Method, device and system for obtaining path association information

Abstract

A method, device and system for obtaining path association information, belonging to the field of network technology. A first network device generates a message carrying template indication information, and sends the message to a second network device. After receiving the message, the second network device determines a target template associated with a target forwarding path according to the template indication information carried in the message, and performs operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to instruct different receiving network devices to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determine association information such as path attributes or path constraints associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. By publishing path association information in the manner of carrying template indication information provided by the method, the flexibility of obtaining path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of network technology, and in particular to a method, device and system for obtaining path association information. Background Art

[0002] A communication network usually includes a controller and multiple forwarding devices. The controller can calculate a forwarding path based on the network topology of the communication network and send path information of the forwarding path to the forwarding devices on the forwarding path so that the forwarding devices on the forwarding path forward services according to the forwarding path.

[0003] In an actual forwarding scenario, a forwarding device not only needs to know the path information of a forwarding path, but also needs to know the path constraints of the forwarding path, so that the forwarding device can perform related operations. For example, a forwarding device also needs to know the bandwidth constraints of a forwarding path, so as to reserve bandwidth for the forwarding path according to the bandwidth constraints of the forwarding path. Currently, a controller usually encapsulates the path constraints of a forwarding path in a message to send the path constraints of the forwarding path to a forwarding device.

[0004] However, when implementing the current technical solution, it is necessary to define a path constraint field in the protocol to carry various types of path constraints. The path constraint category required for a forwarding path varies in many cases, and the path constraint categories of different forwarding paths are often different. The flexibility of carrying path constraints by defining the path constraint field in the protocol is poor. If the supportability of the protocol standard is improved by frequently modifying and supplementing the path constraint field, the stability of the standard will be affected, and the efficiency of promoting the standard will also be relatively low. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a method, device and system for obtaining path association information, which can improve the flexibility of obtaining path association information such as path attributes or path constraints without affecting the stability of the protocol. The technical solution of the present application is as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for obtaining path association information is provided, which is performed by a first network device, and the method includes: generating a message, the message carrying template indication information, the template indication information indicating a target template, and the target template is associated with a target forwarding path; sending the message to a second network device, so that the second network device performs an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template indicated by the template indication information. The second network device may be a device on the target forwarding path. The target template may be associated with the target forwarding path through the association information included in the target template.

[0007] According to the technical solution provided by the present application, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to instruct different receiving network devices to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determine the association information associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying the template indication information provided by the technical solution, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol.

[0008] Optionally, the target template includes at least one path-related attribute and / or at least one path-related constraint.

[0009] Optionally, the message also carries path indication information, and the path indication information indicates the target forwarding path. For example, the path indication information may be path information or a path identifier, and the path information may be strict path information or loose path information.

[0010] The technical solution provided by the present application can facilitate the second network device to determine the target forwarding path according to the path indication information by carrying the path indication information in the message, thereby performing operations associated with the target forwarding path.

[0011] Optionally, the method further includes: before sending the message to the second network device, obtaining at least one template, the target template belongs to the at least one template. For example, the first network device obtains at least one template according to template configuration information, and the template configuration information may be template configuration information input by a user to the first network device.

[0012] The technical solution provided by the present application enables the first network device to obtain at least one template, which can facilitate the first network device to determine a target template from the at least one template.

[0013] Optionally, the method further includes: before sending the message to the second network device, sending the at least one template to the second network device.

[0014] The technical solution provided by the present application is that a first network device sends at least one template to a second network device, which can facilitate the second network device to obtain the at least one template, thereby facilitating the second network device to determine a target template associated with a target forwarding path from the at least one template in subsequent operations.

[0015] Optionally, the target template includes: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information. The path detection indication information may be bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD) indication information, and the BFD indication information may specifically be seamless bidirectional forwarding detection (SBFD) indication information.

[0016] In a second aspect, a method for obtaining path association information is provided, which is performed by a second network device, and the method includes: receiving a message from a first network device, the message carrying template indication information; determining a target template according to the template indication information, the target template being associated with a target forwarding path; and performing an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. The second network device is a device on the target forwarding path. The target template can be associated with the target forwarding path through the association information included in the target template.

[0017] The technical solution provided by the present application is that the first network device carries template indication information corresponding to the target template in the message to instruct the second network device to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determines the association information associated with the target forwarding path based on the target template. The path association information is published in the manner of carrying template indication information provided by the technical solution, which can improve the flexibility of obtaining the path association information without affecting the stability of the protocol.

[0018] Optionally, the message also carries path indication information, and the method further includes: determining the target forwarding path according to the path indication information. For example, the path indication information may be path information or a path identifier, and the path information may be strict path information or loose path information.

[0019] The technical solution provided by the present application can facilitate the second network device to determine the target forwarding path according to the path indication information by carrying the path indication information in the message, thereby performing operations associated with the target forwarding path.

[0020] Optionally, the target template includes at least one path-related attribute and / or at least one path-related constraint.

[0021] Optionally, the method further includes: before determining the target template according to the template indication information, obtaining at least one template, the target template belonging to the at least one template. Accordingly, determining the target template according to the template indication information includes: determining the target template from the at least one template according to the template indication information. The second network device may obtain the at least one template according to the template configuration information, and the template configuration information may be the template configuration information input by the user to the second network device; or the second network device may receive the at least one template from the first network device, and the at least one template sent by the first network device to the second network device may be the template obtained by the first network device according to the template configuration information.

[0022] The technical solution provided by the present application enables the second network device to obtain at least one template, which can facilitate the second network device to determine a target template from the at least one template and perform operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template.

[0023] Optionally, the target template includes: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information. The path detection indication information may be BFD indication information, and the BFD indication information may specifically be SBFD indication information.

[0024] Optionally, operations associated with the target forwarding path are performed according to the target template, including: when the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, performing traffic statistics on the target forwarding path; when the target template includes hot backup protection indication information, if the target forwarding path fails, switching the forwarding path to a backup path of the target forwarding path; when the target template includes path detection indication information, detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty; when the target template includes path verification indication information, verifying the connectivity of the target forwarding path according to the network topology.

[0025] Optionally, in the first aspect and the second aspect, the target forwarding path includes a segment routing traffic engineering (segment routing traffic engineering, SR-TE) tunnel, a resource reservation protocol based on traffic engineering extension (resource reservation protocol-traffic engineering, RSVP-TE) tunnel or a segment routing policy (segment routing policy, SR policy) in one. Depending on the type of tunnel, it can be achieved by label forwarding based on multiprotocol label switching (multiprotocol label switching, MPLS), or Internet Protocol version 6 (Internet Protocol version 6, IPv6) forwarding based on segment routing (segment routing over Internet Protocol version 6, SRv6) segment identification (segment list, SID) of the sixth version of the Internet Protocol.

[0026] Optionally, in the first aspect and the second aspect, the message is a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP) message or a border gateway protocol (BGP) message.

[0027] Optionally, in the first aspect and the second aspect, the message includes a type length value (TLV) field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field.

[0028] Optionally, in the first aspect and the second aspect, the template indication information is a template identifier, for example, a template identity (identity, ID).

[0029] Optionally, in the first aspect and the second aspect, the first network device is a path calculation element (PCE) device, and the second network device is a path computation client (PCC) device.

[0030] According to a third aspect, a network device is provided, comprising modules for executing the method provided in the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect.

[0031] According to a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, comprising modules for executing the method provided in the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0032] The modules in the third aspect or the fourth aspect mentioned above may be implemented based on software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware, and the modules may be arbitrarily combined or divided based on specific implementations.

[0033] A fifth aspect provides a network device, including a memory and a processor;

[0034] The memory is used to store computer programs;

[0035] The processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory so that the network device executes the method provided by the above-mentioned first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect, or executes the method provided by the above-mentioned second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method provided in the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect is implemented, or the method provided in the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect is implemented.

[0037] In the seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer executes the method provided by the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect, or executes the method provided by the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0038] In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions, and when the chip is running, it is used to implement the method provided by the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to implement the method provided by the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0039] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, including: a first network device and a second network device;

[0040] The first network device is the network device provided in the third aspect, and the second network device is the network device provided in the fourth aspect; or, at least one of the first network device and the second network device is the network device provided in the fifth aspect.

[0041] Optionally, the first network device is a PCE device, and the second network device is a PCC device.

[0042] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided by this application are:

[0043] The present application provides a method, device and system for obtaining path association information. The first network device generates a message carrying template indication information and sends the message to the second network device. The target template indicated by the template indication information is associated with the target forwarding path. After receiving the message, the second network device determines the target template according to the template indication information carried in the message, and performs operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to indicate different receiving network devices to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determine the associated information such as path attributes or path constraints associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying template indication information provided by the technical solution of the present application, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method for obtaining path association information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a TLV field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another TLV field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a method for obtaining path association information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the logical structure of a first network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the logical structure of a second network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig.10It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of another network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to make the principles, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation methods of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a communication network, which may be, for example, a data center network (DCN), a metropolitan area network, a wide area network, or a campus network.

[0056] The communication network includes multiple network devices. Optionally, the multiple network devices include at least one control device and multiple forwarding devices, the multiple forwarding devices are communicatively connected, and each forwarding device is communicatively connected to the control device, the control device is used to control the forwarding device, and the forwarding device is used to forward services under the control of the control device. Among them, the forwarding device can be a switch, a router, a virtual switch or a virtual router and other devices, and the multiple forwarding devices in the same communication network can be the same forwarding device or different forwarding devices, for example, all forwarding devices in the same communication network are routers, or a part of the forwarding devices are routers and another part of the forwarding devices are switches. The control device can be a controller, for example, a terminal, a server, a functional module deployed in a server, a server cluster composed of several servers, or a cloud computing service center, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0057] The control device can calculate the forwarding path according to the network topology of the communication network, and send the path information of the forwarding path to the forwarding device on the forwarding path. The forwarding device determines the forwarding path according to the received path information, and forwards the service through the determined forwarding path. The forwarding path may include one of an SR-TE tunnel, an RSVP-TE tunnel or an SRpolicy. Depending on the type of tunnel, the forwarding path can be implemented by MPLS-based label forwarding or SRv6 SID-based IPv6 forwarding. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the implementable form of the forwarding path.

[0058] According to the flow direction of the business, the forwarding device on the forwarding path may include an ingress device, an egress device, and a transit device located between the ingress device and the egress device. The control device may send the path information of the forwarding path to the ingress device on the forwarding path, or may send the path information of the forwarding path to other devices on the forwarding path. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Among them, the ingress device is a forwarding device located at the source end of the forwarding path (that is, the source forwarding device), and the egress device is a forwarding device located at the destination end of the forwarding path (that is, the destination forwarding device). The forwarding device in the communication network may also be referred to as a forwarding node, wherein the ingress device may be referred to as a head node, the egress device may be referred to as an end node, and the transit device may be referred to as a transit node or an intermediate node. It is easy to understand that, depending on the length of the forwarding path, there may be only an ingress device and an egress device on the forwarding path, but no transit device. Among them, the control device and the forwarding device may be based on BGP communication or PCEP communication. For example, the control device may be a PCE device, the forwarding device (e.g., an ingress device) may be a PCC device, and the PCE device and the PCC device communicate based on PCEP. Among them, the PCE device is an entity that can calculate the forwarding path according to the network topology, which can be a network node or a server. The PCE device can respond to the path calculation request in the communication network, and calculate the forwarding path that meets the constraints according to the network topology of the communication network. The PCC device is a device that sends a path calculation request to the PCE device. Optionally, the PCC sends a path calculation request to the PCE device, and a PCE application may run on the PCE device, and the PCE application responds to the path calculation request to calculate the forwarding path.

[0059] In an actual forwarding scenario, the forwarding device on the forwarding path needs to know not only the path information of the forwarding path, but also the path constraint of the forwarding path, so that the forwarding device on the forwarding path can perform related operations. The control device can also send the path constraint of the forwarding path to the forwarding device on the forwarding path. For example, the control device sends the bandwidth constraint of the forwarding path to the forwarding device on the forwarding path, and the forwarding device on the forwarding path reserves bandwidth for the forwarding path according to the bandwidth constraint of the forwarding path.

[0060] For example, please refer to Figure 1, which shows a schematic diagram of a communication network provided by an embodiment of the present application, the communication network includes network devices 101~107, network device 101 is a control device, network devices 102~107 are all forwarding devices, network device 101 can calculate the forwarding path according to the network topology of the communication network, for example, the forwarding path calculated by network device 101 is forwarding path S1 (the forwarding path S1 is: network device 102->network device 103->network device 104->network device 105), the network device 101 can send the path information of the forwarding path S1 and the path constraint of the forwarding path S1 (for example, bandwidth constraint) to the network device on the forwarding path S1 (for example, network device 102, which is also the ingress device), the network device 102 determines the forwarding path S1 according to the received path information, and forwards services through the forwarding path S1 according to the path constraint of the forwarding path S1, for example, reserves bandwidth for the forwarding path S1 according to the bandwidth constraint of the forwarding path S1. It should be pointed out that Figure 1 The communication network shown is only used as an example and is not used to limit the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application. In the specific implementation process, the communication network may also include other devices, and the number of control devices and the number of forwarding devices can be configured as needed. In addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiment of the present application takes the example of network device 101 sending the path information of the forwarding path S1 and the path constraint of the forwarding path S1 to network device 102 (that is, the ingress device) on the forwarding path S1 as an example. In actual applications, network device 101 can also send the path information of the forwarding path S1 and the path constraint of the forwarding path S1 to network devices 103 to 105 on the forwarding path S1, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0061] At present, the control device usually encapsulates the path constraint of the forwarding path in a message to send the path constraint of the forwarding path to the forwarding device on the forwarding path. For example, the network device 101 encapsulates the path constraint of the forwarding path S1 in a message to send the path constraint of the forwarding path S1 to the network device 102. However, as an implementation method for carrying the path constraint, it is necessary to define a path constraint field in the protocol to carry different types of path constraint information, such as bandwidth and other types of information. However, the type of path constraint that needs to be satisfied by the same forwarding path may change, and the type of path constraint that needs to be satisfied by different forwarding paths may also be different. Therefore, the flexibility of carrying path constraints by defining a path constraint field in the protocol is poor.

[0062] In addition, the types of path association information that can be carried in the current standard are relatively limited, usually bandwidth constraints or delay constraints. However, with the continuous development of communication network technology, network devices may be required to support more types of path association information to achieve other management or operations related to the forwarding path.

[0063] In view of this, the embodiment of the present application provides a method, device and system for obtaining path association information. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, at least one template can be pre-defined, each template in the at least one template includes corresponding association information (that is, association information corresponding to the template), and the first network device can determine the target template in the at least one template as the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and encapsulate the template indication information used to indicate the target template in the message to send the message to the second network device. The second network device can determine the target template according to the template indication information in the message, and perform the operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to indicate different receiving network devices to determine the association information associated with the target forwarding path, such as path attributes or path constraints. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying template indication information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, both the first network device and the second network device may be control devices (that is, the communication network includes at least two control devices), or one of the first network device and the second network device is a control device and the other is a path management device, or the first network device is a control device and the second network device is a forwarding device on a target forwarding path, or both the first network device and the second network device are forwarding devices on a target forwarding path. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The embodiment of the present application will be described below using the example that the first network device is a control device and the second network device is a forwarding device on a forwarding path.

[0065] Please refer to Figure 2 , which shows a flow chart of a method for obtaining path association information provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method for obtaining path association information can be applied to Figure 1 In the communication network shown in FIG. 1 , the first network device described below may be a control device in the communication network, and the second network device may be a device on the target forwarding path, for example, the second network device may be an ingress device on the target forwarding path. Figure 2 As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0066] Step 201: A first network device generates a message, the message carrying template indication information, the template indication information indicating a target template, and the target template is associated with a target forwarding path.

[0067] Optionally, the first network device may obtain a target template, then determine the template indication information of the target template, and generate a message carrying the template indication information according to the template indication information of the target template. The target template is associated with a target forwarding path. For example, the target template includes association information, and the target template is associated with the target forwarding path through the association information included in the target template. The association information refers to association information associated with the target forwarding path.

[0068] Optionally, the association information described in the embodiment of the present application includes at least one path association attribute, and / or at least one path association constraint. The path association attribute can be used to indicate that the device obtains attribute information associated with the forwarding path, such as path attribute information, attribute information of the service carried on the path, attribute information on the forwarding device on the path, etc. The path association constraint can be used to indicate the constraints that the forwarding path needs to satisfy, and the constraints that need to be satisfied here can be for the complete forwarding path or for part of the forwarding path. Optionally, the association information may include: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information, and the path detection indication information may include BFD indication information, and the BFD indication information may specifically be SBFD indication information. Among them, the traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information and path verification indication information can all be used as path association attributes. The association information may also include path association constraints such as path bandwidth constraints and path delay constraints, which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0069] The indication information (e.g., traffic statistics indication information) included in the association information described in the embodiment of the present application may be information that mainly has an indication function, that is, it is used to instruct the device receiving the association information to determine the path attributes to be obtained, or the path constraints to be satisfied, etc., according to the indication information. Optionally, in addition to the indication function, the association information may also have an enabling function, that is, the indication information instructs the device receiving the indication information to first enable the corresponding function, and then perform the operation associated with the corresponding forwarding path according to the indication information. In the embodiment of the present application, the target template may include at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information, or path verification indication information. As an example, the traffic statistics indication information in the target template may be traffic statistics enabling information, the hot standby protection indication information may be hot standby protection enabling information, the path detection indication information may be path detection enabling information, and the path verification indication information may be path detection enabling information, wherein the traffic statistics enabling information instructs the device receiving the target template (e.g., the second network device) to first enable the traffic statistics function and then perform traffic statistics for the target forwarding path; the hot standby protection enabling information instructs the device receiving the target template to first enable the hot standby protection function and then perform a hot standby operation for the target forwarding path; the path detection enabling information instructs the device receiving the target template to first enable the path detection function and then detect whether the target forwarding path is faulty; and the path verification enabling information instructs the device receiving the target template to first enable the path verification function and then verify the connectivity of the target forwarding path.

[0070] For example, taking the target template including traffic statistics enabling information, hot standby protection enabling information, and SBFD enabling information as an example, the content of the target template may be as follows:

[0071]

[0072] "template 100" indicates template 100, "100" indicates the template identifier of the target template, "traffic-statistics enable" indicates traffic statistics enablement information, "backup hot-standby enable" indicates hot standby protection enablement information, and "SBFD enable" indicates SBFD enablement information.

[0073] Optionally, the template indication information may be a template identifier, such as a template ID; or the template indication information may be other information expressions that can be used to indicate the target template. The message generated by the first network device and carrying the template indication information may be a PCEP message or a BGP message, the message including a TLV field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field. The TLV field includes at least a type field and a length field, the value in the type field is used to indicate the type of the value in the TLV field, and the value in the length field is used to indicate the length of the value in the TLV field. For example, please refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 , which shows a schematic diagram of two TLV fields provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 1 , the TLV field includes a type field and a length field, and the length of the TLV field is 4 bytes. Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , the length of the type field and the length field in the TLV field are 2 bytes respectively. Figure 4 As shown, the TLV field also includes a reserved field, the length of the type field and the length field in the TLV field are 1 byte respectively, and the length of the reserved field is 2 bytes. Optionally, Figure 3 The TLV field shown may be a TLV field in a PCEP message. Figure 4 The TLV field shown may be a TLV field in a BGP message. Figure 4 The reserved field in the TLV field shown can be used to carry other information besides the template indication information, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0074] Optionally, the target forwarding path described in the embodiment of the present application may include one of an SR-TE tunnel, an RSVP-TE tunnel, or an SR policy. Depending on the type of tunnel, the target forwarding path may be implemented by MPLS-based label forwarding or SRv6 SID-based IPv6 forwarding. As an optional implementation method, the message generated by the first network device may also carry path indication information, and the path indication information indicates the target forwarding path. Optionally, the path indication information may be path information or a path identifier (e.g., a path ID). Among them, the path information may be strict path information or loose path information. Among them, the strict path information indicates a complete target forwarding path, and the strict path information may include indication information for indicating each network device on the target forwarding path and / or indication information of links between network devices on the target forwarding path, and the strict path information may include hop-by-hop forwarding information on the target forwarding path, for example, the strict path information includes an ingress device, an egress device, and indication information of all intermediate devices between the ingress device and the egress device on the target forwarding path to achieve hop-by-hop designated forwarding. The loose path information indicates the key network devices on the target forwarding path and / or the links between the key network devices. The loose path information may include indication information for indicating the key network devices on the target forwarding path and / or the indication information for the links between the key network devices on the target forwarding path. There may be other devices between the network devices indicated by the indication information in the loose path information, or the indicated links may be local links, etc. As an example, the loose path information indicates the egress device of the target forwarding path, and the loose path information is also the indication information of the egress device. The other network devices on the target forwarding path may be determined by the network device receiving the loose path information (e.g., the ingress device of the target forwarding path) through path calculation, or the network device receiving the loose path information may determine the next hop network device on the path according to the local routing forwarding table. Among them, the indication information for indicating the network device may be the identifier of the network device, for example, the SID of the network device; the indication information for indicating the link may be the link identifier, for example, the SID of the link. For example, for an RSVP-TE tunnel, the message may carry strict path information; for an SR-TE tunnel, the message may carry strict path information or loose path information; for an SR policy, the message may carry loose path information, such as path information of a specified head node and tail node.

[0075] For example, please refer to Figure 5, which shows a schematic diagram of a forwarding path in a communication network provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication network includes a forwarding path S1 and a forwarding path S2, wherein the forwarding path S1 and the forwarding path S2 are respectively a complete path, wherein the forwarding path S1 is: network device 102—>network device 103—>network device 104—>network device 105, and the forwarding path S2 is: network device 102—>network device 107—>network device 106—>network device 105, wherein the inlet device on the forwarding path S1 and the inlet device on the forwarding path S2 are both network device 102, and the egress devices are both network device 105. Taking the forwarding path S1 as the target forwarding path as an example, the message generated by the first network device (e.g., network device 101) may carry the path indication information of the forwarding path S1, and the path indication information may be the path identifier "S1" of the forwarding path S1 or the path information used to indicate the forwarding path S1. For example, the path information used to indicate the forwarding path S1 may be strict path information, which includes indication information for indicating the link between the network devices 102 to 105. Alternatively, the path information used to indicate the forwarding path S1 may be loose path information, which includes, for example, indication information for indicating the network device 104 and the network device 105 on the forwarding path S1 (assuming that the network device 104 and the network device 105 are key network devices on the forwarding path S1), and / or, indication information for indicating the link between the network device 104 and the network device 105 (network device 104->network device 105). Alternatively, the loose path information is indication information for indicating the network device 105 (that is, the egress device on the forwarding path S1), which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0076] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device can obtain a target template from at least one template, so it is easy to understand that the target template belongs to the at least one template, that is, the target template is one of the at least one template. Wherein, each template in the at least one template can have a template identifier, and each template in the at least one template includes corresponding association information. The first network device can determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path from the at least one template according to business requirements, and obtain the target template, and determine the template identifier of the target template as the template indication information of the target template. Wherein, the at least one template can be located in the first network device or a third-party device (such as a server), and the third-party device can be a device in the communication network where the first network device is located, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0077] Optionally, the at least one template is located in a third-party device (e.g., a server), and the first network device can obtain the at least one template from the third-party device, and then determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path from the at least one template according to the business requirements. Alternatively, optionally, the at least one template is located in the first network device, and the at least one template can be generated and pre-stored by the first network device, such as by manual configuration or automatic generation, or can be sent to the first network device by other network devices (e.g., a second network device) and pre-stored by the first network device, and the first network device can determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path from the at least one template pre-stored by itself according to the business requirements.

[0078] Taking the example that the at least one template is generated and pre-stored by the first network device, the first network device can generate the at least one template according to the template configuration information. For example, the first network device can provide a human-computer interaction interface, and the user can input the template configuration information to the first network device through the human-computer interaction interface, and the first network device generates the at least one template according to the template configuration information input by the user; or, the user can input the template configuration information through other human-computer interaction devices connected to the first network device, and the first network device obtains the template configuration information from the other human-computer interaction devices, and generates the at least one template according to the template configuration information obtained. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. As an optional implementation method, after the first network device generates the at least one template, it can send the at least one template to other devices in the communication network, so that the other devices can match according to the template indication information sent by the first network device in subsequent operations, thereby determining the target template in the at least one template received. Among them, the method of sending the at least one template can be to use the NETCONF protocol, etc. The other device may include the second network device described in the embodiment of the present application, that is, the first network device may send the at least one template to the second network device, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0079] Step 202: The first network device sends the message to the second network device.

[0080] After generating a message, the first network device may send the message to the second network device. The message carries template indication information and may also carry path indication information.

[0081] Step 203: The second network device receives the message from the first network device.

[0082] Step 204: The second network device determines the target template according to the template indication information carried in the message.

[0083] Optionally, the second network device may parse the received message, extract the template indication information from the message, and then determine the target template according to the template indication information. As an optional implementation method, the second network device determines the target template from at least one template according to the template indication information. For example, the second network device determines the template indicated by the template indication information in the at least one template as the target template. Optionally, the template indication information is a template identifier, and each template in the at least one template may have a template identifier. The second network device compares the template identifier carried in the message with the template identifier of the at least one template, and determines the template in the at least one template whose template identifier is the same as the template identifier carried in the message as the target template. Among them, the at least one template may be located in the second network device or a third-party device, and the third-party device may be a device in the communication network where the second network device is located, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0084] Optionally, the at least one template is located in a third-party device (e.g., a server), and the second network device can obtain the at least one template from the third-party device, and then determine the target template from the at least one template according to the template indication information. Alternatively, optionally, the at least one template is located in the second network device, and the at least one template can be generated and pre-stored by the second network device, such as by manual configuration or automatic generation, or can be sent to the second network device by other network devices (e.g., the first network device) and pre-stored by the second network device, and the second network device can determine the target template from at least one template pre-stored by itself according to the template indication information.

[0085] Taking the example that the at least one template is generated and pre-stored by the second network device, the second network device can generate the at least one template according to the template configuration information. For example, the second network device can provide a human-computer interaction interface, and the user can input the template configuration information to the second network device through the human-computer interaction interface, and the second network device generates the at least one template according to the template configuration information input by the user; or, the user can input the template configuration information through other human-computer interaction devices connected to the second network device, and the second network device obtains the template configuration information from the other human-computer interaction devices, and generates the at least one template according to the obtained template configuration information, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. As an optional implementation method, after the second network device generates the at least one template, it can send the at least one template to other devices in the communication network, so that the other devices can determine the target template in the at least one template received. Among them, the method of sending the at least one template can be to use the NETCONF protocol, etc. The other device may include the first network device in the embodiment of the present application, that is, the second network device can send the at least one template to the first network device, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0086] By executing, for example, the first network device sending at least one template to the second network device as described in step 201, or the second network device sending at least one template to the first network device as described in step 204, the first network device and the second network device can pre-store at least one identical template, thereby facilitating the first network device and the second network device to determine a target template therein according to the at least one template, thereby determining a path association constraint or a path association attribute associated with the target forwarding path.

[0087] Step 205: The second network device performs an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template.

[0088] Optionally, the second network device obtains association information from the target template, determines the association information in the target template as association information associated with the target forwarding path, and performs related operations according to the association information in the target template, thereby performing operations associated with the target forwarding path. As described in step 201, the association information includes at least one path association attribute, and / or at least one path association constraint. The association information may include: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information, or path verification indication information. The path detection indication information may include BFD indication information, and the BFD indication information may specifically be SBFD indication information. Among them, the traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information, and path verification indication information can all be used as path association attributes. The association information may also include path association constraints such as path bandwidth constraints and path delay constraints. Among them, in the target template, the path association attribute can be used to indicate that the device obtains attribute information associated with the target forwarding path, and the path association constraint can be used to indicate the constraints that the target forwarding path needs to satisfy. The target template may include at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information, or path verification indication information, and the target template may also include path-related constraints such as path bandwidth constraints and path delay constraints. The second network device may be a network device on the target forwarding path, for example, an ingress device on the target forwarding path. As an optional implementation, the second network device may perform operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template, including the following four possible situations:

[0089] The first case: when the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, traffic statistics are performed on the target forwarding path.

[0090] When the second network device determines that the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, the second network device can enable the traffic statistics function and can perform traffic statistics for the target forwarding path. For example, the target forwarding path is used for service forwarding, and the second network device can count the number of service packets received by the second network device from the previous hop device of the second network device on the target forwarding path, so as to count the traffic flowing into the second network device, and can also count the number of service packets forwarded by the second network device to the next hop device of the second network device on the target forwarding path, so as to count the traffic flowing out of the second network device.

[0091] by Figure 5 For example, the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5, when the network device 102 determines that the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, the network device 102 counts the number of service packets forwarded by the network device 102 to the network device 103 (that is, the next hop device of the network device 102 on the forwarding path S1), so as to count the traffic flowing out of the network device 102, thereby performing traffic statistics for the forwarding path S1. For another example, the second network device may be Figure 5 The network device 103 shown in FIG. 103, the target forwarding path is Figure 5 In the forwarding path S1 shown in the figure, when the network device 103 determines that the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, the network device 103 counts the number of service packets received from the network device 102 (that is, the previous hop device of the network device 103 on the forwarding path S1) to count the traffic flowing into the network device 103, and can also count the number of service packets forwarded by the network device 103 to the network device 104 (that is, the next hop device of the network device 103 on the forwarding path S1) to count the traffic flowing out of the network device 103, thereby performing traffic statistics on the forwarding path S1.

[0092] The second case: when the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the target forwarding path fails, the forwarding path is switched to a backup path of the target forwarding path.

[0093] When the second network device determines that the target template includes hot backup protection indication information, the second network device can enable the hot backup protection function and determine the backup path of the target forwarding path. The second network device can calculate or select an available backup path based on the received hot backup protection indication information, or the second network device can also receive the backup path indication information from the first network device to obtain the backup path. If the target forwarding path fails, the second network device switches the forwarding path to the backup path of the target forwarding path, that is, during the service forwarding process, if the second network device determines that the target forwarding path fails, the second network device switches the service from the target forwarding path to the backup path for forwarding. For example, the second network device forwards the service message that should be forwarded to the next-hop device of the second network device on the target forwarding path to the next-hop device of the second network device on the backup path, so as to switch the service from the target forwarding path to the backup path for forwarding. Among them, the target forwarding path failure may include but is not limited to: the target forwarding path is disconnected (for example, the link between two network devices on the target forwarding path is disconnected), the network device failure on the target forwarding path or the port failure of the network device on the target forwarding path, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0094] by Figure 5 For example, the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5 When the network device 102 determines that the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, the network device 102 determines that the backup path of the forwarding path S1 may be Figure 5 As shown in the forwarding path S2, if the forwarding path S1 fails, the network device 102 will forward the service message that should be forwarded to the network device 103 (that is, the next-hop device of the network device 102 on the forwarding path S1) to the network device 107 (that is, the next-hop device of the network device 102 on the forwarding path S2) to switch the service from the forwarding path S1 to the forwarding path S2.

[0095] Optionally, the target forwarding path is calculated by the first network device (here, the first network device is a control device as an example) and sent to the second network device. If the first network device determines that the path association attribute of the target forwarding path includes hot backup protection indication information, the first network device can send a backup path of the target forwarding path to the second network device while sending the target forwarding path to the second network device. That is, the first network device sends two forwarding paths to the second network device at the same time. When the second network device determines that the target template includes hot backup protection indication information, the second network device can determine one of the two forwarding paths as the target forwarding path, and the other forwarding path as the backup path of the target forwarding path. For example, while the first network device sends the two forwarding paths to the second network device, it can also send indication information to the second network device to indicate to the second network device which forwarding path is the main path and which forwarding path is the backup path. The second network device determines the main path as the target forwarding path according to the indication of the first network device, and determines the backup path as the backup path of the target forwarding path. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. For example, Figure 5 For example, the first network device may be Figure 5 The network device 101 shown in FIG. 101 , the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5For the forwarding path S1 shown in , if the network device 101 determines that the path association attribute of the forwarding path S1 includes hot standby protection indication information, the network device 101 may send a backup path (e.g., forwarding path S2) of the forwarding path S1 to the network device 102 while sending the forwarding path S1 to the network device 102, and the network device 101 may send indication information to the network device 102 to indicate to the network device 102 that the forwarding path S1 is the main path and the forwarding path S2 is the backup path. When the network device 102 determines that the target template includes the hot standby protection indication information, the network device 102 determines the forwarding path S1 as the target forwarding path and the forwarding path S2 as the backup path of the forwarding path S1 according to the indication of the network device 101. For example, for a target forwarding path in the form of an SR-TE tunnel, the backup path acquisition method may be used.

[0096] Optionally, the target forwarding path is calculated by a first network device (here, the first network device is a control device for example) and sent to a second network device. If the first network device determines that the path association attribute of the target forwarding path includes hot backup protection indication information, the first network device can send multiple forwarding paths including the target forwarding path to the second network device. When the second network device determines that the target template includes hot backup protection indication information, the second network device can determine the target forwarding path and the backup path of the target forwarding path from the multiple forwarding paths. For example, Figure 5 For example, the first network device may be Figure 5 The network device 101 shown in FIG. 101 , the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5 For the forwarding path S1 shown in , if the network device 101 determines that the path association attribute of the forwarding path S1 includes hot standby protection indication information, the network device 101 sends multiple forwarding paths including the forwarding path S1 to the network device 102, for example, the network device 101 sends the forwarding path S1, the forwarding path S2 and the forwarding path S3 to the network device 102 (for example, the forwarding path S3 is: network device 102->network device 103->network device 106->network device 105), when the network device 102 determines that the target template includes the hot standby protection indication information, the network device 102 can determine the target forwarding path and the backup path of the target forwarding path from the multiple forwarding paths, for example, the network device 102 can determine the forwarding path S1 as the target forwarding path, and determine the forwarding path S2 as the backup path of the forwarding path S1. For example, for the target forwarding path in the form of an SR policy tunnel, the backup path acquisition method can be used.

[0097] For ease of description, the embodiments of the present application are described as “a first network device sends a forwarding path to a second network device” (for example, “the first network device may send multiple forwarding paths including the target forwarding path to the second network device”). Those skilled in the art may understand that, in actual applications, the first network device may send path indication information, such as a path identifier or path information, to the second network device to indicate a forwarding path, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0098] The third case: when the target template includes path detection indication information, it is detected whether the target forwarding path is faulty.

[0099] When the second network device determines that the target template includes path detection indication information, the second network device can enable the path detection function and can detect whether the target forwarding path is faulty. The path detection indication information can include BFD indication information, specifically, SBFD indication information, to instruct the second network device to detect whether the target forwarding path is faulty based on BFD technology.

[0100] As an example, when the second network device determines that the target template includes path detection indication information, after the second network device enables the path detection function, it can send a detection message to the egress device of the target forwarding path, and detect whether a response message to the detection message is received within a specified time period. If a response message to the detection message is received within the specified time period, the target forwarding path is not faulty; or, if a response message to the detection message is not received within the specified time period, the target forwarding path is faulty; or, although a response message to the detection message is received within the specified time period, the status information included in the response message indicates that there is a fault on the target forwarding path, such as an interface fault between the egress device and the user-side device, etc., then the target forwarding path is faulty. For example, the second network device can periodically send a detection message to the egress device of the target forwarding path (that is, the second network device periodically detects whether the target forwarding path is faulty).

[0101] For example, Figure 5 For example, the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5 For the forwarding path S1 shown in FIG. 1 , when the network device 102 determines that the target template includes BFD indication information, the network device 102 detects whether the forwarding path S1 is faulty based on the BFD technology.

[0102] In the fourth case, when the target template includes path verification indication information, the connectivity of the target forwarding path is verified according to the network topology.

[0103] When the second network device determines that the target template includes path verification indication information, the second network device can enable the path verification function and can verify the connectivity of the target forwarding path according to the network topology of the communication network, that is, the second network device determines whether the target forwarding path is connected according to the network topology of the communication network. For example, the second network device determines whether the message sent by the ingress device of the target forwarding path (for example, the ingress device may be the second network device) can reach the destination device of the target forwarding path according to the network topology of the communication network. Optionally, the second network device can also determine whether the message sent by the egress device of the target forwarding path can reach the ingress device of the target forwarding path according to the network topology of the communication network. For example, the first network device can also obtain the path connectivity from the egress device to the ingress device by negotiation and interaction with the second network device. That is, the second network device can perform a one-way path connectivity check or a two-way path connectivity check, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. By way of example, the target forwarding path may be an SR policy, the ingress device of the target forwarding path may be the head node of the SR policy, the egress device of the target forwarding path may be the tail node of the SR policy, and when the head node determines that the target template includes path verification indication information, the head node may determine the path connectivity from the head node to the tail node based on the network topology of the communication network, and determine the path connectivity from the tail node to the head node.

[0104] For example, Figure 5 For example, the second network device may be Figure 5 The target forwarding path is Figure 5 For the forwarding path S1 shown in , when the network device 102 determines that the target template includes path verification indication information, the network device 102 verifies the connectivity of the forwarding path S1 according to the network topology of the communication network.

[0105] The fourth case can also be considered as detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty. In some implementation scenarios, the fourth case can be applied to verifying the reachability of the target forwarding path after the target forwarding path is established and before forwarding services through the target forwarding path, that is, pre-verifying whether the message can be smoothly forwarded through the target forwarding path. The above third case can be applied to detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty during the process of using the target forwarding path to forward services, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0106] It is easy to understand from the aforementioned steps 201 to 203 that the message received by the second network device also carries path indication information, and the path indication information indicates the target forwarding path. Then the second network device can also obtain the path indication information by parsing the message. As an optional implementation method, before the aforementioned step 205, the method also includes: the second network device determines the target forwarding path according to the path indication information. Among them, the target forwarding path may include one of an SR-TE tunnel, an RSVP-TE tunnel or an SR policy. Depending on the tunnel type, the target forwarding path can be implemented by MPLS-based label forwarding or SRv6 SID-based IPv6 forwarding. The following introduces the process of the second network device determining the target forwarding path according to the path indication information.

[0107] Optionally, the path indication information may be path information or a path identifier (e.g., a path ID). The path information may be strict path information or loose path information. Wherein, the strict path information indicates a complete target forwarding path, and the strict path information includes indication information for indicating each network device on the target forwarding path and / or indication information of links between network devices on the target forwarding path. The loose path information indicates key network devices on the target forwarding path and / or links between the key network devices, and the loose path information includes indication information for indicating key network devices on the target forwarding path and / or indication information of links between key network devices on the target forwarding path. As an example, the loose path information indicates an egress device of the target forwarding path, and other network devices on the target forwarding path are determined by a network device (e.g., an ingress device of the target forwarding path) receiving the loose path information through path calculation, or the network device receiving the loose path information determines the next hop out interface according to local routing information.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, according to different path indication information, the second network device determines the target forwarding path according to the path indication information in different implementation modes. The following takes the path indication information as a path identifier or path information as an example, and introduces the process of the second network device determining the target forwarding path in two possible implementation modes.

[0109] A first implementation manner: the second network device determines a target forwarding path according to the path identifier.

[0110] Optionally, the target forwarding path is a forwarding path that has been established in the communication network, for example, the target forwarding path is a forwarding path that is sent in advance by the first network device (taking the first network device as a control device as an example) to the second network device. The message sent by the first network device to the second network device may carry a path identifier of the target forwarding path, and the second network device determines the forwarding path indicated by the path identifier in the communication network as the target forwarding path.

[0111] For example, Figure 5 For example, the first network device may be network device 101, the second network device may be network device 102, and the communication network includes forwarding path S1 and forwarding path S2. The message sent by network device 101 to network device 102 carries the path identifier "S1" of the target forwarding path, and network device 102 determines the forwarding path indicated by the path identifier "S1" in the communication network (that is, forwarding path S1) as the target forwarding path.

[0112] Second implementation manner: The second network device determines the target forwarding path according to the path information.

[0113] Optionally, the message sent by the first network device to the second network device may carry strict path information for indicating the target forwarding path, and the second network device determines the target forwarding path according to the strict path information for indicating the target forwarding path. For example, the path acquisition method may be used for the target forwarding path in the form of an RSVP-TE tunnel or an SR-TE tunnel. Figure 5 For example, the first network device may be the network device 101, the second network device may be the network device 102, the communication network includes a forwarding path S1 and a forwarding path S2, and both the forwarding path S1 and the forwarding path S2 may be RSVP-TE tunnels. The message sent by the network device 101 to the network device 102 carries strict path information "102->103->104->105" for indicating the target forwarding path (102, 103, 104, 105 are the indication information of the network device 102, the indication information of the network device 103, the indication information of the network device 104, and the indication information of the network device 105, respectively, and "->" indicates a link between the network devices). The forwarding path indicated by the strict path information is: network device 102->network device 103->network device 104->network device 105, and the forwarding path indicated by the strict path information is also the forwarding path S1 in the communication network, so the network device 102 determines the forwarding path S1 as the target forwarding path.

[0114] Optionally, the message sent by the first network device to the second network device may carry loose path information for indicating the target forwarding path, and the second network device determines the target forwarding path according to the loose path information for indicating the target forwarding path. Optionally, the second network device determines the key network devices on the target forwarding path and / or the links between the key network devices according to the loose path information for indicating the target forwarding path, and determines the non-key network devices on the target forwarding path, the links between the non-key network devices, and the links between the non-key network devices and the key network devices through path calculation according to the network topology of the communication network, that is, the network devices and links on the target forwarding path other than the key network devices and / or the links between the key network devices are determined by the second network device through path calculation. Optionally, the second network device may not perform the calculation of the complete path, but forward the service message carrying the loose path information through the outbound interface on the device according to the local routing information, so as to indicate that the service message can be forwarded on the path segment indicated by the loose path information. For example, this path acquisition method may be used for a target forwarding path in the form of an SR-TE tunnel or SRpolicy.

[0115] In summary, the method for obtaining path association information provided by the embodiment of the present application is that the first network device generates a message carrying template indication information and sends the message to the second network device. The target template indicated by the template indication information is associated with the target forwarding path. After the second network device receives the message, it determines the target template according to the template indication information carried in the message, and performs the operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to indicate different receiving network devices to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determine the associated information such as path attributes or path constraints associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying template indication information provided by the method, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol. The method for obtaining the path association information provided by the embodiment of the present application can conveniently carry the path association information between different network devices (such as PCE devices and PCC devices). On the basis of the embodiment of the present application, if the path association information is subsequently extended, there is no need to modify the protocol.

[0116] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device may be a PCE device, and the second network device may be a PCC device. Figure 6 , a specific example is used to introduce the method for obtaining path association information provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0117] Please refer to Figure 6, which shows a schematic diagram of a method for obtaining path association information provided by an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the communication network includes PCE devices and network devices A~F, wherein network devices A~F can all be PCC devices. Network device A is the head node of the forwarding path P1 (the forwarding path P1 is: network device A->network device B->network device C->network device D). At least one template is pre-stored in the PCE device and the PCC device respectively, each template includes corresponding association information, and at least one template in the PCE device is the same as at least one template in the network device A (the format of the template is the same and the association information in the template is the same). In an embodiment of the present application, the path association information may include at least one path association attribute, and / or at least one path association constraint. For example, the path association constraint may include path bandwidth constraint and / or path delay constraint, etc., and the path association attribute may include at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

[0118] During the specific implementation of the process of establishing a forwarding path, the PCE device may first discover PCE members (e.g., PCC devices A to F). After the PCE member discovery is completed, the PCE device establishes a session (e.g., a PCEP session) with PCC devices A to F for information exchange. The PCE device may calculate the forwarding path based on a service trigger or based on a path calculation request sent by a PCC device (e.g., PCC device A) (PCC device A may send a path calculation request to the PCE device based on a user trigger), and send path information indicating the forwarding path to the PCC device (e.g., PCC device A), and the PCC device establishes the forwarding path based on the path information indicating the forwarding path. For example, the PCE device sends path information indicating the forwarding path P1 to PCC device A, and PCC device A establishes the forwarding path P1 based on the path information indicating the forwarding path P1. Among them, the forwarding path actively calculated by the PCE device based on the service trigger may be referred to as a PCE initiated forwarding path, for example, a PCE initiated tunnel or a PCE initiated SR Policy.

[0119] In an embodiment of the present application, the path information used to indicate the forwarding path may be strict path information or loose path information. For example, for an RSVP-TE tunnel, the path information may be strict path information; for an SR policy, the path information may be loose path information; and for an SR-TE tunnel, the path information may be either strict path information or loose path information. Optionally, for an SR-TE tunnel or an SR policy, the forwarding path may be determined by the cooperation of a PCE device and a PCC device. The following example uses a PCE device actively calculating based on service triggers. Figure 6 Taking the forwarding path P1 in FIG. 1 as an example, the establishment process of the forwarding path P1 is described in two scenarios.

[0120] Scenario 1: The PCE device proactively calculates the forwarding path P1 based on service triggering.

[0121] The PCE device determines the path association information (e.g., at least one path association attribute and / or at least one path association constraint) based on the service trigger and the service requirements, and determines the target template from at least one template in the PCE device based on the path association information, and the target template includes at least at least one path association attribute. In addition, the PCE device calculates the forwarding path P1 based on the network topology of the communication network and / or the path association constraint. Afterwards, the PCE device sends the template identifier of the target template and the strict path information used to indicate the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A through a path computation label switching path creation (path computation LSP initiate, PCInitiate) message.

[0122] After receiving the PCInitiate message, PCC device A first establishes the forwarding path P1 according to the strict path information carried in the PCInitiate message for indicating the forwarding path P1, and then sends the state information of the forwarding path P1 to the PCE device through a path computation label switching path state report (PCRpt) message to inform the PCE device that the forwarding path P1 is successfully established. If the network topology of the communication network changes later, the PCE device can update the forwarding path P1 through a path computation label switching path update request (PCUpd) message.

[0123] After the PCC device A establishes the forwarding path P1 according to the strict path information for indicating the forwarding path P1 carried in the PCInitiate message, the PCC device A determines the target template associated with the forwarding path P1 from at least one template in the PCC device A according to the template identifier of the target template carried in the PCInitiate message, and performs the operation associated with the forwarding path P1 according to the path association attribute in the target template. For example, when the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, the PCC device A performs traffic statistics for the forwarding path P1; when the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the forwarding path P1 fails, the PCC device A switches the forwarding path to the backup path of the forwarding path P1; when the target template includes path detection indication information, the PCC device A detects whether the forwarding path S1 fails; when the target template includes path verification indication information, the PCC device A verifies the connectivity of the forwarding path S1 according to the network topology.

[0124] Scenario 2: The PCE device determines the forwarding path P1 together with the PCC device based on service triggering.

[0125] The PCE device determines the path association information (e.g., at least one path association attribute and / or at least one path association constraint) based on the service trigger and the service demand, and determines the target template from at least one template in the PCE device based on the path association information, and the target template includes at least one path association attribute and / or at least one path association constraint. In addition, the PCE device calculates the forwarding path P1 based on the network topology of the communication network and / or the at least one path association constraint. Afterwards, the PCE device sends the template identifier of the target template and the loose path information indicating the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A through the PCInitiate message.

[0126] After receiving the PCInitiate message, the PCC device A first determines the key network devices on the forwarding path P1 and / or the links between the key network devices according to the loose path information carried in the PCInitiate message for indicating the forwarding path P1, and then determines the target template associated with the forwarding path P1 from at least one template in the PCC device A according to the template identifier of the target template carried in the PCInitiate message.

[0127] In a possible implementation, PCC device A can determine the non-critical network devices on the forwarding path P1, the links between the non-critical network devices, and the links between the non-critical network devices and the critical network devices through path calculation according to the network topology of the communication network and at least one path association constraint in the target template, and then establish the forwarding path P1 according to the critical network devices, non-critical network devices, the links between the critical network devices, the links between the non-critical network devices, and the links between the critical network devices and the non-critical network devices on the forwarding path P1. Afterwards, the PCC device A sends the status information of the forwarding path P1 to the PCE device through a PCRpt message to inform the PCE device that the forwarding path P1 is successfully established. If the network topology of the communication network changes subsequently, the PCE device can update the forwarding path P1 through a PCUpd message or the PCC device A can update the forwarding path P1 according to the changed network topology. In another possible implementation, PCC device A determines the next-hop outbound interface for forwarding the service message according to the received loose path information of the forwarding path P1, and carries the loose path information in the service message to instruct other devices on the target forwarding path to complete the forwarding of the service message according to the loose path information and the local routing table. In this method, the target forwarding path can actually be dynamically determined in the service message forwarding stage.

[0128] The PCC device A may perform operations associated with the forwarding path P1 according to the path association attribute in the target template associated with the forwarding path P1. For example, when the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, the PCC device A performs traffic statistics for the forwarding path P1; when the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the forwarding path P1 fails, the PCC device A switches the forwarding path to the backup path of the forwarding path P1; when the target template includes path detection indication information, the PCC device A detects whether the forwarding path S1 fails; when the target template includes path verification indication information, the PCC device A verifies the connectivity of the forwarding path S1 according to the network topology.

[0129] In the above two scenarios, the embodiment of the present application takes the example that the PCE device sends the path information indicating the forwarding path P1 and the template indication information indicating the target template associated with the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A in the same message (e.g., PCInitiate message) as an example. In actual application, the PCE device may send the path information indicating the forwarding path P1 and the template indication information indicating the target template associated with the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A through different messages. For example, the PCE device first sends the path information indicating the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A through a PCInitiate message, and then sends the template indication information indicating the target template associated with the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device A through another message. Optionally, if the PCE device sends path information indicating the forwarding path P1 and template indication information indicating a target template associated with the forwarding path P1 to PCC device A through different messages, the target template may also include a correspondence between the target template and the forwarding path P1 (for example, the target template also includes the ID of the forwarding path P1) to indicate that the target template is associated with the forwarding path P1.

[0130] In the above two scenarios, the process in which the PCE device sends the path information of the forwarding path P1 to the PCC device through the PCInitiate message and updates the forwarding path P1 through the PCUpd message can refer to the request for comments (RFC) 8281, draft-barth-pce-segment-routing-policy-cp, draft-koldychev-pce-multipath and draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy issued by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and all of the above are introduced into this application by reference.

[0131] The following are device embodiments of the present application, which can be used to execute the method embodiments of the present application. For details not disclosed in the device embodiments of the present application, please refer to the method embodiments of the present application.

[0132] Please refer to Figure 7 , which shows a logical structure diagram of a first network device 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The first network device 700 may be a control device in a communication network, for example, the first network device 700 is a PCE device. Figure 7 The first network device 700 may include but is not limited to:

[0133] The generation module 710 is used to generate a message, the message carries template indication information, and the template indication information is associated with the target forwarding path. The function implementation of the generation module 710 can refer to the relevant description of the above step 201.

[0134] The sending module 720 is used to send the message to the second network device so that the second network device performs the operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template indicated by the template indication information. The function implementation of the sending module 720 can refer to the relevant description of the above step 202.

[0135] Optionally, the target template includes at least one path-related attribute and / or at least one path-related constraint.

[0136] Optionally, the message also carries path indication information, where the path indication information indicates a target forwarding path.

[0137] Optionally, please continue to refer to Figure 7 The first network device 700 also includes: an acquisition module 730, which is used to acquire at least one template before the sending module 720 sends the message to the second network device, and the target template belongs to the at least one template.

[0138] Optionally, the sending module 720 is further configured to send the at least one template to the second network device before sending the message to the second network device.

[0139] Optionally, the target template includes: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

[0140] Optionally, the target forwarding path includes one of an SR-TE tunnel, an RSVP-TE tunnel, or an SR policy.

[0141] Optionally, the message is a PCEP message or a BGP message.

[0142] Optionally, the message includes a TLV field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field.

[0143] Optionally, the template indication information is a template identifier.

[0144] Optionally, the second network device is a device on the target forwarding path.

[0145] Optionally, the first network device is a PCE device, and the second network device is a PCC device.

[0146] In summary, the first network device provided in the embodiment of the present application generates a message carrying template indication information, and sends the message to the second network device. The target template indicated by the template indication information is associated with the target forwarding path. After receiving the message, the second network device determines the target template according to the template indication information carried in the message, and performs operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device can carry template indication information corresponding to different templates in the message to indicate different receiving network devices to determine the associated information such as path attributes or path constraints associated with the target forwarding path. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying template indication information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol.

[0147] Please refer to Figure 8 , which shows a logical structure diagram of a second network device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The second network device 800 may be a forwarding device in a communication network, for example, the second network device 800 is a PCC device. Figure 8 The second network device 800 may include but is not limited to:

[0148] The receiving module 810 is used to receive a message from the first network device, the message carrying the template indication information. The function implementation of the receiving module 810 can refer to the relevant description of the above step 203.

[0149] The determination module 820 is used to determine a target template according to the template indication information, and the target template is associated with a target forwarding path. The implementation of the function of the determination module 820 can refer to the related description of the above step 204.

[0150] The execution module 830 is used to execute the operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. The implementation of the function of the execution module 830 can refer to the relevant description of the above step 205.

[0151] Optionally, the message further carries path indication information, and the determination module 820 is further configured to determine a target forwarding path according to the path indication information.

[0152] Optionally, the target template includes at least one path-related attribute and / or at least one path-related constraint.

[0153] Optionally, please continue to refer to Figure 8 , the second network device 800 further includes:

[0154] The acquisition module 840 is used to acquire at least one template before the determination module 820 determines the target template according to the template indication information, and the target template belongs to the at least one template;

[0155] The determination module 820 is used to determine a target template from the at least one template according to the template indication information.

[0156] Optionally, the target template includes: at least one of traffic statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

[0157] Optionally, the execution module 830 is used to:

[0158] When the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, traffic statistics are performed on the target forwarding path;

[0159] When the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the target forwarding path fails, the forwarding path is switched to a backup path of the target forwarding path;

[0160] When the target template includes path detection indication information, detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty;

[0161] When the target template includes path verification indication information, the connectivity of the target forwarding path is verified according to the network topology.

[0162] Optionally, the target forwarding path includes one of an SR-TE tunnel, an RSVP-TE tunnel, or an SR policy.

[0163] Optionally, the message is a PCEP message or a BGP message.

[0164] Optionally, the message includes a TLV field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field.

[0165] Optionally, the template indication information is a template identifier.

[0166] Optionally, the second network device is a device on the target forwarding path.

[0167] Optionally, the first network device is a PCE device, and the second network device is a PCC device.

[0168] In summary, the second network device provided in the embodiment of the present application receives a message carrying template indication information from the first network device, and the target template indicated by the template indication information is associated with the target forwarding path. After receiving the message, the second network device determines the target template according to the template indication information carried in the message, and performs operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. Thus, the first network device carries the template indication information corresponding to the target template in the message to instruct the second network device to determine the target template associated with the target forwarding path, and determines the association information associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template. By publishing the path association information in the manner of carrying the template indication information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the flexibility of obtaining the path association information can be improved without affecting the stability of the protocol.

[0169] It should be understood that the network device provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be implemented with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), and the above PLD can be a complex programmable logical device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL) or any combination thereof. The method for obtaining the path association information provided in the above method embodiment can also be implemented by software. When the method for obtaining the path association information provided in the above method embodiment is implemented by software, each module in the network device can also be a software module.

[0170] Please refer to Fig. 9 , which shows a hardware structure diagram of a network device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The network device 900 may be the first network device or the second network device in the above embodiment. Fig. 9 As shown, the network device 900 includes: a main control board 910, an interface board 930 and an interface board 940. In the case of multiple interface boards, a switching network board ( Fig. 9 The switching network board is used to complete data exchange between interface boards (interface boards are also called line cards or service boards).

[0171] The main control board 910 is used to complete functions such as system management, equipment maintenance, and protocol processing. The interface board 930 and the interface board 940 are used to provide various service interfaces (for example, POS interface, GE interface, ATM interface, etc.) and realize message forwarding. The main control board 910 mainly includes three types of functional units: system management control unit, system clock unit, and system maintenance unit. The main control board 910, the interface board 930, and the interface board 940 are connected to the system backplane through the system bus to achieve intercommunication. The interface board 930 includes one or more processors 931. The processor 931 is used to control and manage the interface board and communicate with the central processor on the main control board. The memory 932 on the interface board 930 is used to store at least one template. The processor 931 determines the target template associated with the target forwarding path by searching at least one template stored in the memory 932, and performs operations associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template.

[0172] The interface board 930 includes one or more network interfaces 933 for receiving messages carrying template indication information, and the processor 931 determines the target template associated with the target forwarding path according to the template indication information carried in the message received by the network interface 933. The specific implementation process is not repeated here one by one. The specific functions of the processor 931 are also not repeated here one by one.

[0173] It is understandable that Fig. 9 As shown, this embodiment includes multiple interface boards and adopts a distributed forwarding mechanism. Under this mechanism, the operation on the interface board 940 is basically similar to the operation on the interface board 930, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated. In addition, it can be understood that Fig. 9 The processor 931 in the interface board 930 and / or the processor 941 in the interface board 940 may be dedicated hardware or chips, such as a network processor or a dedicated integrated circuit, to implement the above functions. This implementation is what is commonly referred to as a forwarding plane using dedicated hardware or chip processing. In another embodiment, the processor 931 in the interface board 930 and / or the processor 941 in the interface board 940 may also be a general-purpose processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) to implement the above-described functions.

[0174] In addition, it should be pointed out that there may be one or more main control boards, and when there are multiple boards, they may include a main main control board and a standby main control board. There may be one or more interface boards. The stronger the data processing capability of the network device, the more interface boards are provided. In the case of multiple interface boards, the multiple interface boards can communicate with each other through one or more switching network boards, and when there are multiple boards, they can jointly realize load sharing and redundant backup. Under the centralized forwarding architecture, the network device may not need a switching network board, and the interface board is responsible for the processing function of the service data of the entire system. Under the distributed forwarding architecture, the network device includes multiple interface boards, and data exchange between multiple interface boards can be realized through the switching network board, providing large-capacity data exchange and processing capabilities. Therefore, the data access and processing capabilities of the network equipment with a distributed architecture are greater than those of the equipment with a centralized architecture. Which architecture to adopt depends on the specific networking deployment scenario, and no limitation is made here.

[0175] In a specific embodiment, the memory 932 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or 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 disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a disk or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 932 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 931 via a communication bus. The memory 932 may also be integrated with the processor 931.

[0176] The memory 932 is used to store program codes, and is controlled by the processor 931 to execute some or all steps of the method for obtaining path association information provided in the above embodiment. The processor 931 is used to execute the program codes stored in the memory 932. The program codes may include one or more software modules. The one or more software modules may be the above Figure 7 and Figure 8 The functional modules provided in any embodiment.

[0177] In a specific embodiment, the network interface 933 may be a device using any transceiver for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc.

[0178] Please refer to Fig.10 , which shows a hardware structure diagram of another network device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The network device 1000 may be the first network device or the second network device in any of the above embodiments. Fig.10 The network device 1000 includes a processor 1002, a memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a bus 1008. The processor 1002, the memory 1004, and the communication interface 1006 are connected to each other through the bus 1008. Those skilled in the art should understand that Fig.10 The connection method between the processor 1002 , the memory 1004 , and the communication interface 1006 shown is merely exemplary. During implementation, the processor 1002 , the memory 1004 , and the communication interface 1006 may also be communicatively connected to each other using other connection methods besides the bus 1008 .

[0179] Among them, the memory 1004 can be used to store a computer program 10042, which may include instructions and data. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1004 may be various types of storage media, such as RAM, ROM, non-volatile RAM (non-volatile RAM, NVRAM), programmable ROM (programmable ROM, PROM), erasable PROM (erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (electrically erasable PROM, EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage and registers, etc. In addition, the memory 1004 may include a hard disk and / or a memory.

[0180] Among them, the processor 1002 can be a general-purpose processor, which can be a processor that performs specific steps and / or operations by reading and executing a computer program (e.g., computer program 10042) stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1004), and the general-purpose processor may use data stored in the memory (e.g., memory 1004) in the process of performing the above steps and / or operations. The stored computer program can be executed, for example, to implement the related functions of the aforementioned generation module 710, acquisition module 730, determination module 820, execution module 830, and acquisition module 940. The general-purpose processor can be, for example, but not limited to a CPU. In addition, the processor 1002 can also be a dedicated processor, which can be a processor specially designed for performing specific steps and / or operations, and the dedicated processor can be, for example, but not limited to, a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), ASIC and FPGA, etc. In addition, the processor 1002 can also be a combination of multiple processors, such as a multi-core processor. The processor 1002 can include at least one circuit to perform all or part of the steps of the method for obtaining path association information provided in the above embodiment.

[0181] The communication interface 1006 may include an input / output (I / O) interface, a physical interface, and a logical interface, etc., which are used to interconnect devices within the network device 1000, and an interface for interconnecting the network device 1000 with other devices (e.g., network devices or user devices). The physical interface may be a gigabit Ethernet interface (GE), which may be used to interconnect the network device 1000 with other devices (e.g., network devices or user devices), and the logical interface is an interface within the network device 1000, which may be used to interconnect devices within the network device 1000. It is easy to understand that the communication interface 1006 may be used for the network device 1000 to communicate with other network devices and / or user devices, for example, the communication interface 1006 is used for sending and receiving messages between the network device 1000 and other network devices, and the communication interface 1006 may implement the related functions of the aforementioned sending module 720 and the receiving module 810.

[0182] The bus 1008 may be any type of communication bus for interconnecting the processor 1002 , the memory 1004 , and the communication interface 1006 , such as a system bus.

[0183] The above devices may be arranged on independent chips, or at least partially or completely on the same chip. Whether to arrange each device independently on different chips or to integrate them on one or more chips often depends on the needs of product design. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation form of the above devices.

[0184] Fig.10 The network device 1000 shown is only exemplary. During implementation, the network device 1000 may also include other components, which are not listed here. Fig.10 The network device 1000 shown can obtain the association information associated with the forwarding path by executing all or part of the steps of the method for obtaining the path association information provided in the above embodiment.

[0185] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, all or part of the steps of the method for obtaining path association information provided in the above method embodiment are implemented.

[0186] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute all or part of the steps of the method for obtaining path association information provided in the above method embodiment.

[0187] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions, and when the chip is running, is used to implement all or part of the steps of the method for obtaining path association information provided in the above method embodiment.

[0188] The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a first network device and a second network device. The first network device can be as follows: Figure 7 The first network device shown in FIG. 1 , the second network device may be as follows Figure 8 Alternatively, at least one of the first network device and the second network device may be as described above. Fig. 9 or Fig.10 Optionally, the first network device is a PCE device, and the second network device is a PCC device.

[0189] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product, and the computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, a computer, a server or a data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, etc. that contains one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium, or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state hard disk), etc.

[0190] In the present application, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. The term "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. Unless otherwise expressly defined, the term "at least one" is the same. The term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the previously associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0191] The different types of embodiments such as the method embodiments and device embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application can refer to each other, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The sequence of operations of the method embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application can be appropriately adjusted, and the operations can also be increased or decreased in response to the situation. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of the changed methods within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and they should be included in the protection scope of the present application, so they will not be repeated.

[0192] In the corresponding embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and the like can be implemented by other configuration methods. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units can be electrical or other forms.

[0193] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components described as units may or may not be physical units, and may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network devices (such as terminal devices). Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0194] The above is only an exemplary embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining path association information, characterized in that: Executed by a first network device, the method includes: Generate a message, the message carrying template indication information, the template indication information indicating a target template, the target template being associated with a target forwarding path, the target template including at least one path association attribute, the path association attribute including at least one of path attribute information of the target forwarding path, attribute information of a service carried on the target forwarding path, or attribute information of a forwarding device on the target forwarding path; The message is sent to the second network device, so that the second network device performs an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template indicated by the template indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The target template also includes at least one path association constraint.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The message also carries path indication information, and the path indication information indicates the target forwarding path.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Before sending the message to the second network device, at least one template is acquired, and the target template belongs to the at least one template.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Before sending the message to the second network device, the at least one template is sent to the second network device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The target template includes: at least one of flow statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

7. A method for obtaining path association information, characterized in that: Executed by the second network device, the method includes: receiving a message from a first network device, wherein the message carries template indication information; Determine a target template according to the template indication information, the target template is associated with a target forwarding path, the target template includes at least one path association attribute, the path association attribute includes at least one of path attribute information of the target forwarding path, attribute information of a service carried on the target forwarding path, or attribute information of a forwarding device on the target forwarding path; An operation associated with the target forwarding path is performed according to the target template.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The message also carries path indication information, and the method further includes: The target forwarding path is determined according to the path indication information.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The target template also includes at least one path association constraint.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Before determining the target template according to the template indication information, obtaining at least one template, the target template belonging to the at least one template; The determining a target template according to the template indication information includes: determining a target template from the at least one template according to the template indication information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that: The target template includes: at least one of flow statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The performing an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template includes: When the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, performing traffic statistics on the target forwarding path; When the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the target forwarding path fails, the forwarding path is switched to a backup path of the target forwarding path; When the target template includes path detection indication information, detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty; When the target template includes path verification indication information, the connectivity of the target forwarding path is verified according to the network topology.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The target forwarding path includes one of a segment routing traffic engineering SR-TE tunnel, a resource reservation protocol RSVP-TE tunnel based on traffic engineering extension, or a segment routing policy SR policy.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The message is a Path Computation Protocol (PCEP) message or a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) message.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The message includes a type-length-value TLV field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The template indication information is a template identifier.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The second network device is a device on the target forwarding path.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 10 and 12, characterized in that: The first network device is a path computation unit (PCE) device, and the second network device is a path computation client (PCC) device.

19. A first network device, characterized in that: The first network device comprises: a generating module, configured to generate a message, wherein the message carries template indication information, the template indication information indicates a target template, the target template is associated with a target forwarding path, the target template includes at least one path association attribute, and the path association attribute includes at least one of path attribute information of the target forwarding path, attribute information of a service carried on the target forwarding path, or attribute information of a forwarding device on the target forwarding path; A sending module is used to send the message to the second network device, so that the second network device performs the operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template indicated by the template indication information.

20. The first network device according to claim 19, characterized in that: The target template also includes at least one path association constraint.

21. The first network device according to claim 19, characterized in that: The message also carries path indication information, and the path indication information indicates the target forwarding path.

22. The first network device according to claim 19, characterized in that: The first network device also includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire at least one template before the sending module sends the message to the second network device, and the target template belongs to the at least one template.

23. The first network device according to claim 22, characterized in that: The sending module is further used to send the at least one template to the second network device before sending the message to the second network device.

24. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that: The target template includes: at least one of flow statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

25. A second network device, characterized in that: The second network device comprises: A receiving module, configured to receive a message from a first network device, wherein the message carries template indication information; a determination module, configured to determine a target template according to the template indication information, wherein the target template is associated with a target forwarding path, and the target template includes at least one path association attribute, wherein the path association attribute includes at least one of path attribute information of the target forwarding path, attribute information of a service carried on the target forwarding path, or attribute information of a forwarding device on the target forwarding path; An execution module is used to execute an operation associated with the target forwarding path according to the target template.

26. The second network device according to claim 25, characterized in that: The message also carries path indication information, and the determination module is further used to determine the target forwarding path according to the path indication information.

27. The second network device according to claim 25, characterized in that: The target template also includes at least one path association constraint.

28. The second network device according to claim 25, characterized in that: The second network device also includes: an acquisition module, configured to acquire at least one template before the determination module determines the target template according to the template indication information, wherein the target template belongs to the at least one template; The determination module is used to determine a target template from the at least one template according to the template indication information.

29. The second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28, characterized in that: The target template includes: at least one of flow statistics indication information, hot standby protection indication information, path detection indication information or path verification indication information.

30. The second network device according to claim 29, characterized in that: The execution module is used to: When the target template includes traffic statistics indication information, performing traffic statistics on the target forwarding path; When the target template includes hot standby protection indication information, if the target forwarding path fails, the forwarding path is switched to a backup path of the target forwarding path; When the target template includes path detection indication information, detecting whether the target forwarding path is faulty; When the target template includes path verification indication information, the connectivity of the target forwarding path is verified according to the network topology.

31. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The target forwarding path includes one of a segment routing traffic engineering SR-TE tunnel, a resource reservation protocol RSVP-TE tunnel based on traffic engineering extension, or a segment routing policy SR policy.

32. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The message is a Path Computation Protocol (PCEP) message or a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) message.

33. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The message includes a type-length-value TLV field, and the template indication information is located in the TLV field.

34. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The template indication information is a template identifier.

35. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The second network device is a device on the target forwarding path.

36. The first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and 30, characterized in that: The first network device is a path computation unit (PCE) device, and the second network device is a path computation client (PCC) device.

37. A network device, characterized in that: including memory and processor; The memory is used to store computer programs; The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory so that the network device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is implemented.

39. A communication system, characterized in that: include: a first network device and a second network device; The first network device is the first network device according to any one of claims 19 to 24 or any one of claims 31 to 36, and the second network device is the second network device according to any one of claims 25 to 36; or At least one of the first network device and the second network device is the network device of claim 37.

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