Lightweight control method, device, equipment and product of satellite-borne forwarding equipment

By implementing lightweight control methods on satellite forwarding devices, including local initial configuration, remote communication connection and collaborative control mechanism, the problem of low communication efficiency of satellite wireless links is solved, and more efficient data processing and stable communication connection are achieved. .

CN119483699AActive Publication Date: 2025-02-18PENG CHENG LAB
View PDF 13 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
CN202411424124.2
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-10-12
Publication Date
2025-02-18
Estimated Expiration
2044-10-12

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The communication efficiency of satellite wireless links is low, resulting in low communication efficiency of control channels in satellite network scenarios.

Method used

A lightweight control method for satellite forwarding equipment is proposed, which completes the initial configuration by starting the satellite forwarding equipment and local control programs; establishes a communication connection based on the remote control transmission layer communication protocol; after establishing a communication connection, it is carried out through local and remote collaboration. The control mechanism controls the forwarding of data packets by the satellite forwarding device.

Benefits of technology

The local and remote collaborative control mechanisms reduce remote dependencies, improve the system's fault tolerance and data processing efficiency, adapt to the weak control link environment of the satellite network, improve communication connection stability and improve communication efficiency.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN119483699A_ABST
    Figure CN119483699A_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

The invention discloses a lightweight control method, device, equipment and product for satellite-borne forwarding equipment, and relates to the technical field of satellite communication, and the method comprises the steps: starting the satellite-borne forwarding equipment and a local control program which is used for completing initial configuration of the satellite-borne forwarding equipment, controlling a remote controller and a local control program to establish communication connection based on a remote control transmission layer communication protocol; and after the communication connection is established, controlling the satellite-borne forwarding equipment to forward the data packet through a local and remote cooperative control mechanism. By starting the satellite-borne forwarding device and the local control program, the local control program can independently complete initial configuration of the device. The satellite-borne forwarding equipment is controlled through a local and remote cooperative control mechanism, control tasks can be allocated according to different task requirements, remote dependence is reduced, the method can adapt to a weak control link environment of a satellite network, control message bandwidth resource occupation is reduced, and communication efficiency is improved.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of satellite communication technology, and in particular to lightweight control methods, devices, equipment and products for satellite-borne forwarding equipment. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the development of aerospace technology, satellite networks have also ushered in a period of explosive growth. From the 77 low-orbit satellites of the Iridium system to the 40,000 satellites of the Starlink project, satellite Internet has become possible. The onboard processing capabilities have been continuously enhanced, and the demand for onboard data exchange has become more urgent. Some already have onboard exchange capabilities.

[0003] At present, satellite networks are usually deployed on the ground or on higher-orbit satellites. In satellite network scenarios, control channels can only be based on wireless links, but satellite wireless links generally have the problem of low communication efficiency.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the communication efficiency of satellite wireless links is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0005] The main purpose of this application is to provide a lightweight control method, device, equipment and product for a satellite-borne forwarding device, aiming to solve the technical problem of low efficiency of satellite wireless link communication.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present application proposes a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device, the method comprising:

[0007] Starting the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device;

[0008] Control the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol;

[0009] After the communication connection is established, the satellite-borne forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism.

[0010] In one embodiment, the step of starting the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device, includes:

[0011] Starting the satellite forwarding device and configuring the initial flow table rules, wherein the initial flow table rules are used to define how the satellite forwarding device processes data packets of different types of networks;

[0012] The initial flow table rule is sent to the satellite-borne forwarding device through a local control program.

[0013] In one embodiment, the step of controlling the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol includes:

[0014] Establish a controller cluster based on the nodes of the remote controller;

[0015] Dynamically assigning the onboard forwarding devices to corresponding controller nodes according to the load information of each node in the controller cluster and the geographical distribution of the onboard forwarding devices;

[0016] Each controller node communicates with the local control program of the onboard forwarding device through the remote control transport layer communication protocol.

[0017] In one embodiment, after establishing the communication connection, the step of controlling the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward the data packet through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism includes:

[0018] After establishing the communication connection, encoding the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain a transmission message;

[0019] Sending the transmission message to the local control program for decoding according to the lightweight control protocol to obtain a decoding result;

[0020] generating a dynamic forwarding rule based on the decoding result, wherein the dynamic forwarding rule is a rule dynamically generated by the remote controller based on a network condition;

[0021] Based on the lightweight control protocol, the onboard forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets according to the dynamic forwarding rule.

[0022] In one embodiment, the step of encoding the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain the transmission message includes:

[0023] Encoding the payload data of the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain first message data;

[0024] Compressing the first message data by using a compression algorithm to obtain second message data;

[0025] The first message data and the second message data are encapsulated into the transmission message.

[0026] In one embodiment, the step of sending the transmission message to the local control program for decoding according to the lightweight control protocol to obtain a decoding result includes:

[0027] Based on the lightweight control protocol, decompress the transmission message by a decompression algorithm to restore the first message data;

[0028] The first message data is decoded through a protocol buffer to obtain a decoding result.

[0029] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application also proposes a lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, wherein the lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device comprises:

[0030] An initial configuration module, used to start the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device;

[0031] A communication establishment module, used for controlling the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on a remote control transport layer communication protocol;

[0032] The data forwarding module is used to control the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism after the communication connection is established.

[0033] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application also proposes a lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, the device comprising: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the computer program being configured to implement the steps of the lightweight control method for the satellite-borne forwarding device as described above.

[0034] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application also proposes a storage medium, which is a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program is stored on the storage medium. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device as described above are implemented.

[0035] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device as described above are implemented.

[0036] One or more technical solutions proposed in this application have at least the following technical effects:

[0037] Start the onboard forwarding device and the local control program. The local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device. Based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol, the remote controller and the local control program are controlled to establish a communication connection. After the communication connection is established, the onboard forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism. By starting the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, the local control program can independently complete the initial configuration of the device to ensure that the device is ready to process data packets in a short time. By controlling the onboard forwarding device through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism, control tasks can be assigned according to different task requirements. Remote control is responsible for global network scheduling and policy generation, and local control is responsible for executing specific forwarding rules and immediate response. This collaborative control mechanism reduces remote dependence and improves the system's fault tolerance and data processing efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0039] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0040] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a first embodiment of a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application;

[0041] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the local and remote collaborative control mechanism of an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 3 This is a flow chart of a second embodiment of a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application;

[0043] Figure 4 This is a flow chart of a third embodiment of a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a lightweight control mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 6 This is a logical diagram of the P4 data plane Pipeline forwarding in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application;

[0047] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of two lightweight control message structures according to the embodiments of the present application;

[0048] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the lightweight control protocol layering and message structure of an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the control operation mechanism of the lightweight control protocol in the embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Fig.11 This is a schematic diagram of LLDP protocol collaborative processing in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Fig.12 This is a schematic diagram of the module structure of a lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig.13 Schematic diagram of the device structure of the hardware operating environment involved in the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0053] The purpose, features and advantages of this application will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the technical solutions of the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0055] In order to better understand the technical solution of the present application, a detailed description will be given below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0056] With the development of aerospace technology, satellite networks have also ushered in an explosive period. From the networking of 77 low-orbit satellites in the Iridium system to the networking of 40,000 satellites in the Starlink project, satellite Internet has become possible. The on-board processing capabilities have been continuously enhanced, and the demand for on-board data exchange has become stronger. Some satellites have already acquired on-board exchange capabilities. However, the current industry research controllers in satellite networks are usually deployed on the ground or on higher-orbit satellites. In satellite network scenarios, control channels can only be based on wireless links. Satellite wireless links generally have weak network characteristics such as limited bandwidth, high packet loss rate, high latency and poor stability.

[0057] The execution subject of this embodiment can be a satellite control system, including satellite forwarding equipment. For example, programmable switching equipment (Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors, P4) is used. Due to its unique protocol independence, P4 is very meaningful for the satellite network to support new protocols and iterative updates of existing protocols. In the satellite software defined network (Software Define Network, SDN) scenario, the control channel between the SDN controller and the satellite forwarding equipment may need to be based on telemetry, tracking and control (Telemetry, Tracing and Control, TT&C) or similar wireless links. Satellite TT&C links usually have limited bandwidth and high packet loss rate. The remote control of the traditional P4 device SDN controller requires a stable connection and relatively large bandwidth resources.

[0058] The present application provides a solution, which starts the satellite-borne forwarding device and the local control program. The local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the satellite-borne forwarding device, and controls the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol; after the communication connection is established, the satellite-borne forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism. By starting the satellite-borne forwarding device and the local control program, the local control program can independently complete the initial configuration of the device to ensure that the device is ready to process data packets in a short time. By controlling the satellite-borne forwarding device through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism, control tasks can be assigned according to different task requirements. Remote control is responsible for global network scheduling and policy generation, and local control is responsible for executing specific forwarding rules and immediate response. This collaborative control mechanism reduces remote dependence, can adapt to the weak control link environment of the satellite network, improve the stability of the communication connection, reduce the bandwidth resource occupation of the control message, and improve communication efficiency.

[0059] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device, referring to Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a flow chart of the first embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application.

[0060] In this embodiment, the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device includes steps S10 to S30:

[0061] Step S10, starting the satellite-borne forwarding device and the local control program, where the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the satellite-borne forwarding device.

[0062] It should be noted that the onboard forwarding equipment can be understood as a communication device installed on a satellite, which is used to receive, process and forward data packets from the earth or other satellites. The local control program is a software program running on a ground station or satellite to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding equipment.

[0063] Exemplarily, the satellite-borne forwarding device may be a programmable switching device P4, and the initial configuration of the local control program may include operating parameters of the device, configuring a communication protocol, establishing necessary connections, and the like.

[0064] Step S20: Control the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol.

[0065] It should be noted that the remote control transport layer communication protocol may be a protocol for establishing a communication connection between a remote controller and a local control program. For example, the protocol may define key elements such as the format of data transmission, error handling mechanism, and connection management. The remote controller is a device or software program located at a ground station or a remote location. It can establish a communication connection with the local control program through the remote control transport layer communication protocol, and remotely control and configure it. The remote controller may be an SDN controller.

[0066] Step S30, after the communication connection is established, the satellite-borne forwarding device is controlled to forward the data packet through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism.

[0067] It should be noted that the local and remote collaborative control mechanism refers to the mechanism of collaborative work between the local control program and the remote controller, allowing the remote controller to remotely control and configure the satellite-borne forwarding equipment through the local control program, while ensuring that the local control program can perform corresponding operations according to the instructions of the remote controller.

[0068] For example, for the programmable switching device P4, the control is decomposed into two parts: local control and remote control. The local control runs inside the device and is mainly responsible for the initial configuration of the P4 device, establishing a connection with the remote control and coordinating with the remote control to perform remote configuration and data packet optimization processing, etc. The remote control is based on the SDN controller to realize the remote control of multiple satellite-borne P4 devices, thereby realizing the overall satellite network service interoperability. Figure 2As shown, local control uses local control flows to control local operations, such as initial configuration, etc. Remote control needs to be transmitted to local control through remote control flows built based on the corresponding network control protocol, and then the local control converts it into collaborative control flow messages to configure the remote control on the P4 forwarding device. After the remote control is disconnected in some scenarios, the local control also has a certain control plane processing capability, enabling the P4 forwarding device to execute the correct forwarding logic and provide better fault tolerance. The P4 programmable data plane (Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors) is a high-level programming language for the data plane that allows users to customize matching fields and action types, thereby customizing flow tables and forming pipelines.

[0069] In this embodiment, the satellite forwarding device and the local control program are started. The local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the satellite forwarding device. The remote controller and the local control program are controlled to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol; after the communication connection is established, the satellite forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism. By starting the satellite forwarding device and the local control program, the local control program can independently complete the initial configuration of the device to ensure that the device is ready to process data packets in a short time. By controlling the satellite forwarding device through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism, control tasks can be assigned according to different task requirements. Remote control is responsible for global network scheduling and policy generation, and local control is responsible for executing specific forwarding rules and immediate response. This collaborative control mechanism reduces remote dependence and improves the system's fault tolerance and data processing efficiency.

[0070] Reference Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a flow chart of the second embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application, based on the above Figure 1 The first embodiment shown here proposes a second embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application.

[0071] In the second embodiment, the step S10 includes:

[0072] Step S101, start the satellite forwarding device and configure the initial flow table rules, the initial flow table rules are used to define how the satellite forwarding device processes data packets of different types of networks.

[0073] It should be noted that the initial flow table rules can be static, predefined rules used for basic configuration when the device starts up. They are usually tightly integrated with the hardware and software of the network device and can include matching conditions (such as IP address, port number, protocol type, etc.) and corresponding actions (such as forwarding, modifying or discarding data packets).

[0074] Step S102: Send the initial flow table rules to the satellite forwarding device through the local control program.

[0075] It is understandable that the local control program will send the initial flow table rules to the onboard forwarding device. After the onboard forwarding device receives the rules and successfully loads them, the onboard forwarding device can process the network data packets according to the rules.

[0076] In this embodiment, by starting the satellite forwarding device and configuring the initial flow table rules, the device has the basic ability to process and forward data packets when it is started. By performing the initial configuration at startup, the device can respond to network requests in the first time without waiting for the remote controller to send complex configurations, thereby speeding up the device startup process. By directly sending the initial flow table rules to the device through the local control program, the dependence on the remote controller is reduced, and the fault tolerance and reliability of the system are enhanced.

[0077] Reference Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a flow chart of the third embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application, based on the above Figure 3 The second embodiment shown here proposes a third embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application.

[0078] In the third embodiment, the step S20 includes:

[0079] Step S201: establishing a controller cluster based on the nodes of the remote controller.

[0080] It should be noted that in a remote controller cluster, each node represents an independently running controller instance, which is usually deployed in different physical locations or virtual environments and is responsible for managing a portion of network devices. A controller cluster is a distributed system consisting of multiple controller nodes.

[0081] Step S202 : dynamically allocating the satellite-borne forwarding devices to corresponding controller nodes according to the load information of each node in the controller cluster and the geographical distribution of the satellite-borne forwarding devices.

[0082] It should be noted that the load information may be the current workload of each controller node, which generally includes information such as processing capacity, bandwidth utilization, and the number of connected network devices. Exemplarily, the nodes in the controller cluster ensure that the communication path between the controller node and the device it manages is the shortest based on the physical location of the satellite-borne forwarding device, thereby reducing communication delays and bandwidth consumption. It is understandable that if a controller node has already connected a large number of satellite-borne forwarding devices or processed a large amount of network traffic, its load information will indicate that its load is high, and it is not suitable to allocate more devices.

[0083] Step S203: each controller node establishes a communication connection with the local control program of the satellite-borne forwarding device through a remote control transport layer communication protocol.

[0084] It should be noted that the remote control transport layer communication protocol is a protocol used to transmit data between the remote controller node and the satellite-borne forwarding device. Figure 5 As shown, the communication connection is based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol (Quick UDP Internet Connections, QUIC) based on the User Datagram Protocol (User Datagram Protocol, UDP) instead of the Transmission Control Protocol (Transmission Control Protocol, TCP) connection; the control is decomposed into two layers of control: remote and local. The local control is responsible for all control functions that can be implemented locally on the device, and the remote control is responsible for control functions that need to rely on the remote centralized SDN controller function to be implemented. Among them, the P4 data plane is responsible for customizing the pipeline forwarding logic and quickly forwarding data packets based on the forwarding table entries issued by the control plane. Its core advantage lies in its protocol independence, that is, it is not bound by specific network protocols, so that network equipment can flexibly adapt to new network application scenarios. Through P4, users can continuously update the Pipeline forwarding logic of the data plane and support new protocols to meet changing network needs. For example, Figure 6 A typical data plane pipeline forwarding scenario is given. The P4 data plane pipeline defines multiple forwarding tables for Ethernet, IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4), IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol). Ethernet is used to match and forward packets in the Ethernet header of the message, usually as a second-layer forwarding; IPv4 and IPv6 are used to match and forward packets in the IP header IPv4 and IPv6, respectively, usually as routing forwarding; TCP and UDP are used to match and forward packets in the TCP and UDP headers, respectively, usually as flow policy forwarding. The forwarding rule table entries are configured through local control or remote control.

[0085] In this embodiment, by establishing a controller cluster, each controller node can work independently, and multiple nodes in the cluster can collaboratively manage more satellite-borne forwarding devices, thereby improving the scalability and manageability of the system. By dynamically allocating devices based on the load of the controller node and the geographical distribution of the satellite-borne forwarding devices, it is possible to ensure that each controller node can process its assigned devices with the most optimized resources, ensure the geographical matching of the controller node and the satellite-borne devices, and reduce communication delays. By establishing a communication connection through an efficient remote control transmission protocol, it is ensured that the communication between the controller and the device is fast, secure, and stable, thereby improving the collaborative efficiency of network control and data forwarding.

[0086] Reference Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a flow chart of the fourth embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application, based on the above Figure 4 The third embodiment shown is a fourth embodiment of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application.

[0087] In the fourth embodiment, the step S30 includes:

[0088] Step S301, after establishing a communication connection, encoding the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain a transmission message.

[0089] It should be noted that Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) is an efficient serialization format used to encode structured data (such as control instructions and status information) into a compact binary form for fast transmission over the network. A transmission message is the basic data unit transmitted over the network, usually including serialized control data and necessary header information.

[0090] Step S302: sending the transmission message to the local control program for decoding according to the lightweight control protocol to obtain a decoding result.

[0091] It should be noted that the lightweight control protocol is an efficient, low-overhead network control protocol used to transmit control instructions and status data between a remote controller and a local control program. The protocol is suitable for satellite networks with limited bandwidth or high latency, supports synchronous and asynchronous communications, and can quickly transmit control messages. The decoding result may be the data extracted after the transmission message is decoded by the local control program. Exemplarily, the lightweight control protocol may be a lightweight runtime (Light-weight Runtime, LwRuntime) based on the QUIC protocol for the transmission of control messages between remote and local controls. LwRuntime provides two types of message structures, one for control message communications that need to be returned during synchronous control, and one for control message communications that do not need to be returned during asynchronous control. The two message structures and the fields they contain are as follows: Figure 8 As shown in the figure, the control message field payload is the original control message load. The control message data stream encoding in the payload is based on the Protobuf (Protocol Buffers) efficient encoding method to reduce the amount of data. Compress identifies the payload (control message load) compression identifier, len is the length of the payload, and the id in the synchronization request is used to identify the request for the associated request response. Compress can be extended to support multiple compression algorithms (such as 0 for no compression, 1 for zlib and 2 for gzip, etc.), which is convenient for selecting the appropriate compression algorithm according to the characteristics of the control message. The overall network protocol layering includes a lightweight control protocol layering and a message structure, such as Fig. 9 As shown, the network protocol is layered, based on the TCP / IP protocol. Ethernet is used as the data link layer protocol to provide link management and error detection. IP is used as the network layer protocol to transmit network data packets. UDP is used as the transport layer protocol to share connectionless data transmission. QUIC is used as the transport layer protocol to share connection-oriented reliable data transmission. LwRuntime is used as the application layer protocol for the remote control protocol to transmit lightweight control data packets. The lightweight control protocol message is used as the payload of the QUIC protocol, the QUIC protocol message is used as the payload of UDP, the UDP protocol message is used as the payload of IP, and the IP protocol message is used as the payload of Ethernet.

[0092] Step S303: Generate a dynamic forwarding rule based on the decoding result. The dynamic forwarding rule is a rule dynamically generated by the remote controller based on the network status.

[0093] It should be noted that the dynamic forwarding rules can be forwarding strategies generated in real time by the remote controller according to the network conditions, which are used to guide the onboard forwarding equipment on how to process network data packets. The generation of dynamic rules depends on real-time conditions such as network traffic and load, and can flexibly respond to network changes.

[0094] Step S304: Based on the lightweight control protocol, the satellite-borne forwarding device is controlled to forward the data packet according to the dynamic forwarding rule.

[0095] For example, the remote controller generates dynamic forwarding rules based on the current network traffic, and instructs the onboard forwarding device to preferentially forward traffic from a specific IP address to a specific path to optimize network performance. Fig.10 As shown, first you need to establish a QUIC connection, and then transmit synchronous control messages and asynchronous control messages based on the QUIC connection. A synchronous message requires a response for each request, and both parties of an asynchronous message can transmit messages at any time.

[0096] In this embodiment, by using the protocol buffer (Protobuf) to encode the message, the complex control instructions can be serialized into a compact binary format, so that in a bandwidth-constrained environment such as a satellite network, the transmission time and bandwidth occupation are reduced. The lightweight control protocol is used to transmit control instructions and status data between the remote controller and the local control program, which can effectively reduce network overhead, and dynamic forwarding rules are generated based on the decoding results. The onboard forwarding device can flexibly and efficiently process and forward data packets according to the dynamically generated forwarding rules, thereby improving the adaptability and processing capacity of the network.

[0097] In one implementation, based on the fourth embodiment, the step S301 includes: encoding the payload data of the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain first message data; compressing the first message data through a compression algorithm to obtain second message data; and encapsulating the first message data and the second message data into the transmission message.

[0098] Exemplarily, a protocol buffer (Protobuf) is used to efficiently encode the payload part of the control message to reduce the amount of message data, and an appropriate compression algorithm is selected to compress the encoded payload. The compress field is used to indicate the compression algorithm used, 0 means no compression, 1 means zlib compression, and 2 means gzip compression. A complete message structure including payload, compress identifier and message length (len) is generated, and the encoded and compressed message is encapsulated as a transmission unit suitable for a lightweight control protocol, ready to be sent to a local control program.

[0099] In this implementation, by combining protocol buffering and compression algorithms, the efficiency of data transmission is greatly improved, the occupation of network resources is reduced, encoding and compression optimize the data volume and transmission speed, and enhance the flexibility and reliability of the system.

[0100] In one implementation, based on the fourth embodiment, step S302 includes: based on a lightweight control protocol, decompressing the transmission message through a decompression algorithm to restore the first message data; decoding the first message data through a protocol buffer to obtain a decoding result.

[0101] Exemplarily, the local control program receives the encoded and compressed control message sent by the remote controller, selects a suitable decompression algorithm according to the compress field in the message, and decompresses the received message; decodes the decompressed message using Protobuf, parses the original control data, and generates dynamic forwarding rules based on the decoding results, which are used to control the forwarding behavior of the onboard forwarding device. In synchronous communication, ensure that the request and response are associated through the id field to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the message. In asynchronous communication, process control messages that do not need to be returned immediately.

[0102] In this implementation, by using a lightweight control protocol and decompression algorithm, combined with Protobuf's efficient decoding mechanism, the local control program can quickly process the control instructions sent by the remote controller, thereby reducing latency and improving response speed. The generation of dynamic forwarding rules and support for asynchronous communication further improve the adaptability of the system, ensuring that the device can flexibly and efficiently respond to changing network conditions, while reducing the computing burden of the device.

[0103] In one implementation, based on the above embodiments, an optimization of local and remote collaborative control packet processing is proposed, and the control is divided into two layers, local and remote. In the process of processing data packets on the control plane, part of the control data packet processing logic can be transferred from the remote to the local, thereby reducing the amount of data transmitted by the remote control channel. Taking the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) as an example, other protocol processing such as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Internet Control Message Protocol for the IPv6 (ICMPv6) or Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) can also be similarly optimized according to the application scenario. Fig.11 As shown in the figure, the link discovery LLDP packet is sent regularly to detect the link status. It is no longer initiated by the remote control, but by the local control on the device side. After the LLDP packet is sent to the peer device, it is no longer sent to the remote SDN controller, but is directly forwarded back to the original device. The local control of the original device determines the link status through the LLDP packet reception situation. The status update packet is sent to the remote SDN controller only when the link status changes. In this way, the control link only sends the link update packet, which greatly reduces the data transmission volume of the control link.

[0104] In this implementation, by transferring part of the link layer protocol processing from the remote controller to the local control program, the transmission volume of the remote channel is greatly reduced, and the response speed and processing efficiency of the network are improved. At the same time, this hierarchical control architecture enhances the autonomy and fault tolerance of the system, reduces the load of the remote controller, and optimizes the utilization of network resources.

[0105] It should be noted that the above examples are only used to understand the present application and do not constitute a limitation on the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device of the present application. More simple transformations based on this technical concept are all within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0106] This application also provides a lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, please refer to Fig.12 , the lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device comprises:

[0107] An initial configuration module 10, used to start the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device;

[0108] A communication establishing module 20, configured to control the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on a remote control transport layer communication protocol;

[0109] The data forwarding module 30 is used to control the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism after the communication connection is established.

[0110] The lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the present application adopts the lightweight control method for the satellite-borne forwarding device in the above-mentioned embodiment, which can solve the technical problem of low efficiency of satellite wireless link communication. Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the present application are the same as the beneficial effects of the lightweight control method for the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the above-mentioned embodiment, and other technical features in the lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device are the same as the features disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiment method, which will not be described in detail here.

[0111] The present application provides a lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, and the lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device includes: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the lightweight control method for the satellite-borne forwarding device in the above-mentioned embodiment one.

[0112] Reference below Fig.13, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a lightweight control device for implementing a satellite-borne forwarding device in an embodiment of the present application. The lightweight control device for the satellite-borne forwarding device in the embodiment of the present application may include, but is not limited to, mobile terminals such as mobile phones, laptop computers, digital broadcast receivers, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), PADs (Portable Application Descriptions), PMPs (Portable Media Players), vehicle-mounted terminals (such as vehicle-mounted navigation terminals), etc., and fixed terminals such as digital TVs, desktop computers, etc. Fig.13 The lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device shown is merely an example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] like Fig.13 As shown, the lightweight control device of the onboard forwarding device may include a processing device 1001 (e.g., a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, etc.), which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM: Read Only Memory) 1002 or a program loaded from a storage device 1003 to a random access memory (RAM: Random Access Memory) 1004. Various programs and data required for the operation of the lightweight control device of the onboard forwarding device are also stored in the RAM 1004. The processing device 1001, the ROM 1002, and the RAM 1004 are connected to each other via a bus 1005. An input / output (I / O) interface 1006 is also connected to the bus. Typically, the following systems can be connected to the I / O interface 1006: input devices 1007 including, for example, a touch screen, a touchpad, a keyboard, a mouse, an image sensor, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, etc.; output devices 1008 including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a speaker, a vibrator, etc.; storage devices 1003 including, for example, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, etc.; and communication devices 1009. The communication device 1009 can allow the lightweight control device of the onboard repeater device to communicate with other devices wirelessly or by wire to exchange data. Although Fig.13 A lightweight control device of a satellite-borne repeater device with various systems is shown, but it should be understood that it is not required to implement or have all of the systems shown. More or fewer systems may be implemented or have instead.

[0114] In particular, according to the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the process described above with reference to the flowchart can be implemented as a computer software program. For example, the embodiments disclosed in the present application include a computer program product, which includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, and the computer program includes a program code for executing the method shown in the flowchart. In such an embodiment, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network through a communication device, or installed from a storage device 1003, or installed from a ROM 1002. When the computer program is executed by the processing device 1001, the above-mentioned functions defined in the method of the embodiment disclosed in the present application are executed.

[0115] The lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the present application adopts the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device in the above-mentioned embodiment, which can solve the technical problem of low efficiency of satellite wireless link communication. Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the present application are the same as the beneficial effects of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the above-mentioned embodiment, and other technical features in the lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device are the same as the features disclosed in the method of the previous embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0116] It should be understood that the various parts disclosed in this application can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof. In the description of the above embodiments, specific features, structures, materials or characteristics can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0117] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

[0118] The present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions (ie, computer programs) stored thereon, and the computer-readable program instructions are used to execute the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0119] The computer-readable storage medium provided in the present application may be, for example, a USB flash drive, but is not limited to electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, systems or devices, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above. In this embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that can be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, system or device. The program code contained on the computer-readable storage medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wires, optical cables, RF (Radio Frequency), etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0120] The computer-readable storage medium may be included in the lightweight control device of the onboard forwarding device; or may exist independently without being assembled into the lightweight control device of the onboard forwarding device.

[0121] The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium carries one or more programs. When the above-mentioned one or more programs are executed by the lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device, the lightweight control device of the satellite-borne forwarding device: starts the satellite-borne forwarding device and the local control program, and the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the satellite-borne forwarding device; controls the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol; after establishing the communication connection, controls the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward data packets through the local and remote collaborative control mechanism.

[0122] Computer program code for performing the operations of the present application may be written in one or more programming languages ​​or a combination thereof, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as "C" or similar programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a separate software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0123] The flow chart and block diagram in the accompanying drawings illustrate the possible architecture, function and operation of the system, method and computer program product according to various embodiments of the present application. In this regard, each square box in the flow chart or block diagram can represent a module, a program segment or a part of a code, and the module, the program segment or a part of the code contains one or more executable instructions for realizing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the square box can also occur in a sequence different from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two square boxes represented in succession can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each square box in the block diagram and / or flow chart, and the combination of the square boxes in the block diagram and / or flow chart can be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specified function or operation, or can be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0124] The modules involved in the embodiments described in this application may be implemented by software or hardware, wherein the name of the module does not constitute a limitation on the unit itself in some cases.

[0125] The readable storage medium provided by the present application is a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-readable program instructions (i.e., computer programs) for executing the above-mentioned lightweight control method for onboard forwarding equipment, and can solve the technical problem of low efficiency of satellite wireless link communication. Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the computer-readable storage medium provided by the present application are the same as the beneficial effects of the lightweight control method for onboard forwarding equipment provided by the above-mentioned embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

[0126] The present application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program, which implements the steps of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device as described above when the computer program is executed by a processor.

[0127] The computer program product provided by the present application can solve the technical problem of low efficiency of satellite wireless link communication. Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the computer program product provided by the present application are the same as the beneficial effects of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device provided by the above embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0128] The above descriptions are only some embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present application. All equivalent structural changes made using the contents of the present application specification and drawings under the technical concept of the present application, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields are included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device, characterized in that: The method includes: Starting the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device; Control the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol; After the communication connection is established, the satellite-borne forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of starting the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device, includes: Starting the satellite forwarding device and configuring the initial flow table rules, wherein the initial flow table rules are used to define how the satellite forwarding device processes data packets of different types of networks; The initial flow table rule is sent to the satellite-borne forwarding device through a local control program.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The step of controlling the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on the remote control transport layer communication protocol comprises: Establish a controller cluster based on the nodes of the remote controller; Dynamically assigning the onboard forwarding devices to corresponding controller nodes according to the load information of each node in the controller cluster and the geographical distribution of the onboard forwarding devices; Each controller node communicates with the local control program of the onboard forwarding device through the remote control transport layer communication protocol.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The step of controlling the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism after establishing the communication connection comprises: After establishing the communication connection, encoding the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain a transmission message; Sending the transmission message to the local control program for decoding according to the lightweight control protocol to obtain a decoding result; generating a dynamic forwarding rule based on the decoding result, wherein the dynamic forwarding rule is a rule dynamically generated by the remote controller based on a network condition; Based on the lightweight control protocol, the onboard forwarding device is controlled to forward data packets according to the dynamic forwarding rule.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The step of encoding the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain the transmission message includes: Encoding the payload data of the message based on the protocol buffer to obtain first message data; Compressing the first message data by using a compression algorithm to obtain second message data; The first message data and the second message data are encapsulated into the transmission message.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The step of sending the transmission message to the local control program for decoding according to the lightweight control protocol to obtain a decoding result includes: Based on the lightweight control protocol, decompress the transmission message by a decompression algorithm to restore the first message data; The first message data is decoded through a protocol buffer to obtain a decoding result.

7. A lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, characterized in that: The device comprises: An initial configuration module, used to start the onboard forwarding device and the local control program, wherein the local control program is used to complete the initial configuration of the onboard forwarding device; A communication establishment module, used for controlling the remote controller and the local control program to establish a communication connection based on a remote control transport layer communication protocol; The data forwarding module is used to control the satellite-borne forwarding device to forward data packets through a local and remote collaborative control mechanism after the communication connection is established.

8. A lightweight control device for a satellite-borne forwarding device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the computer program is configured to implement the steps of the lightweight control method for a satellite-borne forwarding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program is stored on the storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 are implemented.

10. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the lightweight control method of the satellite-borne forwarding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 are implemented.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Method for discovering distributed satellite network resources

    CN101932065A

  • Low-orbit satellite information forwarding method, device and system, controller and medium

    CN111162833A

  • Data forwarding control system and method, electronic equipment and storage medium

    CN111294344A

  • Formation satellite routing method based on SDN architecture and adopting SR routing protocol

    CN112217555A

  • Networking system suitable for low-orbit constellation network

    CN114124191A