. The identifier of the currently operating GW2 335 and the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW2 in the table 333 are read, and the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is GW2 identifier = G The smallest GW2 is selected from GW2 other than # 1. Then, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 selects one of the entries having the GW identifier = G # 1 as the transfer destination in the table 331, and selects the GW2 identifier of the entry as the processing throughput performance of the GW2. And a process of updating the GW2 identifier to the GW2 identifier having the smallest ratio among the GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1. The processing unit 34 of the PS3 can process this processing with the GW2 with the GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 with the number of entries having the GW2 identifier = G # 1 as the transfer destination in the table 331. In GW2 where the threshold value based on the number of virtual node IDs is reached or below, or the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of each GW2 and the total transfer amount in each GW2 is the smallest among GW2 other than GW2 identifier = G # 1, You may repeat until the value of this ratio exceeds the threshold value of the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the GW 2 held in the memory unit 33 and the total transfer amount in each GW 2 or the like. Here, the total transfer amount in each GW 2 may be, for example, the number of virtual node IDs set as transfer destinations for each GW 2 extracted from the table 332, or connected to each GW 2 extracted from the table 334. It may be an estimated communication amount obtained by multiplying the number of broadband communication users, broadband communication sessions, or broadband communication bearers and the number of virtual node IDs set as transfer destinations by each GW2 extracted from the table 332 by multiplying them by different weight values. . Here, the threshold based on the number of virtual node IDs that can be processed by the GW2 of GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 is, for example, GW2 identifier = G # 1 from the packet received in step S311 A value obtained by multiplying the number of virtual node IDs that can be processed by GW2 by GW2 identifier held in the memory unit 33 = a value indicating a margin necessary for processing by GW2 of G # 1.

(Selection of transfer destination GW2 change)
Here, the logic for determining whether to select from the broadband communication table 331 or the non-broadband communication table 332 as the user, session, or bearer that changes the transfer destination GW2, is based on the operator's policy. 34 may be preset. For example, the priority of selecting from the broadband communication table 331 or the non-broadband communication table 332 may be set by the operator. For example, when the congestion level of the GW 2 is greater than a certain threshold, the non-broadband communication table The selection target may be determined based on conditions such as selecting from 332 and selecting from the broadband communication table 331 when the congestion level of the GW2 is equal to or less than a certain threshold.
Thereby, for example, when a user or a session or bearer that changes the transfer destination GW2 with priority is selected from the broadband communication table 331, the number is smaller than when a non-wideband user or a non-wideband session or a non-wideband bearer is selected. Congestion can be eliminated simply by changing the number of users, sessions, and bearer transfer destination GW2. Therefore, the amount of internal communication traffic related to the transfer of information on users, sessions, and bearers to the transfer destination GW2 after the change of the transfer destination GW2 is reduced, so that the total processing load of all the GW2 is reduced and the transfer delay is reduced. The effect of suppressing the reduction of communication performance is expected. Further, for example, when a user or a session or bearer that changes the transfer destination GW2 with priority is selected from the non-broadband communication table 332, for example, there is a case where the non-broadband communication table 332 is managed as shown in FIG. Since the transfer destination GW2 for a plurality of non-wideband users or non-wideband sessions or non-wideband bearers is changed only by changing the transfer destination GW2 corresponding to one virtual node ID, for example, the selection target from the non-wideband communication table 332 Compared to the method of repeating the process of selecting a user or session or bearer until the congestion level falls below the threshold value, an effect of reducing the congestion level below the threshold value in a shorter time is expected.

Here, the determination logic of which user or session or bearer is selected as the user or session or bearer to change the transfer destination GW2 is preset in the processing unit 34 of the PS3 based on the operator's policy. May be. For example, it may be selected at random, or based on conditions such as subscriber information such as billing setting or QoS setting of user or session or bearer, past communication history, etc. Alternatively, the selection priority may be set in order from the user or the session or the bearer with the lower priority, the user having a large communication amount in the past, and the selection target may be determined in the descending order of the selection priority. Thereby, for example, when information about a user, a session, or a bearer associated with the change of the transfer destination GW2 is handed over to the changed GW2, there may be a case where a communication interruption or delay may occur. In this case, a user or session or bearer who subscribes to a lower-priced plan, for example, a session or bearer related to a service with a low priority such as Web browsing, or a user or session or bearer with a large amount of past traffic By selecting a priority, a user or a session or bearer subscribed to a higher-priced plan, for example, a session or bearer related to a service with a high priority such as VoIP, or past traffic volume For many users or sessions or bearers, an effect of relatively reducing the risk of occurrence of instantaneous communication interruption or delay is expected.

In step S313, the processing unit 34 of PS3 generates a packet indicating an update of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication, and transmits the packet to IF6 using the IF interface unit 31. Send. The IF 6 that has received this packet performs an update similar to step S313 on one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table 661 for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table 662 for non-broadband communication.

<Operation processing: Update processing of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication when the identification information of the user or session or bearer in PS3 changes>
FIG. 16 shows an example of update processing of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication when the identification information of the user or session or bearer in PS3 changes.
In step S321, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 analyzes the packet received from the IF interface unit 31 or the GW interface unit 32. When the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 determines that the packet indicates a change in the identification information of the user or session or bearer, the received packet is analyzed, and the identifier of the corresponding user or session or bearer and the information indicating the change content are analyzed. To extract. Here, the processing unit 34 of the PS 3 determines whether or not the received packet is a packet indicating a change in identification information of a user, a session, or a bearer, for example, by analyzing a value indicating a packet type included in the header of the received packet. You may judge.
In step S322, the processing unit 34 of the PS3, based on the user or session or bearer identifier extracted in step S321 and the information indicating the change content, the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication held in the memory unit 33. And one or both of the transfer destination GW2 tables for non-broadband communication are updated.

  For example, as an example of processing for updating the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication, the PS3 memory unit 33 manages the transfer destination GW2 table 331 for broadband communication as shown in FIG. Are managed as shown in FIG. 10, and the GW2 unit wideband communication number table 334 is managed as shown in FIG. 11, and the packet received in step S321 is a wideband communication identifier (Heavy Traffic ID) = H # 1 Indicates that another broadband communication identifier = H # 4 is additionally allocated to the same broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer for the allocated broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer. Assumes that In this case, for example, the processing unit 34 of the PS3 reads the transfer destination GW2 identifier corresponding to the broadband communication identifier = H # 1 from the table 332, and newly assigned broadband communication indicated in the packet received in step S321. The identifier = H # 4 and the transfer destination GW2 identifier corresponding to the broadband communication identifier = H # 1 read from the table 332 may be added as a new entry in the table 331 (see FIG. 18).

Further, for example, as a transfer destination GW2 determination logic for non-wideband communication, a non-broadband communication user identifier or non-wideband communication session identifier or non-wideband communication bearer identifier and a corresponding transfer destination GW2 are held as a table in the memory unit 33. In this case, the table may be updated by a method similar to the update of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication.
In step S323, the processing unit 34 of PS3 generates a packet indicating an update of one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table for non-broadband communication, and transmits the packet to IF6 using the IF interface unit 31. Send. The IF 6 that has received this packet performs an update similar to step S323 on one or both of the transfer destination GW2 table 661 for broadband communication and the transfer destination GW2 table 662 for non-broadband communication.

3. Advantages of Embodiment As is apparent from the above description, the communication system of this embodiment is a wireless or wired communication system, and when a plurality of communication devices exist, the selection device selects an appropriate communication device for each packet. When selecting packets that belong to the same user or the same session or the same bearer, select the same communication device as the transfer destination, reduce the size of the table held by the selected device, and reduce the processing load of each communication device. It is possible to provide a communication system, a communication control method, and a communication control apparatus that enable selection in consideration of both equal distribution.
For example, for a user, session, or bearer determined as broadband communication as a selection logic of a communication device that is a transfer destination of a received packet in a selection device, each communication device has a transfer destination according to the processing throughput performance of each communication device. The policy management apparatus allocates a transfer destination communication apparatus so that the number of users, sessions, and bearers to be distributed and the communication amount are allocated, thereby reducing the processing load unevenness of each communication apparatus. For users, sessions, and bearers determined as non-broadband communications, hash calculation using the identifier of each user, each session, and each bearer as an input key is mainly used to improve the processing throughput performance of each communication device. Accordingly, the size of the table held by the selection device is reduced by the policy management device allocating the transfer destination communication device so that the number of virtual node IDs and the traffic amount to which each communication device becomes the transfer destination is allocated. In addition, it is possible to make selection in consideration of both reducing the processing load bias of each communication device.

In addition, for example, when a user, session, or bearer determined to be broadband communication or a user, session, or bearer determined to be non-broadband communication is newly added due to a new establishment of a user, session, or bearer, For newly added users, sessions, and bearers, according to the processing throughput performance of each communication device, the number of users, sessions, and bearers to which each communication device is a transfer destination and the traffic volume are allocated. The policy management device assigns a transfer destination communication device, thereby enabling selection with reduced processing load unevenness of each communication device.
In addition, for example, when a communication device is congested or malfunctioned, a user, session, or bearer determined as broadband communication, or a communication device that is a transfer destination of a user, session, or bearer determined as non-broadband communication is updated. In this case, the policy management device assigns the transfer destination communication device so that the number of users, sessions, and bearers to which the communication device is a transfer destination and the traffic amount are allocated according to the processing throughput performance of each communication device. As a result, it is possible to make a selection with reduced bias in processing load of each communication device.

In addition, for example, when a communication device is congested or malfunctioned, a user, session, or bearer determined as broadband communication, or a communication device that is a transfer destination of a user, session, or bearer determined as non-broadband communication is updated. In this case, the policy management device assigns the transfer destination communication device so that the number of users, sessions, and bearers to which the communication device is a transfer destination and the traffic amount are allocated according to the processing throughput performance of each communication device. As a result, it is possible to make a selection with reduced bias in processing load of each communication device. In particular, when selecting a user, session, or bearer that updates the communication device as the transfer destination, based on the processing throughput performance of each communication device, the communication amount of each user, each session, each bearer, QoS setting, etc. Reducing internal communication traffic of information associated with each user, each session, and each bearer held by each communication device by updating the communication device by determining the user, session, or bearer that updates the transfer destination communication device In addition, it is possible to reduce the range of influence of communication performance degradation such as delay of each user, each session and each bearer due to communication device update, and users who need to keep communication performance such as delay high by QoS setting It is possible to reduce the probability that the communication performance will be affected by the session or bearer.
Also, for example, when an identifier is assigned to the same user, session, or bearer, or when an identifier is changed for the same user, session, or bearer due to handover to a network with a different wireless standard, etc. When updating information related to the identifier of a user, session, or bearer determined as broadband communication, or the identifier of a user, session, or bearer determined as non-broadband communication, the policy management device transfers the transfer destination to the same user, session, or bearer. By assigning the communication devices to be the same, it is possible to select the same communication device as a transfer destination for packets belonging to the same user or the same session or the same bearer.

4). Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. The above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described.
Each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with, for example, an integrated circuit. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card or a DVD. It is also possible to download the program via a network or the like and install it in various storage devices.
In addition, the present invention can be used in a communication system that performs congestion control on IP packets transmitted and received with a wireless or wired terminal, for example, and includes various types such as GW, PS, BS, MS, IF, EG, and SS. It can be applied to a communication device.

1 Service providing server (SS)
2 Gateway (GW)
3 Policy management device (PS)
31 IF interface unit 32 GW interface unit 33 Memory units 331 to 334 Table 34 Processing unit 4 Base station (BS)
5 Terminal (MS)
6 Selection device (IF)
61 SS interface unit 62 BS interface unit 63 PS interface unit 64 GW interface unit 65 EG interface unit 66 Memory units 661 to 663 Table 67 Processing unit 7 External communication device (EG)

Claims (15)

A communication system,
A plurality of communication devices (GWs) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection device (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication device from among the plurality of communication devices as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication device;
A policy management device (PS) that holds logic for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet in the selection device, and that provides conditions for the transfer destination communication device created by the logic to the selection device;
With
The selection device is:
A first table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to broadband communication, provided from the policy management device;
A second table for storing a condition for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication provided from the policy management device;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication device,
The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management device, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication device for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication device using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, selects the transfer destination communication device using the second table,
The communication unit, wherein the processing unit transfers a packet to the transfer destination communication device of a selected packet.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The second table stores a transfer destination communication device identifier for the virtual node ID,
The processing unit applies hash calculation using the header of the received packet as an input key, searches the second table using the output result of the hash calculation as a virtual node ID, and extracts a transfer destination communication device identifier. A featured communication system.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
When the policy management device determines the transfer destination communication device based on the first table or the second table,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
A fourth table showing the total transfer amount in each communication device;
A fifth table showing currently operating communication devices;
The communication system is characterized in that the condition is created by selecting, as a transfer destination, the communication device having a minimum ratio between the processing throughput performance of the communication device and the total transfer amount in each communication device. .
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device becomes a transfer destination in the first table or the second table when a failure or congestion is detected in a certain first communication device or other triggers among the plurality of communication devices. When updating the communication device,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
A fourth table showing the total transfer amount in each communication device;
A fifth table showing currently operating communication devices;
Based on the above, the condition is created by selecting the second communication device that minimizes the ratio of the processing throughput performance of the communication device and the total transfer amount in each communication device, and the first table or the first A communication system that updates a communication device serving as a transfer destination to the second communication device for all or a part of entries having the first communication device as a transfer destination in two tables.
The communication system according to claim 4,
The policy management device updates the communication device that is the transfer destination to the second communication device for all or part of the entries that have the first communication device as the transfer destination in the first table or the second table. As a condition for selecting the entry to be updated,
“Priority indicating from which entry of the first table or the second table to select”,
"Billing settings" for users or sessions or bearers belonging to each entry,
“QoS settings”,
"Past communication history"
A communication system characterized in that any one or more of them are selected as conditions.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device may include a user or a session in the first table or the second table in an opportunity of assigning a plurality of identification information to a certain user, a session, or a bearer, or in other occasions. Alternatively, when adding bearer identification information, the first table or the second table is updated so that the same communication device as a transfer destination for the same user or session or bearer is shared. system.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device may include the first table or the second table when the identification information of a user, a session, or a bearer is changed due to a handover between networks having different standards among other communication devices. When updating the identification information of a user, session, or bearer in the table, the first table or the second table is set so that the communication device that is a transfer destination for the same user, session, or bearer is common before and after the update. The communication system characterized by updating.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A broadband communication table in which a transfer destination communication device identifier is stored for a broadband communication identifier that is an identifier of a broadband communication user or a broadband communication session or a broadband communication bearer,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
Based on the fifth table indicating the currently operating communication device, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the communication device of the third table, and the broadband communication user or the broadband communication session or the broadband communication bearer of the broadband communication table A communication system, wherein an identifier of a currently operating communication device in the fifth table is assigned as an identifier of a transfer destination communication device so that a ratio with a number of communication devices as a transfer destination is as uniform as possible.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A broadband communication table in which a transfer destination communication device identifier is stored for a broadband communication identifier that is an identifier of a broadband communication user or a broadband communication session or a broadband communication bearer,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
A fourth table showing the total transfer amount in each communication device;
Based on the fifth table showing the currently operating communication devices, for each currently operating communication device,
[Number of bandwidth users connected to the communication device] / [Processing throughput performance]
And assigning a transfer destination communication device identifier of the broadband communication table so that others are equal.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A broadband communication table in which a transfer destination communication device identifier is stored for a broadband communication identifier that is an identifier of a broadband communication user or a broadband communication session or a broadband communication bearer,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
Based on the fifth table indicating the currently operating communication device, the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the communication device of the third table and the sum of the predicted traffic of the broadband communication user or broadband communication session or broadband communication bearer, and And assigning the identifier of the currently operating communication device in the fifth table as the identifier of the transfer destination communication device so that the ratio is as uniform as possible.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A non-broadband communication table in which the transfer destination communication device is stored for the virtual node ID,
A third table showing processing throughput performance of the communication device;
Based on the fifth table indicating the currently operating communication device, the communication device is set as the transfer destination among the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the communication device in the third table and the virtual node ID of the non-broadband communication table. A communication system, wherein an identifier of a communication device currently in operation in the fifth table is assigned as an identifier of a transfer destination communication device so that a ratio to the number of objects is uniform.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A non-broadband communication table in which the transfer destination communication device is stored for the virtual node ID,
The non-broadband communication table;
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
Based on the fifth table showing currently operating communication devices, for each currently operating communication device,
[Number of virtual node IDs with the communication device as the transfer destination] / [Processing throughput performance]
A communication system characterized by assigning communication device identifiers in the broadband communication table so that the values are equal.
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein
The policy management device includes:
A non-broadband communication table in which the transfer destination communication device is stored for the virtual node ID,
A third table showing the processing throughput performance of each communication device;
When a packet indicating that a certain communication device is congested is received based on the fifth table indicating the currently operating communication device, the communication device that is congested from the received packet by referring to the non-wideband communication table The number of virtual node IDs that can be processed in the communication device is read, and the ratio between the value indicating the processing throughput performance of the communication device being congested and the total transfer amount in each communication device is a communication device other than the communication device being congested. A communication system characterized by selecting a communication device that is minimized.
A communication control method in a communication system, comprising:
The communication system is:
A plurality of communication devices (GWs) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection device (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication device from among the plurality of communication devices as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication device;
A policy management device (PS) that holds logic for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet in the selection device, and that provides conditions for the transfer destination communication device created by the logic to the selection device;
With
The selection device is:
A first table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to broadband communication, provided from the policy management device;
A second table for storing a condition for selecting a transfer destination communication device of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication provided from the policy management device;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication device,

The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management device, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication device for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication device using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, selects the transfer destination communication device using the second table,
The communication control method, wherein the processing unit transfers a packet to the transfer destination communication device of a selected packet.
A communication control device,
A plurality of communication units (GW) that relay packet communication between the terminal device (MS) and other devices;
A selection unit (IF) that selects a transfer destination communication unit from among the plurality of communication units, as a transfer destination of a packet transmitted from another device to the communication unit,
With
The selection unit includes:
Broadband communication provided from a policy management unit (PS) that holds logic for selecting a packet transfer destination communication unit in the selection unit and provides the selection unit with conditions relating to the transfer destination communication unit created by the logic A first table storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication unit of packets belonging to
A second table for storing conditions for selecting a transfer destination communication unit of a packet belonging to non-broadband communication, provided from the policy management unit;
A processing unit for selecting a packet transfer destination communication unit,
The processing unit receives the condition from the policy management unit, and adds, updates, or deletes the first table and the second table based on the condition,
When the processing unit selects a transfer destination communication unit for a packet transmitted from another device, the processing unit determines whether the packet belongs to broadband communication based on the condition stored in the first table. And
When the determination result is a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit selects the transfer destination communication unit using the first table,
When the determination result is not a packet belonging to broadband communication, the processing unit determines that the packet is a packet belonging to non-wideband communication, selects the transfer destination communication unit using the second table,
The communication control device, wherein the processing unit transfers a packet to the transfer destination communication unit of the selected packet.

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