An access processing method and related equipment

Abstract

This application discloses an access processing method and related equipment, applied to a CP device in a communication system where the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) are separated. The communication system has a first UP pool and a second UP pool. The method includes: the CP device receiving a first access request and a second access request sent by a user equipment (UE), wherein the first access request is transmitted through the first UP pool and the second access request is transmitted through the second UP pool; the CP device determining that the load of the first UP pool is better than or equal to the load of the second UP pool; the CP device responding to the first access request through UP devices in the first UP pool, enabling the UE to access the network through the first UP pool; thus, the workload of the UP devices is reduced, and when all UP devices in one UP pool fail, the UE can reconnect through another UP pool, improving the reliability and stability of user access.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of access networks, and more particularly to an access processing method and related equipment. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) technologies, metropolitan area networks (MANs) have shifted from a traditional network-centric architecture to a data center-centric architecture, and traditional network elements have evolved from specialized to general-purpose. In light of this, control plane and user plane disaggregated (CU) technology has emerged and become a research hotspot in this field. CU disaggregation refers to a network architecture where the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) are decoupled. In a CU-disaggregated architecture, the CP and UP reside on different hardware devices, or they reside on the same hardware device with separate functions. Currently, CU disaggregated architecture has become the next leap forward in the evolution of many communication systems and has gained recognition from mainstream manufacturers, operators, and standards organizations.

[0003] In this CU-separated architecture, the large number of users affects the reliability and stability of user access. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides an access processing method and related equipment, which is used to flexibly schedule user access requests according to the load status of the UP pool, thereby improving the reliability and stability of user access.

[0005] Firstly, an access processing method is provided, including:

[0006] In a communication system with separate control plane (CP) and user plane (UP), there are a first UP pool and a second UP pool. When a user equipment (UE) sends an access request, it can transmit the access request to the CP device through the first UP pool and the second UP pool. The access request transmitted by the first UP pool is the first access request, and the access request transmitted by the second UP pool is the second access request. After receiving the first access request and the second access request, the CP device needs to determine the load status of the first UP pool and the second UP pool. If the CP device determines that the load status of the first UP pool is better than or equal to that of the second UP pool, it will reply to the first access request through the UP devices in the first UP pool. In this way, the UE can complete network access through the first UP pool.

[0007] User equipment sends access requests to the CP device through two UP pools. The CP device then selects one of the UP pools to respond to the access request based on the load of each UP pool. In this way, the UP devices of the two UP pools can share the service load, reduce the workload of the UP devices, and improve the reliability and stability of user access.

[0008] In one possible design, when the CP device determines the load status of the first UP pool and the second UP pool, it can determine the load status based on the traffic volume of the UP devices in each UP pool. For example, if the traffic volume of the first UP pool is greater than that of the second UP pool, the CP device determines that the load status of the second UP pool is better than that of the first UP pool. Therefore, the CP device can select the second UP pool with lighter traffic to respond to the second access request. The CP device can also set a weight value for each UP pool. The load status of the UP pool is determined by multiplying the total traffic volume of the UP devices corresponding to the UP pool by the weight value, and the UP pool with better load status is selected to complete the user access.

[0009] The CP device determines the load status of the UP pool by the traffic volume or the product of traffic volume and weight value, and selects the UP pool with lighter traffic to respond to the access request of the user device. This allows for more reasonable scheduling of UP devices and improves the efficiency of user access.

[0010] In one possible design, the weight value corresponding to the UP pool can be related to the service processing capacity of the UP devices in the UP pool, or to the number of non-faulty UP devices in the UP pool.

[0011] The weight value of the UP pool is determined based on the service processing capacity of the UP devices in the UP pool or the number of non-faulty UP devices. This allows for flexible matching of scenarios where the number of UP devices in the UP pool is inconsistent or the service processing capacity of the UP devices is inconsistent, further ensuring that the load of the two UP pools is balanced.

[0012] In one possible design, the weight value of each UP pool can be dynamically adjusted. Before determining the load of the UP pool, the CP device can adjust the weight value of each UP pool according to the number of non-faulty UP devices in the UP pool, and then select the UP pool with better load to complete the user access.

[0013] The CP device adjusts the weight value of each UP pool based on the number of non-faulty UP devices, which can filter out UP pools with stronger business capacity to complete user access, and schedule UP devices more flexibly to improve the efficiency of user access.

[0014] In one possible design, after determining the UP pool to respond to the access request, the CP device also needs to select a specific target UP device within that UP pool. For example, if the CP device determines that the load of the first UP pool is better than that of the second UP pool, it can determine the target UP device in the first UP pool based on the load of each UP device in the first UP pool; and then respond to the first access request through the target UP device.

[0015] After determining which UP pool to use to respond to the access request, the CP device then selects the UP device with the lightest load within that pool as the target UP device to respond to the access request. This can further improve the reliability of the network.

[0016] In one possible design, the first UP pool and the second UP pool each include at least two UP devices.

[0017] By forming a UP pool with at least two UP devices, load sharing within the pool can be further achieved.

[0018] A second aspect provides a control plane apparatus for use in a communication system where the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) are separated, the communication system having a first UP pool and a second UP pool, the apparatus comprising:

[0019] The receiving unit is used to receive a first access request and a second access request sent by the user equipment, wherein the first access request is transmitted through the first UP pool and the second access request is transmitted through the second UP pool.

[0020] A determining unit is used to determine that the load condition of the first UP pool is better than or equal to the load condition of the second UP pool;

[0021] The control unit is configured to respond to the first access request through the UP devices in the first UP pool, thereby enabling the user equipment to access the network through the first UP pool.

[0022] In one possible design, the load condition includes: traffic volume or the product of traffic volume and weight value.

[0023] In one possible design, the weight value is related to the number of non-faulty UP devices contained in the UP pool.

[0024] In one possible design, the control unit is also configured to adjust the weight value corresponding to the second UP pool in response to a UP device failure contained in the second UP pool.

[0025] In one possible design, the control unit is specifically used to determine the target UP device in the first UP pool based on the load status of each UP device in the first UP pool; and to respond to the first access request through the target UP device.

[0026] In one possible design, the first UP pool and the second UP pool each include at least two UP devices.

[0027] A third aspect provides a network device comprising: at least one processor and a memory, the memory storing computer-executable instructions executable on the processor, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the network device performs the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0028] The fourth aspect provides a chip or chip system including at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and at least one processor being interconnected via a line, the at least one processor being used to run computer programs or instructions to perform the access processing method described in any of the first aspects to any of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0029] The communication interface in the chip can be an input / output interface, pins, or circuits.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the chip or chip system described above in this application further includes at least one memory storing instructions. The memory can be an internal storage unit of the chip, such as a register or cache, or it can be a storage unit of the chip itself (e.g., read-only memory, random access memory, etc.).

[0031] The fifth aspect provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for use with the aforementioned trusted chip, including instructions for executing programs designed for a CP device.

[0032] The CP device can be a control surface management device as described in the second aspect above.

[0033] The sixth aspect provides a computer program product including computer software instructions that can be loaded by a processor to implement any of the access processing methods in the first aspect.

[0034] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, the communication system including a CP device, the CP device including control plane means as described in any possible implementation of the second aspect and the second aspect above, or a network device provided in the third aspect.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the communication system also includes a UP device.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the communication system also includes user equipment.

[0037] As can be seen from the above technical solutions, the embodiments of this application have the following beneficial effects:

[0038] Using this invention, the communication system provides a first UP pool and a second UP pool. When the CP device receives a first access request and a second access request sent by the user equipment, it first determines the load status of the first UP pool and the second UP pool; then, based on the load status, it determines the target UP device in a certain UP pool to reply with the corresponding access request, enabling the user equipment to access the network. That is, the user equipment can achieve broadband access through two UP pools. In this way, not only can the workload of the UP devices be reduced, but also when all the UP devices in a certain UP pool fail, the user equipment can be reconnected through the other UP pool, avoiding situations where users cannot go online for a long time due to reasons such as power outages in the data center or earthquakes, thus improving the reliability and stability of user access. Attached Figure Description

[0039] Figure 1 A diagram of a BNG system architecture with CU separation provided for embodiments of this application;

[0040] Figure 2 This application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] Figure 3 A network architecture diagram for user access provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0042] Figure 4 This application provides a new network architecture diagram for user access.

[0043] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating an access processing method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a control surface device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 7 This application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0047] Figure 9 This application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system. Detailed Implementation

[0048] This application provides an access processing method and related equipment, which is used to flexibly schedule access requests according to the load of the UP pool, thereby improving the reliability and stability of user access.

[0049] The technical solutions of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," etc. (if present) in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a sequence other than that illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or device that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or devices.

[0050] With the development of software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies, metropolitan area networks (MANs) have shifted from a traditional network-centric architecture to a data center-centric architecture. Traditional network elements have also evolved from specialized to general-purpose devices. This evolution requires addressing two decoupling issues: control and forwarding decoupling, and software and hardware decoupling. The result of control and forwarding can also be called CU separation, which is a network architecture where the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) are decoupled. CU separation can be implemented in ways including, but not limited to, implementation methods A and B described below.

[0051] Implementation method A: The control plane and the forwarding plane are located on different hardware devices.

[0052] In implementation A, the CP device and the UP device are two separate and distinct devices. Optionally, the CP device and the UP device can be distributed across different locations. For example, the CP device could be located in a cloud data center, while the UP device could be deployed in appropriate locations within the network as needed. This approach allows for more flexible deployment of the control plane and forwarding plane.

[0053] Implementation method B: The control plane and forwarding plane are located on the same hardware device and their functions are separated.

[0054] When using implementation method B, the physical entities of the CP device and the UP device are the same device. For example, the CP device and the UP device run on the same host, the same server, or the same terminal.

[0055] In one example, both the CP (Content Provider) and UP (Uploader) devices are implemented using virtualization technology. The CP device is referred to as a virtual CP (vCP), and the UP device as a virtual UP (vUP). For example, the CP device is a virtual machine, and the UP device is a virtual router or virtual switch. In another example, both the CP and UP devices are implemented based on a general-purpose physical server combined with NFV (Network Function Virtualization) technology; the CP and UP devices are two different virtualized network functions (VNFs). For example, both the CP and UP devices are network elements virtualized through an x86 server.

[0056] In another example, the CP device is implemented using virtualization technology, while the UP device is implemented using traditional network devices. The UP device is, for example, called a physical UP (pUP).

[0057] This embodiment does not limit the number of UP devices in the communication system. Optionally, a CU-separated communication system includes multiple UP devices. Optionally, multiple UP devices in a CU-separated communication system are distributed in different locations. Optionally, multiple UP devices in a CU-separated communication system collaboratively share forwarding tasks based on a distributed architecture.

[0058] It's worth noting that "CU separation" can have different names. For example, different standards, different versions of the same standard, different vendors, and different application scenarios may use different names for "CU separation." For instance, the term "CU separation" can sometimes also be referred to as "control and forwarding separation," "forwarding and control separation," "control plane and user plane separation," or "control and user separation," etc.

[0059] It is worth noting that "CP" can have different names. For example, different standards, different versions of the same standard, different manufacturers, and different application scenarios may use different names for "CP". For example, the term "CP" can sometimes also be called "CP function (CPF)" or "CP surface". In this article, "CP", "CPF", and "CP surface" are used interchangeably. The term "CP device" refers to any device that implements the CP function.

[0060] It is worth noting that "UP" can have different names. For example, different standards, different versions of the same standard, different manufacturers, and different application scenarios may use different names for "UP". For example, the term "UP" can sometimes also be called "UP function (UPF)" or "UP surface". In this article, "UP", "UPF", and "UP surface" are used interchangeably. The term "UP device" refers to any device that implements the UP function.

[0061] Broadband network gateways (BNGs), as traditional broadband access gateway devices, implement functions such as user authentication, access control, and traffic scheduling in user broadband access services. However, with the emergence of various internet services, the requirements for the number of user sessions supported by BNGs are constantly increasing, as are the user access bandwidth requirements, and especially the requirements for the BNG system to provide service openness and programmability. In view of these needs, in an architecture based on software-defined networking technology and network function virtualization technology, the control and forwarding functions of traditional BNG devices are decoupled, as well as the software and hardware are decoupled, forming a CU-separated BNG system. For details, see the appendix. Figure 1 , attached Figure 1 This is an example illustrating the architecture of a BNG system with CU separation. In a CU-separated BNG system, user management functions from multiple BNG devices are extracted and centralized to form CP devices, while routing and forwarding functions are retained on the BNG devices to form UP devices.

[0062] The CU-separated BNG system retains the original BNG functionality while offering the advantages of the CU-separated architecture. For example, a CU-separated BNG system can have multiple UP devices, with the CP device scheduling the traffic forwarding tasks for these UP devices. The CP device allocates resources to these UP devices, thus significantly improving device utilization and reliability compared to a single-machine BNG system. Currently, the CU-separated BNG system represents the next leap in BNG evolution and has gained full recognition from mainstream BNG manufacturers, operators, and standards organizations. For instance, RFC 8772 in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) request for comments (RFCs) defines the architecture of the CU-separated BNG system and the control interface between the CP and UP devices. The Broadband Forum (BBF) defines the basic architecture of the CU-separated BNG system in TR-384 and the module function and interface definitions in TR-459.

[0063] It is worth noting that the "CU-separated BNG system" in the embodiments of this application can have different names. For example, different standards, different versions of the same standard, different manufacturers, and different application scenarios may use different names for the "CU-separated BNG system". For example, the term "CU-separated BNG system" can sometimes also be called "disaggregated BNG (DBNG) system", and correspondingly, the CP device in the CU-separated BNG system can be called DBNG-CP, and the UP device in the CU-separated BNG system can be called DBNG-UP. As another example, the term "CU-separated BNG system" can sometimes also be called "virtual broadband network gateway (vBNG) control plane and user plane disaggregated system (CU system)", i.e., "vBNG CU system", and correspondingly, the CP device in the CU-separated BNG system can be called vBNG-CP, and the UP device in the CU-separated BNG system can be called vBNG-UP. For example, the term "CU-separated BNG system" can sometimes also be called a "virtual broadband remote access server (vBRAS) CU system," or "vBRAS CU system." Correspondingly, the CP device in a CU-separated BNG system can be called vBRAS-CP, and the UP device in a CU-separated BNG system can be called vBRAS-UP. In this article, "DBNG," "vBNG CU system," and "vBRAS CU system" are used interchangeably.

[0064] The system architecture provided in the embodiments of this application is described below.

[0065] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system 200 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication system 200 is an example of a communication system with separate CP and UP components. The communication system 200 includes a CP device 210, a UP device 220, an operation and maintenance (OM) unit 230, a RADIUS server 240, a DHCP server 250, and a CP device 211. Different network elements in the CP device 210, UP device 220, OM 230, RADIUS server 240, DHCP server 250, and CP device 211 are connected to each other via a wireless network or a wired network.

[0066] There are three interfaces between CP device 210 and UP device 220: control packet redirect interface (CPRi), management interface (Mi), and state control interface (SCi).

[0067] The CPRi interface is used to forward raw dialing messages received by UP device 220 to CP device 210. For example, in the attached... Figure 2 In the application scenario shown, during the process of an access device initiating a dial-up connection to the network, the original dial-up message (such as a PPPoE message or a DHCP message) sent by the access device is transmitted to the UP device 220. The UP device 220 receives the original dial-up message, encapsulates it according to the message encapsulation format corresponding to the CPRi interface, and then sends the encapsulated dial-up message to the CP device 210 through the CPRi interface. The CPRi interface is implemented through a tunnel between the UP device 220 and the CP device 210. For example, the CPRi interface is implemented through a tunnel based on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and the message encapsulation format corresponding to the CPRi interface is to encapsulate the original dial-up message with the tunnel header corresponding to this UDP-based tunnel. In one example, the UDP-based tunnel is a generic protocol encapsulation (GPE) tunnel based on Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN), and the tunnel header encapsulated in the original dial-up message includes a VXLAN header and a GPE extension header. In another example, the UDP-based tunnel is a GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) control plane (GTP-C) tunnel, and the tunnel header encapsulated in the original dial message includes a GTP-C header and a network service header (NSH).

[0068] The SCi interface functions include the CP device sending flow tables to the UP device and the UP device sending status information to the CP device. In some embodiments of this application, the SCi interface is used for the CP device to send control messages to the UP device, thereby instructing the UP device to carry a watermark when sending dialing messages to the CP device through the CPRi interface. In one example, the SCi interface is implemented using the control plane and user plane separated protocol (CUSP). In another example, the SCi interface is implemented using the Packet Forwarding Control Protocol (PFCP).

[0069] The Mi interface is used by the CP device to send configuration information to the UP device. The Mi interface is implemented, for example, using the Network Configuration (NETCONF) protocol.

[0070] In addition, as attached Figure 2 As shown, CP device 210 communicates with OM 230, for example, via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or NETCONF. CP device 210 communicates with RADIUS server 240, for example, via the RADIUS protocol. CP device 210 communicates with DHCP server 250, for example, via DHCP. CP device 210 and CP device 211 synchronize data, for example, via data backup messages. In one example, CP device 211 and CP device 210 coordinate dialing processing based on a load-sharing mechanism; in another example, CP device 210 is the primary device, and CP device 211 is the backup device for CP device 210.

[0071] Figure 3 A network architecture diagram for user access provided in this application embodiment, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the optical line terminal (OLT) forwards user packet protocols to the carrier's edge router (PE) through multiple links. The OLT at this point can be... Figure 2 The access device described in the text; while PE corresponds to the UP pool (UP resource pool), which includes multiple UP devices. All UP devices in a UP pool are controlled by CP; for example, a UP pool can include N primary UPs, and then the primary UPs are backed up according to a certain ratio, for example, Figure 3 The UP pool shown is a 3:1 warm backup pool, that is, UP1, UP2 and UP3 are the primary UPs, and UP4 is the backup UP corresponding to UP1, UP2 and UP3.

[0072] When a user requests access, the OLT sends a user access protocol message and broadcasts it to all UPs in the UP pool. At this time, all UPs report the protocol message to the CP. After receiving the protocol message, the CP selects the UP with the lightest load among the primary UPs, such as UP3, and responds to the user request corresponding to the protocol message by sending a user entry to UP3. Data traffic is then allocated to the user through UP3. When UP3 fails, the CP sends the user entry to the backup UP (UP4) in the UP pool. UP4 refreshes the gateway, and data traffic is transferred to UP4. At this time, UP4 becomes the primary UP, so the user can maintain the connection without having to disconnect and redial.

[0073] However, this approach can only serve as a reliability protection solution between UPs within the pool. When the entire UP pool fails due to reasons such as power outages in the data center or earthquakes, the services of the users corresponding to that UP pool will be completely damaged, and users will face a long-term inability to go online. Therefore, how to solve the problem of user access under UP pool failure has become an urgent issue to be addressed.

[0074] To address the aforementioned issues, embodiments of this application provide a novel network architecture diagram for user access, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the communication system includes a first UP pool and a second UP pool. A metro edge router (MER) establishes a Layer 2 tunnel with both UP pools and interconnects with each UP device. For example, a switch / optical line terminal (SW / OLT) acts as a user equipment and connects to two MER devices. Then, the MER devices connect to the metro core router (MCR), and finally, the MCR device connects to each MER device corresponding to each UP pool. The UP is responsible for reporting the user's dial-up protocol messages to the CP through the service channel. The CP processes the user's dial-up protocol messages and interacts with the service server for user authentication, accounting, and authorization. After successful user authentication, the CP can send user entry information to the corresponding UP. Upon receiving the user entry from the CP, the UP generates a forwarding table entry for that user locally, executes relevant service policies, forwards traffic, and publishes routes. The MER devices are responsible for forwarding OLT / SW messages to the corresponding UP pool through the tunnel. The MCR device aggregates traffic between multiple MER devices for forwarding.

[0075] In this system, the second UP pool and the first UP pool serve as backups for each other, meaning they can share network traffic through load balancing. In one example, a user can log on from either UP device in either pool. If all UP devices in one pool fail, the user can still log on through a UP device in the other pool, preventing prolonged inaccessibility. In another example, the CP device distributes service traffic between the two UP pools based on their load status. Additionally, each UP pool can perform warm standby (backup UP).

[0076] based on Figure 4 The provided network architecture Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an access processing method provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 5 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0077] 501. The user equipment sends an access request to the CP device through the first UP pool and the second UP pool.

[0078] When a user needs to access the network, the user equipment can send an access request to the CP device through the UP device. This access request includes a dial-up request. For example, it is applied to... Figure 4 In the network scenario shown, a user equipment (UE) sends an access request. The OLT or SW device connected to the UE in the network broadcasts the access request to all UP devices in two UP pools via a Layer 2 network, ensuring that each UP device receives the access request and sends it to the CP device. For example, each access request sent from each UP device in the first UP pool to the CP device can be referred to as a first access request, and each access request sent from each UP device in the second UP pool to the CP device can be referred to as a second access request.

[0079] 502. The CP device receives the first access request and the second access request.

[0080] The CP device receives a first access request from a UP device in the first UP pool and a second access request from a UP device in the second UP pool. In one example, both the first and second access requests include an identifier corresponding to the user equipment, and the CP device can confirm that the first and second access requests correspond to the same user equipment. The CP device can process the first and second access requests sent by the same user equipment, such as determining specific access policies and implementing user authentication.

[0081] 503. The CP device determines the load status of the first UP pool and the second UP pool.

[0082] After receiving the first access request and the second access request, the CP device can determine the load status of the first UP pool and the second UP pool, and then select a UP device to respond to the access request based on the load status of each UP pool.

[0083] For example, the CP device can select the UP pool with better load to respond to the access request based on the traffic volume of the UP devices in each UP pool. For instance, if the total traffic volume corresponding to multiple UP devices in the first UP pool is less than the total traffic volume corresponding to multiple UP devices in the second UP pool, then the CP device determines that the load volume of the first UP pool is better than that of the second UP pool; the CP device then needs to select a UP device from the first UP pool to respond to the first access request, and the user equipment can then access the network through the first UP pool. The traffic volume here may include: the number of user equipment accessing the network through UP devices, the number of sessions, etc.

[0084] For example, the CP device can also set weight values ​​for the first UP pool and the second UP pool, and determine the load of each UP pool by multiplying the traffic volume by the weight value. In this way, the CP device can distribute the load according to the weight value of each UP pool. For example, if the weight value corresponding to the first UP pool is 50% and the weight value corresponding to the second UP pool is 20%, the CP device can calculate the load of the first UP pool by multiplying the total traffic volume corresponding to the first UP pool by 50%, and the load of the second UP pool by multiplying the total traffic volume corresponding to the second UP pool by 20%, and then determine the UP pool with the better load based on the calculation results. For example, if the product result corresponding to the first UP pool is less than the product result corresponding to the second UP pool, then the CP device determines that the load of the first UP pool is better than that of the second UP pool. The CP device can then select the UP device in the first UP pool to reply to the first access request, allowing the user equipment to access the network through the first UP pool.

[0085] When the load condition of the first UP pool is better than that of the second UP pool, the CP device determines to use the first UP pool as the UP pool to respond to the access request. When the load condition of the first UP pool is equal to that of the second UP pool, the CP device may randomly or sequentially select one of the first and second UP pools as the UP pool to respond to the access request.

[0086] Based on the above, the CP device determines that the load condition of the first UP pool is better than or equal to the load condition of the second UP pool.

[0087] For example, the weight value corresponding to each UP pool can be dynamically adjusted. The CP can adjust the weight value of the UP pool according to the status of the UP devices in each UP pool. Optionally, the weight value is related to the number of non-faulty UP devices in the UP pool. The more non-faulty UP devices a UP pool has, the greater the service load that the UP pool can handle. For example, if three UP devices in the first UP pool have failed, and only one UP device in the second UP pool has failed, then the weight value of the second UP pool needs to be reduced. This will reduce the product of service load and weight value, meaning the load situation of the second UP pool is better than that of the first UP pool. The CP device then needs to select a UP device in the second UP pool to respond to the second access request, allowing the user equipment to access the network through the second UP pool. The CP device can adjust the weight value of the UP pool after a UP device fails, or it can do so before the CP device determines the load situation of each UP pool. This application does not limit this.

[0088] 504. CP equipment identifies the target UP equipment.

[0089] After the CP device determines the first UP pool, it also needs to select a target UP device within that pool to respond to the access request. For example, the target UP device can be determined based on the load status of each UP device in the pool. In one example, the target UP device is the UP device with the optimal load status in the pool. For instance, the target UP device has the lowest amount of service running.

[0090] 505. The CP device responds to the access request through the target UP device.

[0091] After the CP device identifies the target UP device, it can respond to the user device's access request through that target UP device. That is, if the target UP device is in the first UP pool, the CP device responds to the first access request through the target UP device; if the target UP device is in the second UP pool, the CP device responds to the second access request through the target UP device.

[0092] 506. User equipment accesses the network through the UP pool corresponding to the target UP device.

[0093] Once the CP device identifies the target UP device, it sends a user entry to the target UP device, enabling the user device to access the network through the target UP device. In other words, the user device accesses the network through the UP pool to which the target UP device resides.

[0094] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a control surface device 600 provided in an embodiment of this application. The device 600 has the above-described... Figure 5 Any function of the CP device in the illustrated embodiment. For example... Figure 6 As shown, the control surface device 600 includes:

[0095] Receiving unit 601, used for performing Figure 5 Step 502 in the illustrated embodiment; Determining unit 602, used to perform Figure 5 Steps 503 and 504 in the illustrated embodiment; control unit 603, used to execute Figure 5 The illustrated embodiment includes steps 505 and 506, as well as steps such as dynamically adjusting the weight value corresponding to the UP pool and responding to access requests.

[0096] The control plane device 600 corresponds to the CP device in the above method embodiments. Each module in the control plane device 600 and the other operations and / or functions described above are for implementing various steps and methods performed by the CP device in the method embodiments. For details, please refer to the above description. Figure 5 The access processing method provided in the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here for the sake of simplicity.

[0097] When the control surface device 600 is used for management, the above-mentioned division of functional modules is only used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed. That is, the internal structure of the control surface device 600 can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above, or the functions of multiple functional modules can be completed by the same functional module.

[0098] Corresponding to the method embodiments and virtual device embodiments provided in this application, this application also provides a network device, and the hardware structure of the network device is described below.

[0099] The network device 700 or network device 800 described below corresponds to the CP device in the above method embodiments. The various hardware components, modules, and other operations and / or functions in network device 700 or network device 800 are respectively for implementing the various steps and methods performed by the CP device in the method embodiments. For detailed information regarding the user broadband access process of network device 700 or network device 800, please refer to the above method embodiments; for brevity, they will not be repeated here. The above... Figure 5The steps of the access processing method provided in the illustrated embodiments are completed by integrated logic circuits in the hardware of the processor of network device 700 or network device 800, or by instructions in software form. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are not provided here.

[0100] Each functional module in the control plane device 600 corresponding to network device 700 or network device 800 in the above-described virtual device embodiment is implemented using software from network device 700 or network device 800. In other words, the functional modules included in the control plane device 600 are generated by the processor of network device 700 or network device 800 after reading the program code stored in memory.

[0101] See Figure 7 , Figure 7 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of a network device 700 provided in an embodiment of this application. The network device 700 can be configured as a CP device. The network device 700 can be implemented using a general bus architecture.

[0102] The network device 700 includes at least one processor 701, a communication bus 702, a memory 703, and at least one communication interface 704.

[0103] The processor 701 can be a general-purpose CPU, NP, microprocessor, or one or more integrated circuits for implementing the solutions of this application, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or combinations thereof. The aforementioned PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0104] The communication bus 702 is used to transmit information between the aforementioned components. The communication bus 702 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, it is represented by only one thick line in the figure, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0105] The memory 703 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions; it may also be a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions; it may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices; or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but not limited thereto. The memory 703 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 701 via a communication bus 702. The memory 703 may also be integrated with the processor 701.

[0106] Communication interface 704 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks. Communication interface 704 includes a wired communication interface and may also include a wireless communication interface. The wired communication interface may, for example, be an Ethernet interface. The Ethernet interface may be an optical interface, an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. The wireless communication interface may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface, a cellular network communication interface, or a combination thereof.

[0107] In a specific implementation, as one example, the processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as... Figure 7 CPU0 and CPU1 are shown in the diagram.

[0108] In a specific implementation, as one example, network device 700 may include multiple processors, such as... Figure 7 The processors 701 and 705 are shown. Each of these processors can be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. Here, "processor" can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores used to process data (such as computer program instructions).

[0109] In some embodiments, memory 703 is used to store program code 710 for executing the scheme of this application, and processor 701 can execute the program code 710 stored in memory 703. That is, network device 700 can be implemented by processor 701 and program code 710 in memory 703. Figure 5 The access processing method provided in the illustrated embodiment.

[0110] The network device 700 of this application embodiment can correspond to the CP device in the above-described method embodiments, and the processor 701, communication interface 704, etc. in the network device 700 can implement the functions and / or various steps and methods implemented by the devices in the above-described method embodiments. For the sake of brevity, further details are omitted here.

[0111] The receiving unit 601 in the control plane device 600 can be equivalent to the communication interface 704 in the network device 700; the determining unit 602 and the control unit 603 in the control plane device 600 can be equivalent to the processor 701 in the network device 700.

[0112] See Figure 8 , Figure 8 A schematic diagram of another network device 800 provided in this application is shown. The network device 800 can be configured as a CP device. The network device 800 includes a main control board 810 and an interface board 830.

[0113] The main control board 810, also known as the main processing unit (MPU) or route processor card, is used to control and manage the various components in the network device 800, including route calculation, device management, device maintenance, and protocol processing functions. The main control board 810 includes a central processing unit 811 and a memory 812.

[0114] Interface board 830, also known as a line processing unit (LPU), linecard, or service board, provides various service interfaces and enables packet forwarding. Service interfaces include, but are not limited to, Ethernet interfaces, POS (Packet over SONET / SDH) interfaces, and, for example, Flexible Ethernet Clients (FlexE Clients). Interface board 830 includes: a central processing unit 831, a network processor 832, a forwarding table entry memory 834, and a physical interface card (PIC) 833.

[0115] The central processing unit 831 on the interface board 830 is used to control and manage the interface board 830 and communicate with the central processing unit 811 on the main control board 810.

[0116] The network processor 832 is used to implement packet forwarding. The network processor 832 can be in the form of a forwarding chip. Specifically, the network processor 832 forwards received packets based on the forwarding table stored in the forwarding table entry memory 834. If the destination address of the packet is the address of the network device 800, the packet is sent to the CPU (such as the central processing unit 811) for processing; if the destination address of the packet is not the address of the network device 800, the next hop and outgoing interface corresponding to the destination address are looked up in the forwarding table according to the destination address, and the packet is forwarded to the outgoing interface corresponding to the destination address. Uplink packet processing includes: packet ingress interface processing, forwarding table lookup; downlink packet processing includes forwarding table lookup, etc.

[0117] The physical interface card 833 is used to implement physical layer interfacing functions. Raw traffic enters the interface board 830 through this card, and processed packets are sent out from the physical interface card 833. The physical interface card 833, also called a daughter card, can be installed on the interface board 830. It is responsible for converting photoelectric signals into packets, performing validity checks on the packets, and forwarding them to the network processor 832 for processing. In some embodiments, the central processing unit can also perform the functions of the network processor 832, such as implementing software forwarding based on a general-purpose CPU, thus eliminating the need for a network processor 832 within the physical interface card 833.

[0118] Optionally, the network device 800 includes multiple interface boards. For example, the network device 800 also includes an interface board 840, which includes a central processing unit 841, a network processor 842, a forwarding table entry memory 844, and a physical interface card 843.

[0119] Optionally, the network device 800 also includes a switching fabric board 820. The switching fabric board 820 can also be called a switch fabric unit (SFU). When the network device has multiple interface boards 830, the switching fabric board 820 is used to complete data exchange between the interface boards. For example, interface boards 830 and 840 can communicate through the switching fabric board 820.

[0120] The main control board 810 and the interface board 830 are coupled. For example, the main control board 810, interface boards 830 and 840, and the switching network board 820 communicate with each other via a system bus connected to the system backplane. In one possible implementation, an inter-process communication (IPC) channel is established between the main control board 810 and the interface board 830, and the main control board 810 and the interface board 830 communicate with each other through the IPC channel.

[0121] Logically, network device 800 includes a control plane and a forwarding plane. The control plane includes a main control board 810 and a central processing unit 831, while the forwarding plane includes various components that perform forwarding, such as a forwarding table entry memory 834, a physical interface card 833, and a network processor 832. The control plane performs functions such as router operation, generating forwarding tables, processing signaling and protocol messages, and configuring and maintaining the device's status. The control plane distributes the generated forwarding table to the forwarding plane. In the forwarding plane, the network processor 832 looks up the packets received by the physical interface card 833 based on the forwarding table distributed by the control plane and forwards them. The forwarding table distributed by the control plane can be stored in the forwarding table entry memory 834. In some embodiments, the control plane and the forwarding plane can be completely separated and not on the same device.

[0122] The receiving unit 601 in the control plane device 600 can be equivalent to the physical interface card 833 in the network device 800; the determining unit 602 and the control unit 603 in the control plane device 600 can be equivalent to the network processor 832 or the central processing unit 811.

[0123] In this embodiment, the operation on interface board 840 is the same as that on interface board 830, and will not be described again for simplicity. The network device 800 in this embodiment can correspond to the CP device in the above method embodiments. The main control board 810, interface board 830 and / or 840 in the network device 800 can implement the functions and / or various steps implemented by the CP device in the above method embodiments, and will not be described again for simplicity.

[0124] It's worth noting that a network device may have one or more main control boards, including a primary and a backup main control board. It may also have one or more interface boards; the more powerful the network device's data processing capabilities, the more interface boards it provides. Each interface board may also have one or more physical interface cards. A switching board may or may not exist; multiple boards can share the load and provide redundancy. In a centralized forwarding architecture, the network device may not need a switching board, as the interface boards handle the entire system's business data processing. In a distributed forwarding architecture, the network device can have at least one switching board, which enables data exchange between multiple interface boards, providing high-capacity data exchange and processing capabilities. Therefore, the data access and processing capabilities of a distributed architecture network device are greater than those of a centralized architecture device. Alternatively, the network device can also be a single board, without a switching board. The functions of the interface board and the main control board are integrated on this one board. In this case, the central processing unit (CPU) on the interface board and the CPU on the main control board can be combined into a single CPU to perform the combined functions. This type of device has lower data exchange and processing capabilities (e.g., low-end switches or routers). The specific architecture used depends on the specific network deployment scenario, and no restrictions are imposed here.

[0125] In some possible embodiments, the CP device described above can be implemented as a virtualized device.

[0126] For example, a virtualization device can be a virtual machine (VM) running a program for sending messages, deployed on hardware devices (e.g., physical servers). A virtual machine refers to a complete computer system simulated by software, possessing full hardware system functionality and running in a completely isolated environment. For example, a CP device can be implemented based on a general-purpose physical server combined with Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) technology. A CP device can be a virtual host, virtual router, or virtual switch. Those skilled in the art can virtualize a CP device with the above-mentioned functions on a general-purpose physical server by combining NFV technology after reading this application. Further details are omitted here.

[0127] For example, a virtualization device can be a container. A container is an entity used to provide an isolated virtualized environment; for example, a container can be a Docker container. Containers can be configured as CP devices. For instance, a CP device can be created using a corresponding image. For example, using an image of proxy-container (a container providing proxy services), two container instances can be created for proxy-container: container instance proxy-container1 and container instance proxy-container2. Container instance proxy-container1 can be provided as a CP device, and container instance proxy-container2 as a UP device. When implemented using container technology, CP devices can run on the kernel of a physical machine, and multiple CP devices can share the operating system of the physical machine. Container technology can isolate different CP devices. Containerized CP devices can run in a virtualized environment, such as a virtual machine, or they can run directly on a physical machine.

[0128] For example, a virtualization device can be a Pod. A Pod is the basic unit used by Kubernetes (Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration engine from Google, abbreviated as K8s) to deploy, manage, and orchestrate containerized applications. A Pod can include one or more containers. Each container in the same Pod is typically deployed on the same host, so each container in the same Pod can communicate through that host and share the host's storage and network resources. A Pod can be configured as a CP device. Specifically, a Pod can be created by instructing Container as a Service (CaaS, a container-based PaaS service), thus providing the Pod as a CP device.

[0129] Of course, CP devices can also be other virtualization devices, which will not be listed here.

[0130] In some possible embodiments, the CP device described above can also be implemented by a general-purpose processor. For example, the general-purpose processor can be a chip. Specifically, the general-purpose processor implementing the CP device includes processing circuitry and an input interface and an output interface internally connected and communicating with the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is used to execute the message generation step in the various method embodiments above through the input interface, the receiving step in the various method embodiments above through the input interface, and the sending step in the various method embodiments above through the output interface. Optionally, the general-purpose processor may further include a storage medium, and the processing circuitry is used to execute the storage step in the various method embodiments above through the storage medium. The storage medium may store instructions executed by the processing circuitry, and the processing circuitry is used to execute the instructions stored in the storage medium to execute the various method embodiments above.

[0131] See Figure 9 This application provides a communication system 900, which includes a CP device and a UP device. Optionally, the CP device may be, for example, device 600, network device 700, or network device 800.

[0132] This application also provides a computer storage medium storing computer program instructions that implement the CP device function in the access processing method provided in this application.

[0133] This application provides a computer program product that, when run on a CP device, causes the CP device to perform the above-described... Figure 5 The access processing method provided in the illustrated embodiment.

[0134] The devices of the various product forms described above each have any of the functions of the CP device in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0135] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method steps and units described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the steps and components of each embodiment have been generally described in terms of functionality in the foregoing description. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0136] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be found in the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0137] In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices, or units, or it may be an electrical, mechanical, or other form of connection.

[0138] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of the embodiments of this application, depending on actual needs.

[0139] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0140] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0141] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of various equivalent modifications or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application, and these modifications or substitutions should all be covered within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

[0142] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer program instructions. When these computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., digital video disc (DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state drive), etc.

[0143] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of the above embodiments can be implemented by hardware or by a program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a read-only memory, a disk, or an optical disk.

[0144] The above description is only an optional embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. An access processing method, characterized in that, A CP device is applied to a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) system where the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) are separated. The BNG system has a first UP pool and a second UP pool, which serve as backup UP pools for each other. The method includes: The CP device receives a first access request and a second access request sent by the same user equipment. The first access request is transmitted through the first UP pool, and the second access request is transmitted through the second UP pool. The CP device determines that the load condition of the first UP pool is better than or equal to the load condition of the second UP pool; The CP device responds to the first access request through the UP device in the first UP pool, enabling the user equipment to access the network through the first UP pool; The CP device responds to the first access request through the UP devices in the first UP pool, including: The CP device determines the target UP device in the first UP pool based on the load status of each UP device in the first UP pool; The CP device responds to the first access request through the target UP device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The load condition includes: the volume of business or the product of the volume of business and the weight value.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The weight value is related to the number of non-faulty UP devices in the UP pool.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, Prior to the determining step, the method further includes: In response to a UP device failure in the second UP pool, the CP device adjusts the weight value corresponding to the second UP pool.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first UP pool and the second UP pool each include at least two UP devices.

6. A control surface device, characterized in that, A broadband network gateway (BNG) system with separate control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) is applied, wherein the BNG system has a first UP pool and a second UP pool, the first UP pool and the second UP pool serving as backup UP pools for each other, the device comprising: The receiving unit is used to receive a first access request and a second access request sent by the same user equipment, wherein the first access request is transmitted through the first UP pool and the second access request is transmitted through the second UP pool. A determining unit is used to determine that the load condition of the first UP pool is better than or equal to the load condition of the second UP pool; The control unit is configured to respond to the first access request through the UP devices in the first UP pool, enabling the user equipment to access the network through the first UP pool; The control unit is further configured to: determine the target UP device in the first UP pool based on the load status of each UP device in the first UP pool; and respond to the first access request through the target UP device.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that, The load condition includes: the volume of business or the product of the volume of business and the weight value.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that, The weight value is related to the number of non-faulty UP devices in the UP pool.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The control unit is also configured to adjust the weight value corresponding to the second UP pool in response to a UP device failure contained in the second UP pool.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that, The first UP pool and the second UP pool each include at least two UP devices.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more computer-executable instructions, characterized in that, When the computer execution instructions are executed by the processor, the processor performs the method as described in any one of claims 1-5.

12. A broadband network gateway (BNG) system, characterized in that, The BNG system includes a control plane CP device and a first user plane UP pool and a second UP pool controlled by the CP device, wherein the CP device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1-5 above.

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