Method and network device for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements

By obtaining and issuing dynamic routing information of VNF network elements, the interoperability problem between VNF network elements in the SDN network architecture is solved, and the automatic configuration of network connections and service activation efficiency is improved.

CN113965464BActive Publication Date: 2025-04-08ZTE CORP
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202010611288.1
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2020-06-29
Publication Date
2025-04-08
Estimated Expiration
2040-06-29

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In the SDN networking architecture, the user addresses within the VNF network element change dynamically, resulting in the cloud platform being unable to obtain dynamic address routing information, affecting the normal interoperability between VNF network elements and the automatic configuration of network connections.

Method used

By obtaining dynamic routing information released by VNF network elements, the routing forwarding information arriving at VNF ​​network elements is generated and sent to the switch, so that each VNF network element can communicate data through the switch.

Benefits of technology

It realizes normal interoperability between VNF network elements, improves the efficiency of automatic configuration of network connections and the efficiency of service activation, and avoids interoperability problems caused by dynamic address changes.

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Abstract

The embodiment of the present invention relates to the field of communications, and discloses a method and network device for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements. The method for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements in the present invention includes: obtaining dynamic routing information dynamically released by at least two virtualized network function VNF network elements; generating routing forwarding information reaching at least two VNF network elements according to the dynamic routing information; and sending the routing forwarding information to a switch, so that at least two VNF network elements can communicate data through the switch. The method for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements in this embodiment allows VNF network elements to communicate with each other, thereby improving the efficiency of automatic configuration based on VNF network element network connection and service activation.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of communications, and in particular to a method and network device for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements. Background Art

[0002] At present, the controller of private cloud services deployed based on Software Defined Network (SDN) provides network access, routing and interconnection services for various virtual machines (VMs) and bare metal servers. With the integration of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and SDN technology, a new core network cloud architecture has emerged. The new core network cloud architecture provides network services for Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) through the SDN network deployed in the data center. The main difference from private cloud services is the introduction of routing virtualized network function (VNF) network elements. In the current SDN networking architecture, VNF network elements are directly connected to switches, and switches are connected to SDN controllers.

[0003] However, in the process of implementing the embodiments of the present invention, the inventors found that: usually the user address within the VNF network element changes dynamically, the cloud platform connected to the SDN controller cannot obtain this part of the dynamic address routing information, and cannot send the dynamic address routing information to the SDN controller. The SDN controller cannot send the flow table to the switch connected to the VNF network element, and the VNF network elements cannot communicate normally, which affects the automatic configuration of the VNF network element network connection and the automatic activation of services. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method and network device for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements, so that VNF ​​network elements can communicate with each other, thereby improving the efficiency of automatic configuration and service activation based on VNF network element network connections.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for interconnection of virtualized network function network elements, including: obtaining dynamic routing information dynamically published by at least two virtualized network function VNF network elements; generating routing forwarding information reaching at least two VNF network elements based on the dynamic routing information; and sending the routing forwarding information to a switch so that at least two VNF network elements can communicate data through the switch.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a method for interconnection of virtualized network function network elements, which is applied to the gateway of the SDN network, including: receiving first routing information from the gateway to the virtualized network function VNF network element issued by the controller; obtaining dynamic routing information from the VNF network element based on the first routing information, wherein the VNF network element is directly connected to the switch; and publishing the obtained dynamic routing information to the controller.

[0007] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a network device, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the above-mentioned method of intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements, or can execute the method of intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements applied to a gateway.

[0008] Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present invention obtains dynamic routing information dynamically released by the VNF network element. The controller generates routing forwarding information reaching the VNF network element according to the dynamic routing information of the VNF, and sends the routing forwarding information to the switch. The routing forwarding information includes routing information to at least two VNF network elements, so that each network element can communicate through the switch. Since each network element can communicate with each other, the VNF network element can be flexibly opened and configured for services. At the same time, each VNF network element can communicate with each other, so that the opened services can interact with other VNF network elements, thereby improving the efficiency of opening services within the VNF network element. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by the pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplary descriptions do not constitute limitations on the embodiments.

[0010] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0012] Figure 3 is a structural diagram of an SDN network according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] To make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the embodiments of the present invention, many technical details are proposed in order to enable the reader to better understand the present application. However, even without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments, the technical scheme claimed in the present application can be implemented. The division of the following embodiments is for the convenience of description, and should not constitute any limitation on the specific implementation of the present invention. The various embodiments can be combined and referenced with each other without contradiction.

[0017] The first embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for virtualizing network function network element intercommunication, the method is applied to a controller, and the process is as follows: Figure 1 shown.

[0018] Step 101: Obtain dynamic routing information dynamically published by at least two virtualized network function VNF network elements.

[0019] Step 102: Generate routing forwarding information to at least two VNF network elements based on the dynamic routing information.

[0020] Step 103: Send the routing forwarding information to the switch so that at least two VNF network elements can communicate data through the switch.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present invention obtains dynamic routing information dynamically released by the VNF network element. The controller generates routing forwarding information reaching the VNF network element according to the dynamic routing information of the VNF, and sends the routing forwarding information to the switch. The routing forwarding information includes routing information to at least two VNF network elements, so that each network element can communicate through the switch. Since each network element can communicate with each other, the VNF network element can be flexibly opened and configured for services. At the same time, each VNF network element can communicate with each other, so that the opened services can interact with other VNF network elements, thereby improving the efficiency of opening services within the VNF network element.

[0022] The second embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for virtualizing network function network element intercommunication, which can be applied to an SDN controller, and its flow chart is as follows: Figure 2 As shown:

[0023] Step 201: Obtain static address information of at least two VNF network elements and topology information of the SDN network.

[0024] Specifically, the topology structure based on SDN networking is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, it includes: SDN controller, gateway, switch and VNF network element. VNF network element includes: Operation and Maintenance Unit (OMU) and Interface Processing Unit (IPU); VNF network element has built-in dynamic routing protocol stack. IPU is the direct interface of VNF network element, which is used to establish routing protocol link and dynamically notify dynamic routing information in VNF network element. VNF network element is directly connected to the switch. SDN networking includes multiple switches. Each switch has at least one VNF network element directly connected to it. Each switch is connected to the gateway, and each switch is connected to each other. In this example, the switch can be an SDN switch. Figure 3 Two VNF network elements are shown in the figure.

[0025] In this example, Figure 3 The SDN networking structure shown is used as an example to introduce the method of intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements. Among them, the SDN controller is connected to the cloud platform, which can be the network cloud and is used to control and manage the SDN controller. The cloud platform is oriented to the manager of the SDN network. The cloud platform can configure static address information for each VNF network element in the SDN network, and send the static address information to the SDN controller, and the SDN controller receives the static address information of each VNF network element. The static address information of the VNF network element includes: the address resolution protocol ARP table of the interface address of the VNF network element. The SDN controller can calculate the topological link information between switches and the topological link information between switches and SDN gateways, and then obtain the topological structure information of the entire SDN network.

[0026] Step 202: Generate first routing information from the gateway to the VNF network element in the SDN network based on the static address information of at least two VNF network elements and the topology information of the SDN network.

[0027] In this example, based on the ARP of the interface address of the VNF network element and the link topology information between the gateway and the switch, the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch are generated respectively, wherein the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the gateway is the tunnel port connected to the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, and the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the switch is the interface connected to the VNF network element; the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch are used as the first routing information from the gateway to the VNF network element.

[0028] Specifically, the ARP table of the interface address of the VNF network element is the ARP of the IPU interface in the VNF network element. The link topology information between the SDN switch and the gateway is obtained from the topology information of the SDN network, and the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch can be generated. The outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the gateway is the tunnel port of the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, and the export encapsulation contains tunnel information, that is, the switch directly connected to the VNF network element can be found through the VNF network element, and then the outgoing interface of the gateway forwarding table is determined to be the tunnel port of the switch found; the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the switch is the interface connected to the VNF network element; the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch are used as the routing information from the gateway to the VNF network element. Among them, the tunnel port between the switch directly connected to the VNF network element and the gateway is a virtual extensible local area network (VxLAN) tunnel port.

[0029] Step 203: Send the first routing information to the gateway and the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, so that the gateway obtains dynamic routing information from the VNF network element according to the first routing information.

[0030] Specifically, the gateway is a physical hardware device, so the SDN controller can convert the gateway's ARP forwarding table into a configuration command and send it to the gateway, thereby configuring the gateway. The switch directly connected to the VNF network element can be a physical hardware device or a deployed virtual switch. If the switch is a physical device, the switch's ARP forwarding table can be converted into a configuration command and sent to the switch, and the switch executes the configuration command. If the switch is a virtual switch vSwitch, the switch's ARP forwarding table can be converted into an openflow forwarding table, and the openflow forwarding table can be sent to the vSwitch.

[0031] When the gateway and the switch receive the first routing information, the VxLAN forwarding path between the gateway and the IPU of the VNF network element can be opened, so that the IPU of the VNF network element and the gateway can communicate with each other.

[0032] Specifically, in this example, the gateway is used as a centralized point for obtaining dynamic routing information published by each VNF in the SDN network. The cloud platform can send the interior gateway protocol (IGP) or border gateway protocol (BGP) neighbor configuration to the VNF network element interface address to the SDN controller, and the SDN controller automatically orchestrates the configuration and sends it to the gateway. The IPU of the gateway and the VNF network element dynamically establishes an IGP or BGP routing neighbor through the VxLAN forwarding path between the two. The IPUs of the gateway and the VNF network element are neighbors to each other. When the VNF network element publishes dynamic routing information, the gateway can obtain the dynamic routing information.

[0033] Step 204: Obtain dynamic routing information from the gateway.

[0034] In this example, a first neighbor relationship is established with the gateway; based on the first neighbor relationship, the dynamic routing information updated by the gateway is received, and the next hop of the updated dynamic routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element.

[0035] Specifically, the SDN controller enables the built-in routing protocol stack, and simultaneously enables the routing protocol function of the Multi-Protocol Border Gateway Protocol (MP-BGP) Ethernet Virtual Private Network (EVPN) with the gateway. The SDN controller establishes a first neighbor relationship with the gateway, making the SDN controller and the gateway EVPN neighbors of each other.

[0036] The gateway turns on the EVPN RT-5V to RT-5G function, inherits the original route next hop from the dynamic routing information of the VNF network element, and converts it into an RT-5G route. The next hop of the converted dynamic routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element. The gateway publishes the updated dynamic routing information to the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller through the first neighbor relationship.

[0037] It should be noted that if the gateway does not enable the EVPN RT-5V to RT-5G function, the gateway will publish the RT-5V route to the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller through the first neighbor relationship. The next hop of the route forwarding information generated by the SDN controller is the virtual tunnel terminal (VTEP) IP address of the SDN gateway, and the outbound interface is the VxLAN tunnel port pointing to the SDN gateway. The SDN controller converts the route forwarding information into an openflow forwarding flow table and sends it to the switch that needs to communicate with each other. This will cause the VNF network elements under two different switches to communicate and forward with each other. When the switch matches the openflow forwarding flow table, the outbound interface is the VxLAN tunnel port pointing to the SDN gateway, and the traffic will be looped. For example, from Figure 3 As shown, it is forwarded from switch 1 to the SDN gateway, then forwarded to switch 2, and then forwarded back to the SDN gateway, in a cycle. The EVPN routing RT-5V to RT-5G function is enabled through the SDN gateway, and the next hop of the original route inherited from the route learned from the VNF network element is converted to RT-5G, that is, the IPU interface address of the VNF network element is used as the GW-IP of the RT-5G route. At the same time, the SDN gateway publishes the converted RT-5G route to the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller through the first neighbor relationship, so that the SDN controller generates routing forwarding information to the VNF network element, and the next hop is the GW-IP attribute obtained in the RT-5G route, that is, the IPU interface address of the VNF network element.

[0038] It is worth mentioning that the SDN gateway turns on the EVPN routing RT-5V to RT-5G function, inherits the original routing next hop from the dynamic routing learned from the VNF network element, converts it into an EVPN RT-5G route and publishes it to the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller, so that the next hop of the dynamic routing table generated by the SDN controller is the original VNF network element IPU interface address, rather than the VTEPIP address of the SDN gateway, which effectively prevents the routing loop problem and realizes distributed traffic forwarding and interconnection between VNF network elements without the need to detour through the SDN gateway, reducing the waste of SDN gateway bandwidth.

[0039] Step 205: Generate routing forwarding information to at least two VNF network elements based on the dynamic routing information.

[0040] In this example, based on the dynamic routing information, second routing information reaching at least two VNF network elements is generated, and the next hop of the second routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element; based on the second routing information, the ARP table of the interface address of the VNF, and the link topology information between each switch, routing forwarding information reaching at least two VNF network elements is generated.

[0041] Specifically, the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller generates the second routing information to the VNF network element according to the RT-5G routing, and the next hop of the second routing information is the GW-IP attribute obtained in the RT-5G routing, that is, the IPU interface address of the VNF network element. The SDN controller iteratively generates routing forwarding information to at least two VNF network elements based on the second routing information, the static ARP table of the next-hop IPU interface address, and the link topology information between each switch. Among them, the outbound interface of the routing forwarding table of the VNF network element directly connected switch is the IPU interface address connected to the VNF network element; the outbound interface of the routing forwarding table of the VNF network element non-directly connected switch is the VxLAN tunnel port connected to the VNF network element directly connected switch, and the export encapsulation contains VxLAN tunnel information.

[0042] Step 206: Send the routing forwarding information to the switch so that at least two VNF network elements can communicate data through the switch.

[0043] In this example, the routing forwarding information is converted into a flow table, and the flow table is sent to the switch. The SDN controller converts the routing forwarding information to the VNF network element into an openflow forwarding flow table and sends it to the corresponding vSwitch; the intercommunication data flow between VNF network elements finally reaches the destination VNF network element by matching the openflow forwarding flow table of the vSwitch. Distributed forwarding intercommunication between VNF network elements is achieved without the need to go through the SDN gateway.

[0044] Specifically, the routing forwarding information can be a routing table, and there are two situations for the routing forwarding information to the VNF network element iteratively generated by the SDN controller. One is the vSwitch directly connected to the VNF network element, and its routing forwarding information output interface is the IPU interface address connected to the VNF network element; the other is the vSwitch not directly connected to the VNF network element, and the routing forwarding information output interface is the VxLAN tunnel port connected to the vSwitch directly connected to the VNF network element, and the export encapsulation contains the VxLAN tunnel information.

[0045] When the VNF network elements under two different vSwitches communicate and forward data flows, the non-directly connected vSwitch matches the openflow forwarding flow table and finds that the outgoing interface is the VxLAN tunnel port connected to the VNF network element directly connected to the vSwitch. After encapsulating the VxLAN tunnel information in the data flow, it is forwarded from this tunnel port. When it reaches the directly connected vSwitch, it matches the openflow forwarding flow table again and finds that the outgoing interface is the directly connected IPU interface address. It is forwarded from the found outgoing interface and finally reaches the destination VNF network element. That is, the intercommunication traffic of the VNF network elements under two different vSwitches is directly distributedly forwarded through the VxLAN tunnel between the vSwitches, without having to go through the SDN gateway.

[0046] In this example, the gateway is used to obtain the dynamic routing information published by each VNF network element, which avoids the impact on the SDN gateway's routing chain establishment and acquisition of dynamic routing information of VNF network elements when the VNF network elements dynamically migrate between different switches, thereby improving the connection stability between the SDN controller and the VNF network elements.

[0047] The third embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements, which is applied to a gateway, and its flow chart is as follows: Figure 4 As shown:

[0048] Step 301: Receive first routing information from the gateway to the virtualized network function VNF network element sent by the controller.

[0049] Step 302: According to the first routing information, dynamic routing information is obtained from the VNF network element, wherein the VNF network element is directly connected to the switch.

[0050] Step 303: Publish the acquired dynamic routing information to the controller.

[0051] Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present invention can open up the channel between the gateway and the VNF network element through the first routing information issued by the SDN control, and then obtain the dynamic routing information released by the VNF network element; send the obtained dynamic routing information to the controller, and the controller generates a routing forwarding table based on the dynamic routing information and sends it to the switch connected to the VNF network element, so that at least two network elements can communicate with each other. Since each network element can communicate with each other, the VNF network element can be flexibly opened and configured for services. At the same time, each VNF network element can communicate with each other, so that the opened services can interact with other VNF network elements, thereby improving the efficiency of opening services within the VNF network element.

[0052] The fourth embodiment is a detailed description of the second embodiment. The process of the method for intercommunication of virtualized network function elements is as follows Figure 5 As shown:

[0053] Step 401: Receive first routing information from the gateway to the virtualized network function VNF network element sent by the controller.

[0054] Specifically, the SDN controller is connected to the cloud platform, which can be a network cloud for controlling and managing the SDN controller. The cloud platform is for managers of SDN networking. The cloud platform can configure static address information for each VNF network element in the SDN networking, and send the static address information to the SDN controller, which receives the static address information of each VNF network element. The static address information of the VNF network element includes: an address resolution protocol ARP table of the interface address of the VNF network element.

[0055] The SDN controller generates the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch according to the ARP table of the interface address and the link topology information between the gateway and the switch, wherein the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the gateway is the tunnel port connected to the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, and the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the switch is the interface connected to the VNF; the ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch are used as the first routing information from the gateway to the VNF network element. The SDN controller sends the first routing information to the gateway and the switch connected to the gateway. In this example, the gateway can be an SDN gateway.

[0056] The gateway is a physical hardware device, so the SDN controller can convert the gateway's ARP forwarding table into configuration commands and send them to the gateway, thereby configuring the gateway. The switch connected to the gateway can be a physical hardware device or a deployed virtual switch. If the switch is a physical device, the switch's ARP forwarding table can be converted into configuration commands and sent to the switch, and the switch executes the configuration commands. If the switch is a virtual switch vSwitch, the switch's ARP forwarding table can be converted into an openflow forwarding table, and the openflow forwarding table can be sent to the vSwitch.

[0057] When the gateway and the switch receive the first routing information, the VxLAN forwarding path between the gateway and the IPU of the VNF network element can be opened, so that the IPU of the VNF network element and the gateway can communicate with each other.

[0058] Step 402: Configure a routing protocol that matches the VNF network element.

[0059] In this example, the gateway is used as a centralized point for obtaining dynamic routing information published by each VNF in the SDN network. The cloud platform can configure IGP or BGP to the SDN controller, and the SDN controller automatically orchestrates the configuration to the SDN gateway. The SDN gateway configures the routing protocol that matches the VNF network element according to the configuration command.

[0060] Step 403: Establish a second neighbor relationship with the VNF network element based on the first routing information and the routing protocol.

[0061] The IPUs of the gateway and VNF network elements dynamically establish routing neighbors based on IGP or BGP through the VxLAN forwarding path between the two. The IPUs of the gateway and VNF network elements are neighbors of each other, forming a second neighbor relationship between the gateway and the VNF network elements.

[0062] Step 404: According to the second neighbor relationship, obtain the dynamic routing information dynamically published by the VNF network element.

[0063] When the VNF network element publishes dynamic routing information, the gateway can obtain the dynamic routing information based on the second neighbor relationship between the gateway and the VNF network element.

[0064] Step 405: Convert the next hop in the dynamic routing information to the interface address of the VNF network element.

[0065] The gateway turns on the EVPN RT-5V to RT-5G function, inherits the original route next hop from the dynamic routing information of the VNF network element, and converts it into an RT-5G route. The next hop of the converted dynamic routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element. The gateway publishes the SDN controller's built-in routing protocol stack through the first neighbor relationship after the updated dynamic routing information.

[0066] It is worth mentioning that the SDN gateway turns on the EVPN routing RT-5V to RT-5G function, inherits the original routing next hop from the dynamic routing learned from the VNF network element, converts it into an EVPN RT-5G route and publishes it to the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller, so that the next hop of the dynamic routing table generated by the SDN controller is the original VNF network element IPU interface address, rather than the VTEP IP address of the SDN gateway, which effectively prevents the routing loop problem and realizes distributed traffic forwarding and interconnection between VNF network elements without the need to detour through the SDN gateway, reducing the waste of SDN gateway bandwidth.

[0067] Step 406: Publish the converted dynamic routing information to the controller.

[0068] The SDN controller establishes a first neighbor relationship with the gateway; based on the first neighbor relationship, receives the dynamic routing information converted by the gateway, and the next hop of the converted dynamic routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element.

[0069] The SDN controller generates second routing information reaching at least two VNF network elements based on the dynamic routing information, and the next hop of the second routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element; based on the second routing information, the ARP table of the interface address of the VNF, and the link topology information between each switch, the routing forwarding information reaching at least two VNF network elements is generated.

[0070] Specifically, the built-in routing protocol stack of the SDN controller generates the second routing information to the VNF network element according to the RT-5G routing, and the next hop of the second routing information is the GW-IP attribute obtained in the RT-5G routing, that is, the IPU interface address of the VNF network element. The SDN controller iteratively generates routing forwarding information to at least two VNF network elements based on the second routing information, the static ARP table of the next-hop IPU interface address, and the link topology information between each switch. Among them, the outbound interface of the routing forwarding table of the VNF network element directly connected to the switch is the IPU interface address connected to the VNF network element; the outbound interface of the routing forwarding table of the VNF network element non-directly connected switch is the VxLAN tunnel port connected to the VNF network element directly connected switch, and the export encapsulation contains VxLAN tunnel information. The SDN controller sends the routing forwarding information to the switch for data communication between at least two VNF network elements through the switch.

[0071] In addition, those skilled in the art can understand that the step division of the above methods is only for clear description. When implemented, they can be combined into one step or some steps can be split and decomposed into multiple steps. As long as they include the same logical relationship, they are all within the protection scope of this patent; adding insignificant modifications to the algorithm or process or introducing insignificant designs without changing the core design of the algorithm and process are all within the protection scope of this patent.

[0072] A fifth embodiment of the present invention relates to a network device, such as Figure 6 As shown, it includes: at least one processor 501; and a memory 502 that is communicatively connected to the at least one processor 501; wherein the memory 502 stores instructions that can be executed by at least one processor 501, and the instructions are executed by at least one processor 501 so that at least one processor 501 can execute the above-mentioned method of virtualized network function network element intercommunication.

[0073] Among them, the memory and the processor are connected in a bus manner, and the bus may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and the bus connects various circuits of one or more processors and memories together. The bus can also connect various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and are therefore not further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface between the bus and the transceiver. The transceiver can be one element or multiple elements, such as multiple receivers and transmitters, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. The data processed by the processor is transmitted on a wireless medium via an antenna, and further, the antenna also receives data and transmits the data to the processor.

[0074] The processor is responsible for managing the bus and general processing, and can also provide various functions, including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. Memory can be used to store data used by the processor when performing operations.

[0075] That is, those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the above-mentioned embodiment method can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, and the program is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to enable a device (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0076] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above embodiments are specific embodiments for implementing the present invention, and that in actual applications, various changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for intercommunication of virtualized network function elements, comprising: Generate first routing information from a gateway in the SDN network to the VNF network element according to static address information of at least two virtualized network function VNF network elements and topology information of a software defined network SDN network; Send the first routing information to the gateway and the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, so that the gateway obtains dynamic routing information from the VNF network element according to the first routing information; Acquire the dynamic routing information dynamically published by at least two of the VNF network elements from the gateway; Generate routing forwarding information reaching at least two of the VNF network elements according to the dynamic routing information; as well as The routing forwarding information is sent to the switch so that at least two of the VNF network elements can communicate data through the switch.

2. The method for virtualizing network function network element intercommunication according to claim 1, wherein: The obtaining the dynamic routing information from the gateway includes: Establishing a first neighbor relationship between the gateway and the SDN controller; and According to the first neighbor relationship, the dynamic routing information updated by the gateway is received as the dynamic routing information, and the next hop of the updated dynamic routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element.

3. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the static address information of the VNF network element includes: The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table of the interface address of the VNF network element.

4. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 3, wherein: The generating, according to the static address information of at least two of the VNF network elements and the topological structure information of the SDN network, first routing information from the gateway in the SDN network to the VNF network element comprises: Generate an ARP forwarding table of the gateway and an ARP forwarding table of the switch respectively according to the ARP of the interface address and the link topology information between the gateway and the switch, wherein the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the gateway is the tunnel port of the switch directly connected to the VNF network element, and the outgoing interface of the ARP forwarding table of the switch is the interface connected to the VNF network element; and The ARP forwarding table of the gateway and the ARP forwarding table of the switch are used as the first routing information from the gateway to the VNF network element.

5. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 4, wherein: Generating routing forwarding information reaching at least two of the VNF network elements according to the dynamic routing information includes: Generate second routing information reaching at least two of the VNF network elements according to the dynamic routing information, where the next hop of the second routing information is the interface address of the VNF network element; and Based on the second routing information, the ARP table of the interface address of the VNF and the link topology information between each of the switches, routing forwarding information reaching at least two of the VNF network elements is generated.

6. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The sending the routing forwarding information to the switch includes: Converting the routing forwarding information into a flow table; and The flow table is sent to the switch.

7. A method for intercommunication of virtualized network function network elements, applied to a gateway of a software defined network (SDN) network, the method comprising: Receive first routing information from the gateway to the virtualized network function VNF network element sent by the controller, wherein the first routing information is generated by the controller according to static address information of at least two of the VNF network elements and topology information of the SDN network; as well as According to the first routing information, dynamic routing information is obtained from the VNF network element, wherein the VNF network element is directly connected to the switch.

8. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 7, further comprising: The acquired dynamic routing information is published to the controller.

9. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: The obtaining the dynamic routing information from the VNF network element according to the first routing information includes: Configure a routing protocol that matches the VNF network element; Establishing a second neighbor relationship with the VNF network element according to the first routing information and the routing protocol; and According to the second neighbor relationship, obtain the dynamic routing information dynamically published by the VNF network element.

10. The method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication according to claim 8, wherein: The publishing the acquired dynamic routing information to the controller includes: Convert the next hop in the dynamic routing information to the interface address of the VNF network element; and The converted dynamic routing information is published to the controller.

11. A method for intercommunication of virtualized network function (VNF) network elements, the method comprising: Receive first routing information from a gateway to a VNF network element issued by a software defined network (SDN) controller, wherein the first routing information is generated by the SDN controller according to static address information of at least two of the VNF network elements and topology information of the SDN network; Based on the first routing information, sending dynamic routing information dynamically published by at least two of the VNF network elements to the gateway; Receiving routing forwarding information arriving at at least two of the VNF network elements, wherein the routing forwarding information is generated based on the dynamic routing information; as well as Based on the routing forwarding information, data communication is performed between the at least two VNF network elements.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Receiving the routing forwarding information includes: A flow table is received from a software defined network (SDN) controller, wherein the flow table is converted from the routing forwarding information.

13. A network device, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; as well as, a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

14. A network device, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; as well as, a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication as described in any one of claims 7 to 10.

15. A network device, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; as well as, a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the method for virtualized network function network element intercommunication as described in any one of claims 11 to 12.

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