A network device

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application relates to the field of communication, in particular to a network device, a method for inter-board communication and a storage medium. The network device provided by the embodiment of the present application contains board cards, including a main master board, a backup master board and at least one line card. At least two line card ports for inter-board communication are arranged on the line card, and the at least two line card ports are connected with the main master board and the backup master board respectively, forming at least two communication links between the main master board and the line card. If any board card detects that any communication link between the main master board and the line card is abnormal, another normal communication link is used to enable the main master board to communicate with the line card. By using the embodiment, when the connection between any master board (the main master board or the backup master board) and the line card is interrupted, the inter-board communication can still work normally, thereby improving the stability and reliability of the inter-board communication.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a network device. Background Technology

[0002] Many network devices currently employ a chassis and board structure, such as high-end switches, high-end routers, OLTs, and DSLAMs. The boards are divided into primary main control boards, backup main control boards, and line cards. The control links between the primary main control board, backup main control board, and line cards are called inter-board communication links. The connection method involves the switching chips on the primary main control board connecting to the switching chips on the backup main control board and all line cards. The connection between the switching chips on the backup main control board and the line cards is switched via a switch during primary / backup failover.

[0003] However, plug-in network devices insert the cards onto the backplane. Due to the use of connectors, there are reliability issues. For example, when a line card loses communication with the switching chip on the primary control board, communication between the primary control board and the line card can only be restored by switching to the new primary control board. If the other line card fails to communicate with the switching chip on the new primary control board, it needs to be switched back, resulting in repeated switching. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The main objective of this application is to provide a network device that improves the stability and efficiency of inter-board communication when both the primary and backup main control boards experience connection interruptions with different line cards.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application provides a network device comprising a primary main control board, a backup main control board, and at least one line card. The primary main control board and the backup main control board are connected via at least one communication port. The line card is provided with at least two line card ports for inter-board communication, and the at least two line card ports are respectively connected to the primary main control board and the backup main control board, forming at least two communication links between the primary main control board and the line card. If any of the boards detects an abnormality in any of the communication links between the primary main control board and the line card, the other normal communication link is used to enable communication between the primary main control board and the line card.

[0006] The network device proposed in this application has at least two line card ports on its line cards. These two line card ports are respectively connected to a primary main control board and a backup main control board. This ensures that each line card in the network device has at least two communication links with the primary main control board at any given time. When any communication link between a line card and the primary main control board fails, the other normal communication link can be used. Since there is no need for a primary / backup switchover between the primary and backup main control boards, normal communication between the line cards and the primary main control board can be ensured, improving communication efficiency. On the other hand, when the backup main control board also experiences a connection interruption with other line cards, the need for a primary / backup switchover between the primary and backup main control boards avoids repeated switchovers. Furthermore, it does not affect the communication between other normal line cards and the primary or backup main control boards, further improving the reliability of inter-board communication. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the inter-board connections in existing network devices;

[0008] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0009] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0010] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the connections between various components in a network device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of an interconnection port in a network device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0012] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of an aggregation group configured in a network device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of an aggregation group in a network device under another connection method according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a primary / standby configuration in a network device according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of a method for inter-board communication in a network device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0016] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the various embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art will understand that many technical details have been provided in the various embodiments of this application to help readers better understand this application. However, the technical solutions claimed in this application can be implemented even without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments. The division of the various embodiments below is for the convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the specific implementation of this application. The various embodiments can be combined with and referenced by each other without contradiction.

[0017] The structural block diagram of the relevant network devices is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, current network equipment includes a primary control board, a backup control board, and at least one line card. The control link between the primary control board, the backup control board, and the line cards is called the inter-board communication link. Generally, the inter-board communication link is independent of the service link. Commonly used inter-board communication links include Ethernet or HDLC. Ethernet is the most commonly used inter-board communication method. Its connection method is that the switching chip on the primary control board is connected to the backup control board and all line cards, while the switching chip on the backup control board is connected to both the primary control board and all line cards. The communication link of the line card port is switched by a switch on the line card. Figure 1 This describes the connection status of the primary and backup main control boards under normal conditions. After a primary / backup switchover occurs, the inter-board communication link is switched, resulting in the following connection: Figure 1 The connection shown connects the switching chip on the new primary control board to the new backup control board and all line cards. This overall switching method has a drawback: if the network device's cards are plugged into the backplane using a connector-based method, frequent plugging and unplugging can cause the cards to lose connection with some line cards. When line card 1 loses communication with the switching chip on the primary control board, communication between the primary control board and the line cards can only be restored by switching to the new primary control board during a primary / backup switchover. If line card 2 fails to communicate with the switching chip on the new primary control board, it needs to be switched back, resulting in repeated switching.

[0018] The first embodiment of the present invention relates to a network device, wherein the network device is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the network device includes: a primary main control board 10, a backup main control board 20, and at least one line card 30.

[0019] The primary control board 10 and the backup control board 20 are connected via at least one communication port. The line card 30 is provided with at least two line card ports, which are respectively connected to the primary control board 10 and the backup control board 20, forming at least two communication links between the primary control board and the line card. If any board detects an abnormality in any communication link between the primary control board and the line card, the other normal communication link is used to enable communication between the primary control board and the line card.

[0020] The network device proposed in this application has at least two line card ports on its line cards. These two line card ports are respectively connected to a primary main control board and a backup main control board. This ensures that each line card in the network device has at least two communication links with the primary main control board at any given time. When any communication link between a line card and the primary main control board is lost, the other normal communication link can be used. Since there is no need for a primary / backup switchover between the primary and backup main control boards, normal communication between the line cards and the primary main control board can be ensured, improving communication efficiency. On the other hand, when the backup main control board also experiences a connection loss with other line cards, the need for a primary / backup switchover between the primary and backup main control boards avoids repeated switchovers. Furthermore, it does not affect the communication between other normal line cards and the primary or backup main control boards, further improving the reliability of inter-board communication.

[0021] The second embodiment of the present invention relates to a network device. The second embodiment is a detailed description of the first embodiment, and its structural block diagram is as follows. Figure 3 As shown.

[0022] In one example, the primary control board includes a primary control board processor and a first forwarding chip connected to the primary control board processor; the backup control board includes a backup control board processor and a second forwarding chip connected to the backup control board processor; the line card port is located on the line card processor of the line card; the first forwarding chip is connected to any one of the line card ports to form a first communication link between the primary control board processor and the line card; the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are connected through at least one communication port, and the second forwarding chip is connected to another line card port of the line card to form a second communication link between the first forwarding chip and the line card; the primary control board processor is used to configure the first communication link and the second communication link as a load-sharing mode, or to configure the first communication link and the second communication link as a primary / backup mode.

[0023] Specifically, in this example, the network device can be a plug-in network device. The cards are connected to the backplane via plug-in connections, and the backplane contains metal connectors for connecting the line cards. The network device has a chassis structure to protect the cards and facilitate backplane configuration. In this example, the network device includes a primary main control board, a backup main control board, and line cards. There can be multiple line cards, such as two or more. Each line card has at least two line card ports. The line card includes a line card processor and a line card forwarding chip. The line card ports can be located on the line card processor or the line card forwarding chip. If there are two or more backup main control boards, there can be three or more line card ports. This example uses two line card ports on the line card processor as an example.

[0024] like Figure 4 As shown, there are n line cards, where n is an integer greater than 2. The line card forwarding chip is not shown in the line cards. There are two communication links between the main control board and the line card processor of each line card: a first communication link and a second communication link. The port on the first forwarding chip is directly connected to any line card port on the line card processor, forming the first communication link. The communication port of the first forwarding chip is connected to the communication port of the second forwarding chip, and the port of the second forwarding chip is connected to another line card port on the same line card processor, forming the second communication link. Figure 4 In the diagram, the first communication link between line card 1 and the first forwarding chip is denoted as solid line a1, and the second communication link is denoted as a2.

[0025] The communication link between the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip can be one or two. That is, port a of the first forwarding chip is connected to port a of the second forwarding chip, and port b of the first forwarding chip is connected to port b of the second forwarding chip, forming two communication links between the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip. Figure 5 As shown.

[0026] In one example, the primary main control board processor is used to: configure the communication port in the first forwarding chip used to connect to the second forwarding chip as a first stacking port; the backup main control board processor is used to configure the communication port in the second forwarding chip used to connect to the first forwarding chip as a second stacking port; the primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor are respectively used to: configure the ports in the first forwarding chip used to connect to line cards and the ports on the second forwarding chip used to connect to line cards as a first aggregation group; the line card is used to configure the line card ports connected to the primary chip and the line card ports connected to the backup chip as a second aggregation group of the board; wherein, the first aggregation group and the second aggregation group are connected to form an aggregation link, so that the first communication link and the second communication link are in a load-sharing mode.

[0027] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 6This document details the process of configuring the first and second communication links to load-sharing mode.

[0028] like Figure 6 As shown, communication port a of the first forwarding chip is connected to communication port a of the second forwarding chip. Simultaneously, communication port a of the first forwarding chip is configured as a first stacking port, and communication port a of the second forwarding chip is configured as a second stacking port. Port p1 of the first forwarding chip is connected to line card port 1 of line card 1, and port p1' of the second forwarding chip is connected to line card port 2 of line card 1. The primary main control board processor configures port p1 on the primary main control board processor and port p1' on the backup main control board processor as a first aggregation group; the line card processor configures line card port 1 connected to the first forwarding chip and line card port 2 connected to the second forwarding chip as a second aggregation group. The first aggregation group and the second aggregation group interface to form an aggregated link between the first forwarding chip and the line card, so that the first communication link and the second communication link are configured in a load-sharing mode. Figure 6 The diagram shows the aggregation link between line card 1 and the first forwarding chip in bold solid lines, with the aggregation marked by circles.

[0029] It should be noted that the primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor configure the first aggregation group information on their respective main control boards; the first aggregation group information includes: the identification information of the first forwarding chip, the information of the first port in the first forwarding chip used for connection with the line card, the identification information of the second forwarding chip, and the information of the second port in the second forwarding chip used for connection with the line card; the line card is also used to configure the second aggregation group information on the line card, which includes: the information of the line card port on the line card used for connection with the first forwarding chip and the information of the line card port used for connection with the second forwarding chip.

[0030] Combination Figure 6 The information for the first aggregation group and the second aggregation group are described below. The identifier for the first forwarding chip is denoted as card1, and the identifier for the second forwarding chip is denoted as card2. The information for the first port in the first forwarding chip used for connection with the line card is denoted as p1, and the information for the second port in the second forwarding chip used for connection with the line card is denoted as p1'. The first aggregation group information stored in the primary main control board processor is {card1-p1, card2-p1'}; simultaneously, the backup main control board processor also stores the same first aggregation group information {card1-p1, card2-p1'}. The line card processor 1 stores the second aggregation group information {line card 1 port1, line card 1 port2}.

[0031] It is worth mentioning that by configuring the aggregated link, there are two communication links between the line card and the first forwarding chip. This allows traffic to be automatically switched to the other normal communication link if one link fails, thus ensuring the reliability of communication between the first forwarding chip and the line card.

[0032] In another example, if the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are connected via two communication ports, the other port in the first forwarding chip used to connect to the second forwarding chip is configured as a third stacking port; the first stacking port and the third stacking port are configured as a third aggregation group, and the corresponding third aggregation group information is stored. The third aggregation information includes: the port information of the third stacking port and the port information of the first stacking port. The backup main control board processor is also used to configure the other port in the second forwarding chip used to connect to the first forwarding chip as a fourth stacking port; the second stacking port and the fourth stacking port are configured as a fourth aggregation group, and the fourth aggregation group information is stored. The fourth aggregation group information includes: the port information of the second stacking port and the port information of the fourth stacking port; wherein, the first aggregation group, the second aggregation group, the third aggregation group, and the fourth aggregation group are connected to form an aggregated link.

[0033] The following will be combined with the appendix Figure 7 This section describes the connection between the first and second forwarding chips via two communication ports.

[0034] Specifically, such as Figure 7 The connection relationship shown, Figure 7 In the first forwarding chip, port p4 is configured as the third stacking port, and port p4' in the second forwarding chip is configured as the fourth stacking port. The main control board processor is used to configure ports p3 and p4 as the third aggregation group, and ports p3' and p4' as the fourth aggregation group. Figure 7 As shown, the identification information of the first forwarding chip is denoted as card1, the identification information of the second forwarding chip is denoted as card2, the information of the first port in the first forwarding chip used for connection with the line card is denoted as p1, and the information of the second port in the second forwarding chip used for connection with the line card is denoted as p1'. The first stacking port is denoted as p3, the third stacking port as p4, the second stacking port as p3', and the fourth stacking port as p4'. The first aggregation group information stored in the primary main control board processor is {card1-p1, card2-p1'}; at the same time, the backup main control board processor also stores the same first aggregation group information {card1-p1, card2-p1'}. The line card processor 1 stores the second aggregation group information {line card 1 port1, line card 1 port2}. The third aggregation group information stored in the primary main control board processor is {card1-p3, card1-p4}, and the fourth aggregation group information is {card2-p3', card2-p4'}.

[0035] Since the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are each connected through two ports, there are two communication links between the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip, and they are configured as an aggregation group. If one of the links is abnormal, such as being in a disconnected state, it will not affect the communication between the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip, which further improves the reliability of the inter-board communication.

[0036] In one example, all interconnected ports in the network devices are configured in auto-negotiation mode; or, all interconnected ports in the network devices are configured in remote fault notification mode.

[0037] For example, such as Figure 7 As shown, when the interconnected ports are operating at 100M, 1G, or 2.5G, both line card port 1 in the line card processor and port p1 of the first forwarding chip are configured in auto-negotiation mode. Similarly, port p1' of the second forwarding chip and line card port 2 of the line card processor are also configured in auto-negotiation mode. Communication port p3 on the first forwarding chip and communication port p3' on the second forwarding chip are configured in auto-negotiation mode. Communication port p4 on the first forwarding chip and communication port p4' on the second forwarding chip are also configured in auto-negotiation mode. Alternatively, when the interconnected port is 10G, line card port 1 and port p1 in the line card processor are configured in forced mode and the remote fault notification function is enabled. Similarly, port p1' on the second forwarding chip and line card port 2 in the line card processor are also configured in forced mode and the remote fault notification function is enabled. Communication port p3 of the first forwarding chip and communication port p3' on the second forwarding chip are configured in forced mode, and communication port p4 of the first forwarding chip and communication port p4' on the second forwarding chip are configured in forced mode and the remote fault notification function is enabled.

[0038] Using auto-negotiation mode, the two connected ports can know the status of the other end, thus ensuring that the two connected ports maintain the same port status. After enabling the remote fault notification function on the 10G port, if one of the two interconnected ports fails, it will actively notify the other end to ensure that the other end's port maintains the same link status.

[0039] When a fault occurs, the network device operates as follows:

[0040] In one example, the primary main control board processor is further configured to: if a change in the physical state of the first port is detected, delete or add the first port aggregation information in the first aggregation group information, reset the logical forwarding state of the first port, and send the physical state information of the first port to the backup main control board processor, so that the backup main control board processor can delete or add the first port aggregation information in the first aggregation information on its main control board, wherein the first port aggregation information includes: the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip; the backup main control board processor is further configured to: if a change in the physical state of the second port is detected, delete the first port aggregation information in the first aggregation group information. The system can add or remove second port aggregation information, reset the logical forwarding state of the second port, and send the physical state information of the second port to the primary main control board processor. This allows the primary main control board processor to delete or add the second port aggregation information in the first aggregation information on its main control board. The second port aggregation information includes: the information of the second port and the identification information of the second forwarding chip. The line card is also used to: if a change in the physical state of the line card port is detected, delete or add the line card port aggregation information in the second aggregation information and reset the logical forwarding state of the line card port with the changed state. The line card port aggregation information includes: the port information of the line card port.

[0041] Specifically, when the primary main control board processor detects that the physical state of the first port has changed from connected to disconnected, it deletes the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip from the first aggregation group information; it resets the logical forwarding state of the first port to disabled or blocked, and sends the information that the first port is in a disconnected state to the backup main control board processor. The backup main control board processor also deletes the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip from the stored first aggregation group information. Each line card port in the line card has a port scanning task. When the line card processor detects a line card port in a disconnected state, it deletes the information of the disconnected line card port from the second aggregation group information and sets the logical forwarding state of the disconnected line card port to disabled or blocked.

[0042] When the primary main control board processor detects that the physical state of the first port has changed from disconnected to connected, it adds the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip to the first aggregation group information; it resets the logical forwarding state of the first port to forwarding state, and sends the information that the first port is in a connected state to the backup main control board processor. The backup main control board processor also adds the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip to the stored first aggregation group information. Each line card port in the line card has a port scanning task. When the line card processor detects that the line card port has changed from disconnected to connected, it adds the information of the line card port in the connected state to the second aggregation group information and sets the logical forwarding state of the line card port in the connected state to forwarding state.

[0043] If the primary control board processor detects that the physical state of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port has changed from disconnected to connected, it adds the information of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port to the third aggregation group information; and resets the logical forwarding state of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port to forwarding state. If the primary control board processor detects that the physical state of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port has changed from connected to disconnected, it deletes the information of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port from the third aggregation group information; and resets the logical forwarding state of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port to disabled state, or resets the logical forwarding state of the first stacking port and / or the third stacking port to blocked state.

[0044] The following will be combined with the appendix Figure 7 Detailed working process during a fault.

[0045] like Figure 7 As shown, when the primary main control board processor detects that port p1 of the first forwarding chip changes from a connected state to a disconnected state, it deletes {card1-p1} from the first aggregation group information, sets the logical forwarding state of port p1 to a disabled or blocked state, and sends the information that port p1 is in a disconnected state to the backup main control board processor via remote fault mode. The backup main control board processor then deletes {card1-p1} from the first aggregation group information on its own main control board. When the primary main control board processor detects that port p1 of the first forwarding chip changes from a disconnected state to a connected state, it adds {card1-p1} to the first aggregation group information, sets the logical forwarding state of port p1 to a forwarding state, and sends the information that port p1 is in a connected state to the backup main control board processor via remote fault mode. The backup main control board processor then adds the information of {card1-p1} to the first aggregation group information on its own main control board.

[0046] When the backup main control board processor detects that port p1' of the second forwarding chip changes from a connected state to a disconnected state, it deletes {card2-p1'} from the first aggregation group information, sets the logical forwarding state of port p1' to a disabled or blocked state, and sends the disconnected state information of port p1' to the primary main control board processor via remote fault mode. The primary main control board processor also deletes {card2-p1'} from the first aggregation group information on its own main control board. When the backup main control board processor detects that port p1' of the second forwarding chip changes from a disconnected state to a connected state, it adds {card2-p1'} to the first aggregation group information, sets the logical forwarding state of port p1' to a forwarding state, and sends the connected state information of port p1' to the primary main control board processor via remote fault mode. The primary main control board processor also adds the {card2-p1'} information to the first aggregation group information on its own main control board.

[0047] When the line card processor periodically checks each line card port, if it detects that line card port 1 has changed to a disconnected state, it removes the {line card 1-port 1} from the second aggregation group information and sets the disconnected line card port 1 to a blocked state; when the line card detects that line card port 2 has changed from a disconnected state to a connected state, it adds the {line card 1-port 2} from the second aggregation group information and sets the connected line card port 2 to a forwarding state.

[0048] When the primary main control board processor detects that stacking port p3 changes from a connected state to a disconnected state, it removes the information of stacking port p3 from the third aggregation group information of the primary main control board and sets stacking port p3 to a blocked state. When the backup main control board processor detects that stacking port p3' changes from a connected state to a disconnected state, it removes the information of stacking port p3' from the fourth aggregation group information on the backup main control board and sets stacking port p3' to a blocked state. When the primary main control board processor detects that stacking port p3 changes from a disconnected state to a connected state, it adds stacking port p3 to the third aggregation group of the primary main control board and sets stacking port p3 to a forwarding state. When the backup main control board processor detects that stacking port p3' changes from a disconnected state to a connected state, it adds stacking port p3 to the fourth aggregation group information of the backup main control board and sets stacking port p3' to a forwarding state.

[0049] In this example, the primary control board and the backup control board are connected through two communication ports, which further improves the stability of communication between the primary control board and the line card.

[0050] The third embodiment of the present invention relates to a network device, which is another method of implementing inter-board communication using a primary / backup mode as described in the first embodiment. The connection method between the primary control board, the backup control board, and the line cards in this network device is the same as the connection structure in the first or second embodiment. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of this embodiment.

[0051] In one example, both the first and second communication links are normal links. If the primary main control board processor is configured as the link control end, the primary and backup main control board processors are used to perform the following processes: enable the ports in the specified communication link to use as the primary communication link; disable or block the ports in other communication links and delete the port addresses corresponding to the disabled or blocked ports from their respective stored port MAC addresses, so that the other communication links can be used as backup communication links; the line card is used to delete the port addresses corresponding to the ports in the backup communication links from the MAC addresses stored in the line card, so that the backup communication links and the primary communication links form a primary / backup mode.

[0052] If the line card is configured as a link control terminal, the line card performs the following processing: enabling ports on a specified communication link to use the specified communication link as the primary communication link; disabling or blocking ports on other communication links, and deleting the port addresses corresponding to the disabled or blocked ports from the port MAC addresses stored in the line card, so that other communication links can be used as backup communication links; the primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor are also used to: detect the deletion of the port addresses corresponding to the ports on the backup communication links from their respective stored MAC addresses, so that the backup communication links and the primary communication links form a primary / backup mode.

[0053] Specifically, the port connected to the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip can be set to normal Ethernet port mode. Similarly, the port connected to the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip can also be set to normal Ethernet port mode. If both the main control board and the line card are normal communication links, the first communication link can be prioritized and the second communication link can be disabled, i.e., the first communication link can be designated as the first communication link. The method to enable the first communication link is as follows: if the main control board processor is configured as the link control end, the main control board processor sets the port on the first communication link to the enabled state and sets the logical forwarding state to forwarding state. The first communication link is closed by setting the port on the first communication link to a disabled or blocked state and deleting the MAC address of that port from the MAC address stored on the current board. Simultaneously, the backup main control board processor is notified, and the backup main control board processor sets the port on the backup communication link to a disabled or blocked state and deletes the port address of that port from the MAC address stored on the backup main control board processor. The line card is used to delete the port address corresponding to the port on the backup communication link from the MAC address stored on the line card, so that the backup communication link and the primary communication link form a primary / backup mode. When the first communication link is interrupted, the first link is closed and the second link is opened. The second communication link is opened by setting the port on the second communication link to an enabled state and setting the logical forwarding state of that port to forwarding state. The second communication link is closed by setting the port on the second communication link to a disabled or blocked state and deleting the MAC address of that port from the locally stored MAC address.

[0054] The method for opening the first communication link is as follows: If the line card is configured as a link control terminal, the port in the specified communication link is enabled to enable the specified communication link as the primary communication link; the ports in other communication links are disabled or blocked, and the port addresses corresponding to the disabled or blocked ports are deleted from the port MAC addresses stored in the line card, so that the other communication links can be used as backup communication links; at the same time, the primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor are also used to: detect the ports in the backup communication links, and delete the port addresses corresponding to the ports in the backup communication links from their respective stored MAC addresses, so that the backup communication links and the primary communication links form a primary-backup mode.

[0055] Note: The methods of using the main control board and the line card as the control terminal have already been described in detail above, so they do not need to be explained again here.

[0056] In one example, if the first communication link and the second communication link are in a primary / backup mode, the primary main control board processor, the backup main control board processor, and the line card are also used to perform the following processing: periodically detect the port status corresponding to the port on the primary communication link, and if the port status corresponding to the port is detected to change to a disconnected state, then activate the backup communication link and disconnect the current primary communication link.

[0057] The primary main control board processor periodically checks the status of the port connected to the first forwarding chip and the line card, while the backup main control board processor periodically checks the status of the port connected to the second forwarding chip and the line card. If both ports are connected, the primary communication link is opened first, and the second communication link is closed. If the primary main control board port is disconnected, but the backup main control board port is connected, the first communication link is closed, and the second communication link is opened. If the backup main control board port is disconnected, but the primary main control board port is connected, the second communication link is closed, and the first communication link is opened. If both ports are disconnected, both communication links are closed.

[0058] Similarly, the line card processor periodically checks the status of the line card ports connected to the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip. If both line card ports are connected, the processor prioritizes opening the first communication link and closing the second communication link. If the line card port connected to the first communication link is disconnected, while the line card port connected to the second communication link is connected, the processor closes the first communication link and opens the second communication link. If the line card port connected to the second communication link is disconnected and the line card port connected to the first communication link is connected, the processor closes the second communication link and opens the first communication link. If both line card ports are disconnected, both communication links are closed.

[0059] If the primary control board processor is configured with the first and second communication links in primary / backup mode, the following is in conjunction with the appendix. Figure 8 Introducing the working process of the primary / standby mode:

[0060] In one example, the primary main control board processor enables port p1 and keeps it connected. The primary main control board processor disables port p1' of the backup main control board processor. If the line card processor detects that the line card port connected to port p1' of the second forwarding chip is disconnected, it deletes the MAC address corresponding to the disconnected line card port from the local MAC address table stored in the line card. At this point, communication is performed using the first communication link. When the primary main control board processor detects that port p1 is disconnected, it deletes the MAC address of port p1 from its own MAC address table and enables port p1' of the backup main control board processor, keeping it connected. If the line card processor detects that the line card port connected to port p1' of the first forwarding chip is disconnected, it deletes the MAC address corresponding to the disconnected line card port from the local MAC address table stored in the line card. At this point, communication is performed using the second communication link.

[0061] In another example, the line card enables the port connected to port p1 of the primary main control board, and the line card port connected to port p1 is in a connected state. Then, the line card disables the line card port connected to port p1' of the backup main control board processor. The backup main control board processor detects that port p1' is disconnected and deletes the MAC address corresponding to port p1' from its local MAC address table. At this point, the first communication link is used for communication. When the line card detects that the line card port connected to port p1 of the primary main control board processor is disconnected, it deletes the MAC address of that line card port from its own MAC address table and enables the line card port connected to port p1' of the backup main control board processor, and that line card port is in a connected state. The primary main control board processor detects that port p1 is disconnected and deletes the MAC address corresponding to port p1 from its local MAC address table. At this point, the second communication link is used for communication.

[0062] In this example, similar to the second embodiment, the interconnected ports are configured in auto-negotiation mode at speeds of 10M, 100M, 1G, or 2.5G. At 10G, they are configured in forced mode, requiring the chip's remote error notification function to be enabled. When one end of the link is disconnected, the port on the other end will also change to a disconnected state. Therefore, each main control board and line card only needs to detect the connection status of its own line card's port to set the forwarding state, without requiring additional synchronization between the main control board and the line card.

[0063] In a primary / standby configuration, one communication link between the primary control board and the line card is used as the primary link, and the other is used as the standby link. When a port on the first communication link is disconnected, the system switches to the second communication link. Alarms can also be reported. This avoids repeated failover scenarios.

[0064] The fourth embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for inter-board communication, applied to the network device in the above embodiments, the process of which is as follows: Figure 9 As shown.

[0065] Step 401: Configure at least two communication links between the main control board and the line card.

[0066] The network equipment includes: a primary main control board, a backup main control board, and at least one line card. The primary main control board includes: a primary main control board processor and a first forwarding chip connected to the primary main control board processor; the backup main control board includes: a backup main control board processor and a second forwarding chip connected to the backup main control board processor. The first forwarding chip is connected to one line card port of the line card, forming a first communication link between the first forwarding chip and the line card; the first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are connected through at least one communication port, and the second forwarding chip is connected to another line card port of the line card, forming a second communication link between the first forwarding chip and the line card; the primary main control board processor is used to configure the first and second communication links in a load-sharing mode, or to configure the first and second communication links in a primary / backup communication mode.

[0067] Specifically, in this example, the network device can be a plug-in network device. The cards are connected to the backplane in a plug-in manner, and the backplane has metal connectors for connecting to the line cards. The network device has a chassis structure to protect the cards and facilitate backplane configuration. In this example, the cards include a primary main control board, a backup main control board, and line cards. There are multiple line cards, for example, two or more line cards. Each line card has at least two line card ports. If there are two or more backup main control boards, the line cards can have three or more line card ports. This example uses two line card ports as an example.

[0068] There are two links between the main control board and each line card: a first communication link and a second communication link. The first communication link is formed by connecting the first forwarding chip to the line card, and the second communication link is formed by connecting the first forwarding chip to the second forwarding chip, and the second forwarding chip to the line card. The communication link between the first and second forwarding chips can be one, two, or more; that is, port a of the first forwarding chip can be connected to port a of the second forwarding chip, and port b of the first forwarding chip can be connected to port b of the second forwarding chip, forming two or more communication links between the first and second forwarding chips.

[0069] Step 402: If any board detects an abnormality in any communication link between the main control board and the line card, use another normal communication link to enable communication between the main control board and the line card.

[0070] In load-sharing mode, both communication links operate simultaneously. When one link fails, traffic is automatically forwarded to the other working link. In master-slave mode, if the first communication link between the primary control board and the line card fails, but the second communication link between the backup control board and the line card is active, communication can switch to the second link. Similarly, if the second communication link between the backup control board and the line card fails, but the first communication link between the primary control board and the line card is active, communication can switch to the first link. If both links are active, the first link is used preferentially.

[0071] The fifth embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that performs the above-mentioned functions when executed by a processor.

[0072] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by a program instructing related hardware. This program is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a device (which may be a microcontroller, chip, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a portable hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0073] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above embodiments are specific examples of implementing the present invention, and in practical applications, various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A network device, characterized in that, The included circuit boards are: a primary main control board, a backup main control board, and at least one line card. The primary main control board includes: a primary main control board processor and a first forwarding chip connected to the primary main control board processor. The backup main control board includes: a backup main control board processor and a second forwarding chip connected to the backup main control board processor. The primary control board and the backup control board are connected through at least one communication port; The line card is provided with at least two line card ports for inter-board communication. The at least two line card ports are respectively connected to the main main control board and the backup main control board, forming at least two communication links between the main main control board and the line card. If any of the boards detects an abnormality in any of the communication links between the main control board and the line card, another normal communication link shall be used to enable the main control board to communicate with the line card; The first forwarding chip is connected to any one of the line card ports to form a first communication link between the main control board processor and the line card; The first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are connected through at least one of the communication ports, and the second forwarding chip is connected to another line card port of the line card, forming a second communication link between the first forwarding chip and the line card; The main control board processor is used to configure the first communication link and the second communication link to be in load-sharing mode.

2. The network device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The primary main control board processor is used to: configure the communication port in the first forwarding chip used to connect to the second forwarding chip as a first stacking port; the backup main control board processor is used to configure the communication port in the second forwarding chip used to connect to the first forwarding chip as a second stacking port; The primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor are respectively configured as follows: the port on the first forwarding chip used to connect to the line card and the port on the second forwarding chip used to connect to the line card are configured as a first aggregation group; the line card is configured as the line card port connected to the first forwarding chip and the line card port connected to the second forwarding chip are configured as a second aggregation group of the board; The first aggregation group and the second aggregation group are connected to form an aggregation link, so that the first communication link and the second communication link are in a load-sharing mode.

3. The network device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The primary main control board processor and the backup main control board processor are configured with the first aggregation group information on their respective main control boards; The first aggregation group information includes: the identification information of the first forwarding chip, the information of the first port in the first forwarding chip used for connecting with the line card, the identification information of the second forwarding chip, and the information of the second port in the second forwarding chip used for connecting with the line card; The line card is also used to configure the second aggregation group information on the line card, the second aggregation group information including: information on the line card port used to connect to the first forwarding chip and information on the line card port used to connect to the second forwarding chip.

4. The network device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The primary main control board processor is further configured to: if a change in the physical state of the first port is detected, delete or add the first port aggregation information in the first aggregation group information, reset the logical forwarding state of the first port, and send the physical state information of the first port to the backup main control board processor, so that the backup main control board processor can delete or add the first port aggregation information in the first aggregation information on its main control board, wherein the first port aggregation information includes: the information of the first port and the identification information of the first forwarding chip; The backup main control board processor is further configured to: if a change in the physical state of the second port is detected, delete or add the second port aggregation information in the first aggregation group information, reset the logical forwarding state of the second port, and send the physical state information of the second port to the primary main control board processor so that the primary main control board processor can delete or add the second port aggregation information in the first aggregation information on the main control board where it is located, wherein the second port aggregation information includes: the information of the second port and the identification information of the second forwarding chip; The line card is also used to: if a change in the physical state of the line card port is detected, delete or add line card port aggregation information in the second aggregation information, and reset the logical forwarding state of the line card port with the changed state. The line card port aggregation information includes: the port information of the line card port.

5. The network device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first forwarding chip and the second forwarding chip are connected via two communication ports; The main control board processor is also used to: configure another port in the first forwarding chip used to connect to the second forwarding chip as a third stacking port; Configure the first stacking port and the third stacking port as a third aggregation group, and store the corresponding third aggregation group information. The third aggregation information includes: the port information of the third stacking port and the port information of the first stacking port. The backup main control board processor is also used to configure another port in the second forwarding chip used to connect to the first forwarding chip as a fourth stacking port; configure the second stacking port and the fourth stacking port as a fourth aggregation group, and store the fourth aggregation group information, the fourth aggregation group information including: the port information of the second stacking port and the port information of the fourth stacking port; The first aggregation group, the second aggregation group, the third aggregation group, and the fourth aggregation group are connected to form an aggregation link.

6. The network device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The main control board processor is also used to: detect a change in the physical state of any stacking port in the third aggregation group, delete or add first stacking port change information in the third aggregation group information, and reset the logical forwarding state of the stacking port, wherein the first stacking port change information includes: port information corresponding to the stacking port whose physical state has changed on the main control board processor; The backup main control board processor is also used to: detect a change in the physical state of any stacking port in the fourth aggregation group, delete or add second stacking port change information in the fourth aggregation group information, and reset the logical forwarding state of the stacking port, wherein the second stacking port change information includes: port information corresponding to the stacking port whose physical state has changed on the backup main control board processor.

7. The network device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both interconnected ports in the network device are configured in auto-negotiation mode; or, both interconnected ports in the network device are configured in remote fault notification mode.

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