Time delay measurement method and device, forwarding node and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a time delay measurement method and device, a forwarding node and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication, the time delay measurement method is applied to the forwarding node, and the time delay measurement method comprises the following steps: receiving a first message of a service flow through a first incoming interface; if the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forwarding the first message to obtain a second message; if the second message is the time delay dyeing message of the current statistical period and the service flow corresponds to a plurality of outbound interfaces, copying the second message to obtain a second number of third messages; and forwarding the second message and the first number of third messages through a plurality of outbound interfaces, sending a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface to an analyzer, and measuring a time delay index of a link where the forwarding node is located by the analyzer according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface. According to the scheme, the problem that the time delay measurement result is lost due to the fact that timestamp information on multiple links is lost in a load sharing scene can be solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a delay measurement method, device, forwarding node and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] At present, in-situ Flow Information Telemetry (iFIT) is generally used to measure performance indicators such as packet loss and delay (D). Taking the delay indicator as an example, the ingress performs delay coloring on the first iFIT message in each statistical period to obtain the delay-colored message, and forwards it to the intermediate node (Transit) or the egress node (Egress). The measurement point (MP) on each forwarding node records the timestamp of receiving and forwarding the delay-colored message and reports it to the analyzer. The analyzer measures the delay measurement results between each measurement point based on the timestamp.

[0003] In the load sharing scenario, there are multiple links between the ingress node and the egress node. In each statistical period, for each iFIT message, the ingress node randomly selects a link to forward the iFIT message. The link selection has a certain degree of randomness. In each statistical period, there is only one delay-colored message. Accordingly, the delay-colored message can only be forwarded through one of the links, and thus only the timestamp information on the link can be obtained, and the timestamp information on other links cannot be obtained. Due to the lack of timestamp information on other links, the delay measurement results on other links are missing. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a delay measurement method, device, forwarding node and storage medium to solve the problem of missing delay measurement results due to missing timestamp information on multiple links in a load sharing scenario. The specific technical solution is as follows:

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement method, which is applied to a forwarding node, and the method includes:

[0006] Receiving a first message of a service flow through a first input interface;

[0007] If the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forwarding the first message to obtain a second message;

[0008] If the second message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the second message is copied to obtain a first number of third messages, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1;

[0009] The second message and the first number of third messages are forwarded through the multiple output interfaces, and a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to each output interface are sent to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp being the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface being the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0010] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement device, which is applied to a forwarding node, and the device includes:

[0011] A receiving module, used for receiving a first message of a service flow through a first input interface;

[0012] A processing module, configured to forward the first message to obtain a second message if the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node;

[0013] A copying module, used for copying the second message to obtain a first number of third messages if the second message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1;

[0014] A sending module is used to forward the second message and the first number of third messages through the multiple output interfaces, and send a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0015] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a forwarding node, comprising a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, wherein the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor is prompted by the machine-executable instructions to implement any of the above-mentioned delay measurement methods.

[0016] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the delay measurement method described above is implemented.

[0017] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the delay measurement methods described above.

[0018] Beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application:

[0019] In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, after the forwarding node receives the message of the service flow, for the processed delay-colored message, if the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the delay-colored message is copied to obtain multiple delay-colored messages, and one delay-colored message is forwarded through each outbound interface, so that the delay-colored message is forwarded on the link corresponding to each outbound interface. Furthermore, the forwarding node can obtain the timestamp information on multiple links and report it to the analyzer. The analyzer can measure the delay indicators on multiple links based on the timestamp information on multiple links, solving the problem of missing delay measurement results due to missing timestamp information on multiple links in the load sharing scenario.

[0020] Of course, implementing any product or method of the present application does not necessarily require achieving all of the advantages described above at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] 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, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other embodiments can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the iFIT network model;

[0023] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of iFIT packet loss measurement mechanism;

[0024] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the iFIT delay measurement mechanism;

[0025] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the iFIT network model in a load sharing scenario;

[0026] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of iFIT packet loss and delay measurement mechanism in load sharing scenario;

[0027] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a first process flow of a delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 7 The iFIT message format diagram in the MPLS network provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 8 This is a diagram of the iFIT message format based on SRH encapsulation in the SRv6 network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Fig. 9 This is a diagram of the iFIT message format based on DOH encapsulation in the SRv6 network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Fig.10 A second flow chart of the delay measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Fig.11 Schematic diagram of the iFIT delay measurement mechanism provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Fig.12 A third flow chart of the delay measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of a first process of delay measurement provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of an intermediate node in a load sharing scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig.15 A second flow chart of delay measurement provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig.16 A schematic diagram of an iFIT network model in a load sharing scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Fig.17 A schematic diagram of the structure of a delay measurement device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Fig.18 A schematic diagram of the structure of a forwarding node provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0041] Currently, the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) network is booming. The three major service scenarios of 5G network include: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service, Massive Machine Type of Communication (mMTC) service and Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communication (uRLLC) service. These three service scenarios put forward higher requirements for network operation and maintenance and performance monitoring of the bearer network, and iFIT and other flow performance detection solutions have emerged.

[0042] iFIT is a flow-based operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) detection technology. It obtains the actual packet loss rate, latency and other performance indicators of the Internet Protocol (IP) network by directly measuring service packets. It is applied to Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks, Segment Routing over MPLS (SR-MPLS) networks based on the MPLS forwarding plane, and Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) networks based on the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) forwarding plane.

[0043] iFIT has the following functions and advantages. 1) Expansion function: iFIT has high detection accuracy, simple deployment, and good scalability. 2) Fast fault location function: iFIT provides a flow detection function that can truly detect the packet loss, delay and jitter of the service flow in real time. 3) Visualization function: iFIT can display performance data through a visual interface and has the ability to quickly find fault points.

[0044] iFIT supports the following two measurement types: end-to-end measurement and point-by-point measurement. These two measurement types are suitable for different business scenarios. When users want to measure the performance indicators of the entire network, they can choose iFIT with the end-to-end measurement type. When users want to accurately locate the performance indicators of each forwarding node in the network, they can choose iFIT with the point-by-point measurement type. When the measurement results indicate that some performance indicators do not meet the business requirements in the end-to-end statistical scenario, the end-to-end network can be divided into multiple smaller measurement segments, and the performance indicators between every two forwarding nodes can be measured to further locate the forwarding node position that affects network performance.

[0045] The iFIT network model uses multi-point collection and centralized computing to measure performance indicators, such as Figure 1 As shown in the figure, taking the forwarding node in the iFIT network model as a router (Router, R) as an example, the iFIT network model includes the following elements:

[0046] Service flow: iFIT's measurement object is the data flow in the network that meets the specified matching rules. Network administrators can define a service flow by combining parameters such as source IP address or network segment, destination IP address or network segment, protocol type, source port number, and destination port number.

[0047] Ingress node: The device where the service flow enters the measurement network and supports iFIT, such as Figure 1 The ingress node is responsible for filtering the service flow, encapsulating the iFIT message header for the service flow message, obtaining the iFIT message, collecting the statistical data of the service flow and reporting it to the analyzer, such as Figure 1 The dotted part in the figure. The ingress node also forwards the service flow to the intermediate node.

[0048] Intermediate nodes: iFIT-enabled devices through which traffic flows, such as Figure 1 R2 in the figure. The intermediate node automatically identifies the service flow according to the iFIT message header contained in the received iFIT message, and forwards the service flow to the next-hop device. When the point-by-point measurement type of iFIT is adopted, the intermediate node can collect the statistical data of the service flow according to the measurement type carried in the iFIT message header, report it to the analyzer, and forward the service flow to the next-hop device.

[0049] Egress node: The device where the service flow leaves the measurement network and supports iFIT, such as Figure 1 The egress node automatically identifies the service flow according to the iFIT message header contained in the received iFIT message, collects the statistical data of the service flow according to the measurement type carried in the iFIT message header, reports it to the analyzer, then removes the iFIT message header and forwards the service flow to the next-hop device.

[0050] Analyzer: Responsible for collecting statistical data sent by ingress nodes, intermediate nodes, and egress nodes, and completing data aggregation and calculation to obtain performance indicators such as packet loss and latency of the corresponding business flow.

[0051] Measurement point: bound to the Layer 3 physical interface on the forwarding node, responsible for performing measurement actions and generating statistical data. According to different responsibilities, MPs are divided into three types: ingress MP (i.e., flow ingress measurement point), egress MP (i.e., flow egress measurement point), and intermediate MP. Figure 1 In the figure, the input MP is MP1 on R1, the output MP is MP6 on R4, and the middle MPs are MP2 on R1, MP3 and MP4 on R2, and MP5 on R4.

[0052] Figure 1 The iFIT network model shown also includes devices that do not support or have not enabled iFIT, such as R3, which forwards service flows but does not collect statistical data. Figure 1 In the figure, the link for forwarding the service flow is R1-R2-R3-R4, MP1 to MP6 are end-to-end measurements, and MP1 to MP2, MP2 to MP3, MP3 to MP4, MP4 to MP5, and MP5 to MP6 are point-by-point measurements.

[0053] To help network administrators understand network conditions in a timely manner, iFIT measures performance indicators according to the iFIT statistical cycle. For the measurement of packet loss indicators, in order to distinguish the messages in two adjacent iFIT statistical cycles, the cycle alternating coloring technology is used. The specific measurement mechanism is as follows.

[0054] (1) The ingress MP performs packet loss coloring on the packets of the service flow.

[0055] iFIT uses the packet loss (Loss, L) field in the iFIT message header as the packet loss measurement coloring bit. If this bit is set to 1, it indicates packet loss coloring, and if it is set to 0, it indicates packet loss non-coloring. Subsequently, the message with the packet loss measurement coloring position 1 is called the packet loss coloring message, and the message with the packet loss measurement coloring position 0 is called the packet loss non-coloring message. The ingress MP performs packet loss coloring and packet loss non-coloring processing on the messages of the service flow alternately according to the iFIT statistical cycle to distinguish the iFIT messages of two adjacent iFIT statistical cycles.

[0056] like Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the iFIT packet loss measurement mechanism shown in FIG. 1 represents a packet loss colored message, and 0 represents a packet loss non-colored message. The sending (Tx) end performs packet loss coloring processing in the colored message packet sending statistical period (such as the i-th iFIT statistical period and the i+2-th iFIT statistical period), and sends the packet loss colored message to the receiving (Rx) end. It performs packet loss non-coloring processing in the non-colored message packet sending statistical period (such as the i+1-th iFIT statistical period), and sends the packet loss non-colored message to the receiving end.

[0057] (2) Each MP counts the number of messages received or forwarded according to the iFIT statistical period.

[0058] Each MP counts the packets with color loss and packets without color loss received or forwarded. In iFIT, the packet receiving statistics cycle of the receiving end is longer than the packet sending statistics cycle of the sending end, so as to minimize the adverse effects of network delay and transmission disorder on the statistical results. Figure 2 In the example, the sender first sends a packet loss colored message X to the receiver, and then sends a packet loss non-colored message Y. However, the packet loss colored message X arrives with a delay, and the receiver first receives the packet loss non-colored message Y, and then receives the packet loss colored message X. At this time, the receiver will still count the packet loss colored message X in the i-th iFIT statistical cycle.

[0059] That is, at the sending end, the duration of the statistical period for sending colored packets = the duration of the statistical period for sending uncolored packets = the duration of the iFIT statistical period. The duration of the iFIT statistical period can be configured according to actual conditions. At the receiving end, the duration of the statistical period for receiving colored packets = the duration of the statistical period for receiving uncolored packets = (1+1 / 3)×the duration of the iFIT statistical period.

[0060] According to the message conservation law, in the i-th iFIT statistical period, the difference in the number of iFIT messages received or forwarded by any two MPs is the number of packet losses of the service flow between the two MPs. Figure 2 The number of packet losses between the sender and the receiver in the i-th iFIT statistical cycle is: PacketLoss[i]=Tx[i]-Rx[i], Tx[i] represents the number of packet loss colored messages counted by the sender in the i-th iFIT statistical cycle, and Rx[i] represents the number of packet loss colored messages counted by the receiver in the i-th iFIT statistical cycle. Similarly, the number of packet losses between the sender and the receiver in the i+1th iFIT statistical cycle is: PacketLoss[i+1]=Tx[i+1]-Rx[i+1], Tx[i+1] represents the number of packet loss non-colored messages counted by the sender in the i+1th iFIT statistical cycle, and Rx[i+1] represents the number of packet loss non-colored messages counted by the receiver in the i+1th iFIT statistical cycle.

[0061] (3) The egress MP removes the iFIT message header by decapsulating the message and then forwards it to the next-hop device.

[0062] The measurement of the delay indicator can be performed simultaneously with the measurement of the packet loss indicator, and coloring and statistics can be performed in the same iFIT statistical period. The specific measurement mechanism is as follows.

[0063] (1) The ingress MP performs delay coloring on the packets of the service flow.

[0064] iFIT uses the D field in the iFIT message header as the delay measurement coloring bit. If this bit is set to 1, it indicates delay coloring, and if it is set to 0, it indicates delay non-coloring. Subsequently, messages with the delay measurement coloring position 1 are called delay coloring messages, and messages with the delay measurement coloring position 0 are called delay non-coloring messages. The ingress MP only performs delay coloring on the first message of the service flow received in each iFIT statistical period.

[0065] like Figure 3 In the schematic diagram of the iFIT delay measurement mechanism shown in the figure, 11 represents a packet loss colored + delay colored message, 10 represents a packet loss colored + delay uncolored message, 01 represents a packet loss uncolored + delay colored message, and 00 represents a packet loss uncolored + delay uncolored message.

[0066] (2) Each MP records the timestamp of the delay-colored message passing through the MP.

[0067] In the i-th iFIT statistical period, the difference between the timestamps recorded by any two MPs is the transmission delay of the service flow between the two MPs. Figure 3 The transmission delay between the sender and the receiver of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle is: Delay[i]=t'[i]-t[i], t[i] represents the timestamp recorded by the sender of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle, and t'[i] represents the timestamp recorded by the receiver of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle. Similarly, the transmission delay between the sender and the receiver of the i+1 iFIT statistical cycle is: Delay[i+1]=t'[i+1]-t[i+1], t[i+1] represents the timestamp recorded by the sender of the i+1 iFIT statistical cycle, and t'[i+1] represents the timestamp recorded by the receiver of the i+1 iFIT statistical cycle.

[0068] (3) The egress MP removes the iFIT message header by decapsulating the message and then forwards it to the next-hop device.

[0069] In a load balancing scenario, there are multiple links between the ingress and egress nodes, such as Figure 4 The iFIT network model shown ( Figure 4 The analyzer is omitted in the figure), the ingress node is R1, the egress node is R5, and there are three links between R1 and R5: R1-R2-R5, R1-R3-R5, and R1-R4-R5. When the service flow is forwarded from R1 to R5, load balancing is formed between these three links.

[0070] In each statistical period, for each iFIT message, the ingress node randomly selects a link to forward the iFIT message. The link selection has a certain degree of randomness, such as Figure 5As shown, iFIT messages can be forwarded to R5 through different links, and t[i+2] represents the timestamp recorded by the sender of the i+2th iFIT statistical period. Taking the i-th iFIT statistical period as an example, MP1 sends the 1st, 2nd and 5th iFIT messages in this period through the links where MP2, MP5, MP8 and MP11 are located, sends the 4th iFIT message in this period through the links where MP3, MP6, MP9 and MP12 are located, and sends the 3rd and 6th iFIT messages in this period through the links where MP4, MP7, MP10 and MP13 are located. The iFIT messages pass through the corresponding MPs during the forwarding process. Figure 5 It can represent the situation where the iFIT message passes through MP2, MP3 and MP4, and it can also represent the situation where the iFIT message passes through MP5, MP6 and MP7, that is, Figure 5 It can indicate the situation where the iFIT message passes through any MP from MP2 to MP13.

[0071] For the measurement of packet loss indicators, whether it is the statistical period of receiving colored packets or the statistical period of receiving uncolored packets, the number of received packets can be accurately counted in MP2~MP13. In this way, the number of packet losses in any interval from MP2 to MP5, MP8 or MP11 can be accurately calculated; similarly, the number of packet losses in any interval from MP3 to MP6, MP9 or MP12, and any interval from MP4 to MP7, MP10 or MP13 can also be accurately calculated. The three intervals of MP1, MP2, MP3 or MP4 are all within R1, and the total packet loss in R1 can also be accurately calculated.

[0072] For the measurement of delay indicators, since there is only one delay-colored message in each statistical period, the delay-colored message can only be forwarded through one of the links, and thus only the timestamp information on the link can be obtained, and the timestamp information on other links cannot be obtained. Due to the lack of timestamp information on other links, the delay measurement results on other links are missing.

[0073] like Figure 5In the example, the delay colored message of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle is forwarded through the link R1-R2-R5, and the delay colored message can only be received by MP2, MP5, MP8 and MP11; the delay colored message of the i+1 and i+2 iFIT statistical cycles is forwarded through the link R1-R3-R5, and the delay colored message can only be received by MP3, MP6, MP9 and MP12, while MP4, MP7, MP10 and MP13 cannot receive any delay colored message. Furthermore, only MP2, MP5, MP8 and MP11 can record the timestamp t'[i] of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle, and only MP3, MP6, MP9 and MP12 can record the timestamp t'[i+1] of the i+1 iFIT statistical cycle and the timestamp t'[i+2] of the i+2 iFIT statistical cycle.

[0074] Due to the lack of timestamp information recorded at the receiving end, any interval from MP1 to MP2, MP5, MP8 or MP11 can only count the timestamp information of the i-th iFIT statistical cycle, and any interval from MP1 to MP3, MP6, MP9 or MP12 can only count the timestamp information of the i+1th and i+2th iFIT statistical cycles, while any interval from MP1 to MP4, MP7, MP10 or MP13 cannot count the timestamp information of these three iFIT statistical cycles, which leads to the missing of the delay measurement results on the link.

[0075] To solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement method, which is applied to a forwarding node. The forwarding node can be a network device such as a router or a switch that supports iFIT, and can be divided into an ingress node, an intermediate node, and an egress node, wherein the ingress node can also be understood as a head node, and the egress node can also be understood as a tail node. For ease of description, the ingress node and the egress node are used as examples for explanation in the following, and they do not serve as a limitation. The link where the forwarding node is located may also include devices that do not support or have not enabled iFIT, which is not limited.

[0076] See also Figure 6 , which is a first flow chart of the delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application, applied to a forwarding node, and the delay measurement method includes the following steps.

[0077] Step S61: Receive a first message of a service flow through a first input interface.

[0078] Step S62: If the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forward the first message to obtain a second message.

[0079] Step S63, if the second message is a delay-stained message of the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the second message is copied to obtain a first number of third messages, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1.

[0080] Step S64, forwarding the second message and the first number of third messages through multiple output interfaces, and sending the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0081] In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, after the forwarding node receives the delay-colored message of the service flow, if the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the delay-colored message after forwarding processing is copied to obtain multiple delay-colored messages, and one delay-colored message is forwarded through each outbound interface, so that the delay-colored message is forwarded on the link corresponding to each outbound interface. Furthermore, the forwarding node can obtain the timestamp information on multiple links and report it to the analyzer. The analyzer can measure the delay indicators on multiple links based on the timestamp information on multiple links, solving the problem of missing delay measurement results due to the missing timestamp information on multiple links in the load sharing scenario.

[0082] In the above step S61, the service flow is any data flow using iFIT to measure performance indicators. The first message is any message of the service flow received by the forwarding node in the current statistical period, and the first input interface is the input interface corresponding to the service flow on the forwarding node for receiving the first message.

[0083] In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node receives the message of the service flow through the first input interface in the current statistical period, and the received iFIT message is the first message.

[0084] In an embodiment of the present application, when the forwarding node is an ingress node, the first message does not carry an iFIT message header, and the first message is an original message; when the forwarding node is an intermediate node or an egress node, the first message carries an iFIT message header, and the first message is an iFIT message.

[0085] In the above step S62, when the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, after receiving the first message, the forwarding node can perform corresponding forwarding processing on the first message to obtain a message after forwarding processing, which is the second message. For example, in an MPLS network, the forwarding node can modify the MPLS label (Label) in the first message. For another example, in an SRv6 network, the forwarding node can modify the segment routing header (Segment Routing Header, SRH) and the destination IPv6 address in the first message. The forwarding processing method of the forwarding node is not limited here. The case where the forwarding node is an egress node will be described in detail later, and will not be described in detail here.

[0086] In the embodiment of the present application, the second message carries an iFIT message header, and the second message is an iFIT message. When the forwarding node is an intermediate node, the first message is an iFIT message, and the second message obtained by the forwarding node is also an iFIT message; when the forwarding node is an ingress node, the first message is an original message, and the forwarding node can encapsulate the iFIT message header for the first message, perform delay coloring and / or packet loss coloring, etc., to obtain an iFIT message (i.e., the second message). The process of the ingress node forwarding the first message to obtain the second message will be described in detail later, which will not be described in detail here.

[0087] After obtaining the second message, the forwarding node can determine whether the second message is a delay-stained message according to the value of the D field (i.e., the delay measurement staining bit) in the iFIT message header carried by the second message. When the value of the D field is the first preset value, the second message is a delay-stained message; when the value of the D field is not the first preset value, the second message is not a delay-stained message (i.e., the second message is a delay-unstained message). The first preset value can be 1 or 0, etc. For ease of description, the following description is based on the first preset value of 1 as an example, which does not serve as a limitation.

[0088] If the value of the D field is 1, the forwarding node determines that the second message is a delay-stained message, and the forwarding node records the timestamp of receiving the first message (i.e., the first timestamp). The first timestamp corresponds to the first inbound interface and is the timestamp recorded by the forwarding node at the MP corresponding to the first inbound interface.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present application, the second message is the first delay-stained message processed by the forwarding node in the current statistical period. The forwarding node may also record the timestamp of forwarding the second message (i.e., the second timestamp). For ease of description, this timestamp will be referred to as the second timestamp corresponding to the second message in the following.

[0090] After determining that the second message is a delay-stained message, the forwarding node may further determine whether the number of outbound interfaces (expressed as N) corresponding to the service flow is greater than 1. When N>1, the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, and the forwarding node executes step S63.

[0091] In the above step S63, the first number is the number of outbound interfaces corresponding to the service flow minus 1, that is, the first number is N-1. The third message is a duplicate message of the second message, that is, the third message is a delay-colored message and a duplicate message (hereinafter referred to as a delay-colored duplicate message for ease of description), and the value of the D field of the third message is the first preset value.

[0092] The forwarding node copies the first number of second messages to obtain the first number of copies of the second message, each of which is a third message. After the forwarding node copies the second message, it can obtain the number of delay-colored messages of the outbound interface (including 1 second message and N-1 third messages).

[0093] In the embodiment of the present application, the iFIT message header may include a Duplicate (Dup) field. The length of the Dup field may be 1 bit, 2 bits, etc. For ease of description, the following description is based on the example that the length of the Dup field is 1 bit, and this is not limited.

[0094] The Dup field carries a copy flag, which indicates that the message is a copy message. The Dup field can be located in the reserved bit field of the iFIT message header, such as Figure 7~Figure 9 iFIT messages in different networks are shown.

[0095] iFIT messages in MPLS networks are as follows: Figure 7 As shown, the iFIT message includes: Destination Address (DA) / Source Address (SA) / Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), Segment Routing (SR) / MPLS header, iFIT message header and Payload. Among them, the iFIT message header includes: boot tag, basic part and extended part, as indicated on the right side of the iFIT message header.

[0096] The boot tag includes: a flow instruction indicator label (FIILabel) field (the value is 12), a reserved bit (EXP) field, and a time to live (TTL) field.

[0097] The basic header includes: Flow Identity (Flow ID) field, L field, D field, Reserve (R) field, Non-bottom / bottom (S / R) field, NextHeader field (value is 9), Flow Identity Extension (Extended, Ext) field, Statistical Mode (E) field, Mismatch (P) field, Forward Flow Identity (F) field, Reserve (R) field, Extended Length (Len) field (value is 6), Reserved bit (Rsv) field, Metadata indication bit (bitmap) (Trace Type (bitmap)) field.

[0098] The extended header includes: Bit 0, Bit 1, Bit 2, and Bit 3. Bit 0 is used to measure packet-by-packet delay, including the reserved bit (Rsv) / timestamp (Timestamp) (seconds (s)) field and the reserved bit (Rsv) / timestamp (nanoseconds (ns)) field. Bit 1 is the control field, including the destination IP address (Destination IP, DIP) mask (Mask) field, source IP address (SourceIP, SIP) Mask field, protocol (Proto) / port (Ports) field, reverse flow (V) field, Differentiated Services Code Point (Differentiated Services Code Point, DSCP) field, tunnel (Tunnel, T) field, and synchronization reporting period (s) (Period) (s) field. Bit 2 is used to measure out-of-order detection, including the sequence (Sequence) field. Bit 3 is used to implement packet modification detection through verification, including the checksum (Checksum) field.

[0099] iFIT messages based on SRH encapsulation in SRv6 networks are as follows: Figure 8 As shown in the figure, the iFIT message includes: Ethernet Header (ETH), IPv6 Basic Header (IPv6 Basic Header), Segment Routing Header (SRH) and payload, SRH includes SRH Basic Header (SRH Basic Header), Segment List (Segment List) and iFIT message header (Optional Type Length Value, Optional TLV). The iFIT message header includes: boot tag, basic part and extension part.

[0100] The guide label includes a type field (value is 130), a length field and a reserved bit (Rsv) field. The basic part and the extended part are the same as the basic part and the extended part in the iFIT message header in the above MPLS network, and will not be described in detail here.

[0101] In SRv6 networks, iFIT packets encapsulated based on the Destination Options Header (DOH) are as follows: Fig. 9 As shown in the figure, the iFIT message includes: ETH, IPv6 basic header, DOH1, routing header (RH) / SRH, other headers and payload, or ETH, IPv6 basic header, RH / SRH, DOH2, other headers and payload. DOH can be encapsulated in two positions, and the two are selected one by one.

[0102] The iFIT message header includes: an optional identification type (Option Type) field, an optional identification type data length (Option Data Len) field, a service flow identification (Flow Monitor Identity, FlowMonID) field, an L field, a D field, a reserved bit (R) field, an identification extended header type (Header Type Indication, HTI) field (the value is 16), a device node identification (Node Monitor Identity, NodeMonID) field, a service flow direction identification (F) field, a measurement period (P) field, a measurement type (T) field, a reserved bit (Rsv) field, an extended flow detection type identification (bitmap) (ExtFlow Measurement Type, Ext FM Type) (bitmap) field, and a reserved bit (Reserved) field.

[0103] Based on the encapsulation format of the iFIT message header in different networks, the forwarding node can use the 1-bit reserved bit (R) field next to the D field as the Dup field to carry the copy identifier. The forwarding node can also use the corresponding length (such as 1 bit) of other reserved bits (such as R, Rsv, etc.) as the Dup field. The position of the Dup field is not limited here.

[0104] The copy flag may be a second preset value, and the second preset value may be 0 or 1. For example, when the second preset value is 1, the value of the Dup field is 1, indicating that the message carries the copy flag, and the message is a copied message; the value of the Dup field is 0, indicating that the message does not carry the copy flag, and the message is not a copied message. For ease of description, the second preset value is 1 as an example for subsequent description, and it does not serve as a limitation.

[0105] Since the forwarding node only copies the delay-colored message, the copy flag can also indicate that the message is a delay-colored copy message. That is, when the value of the Dup field is 1, the message carries the copy flag, the message is a delay-colored copy message, and the value of the D field is 1.

[0106] In an embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node can copy a first number of second messages and add a copy identifier to the copied messages, that is, set the Dup field in the iFIT message header carried by the copied messages to a second preset value (such as 1), and obtain a first number of third messages carrying the copy identifier.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the second message obtained by the forwarding node in step S62 may carry a copy identifier, that is, the value of the Dup field in the iFIT message header carried by the second message may be 1, in which case the second message is a delay-stained copy message; the second message may not carry a copy identifier, that is, the value of the Dup field in the iFIT message header carried by the second message may be 0, in which case the second message is the original message of the delay-stained message (for ease of description, hereinafter referred to as the delay-stained original message).

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node may also record the timestamp (i.e., the second timestamp) of forwarding each third message, and obtain a first number (i.e., N-1) of second timestamps. For ease of description, the timestamp is referred to as the second timestamp corresponding to the third message. Since the forwarding node also records the second timestamp corresponding to the second message before executing step S63, the forwarding node records a total of N second timestamps. The forwarding node may also record the timestamp information when the copying is completed as the second timestamp corresponding to each third message, and this is not limited.

[0109] In the above step S64, the forwarding node forwards a message through each outbound interface, and the message may be a second message or a third message. The forwarding node may determine an outbound interface (referred to as the third outbound interface) from the multiple outbound interfaces corresponding to the service flow, forward the second message through the third outbound interface, and forward a third message through each of the other outbound interfaces other than the third outbound interface. The forwarding node may randomly determine an outbound interface from the multiple outbound interfaces as the third outbound interface, or may determine the third outbound interface according to the link of the original message colored by the forwarding delay, and this is not limited.

[0110] The second timestamp corresponding to each message (the second message or the third message) corresponds to the outbound interface that forwards the message, and is the timestamp recorded by the forwarding node at the MP corresponding to the outbound interface. For example, the second timestamp corresponding to the second message corresponds to the third outbound interface, and is the timestamp recorded by the forwarding node at the MP corresponding to the third outbound interface. The forwarding node determines the timestamp of the message forwarded by each outbound interface by recording the second timestamp.

[0111] In the embodiment of the present application, after the current statistical period ends, the forwarding node reports the recorded first timestamp and multiple second timestamps to the analyzer, so as to report the timestamp corresponding to the first input interface and the timestamp corresponding to the multiple output interfaces corresponding to the service flow to the analyzer, and then, the analyzer can measure the delay index between the first input interface and the multiple output interfaces to obtain the delay inside the forwarding node. For example, for each second timestamp, the analyzer can calculate the difference between the second timestamp and the first timestamp, and the difference obtained is the delay between the input interface and the output interface corresponding to the second timestamp.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, the upstream forwarding node may forward the second message or the third message to the downstream forwarding node, and the downstream forwarding node may receive the second message or the third message forwarded by the upstream forwarding node as the first message. Each forwarding node (ingress node or intermediate node) may record and report to the analyzer the second timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message and the first timestamp of receiving the first message. The analyzer may measure the delay index between forwarding nodes based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp reported by the current forwarding node and the first timestamp and the second timestamp reported by other forwarding nodes on the link where the current forwarding node is located, and the first timestamp and the second timestamp recorded by multiple forwarding nodes.

[0113] When the current forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, the analyzer can measure the delay indicator between the ingress interface (i.e., the first ingress interface) receiving the first message on the next-hop device and the egress interface forwarding the second message or the third message on the current forwarding node based on the first timestamp reported by the next-hop device that supports iFIT (hereinafter referred to as the next-hop device for ease of description) of the current forwarding node and the second timestamp reported by the current forwarding node.

[0114] When the current forwarding node is an intermediate node, the analyzer can measure the delay indicator between the first input interface on the current forwarding node and the output interface on the previous-hop device that forwards the corresponding second message or third message based on the second timestamp reported by the previous-hop device that supports iFIT (hereinafter referred to as the previous-hop device for ease of description) of the current forwarding node and the first timestamp reported by the current forwarding node.

[0115] In some embodiments, when the forwarding node is an ingress node, the first message received by the forwarding node through the first ingress interface is an original message, and the above step S62 may be: encapsulating the first message with an iFIT message header; performing delay coloring on the encapsulated first message to obtain a second message.

[0116] In the embodiment of the present application, the ingress node encapsulates the first message with an iFIT message header, and the encapsulated message is the iFIT message. Afterwards, the ingress node performs delay coloring on the iFIT message to obtain a second message.

[0117] For the first original message of the service flow received in the current statistical period, after the ingress node encapsulates the iFIT message header for the message, it sets the D field in the iFIT message header carried by the message to 1, and obtains the delay-colored message; and for other original messages of the service flow received in the current statistical period, after the ingress node encapsulates the iFIT message header for the message, it sets the D field in the iFIT message header carried by the message to any value other than 1 (such as 0), and obtains the delay-uncolored message. That is, the second message obtained by the ingress node can be a delay-colored message or a delay-uncolored message.

[0118] In the embodiment of the present application, after the ingress node encapsulates the iFIT message header for the first message, it can also perform packet loss coloring to measure the packet loss index. Applying the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, the ingress node uses the iFIT message header to encapsulate the original message, constructs the iFIT message, and reports the timestamp of receiving the original message as the first timestamp to the analyzer to achieve the measurement of the delay index.

[0119] In some embodiments, when the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, after determining that the second message is a delay-colored message, if it is determined that the service flow corresponds to only one egress interface, that is, if it is determined that N=1, the forwarding node only needs the second message, which is a delay-colored message, to measure the delay index of the link. The forwarding node does not need to copy the second message, but directly forwards the second message through the egress interface corresponding to the service flow, and sends the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to the egress interface to the analyzer, and the analyzer measures the delay index according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp. The manner in which the forwarding node sends the first timestamp and the second timestamp to the analyzer and the manner in which the analyzer measures the delay index can be specifically referred to the relevant description of the above step S64.

[0120] like Fig.10 The second flow chart of the delay measurement method shown is as follows. The delay measurement method may include the following steps.

[0121] Step S101, receiving a first message of a service flow through a first inbound interface, which is the same as the above step S61.

[0122] Step S102: If the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forward the first message to obtain a second message. This is the same as the above step S62. After the forwarding node executes step S102, it continues to execute step S103 or step S105.

[0123] Step S103: If the second message is a delay-colored message in the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the second message is copied to obtain a first number of third messages, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1. This is the same as the above step S63. After the forwarding node executes step S103, it continues to execute step S104.

[0124] Step S104, forwarding the second message and the first number of third messages through multiple output interfaces, and sending the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0125] Step S105: If the second message is a delay-stained message in the current statistical period and the service flow corresponds to one outbound interface, the second message is forwarded through one outbound interface, and a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to one outbound interface are sent to the analyzer.

[0126] In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, when the service flow corresponds to one output interface, the forwarding node forwards the second message through this output interface, and the delay index of the link can be measured, thereby improving the message forwarding speed and saving message processing resources.

[0127] by Figure 4 In the network model shown, R1 is used as the current forwarding node. R1 includes one input interface (corresponding to MP1) and three output interfaces (corresponding to MP2, MP3 and MP4 respectively). R1 ​​receives the original message (i.e., the first message) of the service flow sent by the previous hop device through the input interface (i.e., the first input interface), encapsulates the iFIT message header, and performs delay coloring and packet loss coloring.

[0128] like Fig.11 The iFIT delay measurement mechanism is shown. Fig.11In the figure, 110 indicates the original message with packet loss coloring + delay coloring, 010 indicates the original message with packet loss non-coloring + delay coloring, 000 indicates the message with packet loss non-coloring + delay non-coloring, 100 indicates the message with packet loss coloring + delay non-coloring, 111 indicates the duplicate message with packet loss coloring + delay coloring, and 011 indicates the duplicate message with packet loss non-coloring + delay coloring. For ease of description, the case where the iFIT message forwarded by MP1 passes through MP2, MP3 and MP4 is taken as an example for explanation.

[0129] In the i-th statistical cycle, R1 records the first timestamp t[i] of receiving the original message at MP1, and forwards the corresponding delay-colored message from the output interface corresponding to MP2 to R2, and records the second timestamp t'[i] of forwarding the delay-colored message at MP2. Since R1 also includes output interfaces corresponding to MP3 and MP4, R1 copies two delay-colored messages, and forwards a delay-colored copy message from the output interface corresponding to MP3 to R3, and records the second timestamp t''[i] of forwarding the delay-colored copy message at MP3. Similarly, R1 forwards another delay-colored copy message from the output interface corresponding to MP4 to R4, and records the second timestamp t'''[i] of forwarding another delay-colored copy message at MP4.

[0130] R1 reports the timestamps t[i], t'[i], t''[i] and t'''[i] to the analyzer. The analyzer calculates t'[i]-t[i] to obtain the delay between MP1 and MP2 in the i-th statistical period, calculates t''[i]-t[i] to obtain the delay between MP1 and MP3 in the i-th statistical period, and calculates t'''[i]-t[i] to obtain the delay between MP1 and MP4 in the i-th statistical period.

[0131] Since R1 forwards the delay colored copy message to R3 and R4 respectively, R3 and R4 can also receive the delay colored message and record the first timestamp of receiving the delay colored message and the second timestamp of forwarding the delay colored message. It can also measure the internal delay of the device and the delay between R1 and R5 based on the received delay colored message.

[0132] Similarly, in the i+1th statistical period and the i+2th statistical period, R1 can record the timestamps t[i+1], t'[i+1], t''[i+1] and t'''[i+1], as well as t[i+2], t'[i+2], t''[i+2] and t'''[i+2], and report them to the analyzer, which calculates the delay between each MP in the i+1th statistical period and the i+2th statistical period.

[0133] Based on this, two delay-colored replica messages are added in each statistical period, so that there are delay-colored messages on the three load-sharing links in each statistical period (that is, one delay-colored original message + two delay-colored replica messages) to record the timestamp information on each link and then calculate the delay index.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present application, if the value of the D field in the iFIT message header carried by the second message is 0, the forwarding node determines that the second message is a delay-uncolored message, does not record the timestamp, and directly forwards the second message through the output interface corresponding to the service flow.

[0135] In some embodiments, when the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message received by the forwarding node is an iFIT message carrying an iFIT message header. In this case, the forwarding node does not execute step S62, that is, does not forward the first message, and obtains a second message. Fig.12 , is a third flow chart of the delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the delay measurement method may include the following steps:

[0136] Step S121, receiving a first message of a service flow through a first inbound interface. This is the same as the above step S61. After the forwarding node executes step S121, it continues to execute step S122, step S126 or step S127.

[0137] Step S122: If the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forward the first message to obtain a second message. This is the same as the above step S62. After the forwarding node executes step S122, it continues to execute step S123 or step S125.

[0138] Step S123: If the second message is a delay-colored message in the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the second message is copied to obtain a first number of third messages, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1. This is the same as the above step S63. After the forwarding node executes step S123, it continues to execute step S124.

[0139] Step S124, forwarding the second message and the first number of third messages through multiple output interfaces, and sending the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0140] Step S125, if the second message is a delay-stained message in the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to one outbound interface, the second message is forwarded through one outbound interface, and the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to one outbound interface are sent to the analyzer. This is the same as the above step S115.

[0141] Step S126, if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message for the current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, then the iFIT message header carried by the first message is stripped off to obtain a fifth message, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copied message; the fifth message is forwarded through the second egress interface corresponding to the business flow, and the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp are sent to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp, and the sixth timestamp is the timestamp of forwarding the fifth message through the second egress interface.

[0142] Step S127: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-stained message in the current statistical period, and the first message carries a copy identifier, the first message is discarded and a first timestamp is sent to the analyzer.

[0143] By applying the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, when the forwarding node is an egress node, it is determined whether the delay-stained message of the current statistical period is a duplicate message, and the number of messages that the egress node needs to process is reduced by discarding redundant messages, thereby reducing the impact on subsequent message forwarding.

[0144] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first message, the egress node can determine whether the first message is a delay-colored message. If the egress node determines that the first message is a delay-colored message, it determines whether the first message carries a copy identifier (that is, determines whether the value of the Dup field in the carried iFIT message header is a second preset value), that is, determines whether the first message is a delay-colored copy message.

[0145] If the first message does not carry a copy identifier, the egress node determines that the value of the Dup field in the carried iFIT message header is not the second preset value, and the first message is not a delay-colored copy message (that is, it is a delay-colored original message), and then executes step S126; if the first message carries a copy identifier, the egress node determines that the value of the Dup field in the carried iFIT message header is the second preset value, and the first message is a delay-colored copy message, and then executes step S127.

[0146] In the above step S126, the second outbound interface is the outbound interface corresponding to the service flow on the outbound node. The outbound node strips off the iFIT message header carried by the first message to obtain the corresponding original message, which is the fifth message. The outbound node can record the first timestamp of receiving the first message and record the timestamp of forwarding the fifth message (i.e., the sixth timestamp). The sixth timestamp corresponds to the outbound interface (i.e., the second outbound interface) for forwarding the fifth message, and is the timestamp recorded by the outbound node at the MP corresponding to the second outbound interface. The outbound node forwards the fifth message to the next-hop device through the second outbound interface.

[0147] In the embodiment of the present application, after the current statistical period ends, the egress node reports the recorded first timestamp and sixth timestamp to the analyzer, and the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the egress node is located. The analyzer can measure the delay index between the first input interface and the second output interface based on the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp to obtain the delay inside the forwarding node.

[0148] In the embodiment of the present application, the analyzer can measure the delay index between forwarding nodes based on the second timestamp reported by other forwarding nodes on the link where the egress node is located. For example, the analyzer can measure the delay index between the first input interface on the egress node and the output interface on the previous hop device that forwards the corresponding second message or third message based on the second timestamp reported by the previous hop device of the egress node and in combination with the first timestamp reported by the egress node. The process of the analyzer measuring the delay index based on the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp is similar to the above-mentioned process of measuring the delay index based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp, and for details, please refer to the relevant description of the above-mentioned step S63.

[0149] In the above step S127, the egress node determines that the first message is not a delay-stained original message, discards the first message, records a first timestamp of receiving the first message, and reports the first timestamp to the analyzer, which measures the delay index according to the first timestamp.

[0150] In the embodiment of the present application, the egress node may record a first timestamp of receiving the first message after determining that the first message is a delay-stained message, and the time for recording the first timestamp is not limited.

[0151] In an embodiment of the present application, when the egress node determines that the first message is not a delay-colored message, the egress node strips off the iFIT message header carried by the first message, obtains the corresponding original message, and forwards the corresponding original message to the next-hop device through the second egress interface.

[0152] In some embodiments, after receiving the first message, the forwarding node may continue to receive other messages of the service flow of the current statistical period through the input interface on the forwarding node. When the forwarding node is an intermediate node or an egress node, the other messages received by the forwarding node may be iFIT messages. In this case, the delay measurement method further includes the following steps: receiving a fourth message of the service flow through the first input interface or the second input interface.

[0153] In the embodiment of the present application, the second input interface is any input interface on the forwarding node except the first input interface, and the second input interface may be one, multiple, or non-existent, and the number of second input interfaces is not limited herein. The fourth message is any message of the service flow received by the forwarding node in the current statistical period, carrying the iFIT message header, that is, the fourth message is an iFIT message.

[0154] After receiving the first message, the forwarding node can continue to receive messages of the service flow through any input interface on the forwarding node. In the embodiment of the present application, the iFIT message received by the forwarding node before receiving the first delay coloring message is the first message, and the iFIT message received by the forwarding node after receiving the first delay coloring message is the fourth message.

[0155] After receiving the fourth message, the forwarding node may parse the received fourth message and determine whether the fourth message is a delay-stained message based on the value of the D field in the iFIT message header carried by the fourth message. If the value of the D field is 1, the forwarding node determines that the fourth message is a delay-stained message, that is, the fourth message is another delay-stained message processed by the forwarding node in the current statistical period (that is, not the first delay-stained message received), and the fourth message may be a delay-stained original message or a delay-stained copy message.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node may determine whether the current delay colored message is the first delay colored message in the following manner, that is, determine whether the current delay colored message is the first message or the fourth message.

[0157] Mode 1: The forwarding node can count the number of delay-colored messages received in the current statistical period, and determine whether the current delay-colored message is the first delay-colored message based on the counted number. If the number counted by the forwarding node is 0, the forwarding node can determine that the current delay-colored message is the second message, and add 1 to the counted number; if the number counted by the forwarding node is greater than 0 (such as 1, 2, etc.), the forwarding node can determine that the current delay-colored message is the fourth message, and add 1 to the counted number.

[0158] Mode 2: The forwarding node can record the identification value to indicate whether the delay colored message has been received in the current statistical period. If the identification value is 0, the forwarding node determines that the delay colored message has not been received in the current statistical period, and the current delay colored message is the second message, and sets the identification value to 1; if the identification value is 1, the forwarding node determines that the delay colored message has been received in the current statistical period, and the current delay colored message is the fourth message.

[0159] Mode 3, the forwarding node can also record each delay-colored message received in the current statistical period, and record the type of each message and the input interface of the received message. For example, when the forwarding node receives a delay-colored copy message through the first input interface, and then receives a delay-colored copy message through the second input interface, the forwarding node can record the first delay-colored copy message as a delay-colored copy message, and the received input interface as the first input interface, and record the second delay-colored copy message as a delay-colored copy message, and the received input interface as the second input interface; in this case, if the forwarding node receives the current delay-colored message through the first input interface, the same second input interface, or another second input interface, the forwarding node determines that the delay-colored message has been received in the current statistical period, the current delay-colored message is the fourth message, and records the current delay-colored message as the third delay-colored message, and records the type of the message and the input interface of the received message.

[0160] If the forwarding node does not record the received delay colored message, the forwarding node determines that the delay colored message has not been received in the current statistical period, the current delay colored message is the second message, records the current delay colored message as the first delay colored message, and records the type of the message and the input interface of the received message.

[0161] According to different inbound interfaces through which the forwarding node receives the fourth message, the situations in which the forwarding node records the timestamp of receiving the fourth message can be specifically divided into the following two types.

[0162] In case 1, the input interface of the fourth message is the second input interface, that is, the forwarding node receives the fourth message through the second input interface. In this case, the forwarding node sends the third timestamp to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp, the second timestamp (or the sixth timestamp) and the third timestamp, and the third timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the second input interface.

[0163] In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node records the timestamp (i.e., the third timestamp) of receiving the fourth message, and the third timestamp corresponds to the second input interface, which is the timestamp recorded by the forwarding node at the MP corresponding to the second input interface. After the current statistical period ends, the forwarding node reports the recorded first timestamp, multiple second timestamps (or the sixth timestamp corresponding to the second output interface), and the third timestamp to the analyzer. Furthermore, the analyzer can measure the delay indicators between the first input interface, the second input interface, and the multiple output interfaces to obtain the delay inside the forwarding node.

[0164] The downstream forwarding node may also receive the second message forwarded by the upstream forwarding node as the fourth message. The analyzer may measure the delay index between the forwarding nodes according to the timestamps reported by other forwarding nodes on the link where the current forwarding node is located. For example, the analyzer may measure the delay index between the second input interface on the fourth message and the output interface on the previous hop device that forwards the corresponding second message according to the third timestamp reported by the current forwarding node and the second timestamp reported by the previous hop device of the current forwarding node. Similar to the above-mentioned process of measuring the delay index based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp (or the sixth timestamp), please refer to the relevant description of the above-mentioned step S63 for details.

[0165] In case 2, the input interface of the fourth message is the first input interface, that is, the forwarding node receives the fourth message through the first input interface. In this case, if the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, the forwarding node updates the first timestamp to a fourth timestamp, and the fourth timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the first input interface.

[0166] In the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node determines whether the fourth message carries a copy identifier, that is, determines whether the first message is a delay-colored copy message. When the forwarding node determines that the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, the fourth message is a delay-colored original message, that is, the first message is a delay-colored copy message, then the forwarding node updates the first timestamp corresponding to the first input interface to the timestamp of receiving the fourth message (that is, the fourth timestamp), that is, updates the first timestamp to the timestamp corresponding to the delay-colored original message.

[0167] After the current statistical period ends, the forwarding node reports the updated first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface (or the sixth timestamp corresponding to the second outbound interface) to the analyzer. Then, the analyzer can measure the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located. For details, please refer to the relevant description of the above step S63.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, when a service flow corresponds to an outbound interface, the forwarding node may also report the updated first timestamp and the second timestamp (or sixth timestamp) corresponding to an outbound interface to the analyzer after the current statistical period ends.

[0169] In case 1 and case 2, after receiving the fourth message, the forwarding node can determine whether the fourth message carries a copy identifier.

[0170] When the forwarding node determines that the fourth message carries the copy identifier, the fourth message is a delay-colored copy message, and the forwarding node may discard the fourth message without processing or forwarding it, so as to save processing resources of the forwarding node.

[0171] When the forwarding node determines that the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, the fourth message is a delay-stained original message, and the forwarding node can forward the fourth message to obtain a processed fourth message. When the forwarding node is an intermediate node, the forwarding node can forward the processed fourth message through the first outbound interface corresponding to the service flow, and the first outbound interface is any outbound interface corresponding to the service flow on the forwarding node. The process of the forwarding node forwarding the fourth message can be specifically referred to the relevant description of the above step S62. When the forwarding node is an egress node, the forwarding node can strip off the iFIT message header carried by the fourth message to obtain the fifth message, forward the fifth message through the second outbound interface corresponding to the service flow, and send the updated first timestamp and sixth timestamp (or the first timestamp, the third timestamp and the sixth timestamp) to the analyzer after the current statistical cycle ends. For details, please refer to the relevant description of the above step S126, case 1 and case 2.

[0172] When the forwarding node is an intermediate node, the forwarding node can also update the second timestamp corresponding to the first output interface to a fifth timestamp before forwarding the fourth message. The fifth timestamp is the timestamp of forwarding the fourth message through the first output interface, that is, the corresponding second timestamp is updated to the timestamp corresponding to the delay-colored original message.

[0173] In case 1, the forwarding node can send the first timestamp, the updated second timestamp corresponding to the first output interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to other output interfaces other than the first output interface to the analyzer after the current statistical period ends, so that the analyzer can measure the delay indicator of the link where the forwarding node is located based on the timestamp reported by the forwarding node.

[0174] In case 2, the forwarding node may send the updated first timestamp, the updated second timestamp corresponding to the first outbound interface, and the second timestamps corresponding to other outbound interfaces other than the first outbound interface to the analyzer after the current statistical period ends, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the timestamp reported by the forwarding node. The specific process of the analyzer measuring the delay index can be found in the above related description.

[0175] In an embodiment of the present application, when the service flow corresponds to an output interface, the forwarding node can forward the processed fourth message through the output interface, and update the second timestamp corresponding to the output interface to the timestamp of forwarding the fourth message through the output interface, and send the first timestamp and the updated second timestamp corresponding to the output interface to the analyzer.

[0176] In an embodiment of the present application, after the forwarding node determines that the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the fourth message carries a copy identifier, the fourth message may not be discarded, and the fourth message may be processed as the first message, and multiple timestamps may be recorded, and the recorded timestamps may be reported to the analyzer so that the analyzer measures the delay indicator based on the multiple timestamps.

[0177] In an embodiment of the present application, when the service flow corresponds to multiple output interfaces, the forwarding node may also copy the fourth message, and forward the original fourth message and the copied fourth message through multiple output interfaces to record the timestamp of forwarding the fourth message through multiple output interfaces, and then the analyzer can measure the delay indicator between the input interface receiving the fourth message and the multiple output interfaces.

[0178] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the fourth message, the forwarding node may continue to receive the fourth message through the first input interface, the same second input interface, or another second input interface, and perform the above-mentioned processing on the fourth message, which is not repeated here.

[0179] In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, when there are multiple input interfaces of the forwarding node, since there are delay-colored messages forwarded on multiple links, the forwarding node can receive multiple delay-colored messages, and before receiving the fourth message, the forwarding node has received the first message and forwarded the second message, that is, the delay-colored message has been forwarded once through each output interface corresponding to the business flow, and the delay index of the link where each output interface is located can be measured. On this basis, the forwarding node can determine whether other delay-colored messages received are duplicate messages, and only forward delay-colored messages that are not duplicate messages, so as to further save equipment processing and forwarding resources.

[0180] In some embodiments, the forwarding node can also measure the packet loss index, and the above-mentioned delay measurement method can also include the following steps: counting the second number and the third number within the current statistical period, the second number is the number of sixth messages received in the service flow, and the third number is the number of forwarded sixth messages, the sixth message does not carry a copy identifier, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copied message; sending the second number and the third number to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the packet loss index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the second number and the third number.

[0181] In an embodiment of the present application, the sixth message is any iFIT message of the service flow, and according to the current statistical period, the sixth message is a packet loss colored message or a packet loss non-colored message. If the current statistical period is a colored message statistical period, the sixth message is a packet loss colored message; if the current statistical period is an non-colored message statistical period, the sixth message is a packet loss non-colored message. The sixth message does not carry a copy mark, that is, the sixth message is not a copied message. The forwarding node can count the number of sixth messages received in the current statistical period (such as the second number), and count the number of sixth messages forwarded in the current statistical period (such as the third number), and after the current statistical period ends, report the second number and the third number to the analyzer.

[0182] In an embodiment of the present application, other forwarding nodes on the link where the forwarding node is located can also count the second number and the third number, and report the second number and the third number to the analyzer respectively. The analyzer calculates the number of packet losses and the packet loss rate between each forwarding node based on the second number and the third number reported by each forwarding node.

[0183] In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the forwarding node only counts the number of iFIT messages that are not duplicated messages to accurately calculate the packet loss index, thereby achieving the measurement of the delay index under multiple links while ensuring the accuracy of the packet loss index.

[0184] Combine the following Figure 13~Figure 16 The delay measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail.

[0185] Fig.13 The first flow chart of the delay measurement provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to the ingress node, and includes the following steps:

[0186] Step S131: Count the service flows arriving at the ingress node within the period.

[0187] In the embodiment of the present application, the ingress node receives the message of the service flow within the statistical period.

[0188] Step S132, encapsulate and generate a delay-colored original message according to the original process.

[0189] In an embodiment of the present application, the ingress node encapsulates the iFIT message header for the received service flow message, and performs delay coloring and packet loss coloring, that is, delay coloring is performed on the first received message, a delay-colored original message (such as the first message) is generated, and the timestamp information of the received and forwarded messages (such as the first timestamp and the second timestamp) is recorded.

[0190] Step S133, determine whether the number of interfaces N is greater than 1, if so, execute steps S134 to S136; if not, execute step S137.

[0191] Step S134: copy the delay colored original message N-1 times, and set the Dup field of the copied message to 1.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, the ingress node copies the delay-colored original message to obtain N-1 delay-colored copied messages, and records the timestamp information when the copying is completed or records the timestamp information (such as the second timestamp) of forwarding each delay-colored copied message.

[0193] Step S135: forward the delay-colored original message according to the original process and record its outgoing interface.

[0194] In the embodiment of the present application, the ingress node determines an egress interface (such as the third egress interface) corresponding to the service flow, and forwards the delay-colored original message from the egress interface.

[0195] Step S136: forward the delay colored duplicated messages from other N-1 outbound interfaces respectively.

[0196] Step S137: forward the delay-colored original message according to the original process.

[0197] For details of the above steps S131 to S137, please refer to the above Figure 6~Figure 12 Part of the description.

[0198] After the ingress node encapsulates the iFIT message header and forwards the delay-colored message to the intermediate node, the intermediate node processes the delay-colored message, such as Fig.14 The intermediate node in the load balancing scenario shown in the figure. The intermediate node includes M input interfaces and N output interfaces. The M input interfaces correspond to the M intermediate MPs in the inbound direction of the iFIT traffic, which are denoted as MP i (i=1,2,…,M-1,M), namely MP 1, MP 2,…MP M). The intermediate node can receive at least one delay-colored message from each input interface. The N output interfaces correspond to the N intermediate MPs in the outbound direction of the iFIT traffic, which are denoted as MP j (i=M+1,M+2,…,M+N-1,M+N), namely MP M+1, MP M+2,…MP M+N). There is a load balancing relationship between these N output interfaces.

[0199] In the load balancing scenario, the intermediate node processes all delay-colored packets received in the same statistical period in the following manner: the first delay-colored packet must be forwarded and copied (when the number of outbound interfaces is greater than 1), the delay-colored original packet must be forwarded, and other delay-colored packets are discarded. Fig.15 The second delay measurement process diagram shown is applied to an intermediate node and includes the following steps:

[0200] Step S151: receiving the first delay colored message within a statistical period.

[0201] In an embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node receives messages of the service flow within a statistical period, performs the following processing on the first delay-colored message (such as the first message) received within the statistical period, and records the timestamp information of the received and forwarded messages (such as the first timestamp and the second timestamp).

[0202] Step S152, determine whether the number of interfaces N is greater than 1, if so, execute steps S153 to S155; if not, execute step S156.

[0203] Step S153: Copy the first delay colored message N-1 times, and set the Dup field of the copied message to 1.

[0204] In an embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node copies the delay colored message to obtain N-1 delay colored copy messages, and records the timestamp information when the copying is completed or records the timestamp information (such as the second timestamp) of forwarding each delay colored copy message.

[0205] Step S154: forward the first delay-colored message according to the original process and record its outgoing interface.

[0206] In the embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node determines an outbound interface (such as the third outbound interface) corresponding to the service flow, and forwards the first delay-colored message from the outbound interface.

[0207] Step S155, forwarding the delay colored duplicated messages from other N-1 outbound interfaces respectively, and executing step S157.

[0208] Step S156, forwarding the delay-colored original message according to the original process, and executing step S157.

[0209] Step S157, determine whether other delay colored messages are received within the statistical period. If yes, execute step S158; if no, execute step S1511.

[0210] In an embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node continues to receive messages of the business flow within the statistical period, processes other received delay-stained messages (such as the fourth message) as follows, and records the timestamp information of the received message (such as the third timestamp or the fourth timestamp).

[0211] Step S158, determine whether the delay-stained message is a delay-stained original message. If not, execute step S159; if yes, execute step S1510.

[0212] In the embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node determines whether the message carries a copy mark. If it carries a copy mark, it is determined that the message is a time-delayed coloring copy message, that is, it is not a time-delayed coloring original message; if it does not carry a copy mark, it is determined that the message is a time-delayed coloring original message.

[0213] Step S159, discard the delay colored message and return to step S157.

[0214] Step S1510, forwarding the delay-stained original message according to the original process, and returning to execute step S157.

[0215] In an embodiment of the present application, the intermediate node determines an output interface (such as the first output interface) corresponding to the service flow, updates the timestamp information corresponding to the output interface to the timestamp information of forwarding the delay-colored message (such as the fifth timestamp), and forwards the delay-colored message from the output interface.

[0216] Step S1511, determine whether the statistical cycle has ended. If not, that is, the statistical cycle has not ended, then execute step S157; if yes, that is, the statistical cycle has ended, then execute step S1512.

[0217] In the embodiment of the present application, when the current statistical cycle has not ended, the intermediate node continues to execute the judgment of step S157 and executes steps S158 to S1511 until the current statistical cycle ends, and uploads the recorded timestamp information to the analyzer. At the beginning of the next statistical cycle, the intermediate node starts from step S151 and continues to process the messages of the service flow of the new statistical cycle.

[0218] Step S1512, determining that all delay-colored messages within the statistical period have been processed.

[0219] For details of the above steps S151 to S1512, please refer to the above Figure 6~Figure 11 Part of the description.

[0220] Below Fig.16 The iFIT network model shown in the figure is used as an example to illustrate the processing mechanism of the delay-colored message. The iFIT network model includes 10 forwarding nodes, namely R1~R10. For the convenience of description, Fig.16 The delay-colored duplicate message is represented by 1, and the delay-colored original message is represented by 0.

[0221] According to the number of inbound and outbound interfaces on each forwarding node, there are four scenarios: single-input and single-output, single-input and N-output (N>1), M-input and single-output (M>1), and M-input and N-output (M>1 and N>1).

[0222] R5 is a single-input and single-output case. When receiving a delay-colored copy message (such as R5), the message forwarded is also a delay-colored copy message; when receiving a delay-colored original message, the message forwarded is also a delay-colored original message.

[0223] R2, R3 and R4 belong to the single-input and N-output scenarios. When receiving a delay-colored original message (such as R2), the message forwarded is 1 delay-colored original message and N-1 (1) delay-colored duplicate messages; when receiving a delay-colored duplicate message (such as R3 and R4), the message forwarded is N (2) delay-colored duplicate messages, that is, the message forwarded on each outbound interface is 1 delay-colored duplicate message.

[0224] R8 and R9 belong to the M-in, single-out scenario. When the first delay-colored copy message is received first and then the second delay-colored original message is received (such as R8), one delay-colored copy message is forwarded first and then one delay-colored original message is forwarded; when the first delay-colored copy message is received first and then the second delay-colored copy message is received (such as R9), the message forwarded is one delay-colored copy message, and the second delay-colored copy message is discarded; when the first delay-colored original message is received first and then the second delay-colored copy message is received, the message forwarded is one delay-colored original message. That is, if the received message contains one delay-colored original message, the forwarded message is one delay-colored copy message and one delay-colored original message (the first delay-colored message received is the delay-colored copy message), or only one delay-colored original message (the first delay-colored message received is the delay-colored original message); if the received messages are all delay-colored copy messages, the forwarded message is one delay-colored copy message.

[0225] R6 and R7 belong to the M-in, N-out situation. When the first delay-colored original message is received first and then the second delay-colored copy message is received (such as R6), the message forwarded is 1 delay-colored original message and N-1 (1) delay-colored copy messages, and the second delay-colored copy message received is discarded; when the first delay-colored copy message is received first and then the second delay-colored copy message is received (such as R7), the message forwarded is 2 delay-colored copy messages, and the second delay-colored copy message received is discarded; when the first delay-colored copy message is received first and then the second delay-colored original message is received, the two delay-colored copy messages are forwarded first and then the one delay-colored original message is forwarded. That is, if the received message contains one delay-colored original message, the forwarded message is N-1 delay-colored copy messages and one delay-colored original message (the first delay-colored message received is the delay-colored original message), or N-1 delay-colored copy messages and one delay-colored copy message + delay-colored original message (the first delay-colored message received is the delay-colored copy message); if all the received messages are delay-colored copy messages, the message forwarded on each outbound interface is one delay-colored copy message.

[0226] After processing and forwarding the message, the intermediate node forwards the message to the egress node. On the egress node, in order to ensure that the total number of original messages obtained after decapsulation at the egress node remains unchanged, it is necessary to filter the delay-colored messages in the inbound direction of the egress node, and directly discard the delay-colored duplicate messages with the Dup field set to 1 without decapsulation.

[0227] In addition, when measuring the packet loss index, the delay-colored duplicated message with the Dup field set to 1 will not be counted in the total number of received packets in the statistical period, so as to ensure the accuracy of measuring the packet loss index.

[0228] The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application supports the delay statistics on all load-sharing links in the load-sharing scenario, and each packet receiving statistical cycle on each load-sharing link has reliable timestamp information. At the same time, the R field next to the D field in the iFIT message header is named the Dup field as a delay-colored message replication identifier. The method of delay-colored message replication in the load-sharing scenario solves the problem of missing iFIT timestamp information in the load-sharing scenario. Compared with the technical solution of carrying timestamp information on each iFIT message, this solution can save equipment resources, reduce the delay of message forwarding, and meet the low-latency requirements of 5G services.

[0229] Corresponding to the above-mentioned delay measurement method, the embodiment of the present application also provides a delay measurement device, which is applied to a forwarding node, such as Fig.17 As shown, the delay measurement device comprises:

[0230] The receiving module 171 is used to receive a first message of a service flow through a first input interface;

[0231] A processing module 172, configured to forward the first message to obtain a second message if the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node;

[0232] A copy module 173 is used for copying the second message to obtain a first number of third messages if the second message is a delay-colored message in the current statistical period and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1;

[0233] The sending module 174 is used to forward the second message and the first number of third messages through multiple output interfaces, and send the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

[0234] In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, after the forwarding node receives the message of the service flow, for the processed delay-colored message, if the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the delay-colored message is copied to obtain multiple delay-colored messages, and one delay-colored message is forwarded through each outbound interface, so that the delay-colored message is forwarded on the link corresponding to each outbound interface. Furthermore, the forwarding node can obtain the timestamp information on multiple links and report it to the analyzer. The analyzer can measure the delay indicators on multiple links based on the timestamp information on multiple links, solving the problem of missing delay measurement results due to missing timestamp information on multiple links in the load sharing scenario.

[0235] In some embodiments, the forwarding node is an ingress node, and the first message is an original message; the processing module 172 can be specifically used to: encapsulate the first message with an iFIT message header; and perform delay coloring on the encapsulated first message to obtain a second message.

[0236] In some embodiments, the forwarding node is an intermediate node or an egress node, and the receiving module 171 may also be configured to: after receiving the first message, receive a fourth message of the service flow through the first inbound interface or the second inbound interface;

[0237] The above-mentioned sending module 174 can also be used for: if the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the input interface of the fourth message is the second input interface, then a third timestamp is sent to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp, the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, and the third timestamp, and the third timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the second input interface.

[0238] In some embodiments, the sending module 174 may also be used to: if the fourth message is a delay-stained message of the current statistical period, the input interface of the fourth message is the first input interface, and the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, then update the first timestamp to a fourth timestamp, the fourth timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the first input interface, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message;

[0239] The sending module 174 may be specifically configured to send the updated first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface to the analyzer.

[0240] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned sending module 174 can also be used for: if the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the fourth message carries a copy flag, then the fourth message is discarded, and the copy flag indicates that the message is a copied message; if the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the fourth message does not carry a copy flag, then the fourth message is forwarded through the first output interface corresponding to the business flow.

[0241] In some embodiments, the sending module 174 may also be used to:

[0242] If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, the second timestamp corresponding to the first output interface is updated to a fifth timestamp, where the fifth timestamp is a timestamp of forwarding the fourth message through the first output interface;

[0243] The sending module 174 may be specifically configured to send the first timestamp, the updated second timestamp corresponding to the first outbound interface, and the second timestamps corresponding to other outbound interfaces except the first outbound interface to the analyzer.

[0244] In some embodiments, the processing module 172 may also be used to: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, then strip off the iFIT message header carried by the first message to obtain a sixth message, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message;

[0245] The sending module 174 may also be used to: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, then forward the sixth message through the second egress interface corresponding to the service flow, and send the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp, and the sixth timestamp is the timestamp of forwarding the sixth message through the second egress interface;

[0246] The sending module 174 may also be used to: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-stained message of the current statistical period, and the first message carries a copy identifier, discard the first message and send the first timestamp to the analyzer.

[0247] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned sending module 174 can also be used to: count the second number and the third number within the current statistical period, the second number is the number of sixth messages received in the business flow, the third number is the number of forwarded sixth messages, the sixth message does not carry a copy identifier, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copied message; send the second number and the third number to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the packet loss index of the link where the forwarding node is located based on the second number and the third number.

[0248] In some embodiments, the first message and / or the second message carries an iFIT message header, the iFIT message header includes a Dup field, the Dup field carries a copy flag, and the copy flag indicates that the message is a copied message.

[0249] The present application also provides a forwarding node, such as Fig.18As shown, it includes a processor 181 and a machine-readable storage medium 182, the machine-readable storage medium 182 stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor 181, and the processor 181 is prompted by the machine-executable instructions to implement any of the delay measurement methods applied to the forwarding node.

[0250] The machine-readable storage medium 182 may include a random access memory (RAM) or a non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk storage. Optionally, the machine-readable storage medium 182 may also be at least one storage device located away from the aforementioned processor.

[0251] The processor 181 may be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0252] In another embodiment provided in the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of any of the above delay measurement methods are implemented.

[0253] In another embodiment provided by the present application, a computer program product including instructions is also provided, and when the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute any delay measurement method in the above embodiments.

[0254] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)), etc.

[0255] It should be noted that the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0256] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the device, forwarding node, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product embodiments, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiments.

[0257] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application are included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A delay measurement method, characterized in that: Applied to a forwarding node, the method comprises: Receiving a first message of a service flow through a first input interface; If the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node, forwarding the first message to obtain a second message; If the second message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, the second message is copied to obtain a first number of third messages, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1; The second message and the first number of third messages are forwarded through the multiple output interfaces, and a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to each output interface are sent to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp being the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface being the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The forwarding node is an ingress node, and the first message is an original message; the step of forwarding the first message to obtain a second message includes: Encapsulating the first message with an in-band flow information measurement iFIT message header; The encapsulated first message is subjected to delay coloring to obtain a second message.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The forwarding node is an intermediate node or an egress node. After receiving the first message, the method further includes: Receiving a fourth message of the service flow through the first input interface or the second input interface; If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the input interface of the fourth message is the second input interface, a third timestamp is sent to the analyzer so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located based on the first timestamp, the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, and the third timestamp, and the third timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the second input interface.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, the input interface of the fourth message is the first input interface, and the fourth message does not carry a copy identifier, the first timestamp is updated to a fourth timestamp, the fourth timestamp is a timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the first input interface, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copied message; The step of sending the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface to the analyzer includes: The updated first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface are sent to the analyzer.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the fourth message carries a copy identifier, discarding the fourth message, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message; If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the fourth message does not carry the copy identifier, the fourth message is forwarded through the first outbound interface corresponding to the service flow.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the fourth message does not carry the copy identifier, the second timestamp corresponding to the first output interface is updated to a fifth timestamp, and the fifth timestamp is a timestamp of forwarding the fourth message through the first output interface; The step of sending the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each outbound interface to the analyzer includes: The first timestamp, the updated second timestamp corresponding to the first outbound interface, and the second timestamps corresponding to other outbound interfaces other than the first outbound interface are sent to the analyzer.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, then the iFIT message header carried by the first message is stripped off to obtain a fifth message, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message; the fifth message is forwarded through the second egress interface corresponding to the business flow, and the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp are sent to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp, and the sixth timestamp is the timestamp of forwarding the fifth message through the second egress interface; If the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-stained message of the current statistical period, and the first message carries the copy identifier, the first message is discarded and a first timestamp is sent to the analyzer.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Counting a second number and a third number within the current statistical period, where the second number is the number of sixth messages received from the service flow, and the third number is the number of forwarded sixth messages, where the sixth message does not carry a copy identifier, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message; The second number and the third number are sent to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures a packet loss index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the second number and the third number.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The first message and / or the second message carries an iFIT message header, the iFIT message header includes a copy Dup field, the Dup field carries a copy identifier, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message.

10. A delay measurement device, characterized in that: Applied to a forwarding node, the device comprises: A receiving module, used for receiving a first message of a service flow through a first input interface; A processing module, configured to forward the first message to obtain a second message if the forwarding node is an ingress node or an intermediate node; A copying module, used for copying the second message to obtain a first number of third messages if the second message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period and the service flow corresponds to multiple outbound interfaces, where the first number is the number of the multiple outbound interfaces minus 1; A sending module is used to forward the second message and the first number of third messages through the multiple output interfaces, and send a first timestamp and a second timestamp corresponding to each output interface to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface, the first timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the first message through the first input interface, and the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface is the timestamp of forwarding the second message or the third message through each output interface.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The forwarding node is an intermediate node or an egress node, and the receiving module is further used to: after receiving the first message, receive a fourth message of the service flow through the first inbound interface or the second inbound interface; The sending module is also used for: if the fourth message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the input interface of the fourth message is the second input interface, then sending a third timestamp to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp, the second timestamp corresponding to each output interface and the third timestamp, and the third timestamp is the timestamp of receiving the fourth message through the second input interface.

12. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The processing module is further used for: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of a current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, then stripping off the iFIT message header carried by the first message to obtain a sixth message, wherein the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message; The sending module is further used for: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the first message does not carry a copy identifier, forwarding the sixth message through the second egress interface corresponding to the service flow, and sending the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp to the analyzer, so that the analyzer measures the delay index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the first timestamp and the sixth timestamp, and the sixth timestamp is the timestamp of forwarding the sixth message through the second egress interface; The sending module is further used for: if the forwarding node is an egress node, the first message is a delay-colored message of the current statistical period, and the first message carries the copy identifier, then discarding the first message and sending a first timestamp to the analyzer.

13. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The sending module is further used for: Counting a second number and a third number within the current statistical period, where the second number is the number of sixth messages received from the service flow, and the third number is the number of forwarded sixth messages, where the sixth message does not carry a copy identifier, and the copy identifier indicates that the message is a copy message; The second number and the third number are sent to an analyzer, so that the analyzer measures a packet loss index of the link where the forwarding node is located according to the second number and the third number.

14. A forwarding node, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, wherein the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor is prompted by the machine-executable instructions to implement the method described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

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