Communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and computer program product

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of network communication, and particularly provides a communication method, device, storage medium and computer program product. The communication method is applied to a first network device, and the method comprises: in response to receiving first request information from a user device, obtaining a second source address corresponding to a first source address, the first request information being used to request allocation of the first source address for the user device; in response to receiving second request information from the user device, obtaining a second target address corresponding to a first target address of a target network device, the second request information being used to request the first target address; and initiating access to the second target address based on the second source address. The present disclosure uses the first network device to receive the first request information and the second request information sent by the user device, and centrally processes address conversion and access requests by the first network device, thereby effectively reducing the modification requirement for the user device, and achieving communication between the home terminal and the external network in a more economical and efficient manner.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of network communication, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, storage medium and computer program product. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the expansion of network scale and the increase of equipment, user equipment (such as Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)) needs to support network address translation to ensure that the home terminal communicates with the external network.

[0003] However, the number of CPEs is huge, and if all of them are upgraded to perform network address translation and then access the external network, the upgrade cost is too high. Therefore, how to access the external network without modifying the existing CPE is a problem that needs to be solved at present. SUMMARY

[0004] The present disclosure is proposed in view of the above problems. The present disclosure provides a communication method, apparatus, storage medium and computer program product.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, applied to a first network device, the method comprising: in response to receiving first request information from a user equipment, obtaining a second source address corresponding to a first source address, the first request information being used to request the first source address to be allocated to the user equipment; in response to receiving second request information from the user equipment, obtaining a second target address corresponding to a first target address of a target network device, the second request information being used to request the first target address; and initiating access to the second target address based on the second source address.

[0006] In addition, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, in response to receiving first request information from a user equipment, obtaining a second source address corresponding to a first source address, comprises: based on the first request information received from the user equipment, allocating the first source address and a second source address prefix to the user equipment, and saving a first mapping relationship of the first source address and the second source address prefix; sending first response information to the user equipment, the first response information carrying the first source address; receiving a data packet containing the first source address from the user equipment, and obtaining the second source address corresponding to the first source address based on the first mapping relationship.

[0007] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the first network device includes a first forwarding plane (UP) network device and a first control plane (CP) network device; and based on first request information received from the user device, the first source address and the second source address prefix are allocated to the user device, and a first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix is saved, including: the first UP network device sends fourth request information to the first CP network device based on the first request information received from the user device; the first CP network device allocates the first source address and the second source address prefix to the user device based on the fourth request information, and saves the first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix; and the first CP network device sends the first source address and the second source address prefix to the first UP network device, and the first UP network device saves the first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix.

[0008] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the data packet containing the first source address is received from the user device, and the second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained based on the first mapping relationship, including: the first UP network device receives the data packet containing the first source address from the user device; and the second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained based on the first mapping relationship.

[0009] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the method further includes: the first UP network receives fifth request information from the user device, the fifth request information carrying the first source address; based on the fifth request information, sixth request information is sent to the first CP network device, the sixth request information being used to request confirmation of the first source address and the second source address prefix; the first UP network receives sixth response information from the first CP network device, the sixth response information being used to agree to use of the first source address and the second source address prefix; and based on the first mapping relationship, the first UP network sends fifth response information to the user device, the fifth response information being used to agree to use of the first source address.

[0010] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, in response to receiving second request information from the user device, the second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device is obtained, including: the second request information is received from the user device; based on the second request information, third request information is sent to the second network device, the third request information being used to request the second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device; and in response to third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information, the second target address is obtained.

[0011] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the first network device includes a first forwarding plane (UP) network device and a first control plane (CP) network device; the second request information is received from the user device; and the third request information is sent to the second network device based on the second request information, the third request information being used to request a second target address corresponding to a first target address of the target network device, including: the first UP network device receives the second request information from the user device; the seventh request information is sent to the first CP network device based on the second request information, the seventh request information being used to request the first target address and the second target address; and the first CP network device sends the third request information to the second network device based on the seventh request information.

[0012] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the second target address is obtained in response to third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information, including: the first CP network device receives the third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information, the third response information carrying the second target address; the first CP network device generates a first table item based on a preset first network address pool and the second target address, the first table item being used to represent a second mapping relationship between the first target address and the second target address; the first CP network device sends the seventh response information to the first UP network device, the seventh response information carrying the first table item; the first UP network device obtains the second target address based on the first table item; the first UP network device sends the second response information to the user device, the second response information carrying the first target address; the eighth request information is received from the user device, the eighth request information carrying the first target address; and the second target address is obtained based on the eighth request information and the first table item.

[0013] Further, according to the communication method of one aspect of the present disclosure, the first source address and the first target address are Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses, the second source address and the second target address are Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses, and the user device is a user-side front-end device.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a communication apparatus is provided, including a memory for storing computer readable instructions; and a processor for running the computer readable instructions, so that the first ground network device performs the communication method as described above.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided, having stored thereon a computer program / instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of the above embodiments.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including computer readable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of the above embodiments.

[0017] As will be described in detail below, a communication method, apparatus, storage medium and computer program product according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure utilizes a first network device to receive first request information and second request information sent by a user equipment, and processes address conversion and access request by the first network device, effectively reducing the modification requirement of the user equipment (such as CPE), thereby realizing the communication between the home terminal and the external network in a more economical and efficient manner, and promoting the interworking and flexibility of the network.

[0018] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the subject technology claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided to illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute a limitation thereof. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements or steps throughout. The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 3 is a flowchart further illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 4 is a flowchart further illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 5 is an interaction diagram further illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 6 is a flowchart further illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 7 is an interaction diagram further illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 9is a schematic diagram illustrating a computer storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious, the example embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described herein.

[0030] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] As Figure 1 shown, the communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure mainly includes a terminal 101, a customer terminal equipment (CPE) 102, a virtual broadband remote access server (VBRAS) 103, an Internet service provider (ISP) network 104.

[0032] Among them, the terminal 101 can access the virtual broadband remote access server 103 through the user terminal front-end device 102, realize network address translation and domain name translation on the virtual broadband remote access server 103, and access the Internet service provider network 104 through the virtual broadband remote access server 103, so as to realize that the IPv4 address terminal 101 accesses the IPv6 address Internet service provider network 104.

[0033] The terminal 101 can be a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a smart terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal can also be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a relay device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), and the like, without limitation.

[0034] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are only described by taking the communication system 100 as an example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, that is, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Exemplarily, the various communication systems can include, but are not limited to, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), an Internet of Things (IoT) system, a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, an enhanced Machine-Type Communications (eMTC) system, a 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G) communication system, also known as a New Radio (NR) communication system, or a future communication system.

[0035] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] As shown in Figure 2 , a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is performed by a first network device, where the first network device can be a base station, a network device, a network node, a network equipment, a network element, a relay device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), and the like, without limitation. Figure 1The virtual broadband remote access server 103 shown herein includes the following specific steps in its communication method.

[0037] In step S201, in response to receiving first request information from the user equipment, a second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained. The first request information is used to request the allocation of the first source address to the user equipment.

[0038] In the embodiments of this disclosure, when a user equipment needs to establish communication with a first network device, it sends a first request message to the first network device to request Internet Protocol (IP) address configuration. Specifically, the first request message may be used to request the first network device to allocate a first source address for the user equipment. Upon receiving the first request message, the first network device parses and identifies the first request message, allocates the first source address to the user equipment, and generates a second source address corresponding to the first source address according to the communication requirements. Here, the first source address is the IP address required by the user equipment, and the second source address is generated through address translation or mapping to represent or map the first source address, so that the first network device can communicate in the network according to the communication requirements of the user equipment.

[0039] Here, the first source address can be an IPv4 address, and the second source address can be an IPv6 address. The user equipment can refer to... Figure 1 The CPE102 shown is shown.

[0040] For example, the first request information is an Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP) Configuration Request Nak (Config Nak) message. The user equipment (UE) sends the IPCP Config Nak message to the first network device. This IPCP Config Nak message carries IP address parameters (e.g., IP Address: 0.0.0.0) to request the allocation of a first source address from the first network device. The first network device allocates the first source address to the UE based on the received first request information and generates a second source address corresponding to the first source address.

[0041] In step S202, in response to receiving second request information from the user equipment, a second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device is obtained, wherein the second request information is used to request the first target address.

[0042] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second request information is sent by the user equipment to the first network device, and is used to request the first target address. The first network device parses the second request information after receiving the second request information, to identify the first target address that the user equipment wants to access. And according to the communication requirement of the user equipment, the second target address corresponding to the first target address is found, and the user equipment realizes the communication with the ISP network. Here, the second target address can be the actual address of the first target address in the ISP network, which has been processed by the network address translation or other address mapping mechanism.

[0043] Here, the first target address can be an IPv4 address, and the second target address is an IPv6 address.

[0044] In step S203, based on the second source address, the access to the second target address is initiated.

[0045] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first network device initiates the access to the second target address according to the request of the user equipment, by using the obtained second source address.

[0046] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first network device receives the first request information and the second request information sent by the user equipment, and the address translation and the access request are processed by the first network device, which effectively reduces the modification requirement of the user equipment (such as CPE), so as to realize the communication between the home terminal and the external network in a more economical and efficient way, and promotes the interworking and flexibility of the network.

[0047] Figure 3 is a flow chart further illustrating the communication method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0048] As shown in Figure 3 According to the communication method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to receiving the first request information from the user equipment, the second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained, which specifically includes the following steps.

[0049] In step S301, based on the first request information received from the user equipment, the first source address and the second source address prefix are allocated to the user equipment, and the first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix is saved.

[0050] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, after receiving the first request information sent by the user equipment, the first network device parses the first request information, and allocates a first source address and a second source address prefix for the user equipment according to the content requested by the first request information. The first source address can be used to uniquely identify the user equipment in the network. The second source address prefix can define an address range, and can select or allocate an additional address for the user equipment within a specific range. After the first source address and the second source address prefix are allocated, the first network device saves the mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix. Through the above process, the first network device can effectively manage and allocate network address resources, and ensure that the user equipment can smoothly access the network and communicate. At the same time, by saving the mapping relationship, the network device can also realize efficient data packet processing and routing forwarding functions.

[0051] Exemplarily, by extending the Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP) of the Point-to-Point Protocol version 4 (PPPoEv4) based on Ethernet, a new option OPTION is added, which can request the second source address (such as an IPv6 address) prefix corresponding to the first source address (such as an IPv4 address) at the same time. Specifically, an Internet Protocol Control Protocol option IPCP OPTION representing the second source address prefix is added, and the type is the second source address prefix.

[0052] Type: IPv6 prefix, assuming its value is 255. If it is a 64-bit (8-byte) length IPv6 prefix:

[0053] Type = 255;

[0054] Length = 10; (10 bytes, 1 byte for Type and Length, 8 bytes for IPv6 prefix, a total of 10 bytes).

[0055] Then IPv6 Prefix = 1212:0:0:1:: / 64.

[0056] In step S302, the first response information carrying the first source address is sent to the user equipment.

[0057] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, after receiving the first request information sent by the user equipment, the first network device parses the first request information, and further generates the first response information containing the first source address, and sends the first response information to the user equipment. So that the user equipment knows the first source address according to the received first response information.

[0058] In step S303, the datagram containing the first source address is received from the user equipment, and the second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained based on the first mapping relationship.

[0059] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the user equipment sends the data packet containing the first source address to the first user equipment after receiving the first response information. Thus, the first user equipment knows the first source address according to the received data packet. The first source address is converted into the corresponding second source address by using the first mapping relationship stored on the first network equipment, so as to realize subsequent communication.

[0060] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first network equipment dynamically allocates the first source address and the second source address prefix for the user equipment, and the second source address can be obtained by using the first source address and the second source address prefix and the mapping relationship therebetween, which is helpful to realize efficient use of network address resources and provides strong support for constructing an efficient, flexible and secure network environment.

[0061] Figure 4 is a flowchart further illustrating the communication method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0062] As shown in Figure 4 According to the communication method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first network equipment can include a first forwarding plane UP network equipment and a first control plane CP network equipment. Based on the first request information received from the user equipment, the first source address and the second source address prefix are allocated for the user equipment, and the first mapping relationship of the first source address and the second source address prefix is saved, which specifically includes the following steps.

[0063] In step S401, the first UP network equipment sends fourth request information to the first CP network equipment based on the first request information received from the user equipment.

[0064] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first UP network equipment parses the first request information received from the user equipment, and sends the fourth request information to the first CP network equipment according to the content of the parsed first request information, so as to request the first source address and the second source address prefix from the first CP network equipment.

[0065] In step S402, the first CP network equipment allocates the first source address and the second source address prefix for the user equipment based on the fourth request information, and saves the first mapping relationship of the first source address and the second source address prefix.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, after receiving the fourth request information, the first CP network equipment parses the fourth request information, allocates the first source address and the second source address prefix for the user equipment according to the content requested by the fourth request information, and saves the first mapping relationship of the first source address and the second source address prefix.

[0067] In step S403, the first CP network device sends the first source address and the second source address prefix to the first UP network device, and the first UP network device saves a first mapping relationship between the first source address and the first IPv6 address prefix.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first CP network device returns a response information to the first UP network device based on the received fourth request information, and the response information can include the first source address and the second source address. After receiving the first source address and the second source address prefix, the first UP network device saves a first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix.

[0069] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first UP network device and the first CP network device exchange information, the first source address and the second source address prefix and the mapping relationship therebetween are obtained, the network configuration can be flexibly adjusted and optimized on the first network device, and the efficiency of network management is improved.

[0070] Further, a data packet containing the first source address is received from the user equipment, and the second source address corresponding to the first source address is obtained based on the first mapping relationship, including:

[0071] The first UP network device receives a data packet containing the first source address from the user equipment, and obtains the second source address corresponding to the first source address based on the first mapping relationship.

[0072] Specifically, the user equipment sends a data packet containing the first source address to the first UP network device, and the first UP network device obtains the second source address prefix corresponding to the first source address according to the first mapping relationship after receiving the data packet, and obtains the second source address through address conversion.

[0073] For example, the user equipment initiates data plane access using the first source address, and sends a data packet containing the first source address to the first UP network device. The first UP network device obtains the second source address prefix corresponding to the first source address through the first mapping relationship after receiving the data packet, converts the first source address into the second source address through address conversion, and initiates data plane access through the second source address.

[0074] Further, the above communication method further includes:

[0075] The first UP network device receives fifth request information from the user device, and the fifth request information carries a first source address; based on the fifth request information, the first UP network device sends sixth request information to the first CP network device, and the sixth request information is used to request the first source address and a second source address prefix; the first UP network device receives sixth response information from the first CP network device, and the sixth response information is used to agree to use of the first source address and the second source address prefix; based on the first mapping relationship, the first UP network device sends fifth response information to the user device, and the fifth response information is used to agree to use of the first source address.

[0076] Specifically, the fifth request information is sent by the user device to the first UP network device, and the fifth request information carries the first source address. When the first UP network device receives the fifth request information, the first UP network device queries the second source address prefix corresponding to the first source address according to the first mapping relationship, and sends the sixth request information to the first CP network device, which is used to request the first source address and the second source address prefix. After the first CP network device receives the sixth request information, the first CP network device confirms the corresponding relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix according to the first mapping relationship. Then, the first CP network device sends the sixth response information to the first UP network device, which is used to confirm the first mapping relationship and agree to use of the first source address and the second source address prefix. After the first UP queries the mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix according to the first mapping relationship, the first UP sends the fifth response message to the user device, which is used to confirm use of the first source address.

[0077] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooperation between the first CP device and the first UP device improves the reliability and stability of address allocation and management.

[0078] In order to describe the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present disclosure in detail, reference is made to Figure 5 The communication method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is described by interaction between the CPE, the BRAS-UP (referred to as UP), the BRAS-CP (referred to as CP), and the IPv6 service server. The IPv6 service server is deployed in the ISP network.

[0079] Step 1: The UP (the first UP network device described above) and the CP (the first CP network device described above) negotiate to establish a virtual extended local area network VXLAN tunnel, which is used for subsequent control plane message transmission.

[0080] Step 2: The CPE (user device) uses the UP to realize PPPoE Discovery interaction, LCP negotiation, and CHAP authentication between the CPE and the CP through the VXLAN tunnel between the UP and the CP.

[0081] Step 3: CPE sends IPCP Config Request (as the first request information above) message to UP, carrying the parameter IP Address: 0.0.0.0.

[0082] Step 4: UP receives it and sends IPCP Config Request (as the fourth request information above) (IP Address: 0.0.0.0, IPv6 Prefix: 0::0 / 64) to CP through the VXLAN tunnel, requesting IPv4 address and IPv6 prefix.

[0083] Step 5: CP allocates IPv4 address (10.0.0.100) (as the first source address above) and IPv6 prefix (1212:0:0:1:: / 64) (as the second source address prefix above) for CPE, and saves the mapping relationship (10.0.0.100<->1212:0:0:1:: / 64) (as the first mapping relationship above), and then sends the two parameters to UP through the IPCP Config Nak message.

[0084] Step 6: UP saves the mapping relationship of the IPv4 address and the IPv6 prefix (10.0.0.100<->1212:0:0:1:: / 64), and sends only the IPv4 address 10.0.0.100 to CPE through the IPCP Config Nak message (as the first response information above).

[0085] Step 7: CPE requests 10.0.0.100 address through IPCP Config Request (fifth request information).

[0086] Step 8: UP receives it and queries the corresponding IPv6 prefix of 10.0.0.100 as 1212:0:0:1:: / 64 according to the first mapping relationship, and requests IPv4 address 10.0.0.100 and IPv6 prefix 1212:0:0:1:: / 64 to CP through the IPCP Config Request (sixth request information).

[0087] Step 9: CP acknowledges the corresponding relationship of the IPv4 address and the IPv6 prefix after querying the mapping relationship, and indicates the use of IPv4 address 10.0.0.100 and IPv6 prefix 1212:0:0:1:: / 64 to UP through the IPCP Config Ack (as the sixth response information above) message.

[0088] Step 10: After the UP queries the mapping relationship, the UP acknowledges the correspondence between the ipv4 address and the ipv6 prefix, and indicates the use of the ipv4 address 10.0.0.100 to the CPE through an IPCP Config Ack (fifth response information) message.

[0089] Step 11: The CPE initiates data plane access using the ipv4 address 10.0.0.100.

[0090] Step 12: After the ipv4 address-carrying message arrives at the UP, the UP finds that the ipv6 prefix of the address is 1212:0:0:1:: / 64, and performs stateless NAT46 conversion: 10.0.0.100<->1212:0:0:1::10.0.0.100; the converted message initiates data plane access to the IPv6 service server through the source address 1212:0:0:1::10.0.0.100 (such as the second source address mentioned above).

[0091] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0092] As shown in Figure 6 , according to the communication method of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the method comprises the following steps.

[0093] In step S601, the second request information is received from the user equipment; based on the second request information, the third request information is sent to the second network device, and the third request information is used to request the second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device.

[0094] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second request information is sent by the user equipment to the first network device. After receiving the second request information, the first network device parses the second request information, and sends a third request message to the second network device according to the second request information, to request the second target address corresponding to the first address of the target network device from the second network device.

[0095] In step S602, the second target address is obtained in response to the third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information.

[0096] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second network device receives the third request information, parses the third request information, and generates a third response information according to the content of the third request information, the third response information containing the second destination address. The second network device sends the third response information to the first network device. The first network device obtains the second destination address according to the received third response information.

[0097] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first network device as an intermediate bridge receives the request (second request information) from the user equipment, initiates a further request (third request information) to the second network device according to the request, and finally obtains the required second target address from the second network device. This mechanism makes the user equipment not need to know the internal address of the target network device directly, simplifies the access process, and enhances the security and flexibility of the system. Further, the first network device includes a first forwarding plane UP network device and a first control plane CP network device;

[0098] The second request information is received from the user equipment; and the third request information is sent to the second network device based on the second request information, and the third request information is used to request a second target address corresponding to a first target address of a target network device, and includes:

[0099] The first UP network device receives the second request information from the user equipment;

[0100] The seventh request information is sent to the first CP network device based on the second request information, and the seventh request information is used to request the first target address and the second target address;

[0101] The first CP network device sends the third request information to the second network device based on the seventh request information.

[0102] Specifically, the user equipment needs to access resources on a certain target network device (may be a server, a database, etc.), and sends the second request information to the first UP network device, which is used to request the first target address. After receiving the second request information from the user equipment, the first UP network device sends the seventh request information to the first CP network device, which is used to request the first target address and the second target address. The first CP network device processes the request: the first CP network device receives the seventh request information from the first UP network device, and sends the third request information to the second network device according to the content of the seventh request information.

[0103] Exemplarily, the user equipment needs to access a certain target network device, and sends a domain name query request to the first network device according to the target domain name of the target network device (such as a server used by an ISP network), which is used to request the first target address corresponding to the target domain name. The first network device sends the third request information to the second network device (such as a domain name system server) according to the domain name query request, which is used to request the second target address corresponding to the target domain name.

[0104] Further, the second target address is obtained in response to third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information, and includes:

[0105] The first CP network device receives third response information generated by processing third request information from the second network device, and the third response information carries the second target address;

[0106] The first CP network device generates a first table item based on the preset first network address pool and the second target address, and the first table item is used to represent the second mapping relationship between the first target address and the second target address;

[0107] The first CP network device sends seventh response information to the first UP network device, and the seventh response information carries the first table item;

[0108] Based on the first table item, the first UP network device acquires the second target address;

[0109] The first UP network device sends second response information to the user equipment, and the second response information carries the first target address;

[0110] The eighth request information is received from the user equipment, and the eighth request information carries the first target address;

[0111] Based on the eighth request information and the first table item, the second target address is acquired.

[0112] Specifically, the second network device generates third response information according to the received third request information, and the third response information includes a second network address. The second network device sends the third response information to the first CP network device, and the first CP network device generates a first table item according to the first network address pool and the second target address stored by the first CP network device. The first table item is used to represent the second mapping relationship between the first target address and the second target address. The first network address pool is used to pre-store a plurality of different first target addresses.

[0113] Further, the first CP network device sends seventh response information containing the first table item to the first UP device, the first UP network device parses the seventh response information to obtain the second target address, and the first UP network device generates second response information according to the first table item and sends the second response information to the user equipment, wherein the second response information carries the first target address.

[0114] Further, the user equipment sends eighth request information according to the received second response information, and the eighth request information carries the first target address.

[0115] Further, the user equipment needs to access a target network device, and initiates data plane access to the first UP network device for the first target address. The first UP network device finds the second target address corresponding to the first target address according to the first table item, and then initiates data plane access to the second target address from the first UP network device.

[0116] In summary, according to the scheme provided by the present disclosure, information interaction among different components (user equipment, UP network equipment, CP network equipment, and second network equipment) is used to achieve access from the user equipment to the target network equipment.

[0117] Further, the first source address and the first target address can be IPv4 addresses, and the second source address and the second target address can be IPv6 addresses.

[0118] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the present disclosure, IPv4 address conversion to IPv6 (NAT46) data plane conversion (data plane functions of stateful NAT46 and stateless NAT46) is implemented on the BRAS-UP in distributed deployment, and DNS46 and NAT46 control plane functions are uniformly completed on the BRAS-CP in centralized deployment to cooperatively implement NAT46 / DNS46 capabilities. Under the unified control and management of the BRAS-CP, signaling interaction between the DNS46 / NAT46 control plane of the BRAS-CP and the NAT46 data plane of the BRAS-UP ultimately realizes the service requirement of IPv4 terminal access to IPv6 content. The service requirement of IPv4 terminal access to IPv6 content can be realized without upgrading the CPE.

[0119] In summary, according to the technical scheme provided by the present disclosure, the BRAS-CP is deployed in a centralized manner (generally one set of BRAS-CP is deployed in one province), and is implemented in software. For the present disclosure, most of the communication steps are implemented on the centrally deployed BRAS-CP, and the BRAS-UP only needs to be modified in a small amount. Therefore, the problem of great difficulty and high cost in upgrading the massive CPE (several hundred million levels) to support NAT46 / DNS46 can be well solved.

[0120] To describe the technical scheme of the present disclosure in detail, refer to Figure 7 The communication method according to the present disclosure is described by the interaction among the CPE, the BRAS-UP (referred to as UP), the BRAS-CP (referred to as CP), the IPv6 address domain name system server DNS6 Server, and the IPv6 service server.

[0121] To uniformly implement the DNS46 function by the CP, that is, to convert the IPv4 address to the IPv6 address through domain name query, the domain name system DNS message sent by the CPE to the UP needs to be sent to the CP through the VXLAN tunnel, but the VXLAN tunnel can only forward the PPPoE / IPoE dialing message to the CP, so the original VXLAN GPE protocol needs to be extended to support the encapsulation and forwarding of the DNS message.

[0122] The current VXLAN Generic Protocol Encapsulation (GPE) protocol only supports PPPoE / IPoE. A new Next Protocol is extended, which is Protocol for DNS, and the value is 255. In this way, UP can send the DNS message to CP via the VXLAN Tunnel Encapsulation (CPE).

[0123] Step 1: UP and CP negotiate to establish a VXLAN tunnel for subsequent control plane message transmission.

[0124] Step 2: CPE sends a DNS Query (Name: www.abc.com, Type: A) (as the second request information in the foregoing text) to request the IPv4 address of the domain name www.abc.com (as the first destination address in the foregoing text).

[0125] Step 3: UP receives the DNS Query and sends a DNS Query (Name: www.abc.com, Type: A, Type: AAAA) (as the seventh request information in the foregoing text) to CP via the VXLAN tunnel (Next Protocol = 255 in the VXLAN GPE protocol header), to request the IPv4 address (as the first destination address in the foregoing text) and the IPv6 address (as the second destination address in the foregoing text) of the domain name.

[0126] Step 4: CP sends a DNS Query (Name: www.abc.com, Type: AAAA) (as the third request information in the foregoing text) to DNS6 Server to request the IPv6 address (as the second destination address in the foregoing text) of the domain name.

[0127] Step 5: DNS6 Server sends a DNS Response (Name: www.abc.com, AAAA: 2001::1) (as the third response information in the foregoing text) to CP.

[0128] Step 6: CP generates and saves a NAT46 entry (first entry) for 2001::1 according to the configured IPv4 address pool (first network address pool): 100.0.0.1 <-> 2001::1.

[0129] Step 7: CP sends a DNS Response (Name: www.abc.com, A: 100.0.0.1, AAAA: 2001::1) (as the seventh response information in the foregoing text) to UP via the VXLAN tunnel (Next Protocol = 255 in the VXLAN GPE protocol header).

[0130] Step 8: UP saves the NAT46 entry for 2001 :: 1: 100.0.0.1 <-> 2001 :: 1;

[0131] Step 9: UP sends the DNS Response (Name: www.abc.com, A: 100.0.0.1) (as the second response information in the foregoing) to the CPE.

[0132] Step 10: The CPE initiates the data plane access for the destination address 100.0.0.1 (as the eighth request information in the foregoing).

[0133] Step 11: After receiving, the UP finds the IPv6 address corresponding to the IPv4 address according to the NAT46 entry, that is, 2001 :: 1. The UP initiates the data plane access for the destination address 2001 :: 1.

[0134] The present disclosure also provides a communication device. Figure 8 A structural block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Figure 8 The communication device 800 includes a memory 801 and a processor 802.

[0135] Specifically, the memory 801 is configured to store computer readable instructions.

[0136] Specifically, the processor 802 is configured to execute the computer readable instructions, so that the communication device performs the communication method as described above.

[0137] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a computer readable storage medium provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Figure 9 According to the computer readable storage medium 900 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, computer readable instructions 901 are stored thereon. The computer readable instructions 901 are executed by a processor to implement the communication method of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, for example, volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may, for example, include random access memory (RAM) and / or cache memory, etc. The non-volatile memory may, for example, include read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, optical disc, magnetic disc, etc.

[0138] The present disclosure further provides a computer program product, including computer programs / instructions, which are executed by a processor to implement the communication method of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0139] The communication method, device, computer readable storage medium and computer program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the present disclosure utilizes a first network device to receive first request information and second request information sent by a user equipment, and centrally processes address conversion and access requests by the first network device, effectively reducing the modification requirement for the user equipment (such as a CPE), thereby realizing the communication between a home terminal and an external network in a more economical and efficient manner, and promoting the interworking and flexibility of the network. Further, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is centrally deployed (generally one set of BRAS-CP is deployed in one province) and implemented by software. Because for the present application, most of the communication steps are completed on the centrally deployed BRAS-CP, and the BRAS-UP only needs to be modified in a small amount. Therefore, the problem of large amount of CPE (several hundred million levels) upgrading to support NAT46 / DNS46 can be well solved, which is difficult to implement and has high cost.

[0140] The basic principles of the present disclosure are described above in combination with specific embodiments, but it should be pointed out that the advantages, advantages, effects and the like mentioned in the present disclosure are only examples and are not limiting, and these advantages, advantages, effects and the like cannot be considered as the must-have of each embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition, the specific details of the above disclosure are only for the purpose of example and for the purpose of understanding, and are not limited to the above specific details, and the present disclosure does not limit the implementation to the above specific details.

[0141] The block diagrams of the devices, apparatuses, equipment, systems involved in the present disclosure are only illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the connection, arrangement, configuration must be as shown in the block diagram. As those skilled in the art will recognize, these devices, apparatuses, equipment, systems can be connected, arranged, configured in any manner. Words such as "include", "contain", "have" and the like are open-ended words, mean "including but not limited to", and can be used interchangeably. The words "or" and "and" used herein mean the word "and / or", and can be used interchangeably unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The word "such as" used herein means the phrase "such as but not limited to", and can be used interchangeably.

[0142] In addition, as used herein, "or" used in the list of items starting with "at least one" indicates separate listing, so that for example, the list of "at least one of A, B or C" means A or B or C, or AB or AC or BC, or ABC (i.e. A and B and C). In addition, the phrase "exemplary" does not mean that the described example is preferred or better than other examples.

[0143] It is also important to note that the systems and methods of the present disclosure can be embodied in a variety of contexts. For example, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can be implemented in the context of a computer system, a mobile device, a server, a network, a distributed computing environment, etc. It is also important to note that the various components and steps of the systems and methods of the present disclosure can be decomposed and / or recombined. Such decompositions and / or recombinations should be considered equivalents of the present disclosure.

[0144] Various changes, modifications, and improvements in the technologies described herein can be made without departing from the teachings of the technologies defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the claims of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific aspects described above. Rather, the aspects of the present disclosure are intended to encompass all technologies and processes within the scope of the claims, including all technical equivalents, which now or later become known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to embrace any and all alterations, modifications and improvements of the technologies described herein.

[0145] The above description of the disclosed aspects is given for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. The aspects are presented as examples of the disclosure only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Although a number of example aspects and embodiments have been discussed, those of skill in the art will recognize various modifications, alternatives, changes, additions, and subcombinations. It is intended that the disclosure embrace all such modifications, alternatives, changes, additions, and subcombinations as fall within the scope of the claims.

[0146] The above description has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Further, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of the disclosure to the forms disclosed herein. Although various example aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, changes, additions, and subcombinations.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a first network device, and the method comprises: In response to receiving first request information from a user device, obtaining a second source address corresponding to a first source address, the first request information being used to request that the first source address be allocated to the user device; In response to receiving second request information from the user device, obtaining a second target address corresponding to a first target address of a target network device, the second request information being used to request the first target address; Based on the second source address, initiating access to the second target address; The method further comprises: In response to receiving first request information from a user device, obtaining a second source address corresponding to a first source address, the first request information being used to request that the first source address be allocated to the user device; Based on the first request information received from the user device, allocating the first source address and a second source address prefix to the user device, and saving a first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix; Sending first response information to the user device, the first response information carrying the first source address; Receiving a data packet containing the first source address from the user device, and based on the first mapping relationship, obtaining the second source address corresponding to the first source address; The first network device comprises a first user plane (UP) network device and a first control plane (CP) network device; The method further comprises: The first UP network device sends fourth request information to the first CP network device based on the first request information received from the user device; The first CP network device allocates the first source address and the second source address prefix to the user device based on the fourth request information, and saves a first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix; 2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized by, The first CP network device sends the first source address and the second source address prefix to the first UP network device, and the first UP network device saves the first mapping relationship between the first source address and the second source address prefix. The method further comprises: The first UP network device receives a data packet containing the first source address from the user device; 3. The communication method according to claim 2, wherein, Based on the first mapping relationship, obtaining the second source address corresponding to the first source address. The method further comprises: The first UP network device receives fifth request information from the user device, the fifth request information carrying the first source address; Based on the fifth request information, sending sixth request information to the first CP network device, the sixth request information being used to request the first source address and the second source address prefix; The first UP network device receives sixth response information from the first CP network device, the sixth response information being used to agree to use of the first source address and the second source address prefix; The first UP network device sends fifth response information to the user equipment based on the first mapping relationship, where the fifth response information is used to agree to use of the first source address.

4. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized by, The second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device is obtained in response to receiving second request information from the user equipment, including: The second request information is received from the user equipment; third request information is sent to the second network device based on the second request information, where the third request information is used to request the second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device; The second target address is obtained in response to third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, wherein, The first network device includes a first forwarding plane UP network device and a first control plane CP network device; The second request information is received from the user equipment; third request information is sent to the second network device based on the second request information, where the third request information is used to request the second target address corresponding to the first target address of the target network device, including: The first UP network device receives the second request information from the user equipment; Seventh request information is sent to the first CP network device based on the second request information, where the seventh request information is used to request the first target address and the second target address; The first CP network device sends third request information to the second network device based on the seventh request information.

6. The communication method according to claim 5, wherein, The second target address is obtained in response to third response information generated by the second network device processing the third request information, including: The first CP network device receives third response information generated by processing the third request information from the second network device, where the third response information carries the second target address; The first CP network device generates a first entry based on a preset first network address pool and the second target address, where the first entry is used to represent a second mapping relationship between the first target address and the second target address; The first CP network device sends seventh response information to the first UP network device, where the seventh response information carries the first entry; The first UP network device obtains the second target address based on the first entry; The first UP network device sends second response information to the user equipment, where the second response information carries the first target address; Eighth request information is received from the user equipment, where the eighth request information carries the first target address; The second target address is obtained based on the eighth request information and the first entry.

7. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by, The first source address and the first target address are Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses, the second source address and the second target address are Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses, and the user equipment is a user-side front-end device.

8. A communication device, characterized by including: a memory configured to store computer readable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to cause the communication device to perform the communication method of any one of claims 1-7. ​ 9. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer programs / instructions, characterized in that, The computer program / instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the communication method of any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer program product comprising computer programs / instructions, characterized in that, The computer program / instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the communication method of any one of claims 1-7.

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