Unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion and related equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion and related equipment. According to the method, sessions are managed by maintaining an original-target protocol session mapping table and target protocol packet header information storage; wherein the original-target protocol session mapping table comprises N entries, and each entry comprises an original protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used for indicating an address for storing target protocol packet header information. The difficulty of session management and parameter updating of different protocols can be effectively reduced, and the utilization rate of hardware is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of network communication technology, and in particular to a unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion and related equipment. Background Art

[0002] Protocol conversion generally occurs when two different protocols are interconnected and interoperable. It is usually completed by a dedicated protocol conversion module or a programmable processor. Application layer data interaction is generally based on sessions, and a session may contain payload data of varying sizes, such as several KB, MB, or GB. Since the payload length that can be carried by each protocol message is limited, a session needs to be split into multiple messages on the network card during the sending process and transmitted through the switching network of the corresponding protocol. The receiving end collects the payload of each received message to form a session, which is finally delivered to the application layer.

[0003] A session is distinguished by corresponding identifiers, which are reflected in each message header of the session. The message header also has identifiers such as the start, middle, and end of the session, indicating the position of the message in the entire session. The receiving end uses these indicators to reassemble the received message and restore the session. Therefore, each message has a different payload and a different message header. Figure 1 As shown in the Ethernet UDP message format, the identifier of each UDP session is generally composed of DMAC, SMAC, original IP address, target IP address, original port number, destination port number, etc. They uniquely distinguish a session. Messages with the same identifier belong to the same session, and messages with different identifiers belong to different sessions.

[0004] If the protocol types of the sender and receiver are different, then protocol conversion is required in the middle. The protocol conversion is generally performed in packets, but the integrity of the entire session cannot be destroyed. That is, all packets of the original protocol session converted into packets of the target protocol should also be a complete session. For example, when the Ethernet protocol is converted to the Fiber Channel (FC) protocol, the Ethernet protocol application layer generally uses sessions such as UDP or TCP, while the FC protocol application layer has sessions such as FC-AE-ASM or FC-AE-1553. Therefore, protocol conversion requires session management. The main purpose is to achieve original-target protocol session mapping and save the field parameters of each session. Figure 2The protocol conversion schematic diagram shown is generally divided into four units. The original protocol message is input, and the original protocol message parsing unit extracts the message load and stores it in the memory. At the same time, the session identifier of the original protocol message is extracted and output to the original-target protocol session mapping unit. The original-target protocol session mapping unit maps the message header information of the target protocol according to the original protocol session identifier and outputs it to the target protocol message assembly unit. The target protocol message assembly unit reads the load data from the original protocol message load storage according to the target protocol type and the message header related information, and assembles it into a complete target protocol message together with the message header, and then outputs it. Since different protocol messages can carry different load sizes, the target protocol message assembly unit may need to split the load of the original protocol, and then assemble it into multiple messages to send out. During the assembly process, some information in the message header may need to be modified. After the assembly is completed, it will be updated to the session management unit for mapping and conversion of the next message of the session.

[0005] Traditional session management is generally placed in the target protocol message assembly unit. After the target protocol encapsulation is completed, the information that needs to be modified in the message header is stored separately to save the conversion site parameters. The unit that does not need to be modified directly uses the target protocol message header obtained by table lookup. This method is more efficient for the conversion hardware of one-to-one fixed protocols. However, for software-defined protocol conversion applications that support multi-protocol conversion, if the above-mentioned session management method is still used, since different protocols need to save different parameters, it is necessary to set and manage them separately for different protocols, resulting in storage waste and inconvenience in management. Summary of the invention

[0006] For software-defined protocol conversion applications that support multi-protocol conversion, traditional session management methods require separate settings and management of different protocols, which will cause storage waste and inconvenience in management. To address this problem, the present invention provides a unified session management method and related equipment that support multi-protocol conversion.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion, which manages sessions by maintaining an original-target protocol session mapping table and storing target protocol header information; wherein the original-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an original protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate the address where the target protocol header information is stored.

[0008] Furthermore, each entry also includes a session validity indication; the session validity indication is used to identify whether the entry is valid.

[0009] Furthermore, a ternary content addressable memory TCAM is used to store the source-target protocol session mapping table.

[0010] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion, comprising: A session mapping table maintenance module, used to maintain a source-target protocol session mapping table; wherein the source-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an source protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate an address where target protocol packet header information is stored; The target protocol packet header information storage and maintenance module is used to maintain the target protocol packet header information.

[0011] Furthermore, each entry also includes a session validity indication; the session validity indication is used to identify whether the entry is valid.

[0012] Furthermore, the session mapping table maintenance module includes a ternary content addressable memory TCAM, and uses TCAM to store the source-target protocol session mapping table.

[0013] In the third aspect, the present invention provides a protocol conversion device, including an original protocol message parsing unit, an original protocol message load storage unit, an original-target protocol session mapping unit and a target protocol message assembly unit, and the original-target protocol session mapping unit is also provided with a unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion as described in the second aspect.

[0014] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides an electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the method described in the first aspect when executing the program.

[0015] In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method described in the first aspect.

[0016] Beneficial effects of the present invention: The present invention mainly adopts a simple and centralized session management mechanism, simplifies session mapping and session update, so that in software-defined interconnection application scenarios supporting multi-protocol conversion, it can effectively reduce the difficulty of different protocol session management and parameter update, and improve hardware utilization. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is the Ethernet protocol UDP message format; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of real-time protocol conversion; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of source-target protocol session mapping and management provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 The location of the source-target protocol session mapping and management unit in the protocol conversion provided by the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 A structural block diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solution in the embodiment of the present invention will be clearly described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiment of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the present invention, not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0019] The embodiment of the present invention provides a unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion, which adopts a centralized session management mechanism, which is mainly composed of a source-target protocol session mapping table (hereinafter referred to as the session mapping table) and a target protocol header information storage. Figure 3 As shown, the session mapping table contains N entries, and the specific value of N is determined by the actual situation; each entry mainly contains the original protocol session identifier, the session validity indication and the target protocol session sequence number. Among them, the original protocol session identifier stores some key fields that can distinguish the original protocol session, the session validity indication identifies whether this entry is valid (it can be understood that this information is not necessary), and the target protocol session sequence number corresponds to the address where the target protocol packet header information is stored.

[0020] In practical applications, the session mapping table can be implemented using TCAM (Ternary Content Addressable Memory).

[0021] Figure 4 The figure shows the position of the session management of the present invention in the protocol conversion. When the session management method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, the corresponding process is as follows: the session identifier extracted from the original protocol message and the session identifier in the session mapping table are compared, and the entry where the session identifier is located is matched, so as to obtain the session sequence number corresponding to the target protocol from the entry; then the target protocol header storage is searched by the session sequence number of the target protocol to obtain the header information corresponding to the target protocol; finally, the target protocol session sequence number and the target protocol header information are output together to the target protocol assembly unit. Subsequently, the target protocol message assembly unit combines the target protocol header information with the original protocol message load, assembles it into a message of the target protocol and sends it out. At the same time, according to the target protocol session sequence number, the modified target protocol header information is updated to the target protocol header storage for use in the next conversion.

[0022] In addition, the general software-defined protocol conversion uses a multi-stage programmable message processing unit to process the packet header. In order to increase the processing speed, the unit is designed in a pipeline mode, that is, the target protocol message assembly unit may include a multi-stage pipeline. It can be understood that the present invention is also suitable for pipeline protocol conversion, that is, updating the target protocol message header information of the same sequence number that has been read in the pipeline according to the target protocol session sequence number, simplifying the problem that the session cannot be updated in time due to increasing the number of pipeline stages of the protocol conversion processing.

[0023] In order to implement the above method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion, including: a session mapping table maintenance module and a target protocol packet header information storage and maintenance module.

[0024] Specifically, the session mapping table maintenance module is used to maintain the source-target protocol session mapping table; wherein the source-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes the source protocol session identifier and the target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate the address where the target protocol packet header information is stored. The target protocol packet header information storage maintenance module is used to maintain the target protocol packet header information.

[0025] Furthermore, each entry also includes a session validity indication; the session validity indication is used to identify whether the entry is valid.

[0026] Furthermore, the session mapping table maintenance module includes a ternary content addressable memory TCAM, and uses TCAM to store the source-target protocol session mapping table.

[0027] It should be noted that the unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion provided in the embodiment of the present invention is for implementing the above method. The specific functions thereof can be referred to the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0028] Combination Figure 4 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a protocol conversion device, including an original protocol message parsing unit, an original protocol message load storage unit, an original-target protocol session mapping unit and a target protocol message assembly unit, and the above-mentioned unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion is also provided in the original-target protocol session mapping unit.

[0029] Figure 5 An example of a physical structure diagram of an electronic device is shown in FIG. Figure 5As shown, the electronic device may include: a processor 501, a communications interface 502, a memory 503 and a communication bus 504, wherein the processor 501, the communications interface 502 and the memory 503 communicate with each other through the communication bus 504. The processor 501 may call the logic instructions in the memory 503 to execute the session management method, which includes: managing the session by maintaining the source-target protocol session mapping table and the target protocol header information storage; wherein the source-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes the source protocol session identifier and the target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate the address of the target protocol header information storage.

[0030] In addition, when the logic instructions in the above-mentioned memory 503 are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0031] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can execute the methods provided by the above-mentioned method embodiments, for example, including: managing the session by maintaining an original-target protocol session mapping table and storing target protocol header information; wherein the original-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an original protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate the address where the target protocol header information is stored.

[0032] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method provided by the above-mentioned method embodiments is implemented, for example, including: managing the session by maintaining an original-target protocol session mapping table and storing target protocol header information; wherein the original-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an original protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate the address where the target protocol header information is stored.

[0033] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each implementation method can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, a disk, an optical disk, etc., including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0034] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion, characterized in that: The session is managed by maintaining an original-target protocol session mapping table and a target protocol header information storage; wherein the original-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an original protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate an address where the target protocol header information is stored.

2. A unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each entry also includes a session validity indication; the session validity indication is used to identify whether the entry is valid.

3. A unified session management method supporting multi-protocol conversion according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A ternary content addressable memory TCAM is used to store the source-target protocol session mapping table.

4. A unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion, characterized in that: include: A session mapping table maintenance module, used to maintain a source-target protocol session mapping table; wherein the source-target protocol session mapping table includes N entries, each entry includes an source protocol session identifier and a target protocol session sequence number; wherein the target protocol session sequence number is used to indicate an address where target protocol packet header information is stored; The target protocol packet header information storage and maintenance module is used to maintain the target protocol packet header information.

5. A unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion according to claim 4, characterized in that: Each entry also includes a session validity indication; the session validity indication is used to identify whether the entry is valid.

6. A unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The session mapping table maintenance module includes a ternary content addressable memory TCAM, and uses TCAM to store the source-target protocol session mapping table.

7. A protocol conversion device, comprising an original protocol message parsing unit, an original protocol message load storage unit, an original-target protocol session mapping unit and a target protocol message assembling unit, characterized in that: The source-target protocol session mapping unit is also provided with a unified session management device supporting multi-protocol conversion as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6.

8. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein: When the processor executes the program, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is implemented.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is implemented.

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