Communication method and related equipment

Abstract

A communication method and related equipment, in the method, a first node serves as a TC node, and after the first node receives a first clock message, the first node sends a second clock message carrying time delay information of the first node based on the first clock message. Wherein the TC node serves as a node participating in clock message forwarding, and the process of processing the clock message by the TC node inevitably affects the time correction process realized based on the clock message (for example, TC node faults or TC node performance reduction and the like may cause inaccurate time correction), so that the time correction process is not accurate. The influence will be one of factors needing to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the implementation process, when the TC node forwards the clock message, the time delay information of the TC node can be carried in the forwarded clock message, so that a receiver of the clock message can obtain the time delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, and the complexity of network operation and maintenance is further reduced.

Description

[0001] This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with the application number 202410040043.6 and the application title "A Communication Method and Related Devices" submitted to the National Intellectual Property Administration on January 9, 2024, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and related devices. Background Art

[0003] In a communication network, a network running the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) can be referred to as a PTP domain, and the nodes in the PTP domain can be referred to as clock nodes, including ordinary clock (OC) nodes, boundary clock (BC) nodes, and transparent clock (TC) nodes.

[0004] Currently, clock messages can be transmitted between different clock nodes in the PTP domain, enabling the nodes in the PTP domain to perform time correction based on the clock messages to achieve time synchronization of the entire network. Generally, a TC node may not have a port state (such as a master port or a slave port). For this reason, a TC node can act as a transparent forwarding node and transparently forward the received clock message.

[0005] However, in the case where a TC node transparently forwards a clock message, the end nodes (such as BC nodes, OC nodes, etc.) that perform time correction based on the clock message can only obtain the relevant information of the node that generated the PTP message, which will greatly increase the complexity of network operation and maintenance. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method and related devices, which are used to enable the receiver of a clock message to obtain the delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0007] The first aspect of this application provides a communication method. This method is executed by a first node, or by some components in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or this method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node. In the first aspect and its possible implementation manners, taking the case where this method is executed by the first node as an example for description, the first node can be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, an intelligent network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, or an optical transport network (OTN) device. In this method, the first node receives a first clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the first node sends a second clock message based on the first clock message, and the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

[0008] Based on the above technical solution, as a TC node, after receiving the first clock message, the first node will send a second clock message carrying the delay information of the first node based on the first clock message. Among them, as a node participating in the forwarding of clock messages, the process of the TC node processing clock messages will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock messages (for example, TC node failures or performance degradation of TC nodes may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message, so that the recipient of the clock message can obtain the delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0009] In addition, compared with the implementation manner in which the TC node records the cumulative delay of one or more TC nodes in the clock message, in the above technical solution, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message. In other words, on the forwarding path of the clock message, the clock message can carry the delay information of each TC node. In this way, the end recipient of the clock message (such as: BC node or OC node) can obtain the delay information of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the clock message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0010] In this application, a node sends another message based on a message (for example, the first node sends a second clock message based on the first clock message, or the first node described later sends a second message based on the first message). It can be understood that the node retransmits another message based on this one message. Retransmission may mean that the node can modify some content of this one message, but does not modify the source address and destination address of the message, and then sends another message.

[0011] It should be understood that the process of the first node sending the second clock message based on the first clock message can be understood as follows: on the forwarding path of the first clock message, the first node acts as a forwarding device (or forwarding node, or routing forwarding device, etc.) on this forwarding path. When the first node receives the first clock message and determines that it needs to forward the first clock message, the first node modifies the first clock message into the second clock message and sends the second clock message to the next-hop node (such as the second node mentioned later).

[0012] Optionally, the payload of the first clock message and the payload of the second clock message may be the same.

[0013] Optionally, during the process of the first node modifying the first clock message into the second clock message, the first node may add the delay information of the first node based on the first clock message to obtain the second clock message.

[0014] It should be noted that in the second clock message, the delay information of the first node may be carried in a defined type length value (TLV), or may be carried in a newly defined TLV. Exemplarily, the name of this newly defined TLV may be forwarding delay TLV, delay TLV, etc., or other names, which are not limited here.

[0015] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, both the first clock message and the second clock message are synchronization (Sync) messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the (one-step) mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode.

[0016] Based on the above technical solution, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Sync message, that is, both the first clock message and the second clock message can be Sync messages. Moreover, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode, and the transmission mode of the first clock message is the one-step mode or the two-step mode, so that the solution can adapt to a variety of different scenarios.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode.

[0018] Based on the above technical solution, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Follow_Up message, that is, both the first clock message and the second clock message can be Follow_Up messages. Moreover, the transmission mode supported by the first node and the transmission mode of the first clock message are both the one-step mode, enabling the solution to adapt to the transmission scenario of Follow_Up messages.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Req messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; or, both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode.

[0020] Based on the above technical solution, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Delay_Req message, that is, both the first clock message and the second clock message can be Delay_Req messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode, enabling the solution to adapt to the transmission scenario of Delay_Req messages. Or, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Delay_Resp message, that is, both the first clock message and the second clock message can be Delay_Resp messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode, enabling the solution to adapt to the transmission scenario of Delay_Resp messages.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a first delay, where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message; or, the first node is a peer-to-peer (P2P) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the first delay, the second delay, and the sum of the first delay and the second delay; wherein, the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message, and the second delay is the link delay between the port that receives the first clock message and the port that sends the first clock message.

[0022] Optionally, the recipient of the first clock message is the first node, that is, the receiving port of the first clock message is one of the ports of the first node; similarly, the sender of the first clock message is the previous-hop node of the first node (for example, the previous-hop node is a TC node, a BC node, an OC node, etc.), that is, the sending port of the first clock message is the port of the previous-hop node. Generally, the number of ports of a node can be one or more, that is, there may be multiple port combinations for communication between the first node and the previous-hop node. Optionally, the link delays between different port combinations may be different.

[0023] It should be understood that the port for receiving or sending a message (such as the port of the first node for receiving the first clock message, the port of the previous-hop node of the first node for sending the first clock message, etc.) can be a 1588 port, a PTP port, etc.

[0024] Based on the above technical solution, when the first clock message forwarded by the first node is a Sync message / Follow_Up message / Delay_Req message / Delay_Resp message, the delay information included in the second clock message may include a first delay, a second delay, the sum of the first delay and the second delay, etc. determined based on the first clock message, so as to carry end-to-end delay or point-to-point delay to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2PTC.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the first node receives the first clock message, the method further includes: the first node receives a third clock message, and the delay information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message; the first node sends a fourth clock message based on the third clock message.

[0026] Based on the above technical solution, the first node may also receive a third clock message and send a fourth clock message based on the third clock message, where the delay information of the first node included in the second clock message may be determined based on the third clock message. In this way, the solution can be applied to the two-step mode.

[0027] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages; or, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages.

[0028] Based on the above technical solution, when the delay information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message, the first clock message, the second clock message, the third clock message, and the fourth clock message can be implemented in the above various ways to adapt to different communication scenarios.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first node is an E2E TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a third delay, where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message; or, the first node is a point-to-point P2P TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the third delay, the fourth delay, and the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay; where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message, and the fourth delay is the link delay between the port that receives the third clock message and the port that sends the third clock message.

[0030] Based on the above technical solution, when the delay information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message, the delay information included in the second clock message may include the third delay, the fourth delay, the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay, etc. determined based on the third clock message, so as to carry end-to-end delay or point-to-point delay to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2P TC.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the second clock message further carries first indication information and / or second indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second clock message includes the delay information of the first node, and the second indication information is used to indicate the clock identifier of the first node or the second indication information is the clock identifier of the first node.

[0032] Based on the above technical solution, in addition to including the delay information of the first node, the second clock message sent by the first node may further include first indication information and / or second indication information, so that the recipient of the second clock message can determine whether the second clock message includes the delay information of the first node based on the first indication information, and / or determine the clock identifier of the first node based on the second indication information. In this way, it is convenient for the recipient to implement network operation and maintenance based on the delay information and / or clock identifier of the first node.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first clock message and the second clock message include the delay information of the previous-hop TC node of the first node.

[0034] Based on the above technical solution, other TC nodes may also be included in the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the first clock message received by the first node may include the delay information of the previous-hop TC node of the first node. Moreover, the second clock message sent by the first node may also include the delay information of the previous-hop TC node of the first node (i.e., the first node may not modify the delay information of the previous-hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own delay information in the forwarded clock message, enabling the receiver of the second clock message to obtain the delay information of each TC node on the forwarding path, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, faulty or performance-degraded TC nodes can be identified based on the delay information of each node).

[0035] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first node receives a fifth clock message; the first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0036] Based on the above technical solution, the first node may also receive a fifth clock message and send a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, where the sixth clock message may include the clock identifier of the first node. In this way, the receiver of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of the TC nodes on the forwarding path of the clock message and determine the transmission path containing the TC nodes based on the clock identifiers of the TC nodes, which can further reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, in the case of clock message transmission failure caused by a TC node failure, the faulty TC node can be determined based on the clock identifier of the TC node).

[0037] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages.

[0038] Based on the above technical solution, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation manner where the Announce message only records the clock identifiers of the grandmaster (GM) node and the BC node, it enables the receiving node of the Announce message (such as the BC node, OC node, etc.) to obtain the clock identifier of the TC node to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, facilitating operation and maintenance.

[0039] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node may be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0040] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the Path Trace Type-Length-Value (PATH_TRACETLV) in the Announce message.

[0041] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0042] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node.

[0043] Based on the above technical solution, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node may include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node, and the sixth clock message sent by the first node may also include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node may not modify the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own clock identifier in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiver of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of each TC node on the forwarding path to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path.

[0044] A second aspect of the present application provides a communication method. This method is executed by a second node, or by some components in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or this method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node. In the second aspect and its possible implementations, taking the example that this method is executed by the second node, the second node can be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, a smart network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, or an optical transport network (OTN) device. In this method, the second node receives a second clock message, and the second clock message includes the delay information of at least one TC node; the second node obtains the delay information of the at least one TC node based on the second clock message.

[0045] Based on the above technical solution, after the second node receives the second clock message, the second node can obtain the delay information of at least one TC node (for example, the at least one TC node includes the first node) based on the second clock message. Among them, the TC node is a node participating in the forwarding of the clock message, and the process of the TC node processing the clock message will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock message (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message, so that the recipient of the clock message (for example, the second node) can obtain the delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, and then identify whether the delay information of the TC node is abnormal, quickly discover abnormal TC nodes, and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0046] In addition, compared with the implementation method in which the TC node records the cumulative delay of one or more TC nodes in the clock message, in the above technical solution, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message. In other words, on the forwarding path of the clock message, the clock message can carry the delay information of each TC node. In this way, the end recipient of the clock message (for example, the second node) can obtain the delay information of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the clock message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0047] Optionally, the second node is an OC node or a BC node or a GM node.

[0048] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second node is a BC node, and the method further includes: the second node sends a seventh clock message based on the second clock message, and the seventh clock message includes the delay information of the at least one TC node.

[0049] Based on the above technical solution, when the second node is a BC node, the second node can also send a seventh clock message including the delay information of the at least one TC node based on the second clock message, so that the recipient of the seventh clock message can obtain the delay information of the at least one TC node and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance based on the delay information of the at least one TC node.

[0050] Optionally, the second clock message is a Delay_Req message and the seventh clock message is a Delay_Resp message.

[0051] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the at least one TC node includes a first node; the first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a first delay, where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives a first clock message and the time when the first node sends a second clock message, and the second clock message is determined based on the first clock message; or, the first node is a point-to-point (P2P) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the first delay, a second delay, and the sum of the first delay and the second delay; where the second delay is the link delay between the port that receives the first clock message and the port that sends the first clock message.

[0052] Based on the above technical solution, the second clock message carrying the delay information of at least one TC node may include the delay information of the first node, where the delay information of the first node may be determined based on the first clock message received by the first node. Moreover, the delay information of the first node may include the first delay, the second delay, the sum of the first delay and the second delay, etc. determined based on the first clock message, so as to carry the end-to-end delay or the point-to-point delay, to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2P TC.

[0053] Optionally, the second clock message is a Sync message, a Follow_Up message, a Delay_Req message, or a Delay_Resp message.

[0054] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the at least one TC node includes a first node; the first node is an E2E TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a third delay, where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives a third clock message and the time when the first node sends a fourth clock message, and the fourth clock message is determined based on the third clock message; or, the first node is a P2P TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the third delay, a fourth delay, and the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay; where the fourth delay is the link delay between the port that receives the third clock message and the port that sends the third clock message.

[0055] Based on the above technical solution, the second clock message carrying the delay information of at least one TC node may include the delay information of the first node, where the delay information of the first node may be determined based on the third clock message. In this case, the delay information of the first node may include the third delay, the fourth delay, the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay, etc. determined based on the third clock message, so as to carry the end-to-end delay or the point-to-point delay, to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2P TC.

[0056] Optionally, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages; or, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages.

[0057] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second clock message further carries at least one first indication information and / or at least one second indication information. The at least one first indication information is respectively used to indicate that the second clock message includes the delay information of the at least one node, and the at least one second indication information is respectively used to indicate the clock identifier of the at least one node.

[0058] Based on the above technical solution, in addition to including the delay information of the first node, the second clock message received by the second node may further include the first indication information and / or the second indication information, so that the second node can determine whether the second clock message includes the delay information of the first node based on the first indication information, and / or determine the clock identifier of the first node based on the second indication information. In this way, it is convenient for the second node to implement network operation and maintenance based on the delay information and / or clock identifier of the first node.

[0059] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second node is an OC node or a BC node, and the method further includes: the second node receives a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer.

[0060] Based on the above technical solution, when the second node is an OC node or a BC node, the second node may further receive a sixth clock message including the clock identifiers of N TC nodes. In this way, the second node can obtain the clock identifiers of the TC nodes on the forwarding path of the clock message, and determine the transmission path including the TC nodes based on the clock identifiers of the TC nodes, which can further reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, when the clock message transmission fails due to a TC node failure, the TC node with a fault can be determined based on the clock identifier of the TC node).

[0061] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the sixth clock message is an Announce message.

[0062] Based on the above technical solution, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation method where the Announce message only records the clock identifiers of the grandmaster (GM) node and the BC node, the receiving node of the Announce message (such as the BC node, OC node, etc.) can obtain the clock identifier of the TC node to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, which is convenient for operation and maintenance.

[0063] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node can be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0064] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV in the Announce message.

[0065] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0066] A third aspect of the present application provides a communication method. This method is executed by the first node, or by some components in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or this method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node. In the third aspect and its possible implementation manners, taking the case where this method is executed by the first node as an example for description, the first node can be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, a smart network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, an optical transport network (OTN) device, etc. In this method, the first node receives a fifth clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0067] Based on the above technical solution, the first node acts as a TC node. After receiving the fifth clock message, the first node will send a sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the first node based on the fifth clock message. Among them, as a node participating in the forwarding of clock messages, the process of the TC node processing clock messages will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock messages (for example, TC node failures or performance degradation of TC nodes may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node forwards clock messages, it can carry the clock identifier of the TC node in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiving party of the clock message can obtain the clock identifier of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0068] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages.

[0069] Based on the above technical solution, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation manner in which the Announce message only records the clock identifiers of the grandmaster (GM) node and the BC node, it enables the receiving node of the Announce message (such as the BC node, OC node, etc.) to obtain the clock identifier of the TC node to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, which is convenient for operation and maintenance.

[0070] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node can be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0071] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV in the Announce message.

[0072] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0073] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node.

[0074] Based on the above technical solution, other TC nodes may also be included in the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node may include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node, and the sixth clock message sent by the first node may also include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node may not modify the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own clock identifier in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiver of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of each TC node on the forwarding path to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path.

[0075] The fourth aspect of this application provides a communication method, which is executed by the second node, or by some components in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or this method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node. In the second aspect and its possible implementation manners, taking the case where this method is executed by the second node as an example for description, the second node may be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, an intelligent network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, or an optical transport network (OTN) device. In this method, the second node receives a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer; the second node determines the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes.

[0076] Based on the above technical solution, after the second node receives the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes, the second node can determine the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes. Among them, the TC node is a node participating in the forwarding of the clock message. The process of the TC node processing the clock message will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock message (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, the second node can obtain the clock identifiers of the TC nodes on the forwarding path of the clock message, and determine the transmission path including the TC nodes based on the clock identifiers of the TC nodes, which can further reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, in the case of clock message transmission failure caused by TC node failure, the faulty TC node can be determined based on the clock identifier of the TC node).

[0077] Optionally, the second node can determine the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes. The transmission path can be an end-to-end path, that is, the nodes on the transmission path can include the starting node of the message (such as BC node, OC node, GM node, etc.) and the intermediate forwarding nodes (such as one or more TC nodes). Optionally, the nodes on the transmission path also include the termination node (such as BC node, OC node, GM node, etc.).

[0078] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the second clock message is an Announce message.

[0079] Based on the above technical solution, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation manner in which the Announce message only records the clock identifiers of the grandmaster (GM) node and the BC node, it can enable the receiving nodes of the Announce message (such as BC node, OC node, etc.) to obtain the clock identifier of the TC node to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, which is convenient for operation and maintenance.

[0080] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node can be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0081] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV in the Announce message.

[0082] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0083] A fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a first node, or by some components in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node. In the fifth aspect and its possible implementation manners, taking the method being executed by the first node as an example for description, the first node can be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, an intelligent network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, or an optical transport network (OTN) device. In this method, the first node, which is a TC node, receives a first message; the first node sends a second message based on the first message, and the second message includes first information, where the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and a third node, and / or the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

[0084] Based on the above solution, as a TC node, after receiving the first message, the first node can send a second message carrying the first information based on the first message, so that the recipient of the second message can determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and / or determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node. Among them, as a node participating in message processing, the TC node's process of processing messages will inevitably affect the time calibration process implemented based on the message (for example, TC node failures or performance degradation of TC nodes may all lead to inaccurate time calibration). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when sending a message, the TC node can carry the frequency deviation and / or time deviation associated with the TC node in the sent message, so that the recipient of the second message can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of the TC node based on the message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0085] Exemplarily, the end recipient of the message (such as a BC node, an OC node, or a gateway device) can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the second message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0086] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the third node is the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node.

[0087] Based on the above solution, the receiver of the second message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between the first node and the previous-hop BC node (or the first node and the previous-hop OC node) based on the first information carried in the second message. Correspondingly, when there is one or more TC nodes between the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node and the receiver of the second message, the receiver can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop BC nodes (or one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop OC nodes) based on the received one or more second messages, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0088] Optionally, the third node is the previous-hop TC node or the previous-hop grandmaster (GM) node of the first node, so that the receiver of the second message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between the TC node and the previous-hop TC node (or the first node and the GM node) based on the first information included in the second message, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0089] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first information includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to determine the frequency deviation. The third indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0090] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the third indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and send the third indication information through the first information, so that the receiver of the first information can determine the above frequency deviation through the third indication information.

[0091] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first node is an E2E TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; the method further includes: the first node receives a first Sync message; the first node sends a second Sync message based on the first Sync message; the first node receives a first Delay_Req message; the first node sends a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message; wherein, the first information includes fourth indication information for determining the time deviation, and the fourth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

[0092] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the fourth indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message, and send the fourth indication information through the first information, so that the receiver of the first information can determine the above-mentioned E2E time deviation through the fourth indication information.

[0093] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes: the delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0094] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes: the delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message, and the delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0095] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first node is a P2P TC node, the first information includes fifth indication information for determining the time deviation; the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and the link delay between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message, and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0096] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the fifth indication information in any of the above manners and send the fifth indication information through the first message, so that the recipient of the first message can determine the time deviation of the above P2P through the fifth indication information.

[0097] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first node is the TC node of P2P; the first message includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information; the sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message and the link delay between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0098] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the sixth indication information in any of the above manners and send the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information through the first message, so that the recipient of the first message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of the above P2P through the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first node is the TC node of E2E; wherein, the first message is used to determine the frequency deviation, the first message includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0100] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the seventh indication information in the above manner and send the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information through the first message, so that the recipient of the first message can determine the frequency deviation of the above E2E through the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information.

[0101] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first node is an E2E TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; the method further includes: the first node receives a first Sync message; the first node sends a second Sync message based on the first Sync message; the first node receives a first Delay_Req message; the first node sends a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message; wherein, the first information is used to determine the time deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

[0102] Based on the above solution, the first node can send the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message through the first information, so that the recipient of the first information can determine the E2E time deviation through these information.

[0103] Optionally, the first information further includes: the delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0104] Optionally, the first information further includes: the delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message, and the delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0105] Optionally, the above first message and the above second message can be implemented in multiple ways.

[0106] For example, both the above first message and the above second message are Sync messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0107] For another example, both the above first message and the above second message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0108] For another example, both the first message and the second message are Announce messages.

[0109] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first node sends a second message based on the first message, including: the first node sends a second message to a network management device based on the first message. Alternatively, the first node sends a second message to the next-hop clock node based on the first message.

[0110] Based on the above solution, the first node can send a second message to a network management device or the next-hop clock node, so that the network management device, or the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop BC node of the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop OC node of the next-hop clock node obtains the second message, and determines the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the first node and the third node through the second message.

[0111] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first message includes eighth indication information, and the eighth indication information is used to indicate whether the message sent by the TC node includes the first information. For example, the eighth indication information may be carried when the previous-hop BC node, the previous OC node, or the GM node of the first node sends a message, and through the eighth indication information, it can be indicated whether the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information. And when the eighth indication information indicates that the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information, the receiver of the message sent by the TC node can obtain the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the TC node and the third node through the first information, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0112] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first information further includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0113] Based on the above solution, in the second message sent by the first node and including the first information, the first information may further include the clock identifier of the first node, so that the receiver of the second message can determine the TC node associated with the frequency deviation and / or time deviation based on the clock identifier of the first node, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0114] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a second node, or by some components in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node. In the sixth aspect and its possible implementation manners, taking the method being executed by the second node as an example for description, the second node can be a communication device such as a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, a smart network card, a packet transport network (PTN) device, or an optical transport network (OTN) device. In this method, the second node receives a second message, and the second message includes first information; the second node determines a frequency deviation between a first node and a third node, and / or a time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and the first node is a TC node.

[0115] Based on the above solution, the second message received by the second node contains first information, and the second node can determine a frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or determine a time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and the first node is a TC node. Among them, as a node participating in message processing, the TC node's process of message processing will inevitably affect the time calibration process implemented based on this message (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time calibration). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node sends a message, it can carry the frequency deviation and / or time deviation associated with the TC node in the sent message, so that the second node can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of the TC node based on the message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0116] Exemplarily, the end receiver of the message (such as: the second node is a BC node or an OC node or a gateway device) can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the second message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0117] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the third node is the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node.

[0118] Based on the above solution, the second node can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between the first node and the previous-hop BC node (or between the first node and the previous-hop OC node) based on the first information carried in the second message. Correspondingly, when there is one or more TC nodes between the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node and the second node, the second node can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop BC nodes (or between one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop OC nodes) based on the received one or more second messages, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0119] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first information includes third indication information, which is used to determine the frequency deviation, and the third indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0120] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the third indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and send the third indication information through the first information, so that the recipient of the first information can determine the above frequency deviation through the third indication information.

[0121] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; wherein, the first information includes fourth indication information, which is used to determine the time deviation, and the fourth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message received by the first node, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

[0122] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the fourth indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message, and send the fourth indication information through the first information, so that the second node can determine the above E2E time deviation through the fourth indication information.

[0123] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes the time delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0124] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes the time delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message and the time delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0125] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first node is a TC node of point-to-point P2P, and the first information includes fifth indication information for determining the time deviation; the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and the link delay between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message, and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0126] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the fifth indication information in any of the above manners and send the fifth indication information through the first information, so that the second node can determine the above-mentioned P2P time deviation through the fifth indication information.

[0127] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first node is a TC node of point-to-point P2P; the first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and sixth indication information; the sixth indication information is determined based on the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message and the link delay between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the sixth indication information is determined based on the time delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0128] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the sixth indication information in any of the above manners and send the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information through the first information, so that the second node can determine the above-mentioned P2P frequency deviation and / or time deviation through the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information.

[0129] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first node is an E2E TC node; wherein, the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0130] Based on the above solution, the first node can determine the seventh indication information in the above manner, and send the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information through the first information, so that the second node can determine the above E2E frequency deviation through the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information.

[0131] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first node is an E2E TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; wherein, the first information is used to determine the time deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message received by the first node, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

[0132] Based on the above solution, the first node can send the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message through the first information, so that the second node can determine the E2E time deviation through these information.

[0133] Optionally, the first information further includes: the delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0134] Optionally, the first information further includes: the delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message, and the delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0135] Optionally, the above first message and the above second message can be implemented in various ways.

[0136] For example, both the above first message and the above second message are Sync messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0137] For another example, both the above first message and the above second message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; among them, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0138] For another example, both the first message and the second message are Announce messages.

[0139] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the second node is a network management device or the next-hop clock node of the first node.

[0140] Based on the above solution, the second node may be a gateway device, that is, the first node may send the second message to the network management device or the next-hop clock node, so that the network management device, or the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop BC node of the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop OC node of the next-hop clock node obtains the second message, and determines the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the first node and the third node through the second message.

[0141] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first message includes eighth indication information, and the eighth indication information is used to indicate whether the message sent by the TC node includes the first information. For example, the eighth indication information may be carried when the previous-hop BC node, the previous OC node, or the GM node of the first node sends a message, and through the eighth indication information, it can be indicated whether the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information. And, when the eighth indication information indicates that the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information, the receiver of the message sent by the TC node can obtain the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the TC node and the third node through the first information, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0142] In a possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first information further includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0143] Based on the above solution, in the second message including the first information sent by the first node, the first information may further include the clock identifier of the first node, so that the second node can determine the TC node associated with the frequency deviation and / or time deviation based on the clock identifier of the first node, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0144] The seventh aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be the first node, or the device can be a component in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node.

[0145] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a first clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the processing unit is used to determine a second clock message based on the first clock message; the transceiver unit is further used to send the second clock message, and the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

[0146] The eighth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be the second node, or the device can be a component in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node.

[0147] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a second clock message, and the second clock message includes the delay information of at least one TC node; the processing unit is used to obtain the delay information of at least one TC node based on the second clock message.

[0148] The ninth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be the first node, or the device can be a component in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node.

[0149] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a fifth clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the processing unit is used to determine a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message; the transceiver unit is further used to send the sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0150] The tenth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the above fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be a second node, or the device can be a component in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node.

[0151] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer; the processing unit is used to determine the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes.

[0152] The eleventh aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the above fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be a first node, or the device can be a component in the first node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first node.

[0153] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a first message, and the first node is a TC node; the processing unit is used to send a second message based on the first message, and the second message includes first information, where the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

[0154] The twelfth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the above sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented in software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be a second node, or the device can be a component in the second node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second node.

[0155] The device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; the transceiver unit is configured to receive a second message, and the second message includes first information; the processing unit is configured to determine a frequency deviation between a first node and a third node, and / or a time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and the first node is a TC node.

[0156] A thirteenth aspect of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes at least one processor, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a program or instruction stored in a memory, so that the device implements the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0157] For example, in addition to including the foregoing at least one processor, the communication device may further include the memory, and the at least one processor is coupled to the memory. In this way, the at least one processor in the communication device can obtain the program or instruction through the memory in the communication device, and through the execution of the program or instruction, so that the communication device implements the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0158] Another example is that the communication device may externally connect a memory through a communication interface. For example, the foregoing at least one processor and the memory may be located (or deployed) in different communication devices. In this way, the at least one processor in the communication device can obtain the program or instruction through the externally connected memory of the communication device, and through the execution of the program or instruction, so that the communication device implements the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0159] A fourteenth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, including at least one logic circuit and an input-output interface; the logic circuit is configured to execute the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0160] A fifteenth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer instructions; when the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0161] A sixteenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program), and the computer program product includes instructions. When the instructions in the computer program product are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0162] The seventeenth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a communication interface and a processor. The communication interface is coupled to the processor and is used to support a communication device to implement the method described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0163] In a possible design, the chip system may further include a memory, which is used to store necessary program instructions and data of the communication device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor.

[0164] The eighteenth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the communication device of the seventh aspect and the communication device of the eighth aspect described above, or the communication system includes the communication device of the ninth aspect and the communication device of the tenth aspect described above, or the communication system includes the communication device of the eleventh aspect and the communication device of the twelfth aspect described above.

[0165] Among them, the technical effects brought by any design manner in the seventh aspect to the eighteenth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different implementation manners in the first aspect to the sixth aspect above, and will not be elaborated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0166] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the 1588 synchronization network related to the present application;

[0167] Figures 2a to 2f It is a schematic diagram of clock message interaction related to the present application;

[0168] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the scenario of clock message transmission related to the present application;

[0169] Figure 4a And Figure 4b It is a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0170] Figures 5a to 5c It is an application schematic diagram of the clock communication method provided by the present application;

[0171] Figure 6a And Figure 6d It is a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0172] Figures 7 to 9 It is a schematic diagram of the communication device provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0173] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following (single)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single (single) or plural (single). For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal words such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0174] It should be noted that, in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0175] It should be understood that in the present application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will take corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time, nor do they require that the device must have a judgment action when it is implemented, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0176] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between various embodiments or implementations can refer to each other. In each embodiment of this application, and each implementation method / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments and each implementation method / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and each implementation method / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of this application described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0177] First, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0178] (1) The 1588 protocol is defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is officially called the "Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems", which can be abbreviated as the Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

[0179] It should be noted that the 1588 protocol / standard involved in this application may include, but is not limited to, IEEE 1588 - 2008 which is the 1588v2 standard, IEEE 1588 - 2019 which is the 1588v2.1 standard, or other future - evolved 1588 standards.

[0180] In a communication network, the normal operation of most telecommunications services requires that the frequency or time difference between network devices be maintained within a reasonable error level, that is, network clock synchronization. PTP is a time protocol for networked measurement and control systems, which can achieve a high network time - alignment accuracy and realize high - precision time synchronization. PTP itself can be used for high - precision time synchronization between devices or can be borrowed for frequency synchronization between devices.

[0181] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 1588 synchronization network. Among them, the clock messages sent by a 1588 server (such as Figure 1 the 1588 server 1, 1588 server 2, etc. in Figure 1 can be transmitted through one or more network equipment (NE), enabling wireless access devices (such as

[0182] the base station 1, base station 2, base station 3, and base station 4, etc. in

[0183] to receive the clock message and achieve clock synchronization based on the clock message. Clock synchronization can refer to frequency synchronization, time synchronization, or both frequency synchronization and time synchronization. Figure 1 In

[0184] (2) Basic concepts of PTP.

[0185] ① PTP domain: The network to which the PTP protocol is applied can be called a PTP domain.

[0186] Optionally, there is exactly one synchronization clock within the PTP domain, and all devices within the PTP domain are synchronized with this clock.

[0187] ② PTP port: A port on a device that runs the PTP protocol can be called a PTP port.

[0188] Exemplarily, the roles of PTP ports can include the following three types:

[0189] Master Port: A port that publishes the synchronization time, which can exist on a BC or an OC.

[0190] Slave Port: A port that receives the synchronization time, which can exist on a boundary clock (BC) or an ordinary clock (OC).

[0191] Passive Port: An alternative port that receives the synchronization time, which can exist on a BC.

[0192] (3) Clock node: A node in the PTP domain is called a clock node, and the PTP protocol defines the following several types of basic clock nodes.

[0193] OC end node: This clock node has only one PTP port participating in clock synchronization within the same PTP domain, and synchronizes time from the upstream clock node through this port, as Figure 2b shown.

[0194] OC source node: This clock node has only one PTP port or multiple PTP ports participating in clock synchronization within the same PTP domain, and publishes time to the downstream clock node through this port, as Figure 2a shown.

[0195] An implementation example is as Figure 2a shown. When the OC node is used as a clock source, this OC node can include one or more master ports (denoted as "M" in the figure), and generally does not have a slave port. Exemplarily, this OC node can be Figure 1 the 1588 server 1 or 1588 server 2 shown, that is, this OC node can track other time signals (such as satellite time signals), and then send clock messages carrying time information (such as Sync messages in the 1588 protocol and Announce messages carrying OC-related information, etc.) through the "M" port. Optionally, when the OC node is used as a clock source, this OC node can also be called a grandmaster (GM), that is, this OC node can be a 1588 source device.

[0196] Another implementation example is asFigure 2b As shown, when the OC node is an end device, the OC node may include a slave port (denoted as "S" in the figure). Exemplarily, the OC node may be Figure 1 the wireless access device shown (such as Figure 1 Base Station 1, Base Station 2, Base Station 3, Base Station 4, etc. in

[0197] BC: This clock node has multiple PTP ports participating in time synchronization within the same PTP domain. It synchronizes time from an upstream clock node through one of its ports and distributes time to downstream clock nodes through the remaining ports. Additionally, when the clock node serves as a clock source, it can distribute time to downstream clock nodes through multiple PTP ports, and it can also be referred to as a BC.

[0198] An implementation example is as Figure 2c shown. The BC node can be a 1588 intermediate device, generally having at least two types of ports among a master port (denoted as "M"), a slave port (denoted as "S"), and a passive port (denoted as "P"). Optionally, in a BC node, the number of master ports can be 0, 1, or more, the number of slave ports can be 1, and the number of passive ports can be 0, 1, or more. Exemplarily, the BC node can be Figure 1 the NE shown (such as any one of NE1 to NE6). Among them, the BC node can receive clock messages through the slave port and perform time synchronization. Also, the BC node can send new clock messages from the active end, enabling other devices to perform time synchronization based on the new clock messages.

[0199] Generally, each port of the BC node will receive Announce messages. Then, according to the best master clock algorithm (BMC or BMCA), the BC node can determine the outgoing port status of each port as "P", "S", or "M", and then send a new Announce message on the "M" port.

[0200] Transparent clock (TC): Compared with BC / OC, TC has no port status. Additionally, BC / OC generally needs to maintain time synchronization with other clock nodes, while TC can be independent of other clock nodes for time synchronization.

[0201] Exemplarily, such as Figure 2dAs shown in the figure, the TC can have multiple PTP ports, but it only forwards PTP protocol packets between these ports and corrects the forwarding delay of these packets, without synchronizing time through any port. In other words, each port of the TC node generally does not have a port state.

[0202] Optionally, the TC includes the following two types.

[0203] End-to-end transparent clock (E2E TC): It can forward protocol packets of non-peer-to-peer (P2P) types in the network and participate in calculating the delay of the entire link.

[0204] As an implementation example of E2E TC, as Figure 2e shown in the figure, E2E TC can be used to forward Announce packets, Sync packets (which may also involve Follow_Up packets), Delay_Req packets, and Delay_Resp packets, etc.

[0205] As an example, the following embodiments may involve some information related to the packets forwarded by E2E TC, which will be introduced through some examples below.

[0206] For example, the Sync packet received by the E2E TC node can carry an OriginTimestamp field, and the timestamp carried by this field can indicate the original timestamp when the node that generated the Sync packet (or the first node that sent the Sync packet) sent the Sync packet. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T1. Optionally, T1 can be obtained through the Follow_Up packet corresponding to the Sync packet received by the E2E TC node; for example, T1 can be obtained through the PreciseOriginTimestamp in the Follow_Up packet.

[0207] For example, the Sync packet received by the E2E TC node can carry a correctionField, and the information carried by this field can indicate the cumulative link delay and residence delay during the forwarding of the Sync packet through one or more nodes. Optionally, this delay can be denoted as T1_CF.

[0208] For example, during the process of receiving the Sync packet, the E2E TC node can determine the receive timestamp of the received Sync packet. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T2'.

[0209] For example, during the process of an E2E TC node sending a Delay_Req message, it can determine the transmission timestamp for sending this Delay_Req message. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T3'.

[0210] For example, the Delay_Req message received by an E2E TC node can carry a correction field, and the information carried by this field can indicate the cumulative link delay and residence delay during the forwarding process of the Delay_Req message at one or more nodes. Optionally, this delay can be denoted as T3_CF.

[0211] For example, during the process of an E2E TC node receiving a Delay_Resp message, it can obtain the ReceiveTimestamp field carried by this Delay_Resp message, and the timestamp carried by this field can indicate the timestamp or delay generated when the delay_req message reaches the node that generates the delay_resp message. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T4.

[0212] For example, the Delay_Resp message received by an E2E TC node can carry a correction field, and the information carried by this field can indicate the cumulative link delay and residence delay during the forwarding process of the Delay_Resp message at one or more nodes. Optionally, this delay can be denoted as T4_CF.

[0213] Peer to peer transparent clock (P2P TC): It can directly forward messages such as Sync messages, Follow_Up messages, and Announce messages, while terminating other PTP protocol messages and participating in the calculation of the delay of each segment of the entire link.

[0214] As an implementation example of P2P TC, as Figure 2f shown, P2P TC can be used to forward Announce messages and Sync messages. Moreover, P2P TC can also generate point-to-point delay request (Pdelay_Req) messages, point-to-point delay response (PDelay_Resp) messages, and point-to-point delay response follow-up (PDelay_Resp_Follow_Up) messages, and calculate the optical fiber delay between adjacent two ports. For example: In Figure 2fIn this case, port 1 can send a Pdelay_Req message to the peer port of port 1 (abbreviated as the peer port). After the peer port responds, it will reply with a Pdelay_Resp message and a Pdelay_Resp_Follow_Up; alternatively, it can also be that the peer port sends a Pdelay_Req message to port 1, and port 1 responds by replying with a Pdelay_Resp message and a Pdelay_Resp_Follow_Up. In this way, both port 1 and the peer port can determine the link delay based on the sent and received messages.

[0215] As an example, some message-related information about P2P TC forwarding may be involved in the subsequent embodiments, which will be introduced through some examples below.

[0216] For example, the Sync message received by the P2P TC node can carry an OriginTimestamp field, and the timestamp carried by this field can indicate the original timestamp when the node that generated the Sync message (or the first node that sent the Sync message) sent the Sync message. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T1. Optionally, T1 can be obtained through the Follow_Up message corresponding to the Sync message received by the P2P TC node.

[0217] For example, the Sync message received by the P2P TC node can carry a correctionField, and the information carried by this field can indicate the cumulative link delay and residence delay during the forwarding process of the Sync message in one or more nodes. Optionally, this delay can be denoted as T1_CF.

[0218] For example, during the process of receiving the Sync message, the P2P TC node can determine the receive timestamp of receiving the Sync message. Optionally, this timestamp can be denoted as T2'.

[0219] As an example of the TC node forwarding clock messages, for the received 1588Announce message, neither E2E TC nor P2P TC will perform any processing, and then send the Announce message to other devices from the exit.

[0220] As another example of the TC node forwarding clock messages, for the received 1588Sync message, the following process is included.

[0221] a) The E2E TC device records the receive timestamp t1 of the Sync message at the entrance, and when sending the message at the exit, records the send timestamp t2.

[0222] i. If the egress port of the E2E TC device is in one-step mode, the E2E TC accumulates t2 - t1 into the correction field of the Sync message; optionally, t2 - t1 can be understood as the residence delay of the Sync message in the E2E TC device, that is, the correctionField field can be used to accumulate the residence delay of the message; optionally, the correctionField field carried by the message can be used to accumulate the residence delay of the message and the link delay of the message.

[0223] ii. If the egress port of the E2E TC device is in two-step mode, the E2E TC accumulates t2 - t1 into the correction field of the Follow_Up message. This Follow_Up message is associated with the Sync message one by one. The IEEE 1588 standard has defined that by identifying the sourcePortIdentity and sequenceId fields of the received Follow_Up message and Sync message, if both fields are the same, then this Follow_Up message and Sync message are associated with each other. See the last note in Section 10.2.2.1.2.2 of the IEEE 1588-2019 standard.

[0224] b) The P2P TC device records the reception timestamp t1 of the Sync message at the ingress, and when sending the message at the egress, records the transmission timestamp t2. And the P2P TC device calculates the link delay D between the ingress and the upstream connected port in real time according to the Pdelay message.

[0225] i. If the egress port of the P2P TC device is in one-step mode, the P2P TC accumulates t2 - t1 and D into the correction field of the Sync message.

[0226] ii. If the egress port of the P2P TC device is in two-step mode, the P2P TC accumulates t2 - t1 and D into the correction field of the Follow_Up message. This Follow_Up message is associated with the Sync message one by one.

[0227] As another example of a TC node forwarding clock messages, for the received 1588 Delay_Req message, the following process is included.

[0228] a) The E2E TC device records the reception timestamp t3 of the Delay_Req message at the ingress, and when sending the message at the egress, records the transmission timestamp t4.

[0229] i. If the output port of the E2E TC device is in one-step mode, E2E TC accumulates t4 - t3 into the correctionField of the Delay_Req message.

[0230] ii. If the output port of the E2E TC device is in two-step mode, E2E TC accumulates t4 - t3 into the correctionField of the Delay_Resp message, and this Delay_Resp message is associated with the Delay_Req message one by one.

[0231] Generally, P2P TC devices do not process Delay_Req messages and Delay_Resp messages.

[0232] Optionally, in addition to the above three basic clock nodes, there are also some hybrid clock nodes, such as TC+OC that combines the characteristics of TC and OC: It has multiple PTP modules within the same PTP domain, one of which is of OC type and the other is of TC type. On the one hand, it forwards or retransmits PTP protocol messages through the TC-type module and corrects the forwarding delay thereof; on the other hand, it synchronizes time through the OC-type module. Similar to the classification of TC, TC+OC also includes two types: E2ETC+OC and P2PTC+OC.

[0233] (4) One-step mode and two-step mode.

[0234] In one-step mode, the timestamp when the clock message leaves the master clock is carried in the clock message sent by a port. This means that after the clock message is forwarded through one or more nodes and received by another port, the accurate time information of the instant when the clock message was sent by the port can be obtained from the message. For example, the clock message can be a Sync message or a Delay_Req message, etc.

[0235] In two-step mode, a port can send two clock messages successively, for example, first send clock message 1 and then send clock message 2. Among them, clock message 1 does not carry the timestamp when clock message 1 leaves the port, while clock message 2 carries the timestamp when clock message 1 leaves the port. This means that after clock message 1 and clock message 2 are forwarded through one or more nodes and received by another port, the accurate time information of the instant when the port sent clock message 1 can be obtained from clock message 2. For example, clock message 1 can be a Sync message and clock message 2 can be a Follow_Up message.

[0236] Generally, during the transmission of clock messages, a node can determine whether the transmission mode of the clock message is one-step mode or two-step mode based on the information carried in the message.

[0237] For example, taking the Sync message as an example of the clock message, if the two-step flag (twoStepFlag) in the Sync message is false (FALSE), the receiver of the Sync message can determine that the transmission mode of the Sync message is one-step mode. If the twoStepFlag in the Sync message is true (TRUE), the receiver of the Sync message can determine that the transmission mode of the Sync message is two-step mode, and the transmission timestamp of the Sync message is carried by the subsequent Follow_Up message.

[0238] In addition, for a node, the node can determine whether the supported transmission mode is one-step mode or two-step mode through configuration (such as manual configuration / controller configuration / network management configuration, etc.).

[0239] As an example, the transmission mode supported by the node can be the same as the transmission mode of the clock message received by the node. For example, taking the Sync message as an example of the clock message, when both of these transmission modes are one-step mode, the node can carry the node's delay information in the forwarded Sync message; when both of these transmission modes are two-step mode, the node can carry the node's delay information in the forwarded Follow_Up message. Among them, the delay information can refer to the examples shown in the previous text Figure 2e and Figure 2f as shown.

[0240] As an example, the transmission mode supported by the node can be different from the transmission mode of the clock message received by the node. For example, taking the Sync message as an example of the clock message, when the transmission mode supported by the node is one-step mode but the transmission mode of the clock message received by the node is two-step mode, the node will still carry the node's delay information in the forwarded Sync message according to its own supported transmission mode; when the transmission mode supported by the node is two-step mode but the transmission mode of the clock message received by the node is one-step mode, the node will generate a Follow_Up message and carry the node's delay information. Among them, the delay information can refer to the examples shown in the previous text Figure 2e and Figure 2f as shown.

[0241] In a communication network (such as Figure 1In the network shown, by transmitting clock messages (which can be called PTP messages, 1588 messages, etc., taking PTP messages as an example here) between different clock nodes, the high-precision time of the 1588 server is transmitted to the end base station to meet the high-precision time service requirements of the base station. Generally, as introduced before, the TC node may not have port states (such as master port or slave port). For this reason, the TC node can act as a transparent forwarding node and transparently forward the received clock messages.

[0242] However, in the case where the TC node transparently forwards the clock message, the end nodes (such as BC nodes, OC nodes, etc.) for time correction based on the clock message can only obtain the relevant information of the node that generates the PTP message, which will greatly increase the complexity of network operation and maintenance. For easy understanding, the following will describe this technical problem in combination with some implementation examples.

[0243] As an example, in the second version of 1588 (IEEE 1588v2), it is defined that when the BC node and the OC node receive or send Announce messages, the path trace type length value (path trace TLV) can be carried in the Announce message. Among them, the path trace TLV can be used to carry the clock identifiers of each BC node and OC node.

[0244] Take Figure 3 the scenario shown as an example. After the Announce message sent from the "M" port of the GM node (this GM node can be understood as an OC node with an "M" port) passes through the transmission of BC1, BC2, and several TCs, the OC node can receive the Announce message through the "S" port. Among them, since each TC node transparently forwards the Announce message, after the OC node receives the Announce message, it can determine the clock identifiers of the BC nodes and the OC node on the transmission path of the Announce message based on the path trace TLV carried in the Announce message. An implementation example of the path trace TLV in the Announce message is shown in Table 1.

[0245] Table 1

[0246] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 pathSequence 8N (N is a positive integer) 4

[0247] In Table 1, the "tlvType" field indicates the type of the path trace TLV, the "lengthField" field indicates the length of the path trace TLV, and the "pathSequence" field indicates the value of the path trace TLV, that is, it indicates the clock identifiers of the BC nodes and the clock identifiers of the OC nodes on the Announce message transmission path. In addition, the number of bytes occupied by the "pathSequence" field is 8*N, where N can be the sum of the number of BC nodes and the number of TC nodes on the Announce message transmission path.

[0248] It should be noted that in the table provided by the embodiments of the present application, the number of bytes / number of bits occupied by each field is only an example. Among them, the number of bytes / number of bits occupied by each field can also be other values. For example, the number of bytes occupied by "tlvType" in Table 1 can be 4 or other values, and the number of bytes occupied by "pathSequence" can be 4*N, 16*N or other values. Similarly, in the table provided by the embodiments of the present application, the order of each field is only an example, and the order of each field can also be implemented in other ways.

[0249] Take Figure 3 the scenario shown as an example. The GM can be a 1588 time server, sending an Announce message. The pathSequence of the PATH_TRACETLV is the clockID of the GM. After the "S" port of BC1 receives the Announce message, when BC1 sends a new Announce, BC1 will add the clockID of BC1 to the PATH_TRACETLV carried in the Announce message received by the "S" port. In this way, the PATH_TRACE TLV carried in the Announce message sent by BC1 has the clockIDs of the GM and BC1. And so on, the content of the PATH_TRACE TLV carried in the Announce message sent by BC2 is in the path trace TLV of the Announce message received by the OC node, as shown in Table 2.

[0250] Table 2

[0251] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthfield 2 2 GM clockID 8 4 BC1 clockID 8 12 BC2 clockID 8 20

[0252] In Table 2, compared with Table 1, the "pathsequence" field can specifically include the GM clockID, the BC1clockID, and the BC2clockID. In this way, the OC node can determine the clock identifiers of each BC node and the OC node on the Announce message transmission path.

[0253] In Figure 3 In the scenario shown, for the end OC, according to the BMC source selection algorithm, the synchronization path can be GM - BC1 - BC2 - TC1 - TC4 - TC5 - OC (denoted as path 1), or GM - BC1 - BC2 - TC1 - TC2 - TC3 - TC5 - OC (denoted as path 2). Among them, the TC node is a node participating in the forwarding of clock messages. The process of the TC node processing the clock message will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on this clock message (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time correction).

[0254] For example, Figure 3 in the case of a failure of the TC4 node in, it is possible that the message forwarding delay of this TC4 node suddenly increases sharply (for example, from 3 nanoseconds (ns) to 3 seconds (s)), which makes the time offset between this OC node and the GM node determined by the OC node based on the clock message may be incorrect. In this case, the network operation and maintenance personnel can determine the clock IDs of GM, BC1, and BC2 on the Announce message transmission path according to the path trace TLV in the Announce message, and troubleshoot GM, BC1, and BC2. If it is determined that these three nodes are not faulty, the network operation and maintenance personnel will need to traverse all TC nodes between the OC node and the BC2 node to conduct fault troubleshooting and determine whether the TC node on path 1 fails or the TC node on path 2 fails. In this way, the complexity of network operation and maintenance will increase. Especially when there are more paths between the OC node and the BC2 node, the workload of network operation and maintenance will further increase.

[0255] In addition, as introduced in the previous text Figure 2e and Figure 2f for the TC node, E2E TC and P2P TC can record the delay of the TC node in the correctionField carried in some clock messages. However, this recording method carries the cumulative delay of each TC on the transmission path of the clock message. In other words, in the scenario shown above Figure 3 in the case of a failure of the TC4 node, the OC node can determine the sudden increase in delay according to the correctionField carried in some clock messages. However, during network operation and maintenance, the network operation and maintenance personnel still cannot determine the faulty TC node, so it is still necessary to perform network operation and maintenance through the above - mentioned method with relatively high complexity.

[0256] To solve the above problems, the present application provides a communication method and related devices, which are used to enable the receiver of the clock message to obtain the delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance. The following will be introduced in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0257] Please refer to Figure 4a , which is a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application. The method includes the following steps. The method at least includes Figure 4a the steps S401 and S402 shown in

[0258] It should be noted that in the following method, network devices such as the first node and the second node are used as the execution subjects of each step to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution subjects of this interaction illustration. For example, in Figure 4a / Figure 4b / Figure 6a / Figure 6b / Figure 6c / Figure 6d the method shown, each step can also be executed by some components of the network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or each step can also be executed by a logic module or software of the network device. Among them, the network device can be a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, a smart network card, etc.

[0259] S401. Other nodes send a first clock message. Correspondingly, the first node receives the first clock message. Among them, the first node is a TC node.

[0260] S402. The first node sends a second clock message based on the first clock message. Correspondingly, the second node receives the second clock message. Among them, the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

[0261] Optionally, the second node is an OC node or a BC node or a GM node.

[0262] It should be understood that the process of the first node sending the second clock message based on the first clock message can be understood as that on the forwarding path of the first clock message, the first node serves as the forwarding device (or forwarding node, or routing and forwarding device, etc.) on this forwarding path. When the first node receives the first clock message and determines that the first clock message needs to be forwarded, the first node modifies the first clock message into a second clock message and sends the second clock message to the next-hop node (such as the second node mentioned later).

[0263] Optionally, the payload of the first clock message and the payload of the second clock message can be the same.

[0264] Optionally, when the first node modifies the first clock message into a second clock message, the first node may add the delay information of the first node based on the first clock message to obtain the second clock message.

[0265] It should be noted that in the second clock message, the delay information of the first node may be carried in a defined type length value (TLV), or may be carried in a newly defined TLV. Exemplarily, the name of the newly defined TLV may be residence time TLV, delay TLV, etc., or other names, which are not limited herein.

[0266] Exemplarily, taking the name of the newly defined TLV as residence time TLV as an example, this TLV may be implemented through the example shown in Table 3.

[0267] Table 3

[0268] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 residenceTime 8K (K is a positive integer) 4

[0269] In Table 3, the "tlvType" field indicates the type of the residence time TLV, the "lengthField" field indicates the length of the residence time TLV, and the "residenceTime" field indicates the value of the residence time TLV, that is, it indicates the clock identifier of the TC node on the clock message transmission path. In addition, the number of bytes occupied by the "residenceTime" field is 8K, where K may be the number of TC nodes on the clock message transmission path, that is, the residence time TLV may carry K "residenceTime" fields, which are respectively used to carry the delay information of the TC nodes.

[0270] In a possible implementation manner, the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 may have multiple reception manners.

[0271] For example, the first clock message may come from an OC node or a BC node, that is, the previous hop node of the first node may be an OC node or a BC node (that is, Figure 4a the other nodes in may be an OC node or a BC node). Correspondingly, the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 has not been forwarded by the TC node, that is, the first clock message may not include a residence time TLV, or the first clock message includes a residence time TLV but the residence time TLV does not carry the delay information of the TC node.

[0272] For another example, the first clock message may come from a TC node, that is, the previous hop node of the first node may be a TC node (i.e., Figure 4a the other nodes in

[0273] may be TC nodes). Correspondingly, the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 has been forwarded by other TC nodes, that is, the first clock message may include a residence time TLV, and the residence time TLV carries delay information of at least one TC node. In other words, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 may include the delay information of the previous hop TC node of the first node, and the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 may also include the delay information of the previous hop TC node of the first node (i.e., the first node may not modify the delay information of the previous hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own delay information in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiver of the second clock message can obtain the delay information of each TC node on the forwarding path, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, faulty or underperforming TC nodes can be identified based on the delay information of each node).

[0273] In a possible implementation manner, the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 can be received by the second node in various ways.

[0274] For example, in Figure 4a the method shown, the first node and the second node are directly connected nodes, or there are no other TC nodes on the path between the first node and the second node. In this case, the clock message received by the second node is the same as the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402. In other words, in the second clock message received by the second node, it includes the delay information of the first node, and the delay information of other TC nodes of the previous hop or multiple hops (if any) of the first node.

[0275] For another example, Figure 4b the method shown is an example of Figure 4a the method shown. In Figure 4b the method shown, the first node and the second node are not directly connected nodes, or there are one or more TC nodes on the path between the first node and the second node. In this case, Figure 4a the step S402 shown in Figure 4bIt is implemented by step S402a and step S402b. Among them, the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402a and the target clock message received by the second node in step S402b may not be the same message. That is, the second clock message sent by the first node may also be processed by one or more TC nodes, so that the target clock message received by the second node is the message after this processing. In other words, in the target clock message received by the second node, in addition to including the delay information of the first node (and the delay information of other TC nodes that are (possibly) the previous hop or multiple hops of the first node), it may also include the delay information of other TC nodes that are the next hop or multiple hops of the first node (denoted as the delay information of one or more TC nodes in the figure).

[0276] In Figure 4a In the method shown, the first clock message and the second clock message can have multiple implementation manners, which will be described below in combination with some implementation examples.

[0277] Implementation example 1: Both the first clock message and the second clock message are Sync (Synchronization) messages.

[0278] In implementation example 1, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; among them, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode. In other words, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Sync message, that is, both the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 and the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 can be Sync messages. And, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode, and the transmission mode of the first clock message is the one-step mode or the two-step mode, so that the solution can adapt to a variety of different scenarios.

[0279] From the examples shown in the previous text Figure 2e and Figure 2f it can be seen that both the E2E TC nodes and the P2P TC nodes can process Sync messages. Correspondingly, in implementation example 1, the first node can be an E2E TC node or a P2P TC node.

[0280] Implementation example 2: Both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up (Follow - Up) messages.

[0281] In Implementation Example 2, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; among them, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode. In other words, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Follow_Up message, that is, both the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 and the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 can be Follow_Up messages. Moreover, the transmission mode supported by the first node and the transmission mode of the first clock message are both the one-step mode, enabling the solution to adapt to the transmission scenario of Follow_Up messages.

[0282] From the examples shown Figure 2e and Figure 2f it can be seen that both the E2E TC node and the P2P TC node can process Follow_Up messages. Correspondingly, in Implementation Example 2, the first node can be an E2E TC node or a P2P TC node.

[0283] Implementation Example 3, both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Req (Delay Request) messages.

[0284] In Implementation Example 3, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode. In other words, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Delay_Req message, that is, both the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 and the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 can be Delay_Req messages. Moreover, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode, enabling the solution to adapt to the transmission scenario of Delay_Req messages.

[0285] From the examples shown Figure 2e and Figure 2f it can be seen that the E2E TC node can process Delay_Req messages. Correspondingly, in Implementation Example 3, the first node can be an E2E TC node.

[0286] Implementation Example 4, both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp (Delay Response) messages.

[0287] In Implementation Example 4, the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode. In other words, the clock message forwarded by the first node can be a Delay_Resp message, that is, both the first clock message received by the first node in step S401 and the second clock message sent by the first node in step S402 can be Delay_Resp messages. Moreover, since the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode, the solution can adapt to the transmission scenario of Delay_Resp messages.

[0288] From the examples shown Figure 2e and Figure 2f above, it can be seen that the E2E TC node can process Delay_Resp messages. Correspondingly, in Implementation Example 4, the first node can be an E2E TC node.

[0289] In a possible implementation, in any of the above Implementation Examples 1 to 4, the first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a first delay, where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message; or, the first node is a P2P TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the first delay, the second delay, and the sum of the first delay and the second delay; where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message, and the second delay is the link delay between the port that receives the first clock message and the port that sends the first clock message.

[0290] Specifically, when the first clock message forwarded by the first node is a Sync message / Follow_Up message / Delay_Req message / Delay_Resp message, the delay information included in the second clock message can include the first delay, the second delay, the sum of the first delay and the second delay, etc. determined based on the first clock message, so as to carry the end-to-end delay or the point-to-point delay to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2P TC.

[0291] Optionally, the recipient of the first clock message is the first node, that is, the receiving port of the first clock message is one of the ports of the first node; similarly, the sender of the first clock message is the previous-hop node of the first node (for example, the previous-hop node is a TC node, a BC node, an OC node, etc.), that is, the sending port of the first clock message is the port of the previous-hop node. Generally, the number of ports of a node can be one or more, that is, there may be multiple port combinations for communication between the first node and the previous-hop node. Optionally, the link delays between different port combinations may be different.

[0292] It should be understood that the port for receiving or sending a message (such as the port of the first node for receiving the first clock message, the port of the previous-hop node of the first node for sending the first clock message, etc.) can be a 1588 port, a PTP port, etc.

[0293] Exemplarily, taking the example shown in Table 3 above, if the first node is an E2E TC node, the value of the "residenceTime" field can be the value of the first delay, that is, the "residenceTime" field can indicate the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message.

[0294] Generally, the "residenceTime" field can indicate the delay of the node in processing the message locally (i.e., the above-mentioned first delay). For this reason, if the first node is a P2P TC node, the delay information of the first node can be implemented in other ways, which will be described below in combination with the examples shown in Tables 4, 5, and 6.

[0295] Table 4

[0296] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 residenceTime 8 4 linkDelay 8 12 ... ... ...

[0297] As shown in Table 4, when the first node is a P2P TC node, the delay information of the first node is used to indicate the first delay and the second delay. The delay information of the first node can include the "residenceTime" field and the "linkDelay" field shown in Table 4. The "residenceTime" field is used to carry the above-mentioned first delay, and the "linkDelay" field is used to carry the above-mentioned second delay.

[0298] Table 5

[0299] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 residenceAndLinkDelay 8 4 ... ... ...

[0300] As shown in Table 5, when the first node is a P2P TC node, the delay information of the first node is used to indicate the sum of the first delay and the second delay. The delay information of the first node may include the "residenceAndLinkDelay" field shown in Table 4, and this "residenceAndLinkDelay" field is used to carry the sum of the above-mentioned first delay and the second delay.

[0301] Table 6

[0302]

[0303] As shown in Table 6, when the first node is a P2P TC node, the delay information of the first node is used to indicate the first delay, the sum of the first delay and the second delay. The delay information of the first node may include the "residenceTime" field and the "residenceAndLinkDelay" field shown in Table 4. This "residenceTime" field is used to carry the above-mentioned first delay, and this "residenceAndLinkDelay" field is used to carry the sum of the above-mentioned first delay and the second delay.

[0304] It should be noted that in Tables 4 to 6, the "residenceTime", "residenceAndLinkDelay", and "linkDelay" fields can carry multiple copies to be used to indicate the delay information of different TC nodes respectively. Specifically, the implementation process of the K "residenceTime" fields in the previous text can be referred to.

[0305] From the examples shown in Tables 4 to 6, it can be seen that for a P2P TC node, the delay of the P2P TC node forwarding the clock message can be carried in the clock message, and the link delay can also be carried (or indicated).

[0306] Optionally, since the E2E TC node may not carry the link delay, for this reason, when the first node is an E2E TC node, the delay information of the first node in the second clock message sent by the first node can be implemented in the manner of Table 3 (that is, the TLV without the "linkDelay" field or the "residenceAndLinkDelay" field), or it can be implemented in the manner of Tables 4 to 6 (for example, the value of the "linkDelay" field can be 0, and / or, the value of the "residenceAndLinkDelay" field and the value of the "residenceTime" can be the same).

[0307] In Figure 4a or Figure 4bIn a possible implementation of the method shown, before the first node receives the first clock message in step S401, the method further includes: the first node receives a third clock message, and the latency information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message; the first node sends a fourth clock message based on the third clock message. Specifically, the first node may also receive the third clock message and send the fourth clock message based on the third clock message, where the latency information of the first node included in the second clock message may be determined based on the third clock message. In this way, the solution can be applied to the two-step mode.

[0308] Correspondingly, in addition to the above Implementation Examples 1 to 4, there may be other implementation manners for the first clock message and the second clock message.

[0309] Implementation Example 5: Both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages; or, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages. In other words, when the latency information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message, the first clock message, the second clock message, the third clock message, and the fourth clock message can be implemented in the above multiple ways to adapt to different communication scenarios.

[0310] From the foregoing Figure 2e and Figure 2f illustrative examples, it can be seen that the E2E TC node can process Delay_Req messages and Delay_Resp messages, while the P2P TC node does not process Delay_Req messages and Delay_Resp messages. Correspondingly, in Implementation Example 5, when both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages, the first node can be an E2E TC node or a P2P TC node; and when both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages, the first node can be an E2E TC node.

[0311] In a possible implementation, in Implementation Example 5, the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a third delay, where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message; or, the first node is a point-to-point (P2P) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the third delay, the fourth delay, and the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay; where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message, and the fourth delay is the link delay between the port that receives the third clock message and the port that sends the third clock message. Specifically, when the delay information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message, the delay information included in the second clock message may include the third delay, the fourth delay, the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay, etc., determined based on the third clock message, so as to carry end-to-end delay or point-to-point delay to adapt to different scenarios of E2E TC and P2P TC.

[0312] Based on Figure 4a or Figure 4b According to the technical solution shown, as a TC node, after the first node receives the first clock message in step S401, the first node will send a second clock message carrying the delay information of the first node based on the first clock message in step S402. Among them, as a node participating in the forwarding of clock messages, the process of the TC node processing clock messages will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock messages (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiving party of the clock message can obtain the delay information of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0313] In addition, compared with the implementation method in which the TC node records the accumulated delay of one or more TC nodes in the clock message, in the above technical solution, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the delay information of the TC node in the forwarded clock message. In other words, on the forwarding path of the clock message, the clock message can carry the delay information of each TC node. In this way, the end receiving party of the clock message can obtain the delay information of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the clock message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0314] Exemplarily, Figure 4a or Figure 4b The method shown is applied toFigure 3 In the case of the scenario shown, the time delay information of each TC node can be carried in the clock message received by the GM node or the OC node. Correspondingly, in the case of a failure of the TC4 node, the GM node or the OC node can determine the faulty TC node based on the time delay information of the TC4 node carried in the clock message, and perform troubleshooting on the faulty TC node, thereby enabling network operation and maintenance personnel to quickly locate the faulty node and reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0315] In Figure 4a or Figure 4b In a possible implementation of the method shown, the method further includes: the first node receives a fifth clock message; the first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node. In this way, the receiving party of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of the TC nodes on the forwarding path of the clock message, and determine the transmission path including the TC nodes based on the clock identifiers of the TC nodes, which can further reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, in the case of clock message transmission failure caused by a TC node failure, the faulty TC node can be determined based on the clock identifier of the TC node).

[0316] In addition, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages. Specifically, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation in which the Announce message shown in Table 2 above only records the clock identifier of the GM node and the clock identifier of the BC node, the receiving node of the Announce message (such as the BC node, the OC node, etc.) can obtain the clock identifier of the TC node to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, which is convenient for operation and maintenance.

[0317] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node can be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0318] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV in the Announce message.

[0319] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0320] In a possible implementation, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node. Specifically, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node may include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node, and the sixth clock message sent by the first node may also include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node may not modify the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own clock identifier in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiver of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of each TC node on the forwarding path to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path.

[0321] In Figure 4a or Figure 4b In a possible implementation of the method shown, when the second node is a BC node, the method may further include: the second node sends a seventh clock message based on the second clock message, and the seventh clock message includes the delay information of the at least one TC node. Specifically, when the second node is a BC node, the second node may further send a seventh clock message including the delay information of the at least one TC node based on the second clock message, so that the receiver of the seventh clock message can obtain the delay information of the at least one TC node and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance based on the delay information of the at least one TC node.

[0322] Optionally, the second clock message is a Delay_Req message and the seventh clock message is a Delay_Resp message.

[0323] Exemplarily, in Figure 5a taking the E2E TC application scenario as an example, since it is required that the OC node can perceive whether there is a fault in the intermediate TC node through the Figure 4a or Figure 4b method shown, therefore, for the one-step mode, the forwarding delay TLV carried in the Delay_Req message can also send the delay information of the TC node carried in the Delay_Req message back to the OC node through the Delay_Resp message. In other words, when the Master port of the GM node (or the Master port of a certain BC node) receives a Delay_Req message carrying the delay information of at least one TC node, this forwarding delay TLV can also be added to the returned Delay_Resp message and then transmitted to the OC (Slave) node.

[0324] Thus, when the GM node or BC node detects that the received Delay_Req message carries the delay information of at least one TC node through the "M" port, it indicates that the Delay_Req message already carries the delay information of at least one TC node. The GM node or the BC node can add the delay information of at least one TC node carried in the Delay_Req message to the Delay_Resp message to be sent back. Thereafter, when E2E TC1 and E2E TC2 receive the Delay_Resp message, they do not need to add the delay of the associated Delay_Req message to the delay TLV of the Delay_Resp message.

[0325] Optionally, in the clock message, the TLV used to carry the delay information of at least one TC node can be added to these messages when the OC or BC nodes at both ends send clock messages (such as Sync, Follow_Up, Delay_Req, and Delay_Resp messages), or can be generated by the first TC node connecting the OC or BC at both ends, and then added to these messages.

[0326] In Figure 4a or Figure 4b In a possible implementation of the method shown, in step S402, the second clock message sent by the first node further carries the first indication information and / or the second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the second clock message contains the delay information of the first node, and the second indication information is used to indicate the clock identifier of the first node or the second indication information is the clock identifier of the first node. Specifically, the second clock message sent by the first node may further include the first indication information and / or the second indication information in addition to the delay information of the first node, so that the recipient of the second clock message can determine whether the second clock message contains the delay information of the first node based on the first indication information, and / or determine the clock identifier of the first node based on the second indication information. In this way, it is convenient for the recipient to implement network operation and maintenance based on the delay information and / or clock identifier of the first node.

[0327] Optionally, the first indication information and / or the second indication information and the delay information of the first node may be carried in the same TLV or in different TLVs, which is not limited here.

[0328] Exemplarily, taking the implementation process shown in Table 4 above as an example, in the case where the delay information of the first node, the first indication information, and the second indication information carried in the second clock message are carried in the same TLV, the fields included in the residence time TLV carried in the second clock message are shown in Table 7 below.

[0329] Table 7

[0330]

[0331]

[0332] In Table 7, taking the case where the residence time TLV carried in the second clock message contains information of two or more TC nodes as an example, different TC nodes can be distinguished by numbers (such as (1) and (2)). Among them, the "clockID" field is an implementation example of the second indication information. The "Indicator" field is an implementation example of the first indication information. For example, when the value of the "Indicator" field is 1, this field indicates that the second clock message contains the delay information of the first node; when the value of the "Indicator" field is 0, this field indicates that the second clock message does not contain the delay information of the first node.

[0333] In another implementation example, Table 7 may not carry the first indication information Indicator, but only carry the second indication information clockID. The TC node can know whether the TLV carries the delay information of this device by checking whether there is the clockID of this device in the TLV.

[0334] Exemplarily, considering that there may be a scenario of mixed one-step and two-step networking in the network, the above-mentioned first indication information and / or second indication information can be used to make the solution adaptable to multiple application scenarios.

[0335] As an implementation example, as Figure 5b shown, there is a mixed networking of P2P TC1 (two-step) and P2P TC2 (one-step). From the previous implementation examples five and one, it can be known that during the transmission of the Sync message, P2P TC1 can record the forwarding delay of the Sync message into the Follow_Up message, and P2P TC2 can record the forwarding delay of the Sync message into the Sync message. Correspondingly, it can be considered that when the TC puts the delay of the Sync message into the Sync message or the Follow_Up message, it also carries the clockID (i.e., the second indication information) of this node, so that at the end OC (Slave), the Sync message and the Follow_Up message can be parsed, and according to the corresponding clockID and the delay residenceTime field, the delay can be associated with the node.

[0336] Optionally, to avoid both the Sync message and the Follow_Up message carrying the delay information of a node forwarding the Sync message, the node can record a flag locally on whether the delay of the node forwarding the Sync message has been carried by the Sync message. If it has been carried, set it to 1; if not, set it to 0. In this way, the subsequent received Follow_Up message will know whether it needs to carry the delay of the node forwarding the Sync message.

[0337] As another implementation example, as Figure 5c shown, when there is a mixed network of one-step E2E TC and two-step E2E TC, in addition to considering the carrying issue of the forwarding delay of the Sync message mentioned above, it may also be necessary to consider the carrying issue of the forwarding delay of the Delay_Req message. From Implementation Example 5 and Implementation Example 3 above, it can be seen that E2E TC1 can record the forwarding delay of the Delay_Req message in the Delay_Resp message, and E2E TC2 can record the forwarding delay of the Delay_Req message in the Delay_Req message. Correspondingly, the Delay_Req message sent by E2E TC2 to E2E TC1 carries the delay information of E2E TC2 forwarding the Delay_Req message, and the Delay_Req message sent by E2E TC1 to the GM only carries the delay of E2E TC2 forwarding the Delay_Req message, but does not carry the delay of E2E TC1 forwarding the Delay_Req message.

[0338] In Figure 5c the example shown, after the GM node receives the Delay_Req message, the GM node can copy / add the delay information of at least one TC node of the Delay_Req message to the Delay_Resp message and then send the Delay_Resp message.

[0339] In Figure 5c the example shown, when E2E TC1 receives the Delay_Resp message and finds that the Delay_Resp message does not carry the delay information of E2E TC1 forwarding the Delay_Req message (for example, the corresponding second indication information of E2E TC1 (such as the clockID of E2E TC1) is not carried in the message), then E2E TC1 adds the forwarding delay of forwarding the Delay_Req message to the Delay_Resp message again.

[0340] In Figure 5cIn the illustrated example, when E2E TC2 receives a Delay_Resp message and finds that the Delay_Resp message already carries the forwarding delay of the Delay_Req message forwarded by E2E TC2 (the clockID of E2E TC2 is carried in this message), then E2E TC2 does not need to add the forwarding delay of the forwarded Delay_Req message to the Delay_Resp message again to reduce the overhead.

[0341] Optionally, the above method of detecting whether there is a second indication information corresponding to the TC node in the clock message (that is, whether the clockID of the TC node is carried) is a detection means, and in fact, it can also be implemented by other means.

[0342] For example, E2E TC knows whether this node is one-step or two-step. If it is two-step, then the forwarding delay of this node for the Delay_Req message needs to be added to the Delay_Resp message. Otherwise, if it is one-step, then E2E TC believes that the forwarding delay has been added to the message and there is no need to add it again.

[0343] Another example is that E2E TC makes a local mark on whether the forwarding delay of the Delay_Req message of this node has been carried by the Delay_Req message. If it has been carried, set it to 1, and if it has not been carried, set it to 0. In this way, when E2E TC receives a Delay_Resp message, it can judge whether the forwarding delay of this node for the Delay_Req message should be carried according to the mark.

[0344] Please refer to Figure 6a , which is a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by this application. The method includes the following steps. The method at least includes Figure 6a the steps S601 and S602 shown.

[0345] It should be noted that in the following method, the communication device (such as the first node, the second node, or other nodes, etc.) can be a network device, or the communication device can be a part of the network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or the communication device can be a logical module or software of the network device. Among them, the network device can be a router, a switch, a virtual switch, a virtual router, a smart network card, etc.

[0346] S601. Other nodes send a fifth clock message. Correspondingly, the first node receives the fifth clock message. Among them, the first node is a TC node.

[0347] S602. The first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message. Correspondingly, the second node receives the sixth clock message. The sixth clock message carries the clock identifier of the first node.

[0348] In a possible implementation, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages. Specifically, the sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the TC node can be an Announce message. Compared with the implementation where the Announce message only records the clock identifiers of the grandmaster (GM) node and the BC node, it enables the receiving node of the Announce message (such as the BC node, OC node, etc.) to obtain the clock identifier of the TC node, so as to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path, which is convenient for operation and maintenance.

[0349] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node can be carried in other messages, such as Sync messages.

[0350] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV in the Announce message. For example, the tlvType of the PATH_TRACE TLV is 0x8.

[0351] Optionally, the clock identifier of the first node is carried in other TLVs in the Announce message.

[0352] In a possible implementation, both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node. Specifically, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node can include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node, and the sixth clock message sent by the first node can also include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node does not modify the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own clock identifier in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiving party of the sixth clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of each TC node on the forwarding path to determine the information of each node on the clock message transmission path. In other words, for the second node, the sixth clock message received by the second node can include the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer.

[0353] In a possible implementation, there are multiple receiving methods for the fifth clock message received by the first node in step S601.

[0354] For example, the fifth clock message may come from an OC node or a BC node, that is, the previous hop node of the first node may be an OC node or a BC node (i.e., Figure 6a the other nodes in

[0355] may be an OC node or a BC node). Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node in step S601 has not been forwarded by a TC node, that is, the fifth clock message may not include the clock identifier of the TC node. Figure 6a For another example, the fifth clock message may come from a TC node, that is, the previous hop node of the first node may be a TC node (i.e.,

[0356] the other nodes in

[0357] may be a TC node). Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node in step S601 has been forwarded by other TC nodes, that is, the fifth clock message may include the clock identifier of one or more TC nodes. In other words, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the clock message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the fifth clock message received by the first node in step S601 may include the clock identifier of the previous hop TC node of the first node, and Figure 6a the sixth clock message sent by the first node in step S602 may also include the clock identifier of the previous hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node may not modify the clock identifier of the previous hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the forwarding process of the clock message, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own clock identifier in the forwarded clock message, so that the receiver of the second clock message can obtain the clock identifiers of each TC node on the forwarding path.

[0358] For another example, Figure 6b the method shown in Figure 6a is an example of the method shown in Figure 6bIn the method shown, the first node and the second node are not directly connected nodes, or one or more TC nodes are further included on the path between the first node and the second node. In this case, Figure 6a the shown step S602 can be implemented by Figure 6b the step S602a and step S602b in

[0359] Based on Figure 6a or Figure 6b the shown technical solution, when the first node is a TC node, after the first node receives the fifth clock message in step S601, the first node will send a sixth clock message carrying the clock identifier of the first node based on the fifth clock message in step S602. Among them, as a node participating in the forwarding of clock messages, the TC node's process of processing clock messages will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the clock message (for example, TC node failures or degraded TC node performance may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node forwards the clock message, it can carry the clock identifier of the TC node in the forwarded clock message, so that the recipient of the clock message can obtain the clock identifier of the TC node based on the clock message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0360] Exemplarily, Figure 6a or Figure 6b when the method shown is applied to Figure 3 the scenario shown, the clock messages received by the GM node or the OC node can carry the clock identifiers of each TC node. Correspondingly, in the case of a failure of the TC4 node, the GM node or the OC node can perform troubleshooting on each TC node based on the clock identifiers of the TC nodes carried in the clock message, thereby enabling network operation and maintenance personnel to quickly locate the faulty node and reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0361] Please refer to Figure 6c, which is a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by this application. The method includes the following steps. The method at least includes Figure 6c The steps A and B shown in

[0362] Step A. Other nodes send a first message. Correspondingly, the first node receives the first message. Among them, the first node is a TC node.

[0363] Step B. The first node sends a second message based on the first message. Correspondingly, the second node receives the second message. Among them, the second message includes first information, and the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

[0364] It should be understood that the process of the first node sending the second message based on the first message can be understood as that on the forwarding path of the first message, the first node serves as a forwarding device (or forwarding node, or routing and forwarding device, etc.) on the forwarding path. When the first node receives the first message and determines that the first message needs to be forwarded, the first node modifies the first message into a second message and sends the second message to the next-hop node (such as the second node mentioned later).

[0365] Optionally, the payload of the first message and the payload of the second message can be the same.

[0366] Optionally, during the process of the first node modifying the first message into a second message, the first node can add the first information based on a first clock message to obtain the second message.

[0367] Based on Figure 6c In the solution, the first node is a TC node. After receiving the first message, the first node can send a second message carrying the first information based on the first message, so that the recipient of the second message can determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and / or determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node. Among them, as a node participating in message processing, the TC node's process of message processing will inevitably affect the time correction process implemented based on the message (for example, TC node failure or TC node performance degradation may all lead to inaccurate time correction). Therefore, this impact will be one of the factors that need to be considered in the network operation and maintenance process. Through the above implementation process, when the TC node sends a message, it can carry the frequency deviation and / or time deviation associated with the TC node in the sent message, so that the recipient of the second message can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of the TC node based on the message sent by the TC node, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0368] Exemplarily, the end receiver of the message (such as: BC node or OC node or gateway device) can obtain the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of one or more TC nodes on the forwarding path based on the second message, so as to reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0369] Optionally, in step B, the first node sends a second message based on the first message, including: the first node sends a second message to the network management device based on the first message. Or, the first node sends a second message to the next-hop clock node based on the first message. Thus, the first node can send the second message to the network management device or the next-hop clock node, so that the network management device, or the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop BC node of the next-hop clock node, or the next-hop OC node of the next-hop clock node obtains the second message, and determines the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the first node and the third node through the second message.

[0370] In a possible implementation, the third node is the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node. In other words, the receiver of the second message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between the first node and the previous-hop BC node (or the first node and the previous-hop OC node) based on the first information carried in the second message. Correspondingly, when there are one or more TC nodes between the previous-hop BC node or the previous-hop OC node of the first node and the receiver of the second message, the receiver can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop BC nodes (or one or more TC nodes and their respective previous-hop OC nodes) based on the received one or more second messages, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0371] Optionally, the third node is the previous-hop TC node or the previous-hop grandmaster (GM) node of the first node, so that the receiver of the second message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation between the TC node and the previous-hop TC node (or the first node and the GM node) based on the first information included in the second message, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0372] In a possible implementation, the first message received by the first node in step A can be received in multiple ways.

[0373] For example, the first message can come from an OC node or a BC node, that is, the previous-hop node of the first node can be an OC node or a BC node (i.e., Figure 6cOther nodes in [[]] can be OC nodes or BC nodes). Correspondingly, the first message received by the first node in step S401 has not been forwarded by the TC node, that is, the first message may not include information for determining the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of the TC node (for example, the first message does not include the first information).

[0374] For another example, the first message may come from the TC node, that is, the previous hop node of the first node can be the TC node (that is, Figure 6c other nodes in [[]] can be TC nodes). Correspondingly, the first message received by the first node in step A has been forwarded by other TC nodes, that is, the first message may include information for determining the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of the TC node (for example, the first message includes the first information corresponding to one or more other TC nodes). In other words, there may be other TC nodes on the transmission path of the message forwarded by the first node. Correspondingly, the first message received by the first node in step A may include the first information corresponding to the previous hop TC node of the first node (for example, this first information is used to determine the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of the previous hop TC node), and the second message sent by the first node in step B may also include the first information corresponding to the previous hop TC node of the first node (that is, the first node may not modify the first information corresponding to the previous hop TC node of the first node). In this way, during the message forwarding process, each TC node on the forwarding path can carry its own first information in the forwarded message, so that the receiver of the second message can obtain the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of each TC node on the forwarding path, thereby reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance (for example, faulty or underperforming TC nodes can be identified based on the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of each node).

[0375] In a possible implementation manner, the second message sent by the first node in step B can be received by the second node in multiple ways.

[0376] For example, in Figure 6c the method shown, the first node and the second node are directly connected nodes, or there are no other TC nodes on the path between the first node and the second node. In this case, the message received by the second node and the second message sent by the first node in step B can be the same message. In other words, in the second message received by the second node, it includes the first information of the first node and the first information corresponding to the previous hop or multiple hops of other TC nodes (if any) of the first node.

[0377] For another example, Figure 6d the method shown is an example of the method shown in Figure 6c In Figure 6dIn the method shown, the first node and the second node are not directly connected nodes, or there is also one or more TC nodes on the path between the first node and the second node. In this case, Figure 6c the step B shown can be implemented by Figure 6d steps B1 and B2 in. For example, the second message sent by the first node in step B1 and the other messages received by the second node in step B2 may not be the same message, that is, the second message sent by the first node may also be processed by one or more TC nodes, so that the other messages received by the second node are the messages after the processing. In other words, the other messages received by the second node may contain multiple pieces of first information. For example, the multiple pieces of first information may include the first information corresponding to the first node (and (possibly existing) the first information corresponding to the previous hop or multiple hops of other TC nodes of the first node), and may also include the first information corresponding to the next hop or multiple hops of other TC nodes of the first node (that is, the first information corresponding to one or more TC nodes in the figure).

[0378] In a possible implementation, the first information further includes the clock identifier of the first node. Thus, in the second message containing the first information sent by the first node, the first information may further include the clock identifier of the first node, so that the receiver of the second message can determine the TC nodes associated with the frequency deviation and / or time deviation based on the clock identifier of the first node, facilitating problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reducing the complexity of network operation and maintenance. Exemplarily, in Figure 6d the scenario shown, the other messages received by the second node may contain multiple clock identifiers corresponding one by one to the above multiple pieces of first information, so that the second node can clarify the clock identifiers of the TC nodes corresponding to each piece of first information and determine the time deviation and / or frequency deviation of each TC node. For example, the multiple clock identifiers may include the clock identifier corresponding to the first node, and (possibly existing) the clock identifiers corresponding to the previous hop or multiple hops of other TC nodes of the first node, and the clock identifiers of the next hop or multiple hops of other TC nodes of the first node (that is, the clock identifiers corresponding to one or more TC nodes in the figure).

[0379] It should be noted that in the second message, the first information may be carried in a defined type length value (TLV), or may be carried in a newly defined TLV. Exemplarily, the first information will be described exemplarily below in combination with the example shown in Table 8.

[0380] Table 8

[0381] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 clockID(1) 8 4 Frequency offset(1) 10 12 Time offset(1) 10 22 clockID(2) 8 32 Frequency offset(2) 10 40 Time offset(2) 10 50 ... ... ...

[0382] In Table 8, taking the frequency offset used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node included in the first information as "Frequency offset", the time offset used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node included in the first information as "Time offset", and the clock identifier included in the first information as "ClockID" as an example.

[0383] Optionally, in Table 8, the indexes of one or more TC nodes that may exist are represented by "(1), (2),...". This index is used to indicate the associated clockID field, Frequency offset field, and Time offset field. That is, the clockID field, Frequency offset field, and Time offset field with the same index indicate the information of the same TC node. Among them, this index can be an optional item. For example, the recipient of the first information can determine the information of the same TC node through the relative position relationship between each field.

[0384] Optionally, taking the first information as the form of a table in Table 8 as an example, in practical applications, the first information can also be implemented through formulas, payloads, or other means.

[0385] Optionally, as shown above, in the table provided by the embodiments of the present application (such as Table 8), the number of bytes / number of bits occupied by each field is only an example. Among them, the number of bytes / number of bits occupied by each field can also be other values. Similarly, in the table provided by the embodiments of the present application, the order of each field is only an example. Among them, the order occupied by each field can also be implemented in other ways.

[0386] It can be seen from the above process that the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node. In a possible implementation manner, the first information can be implemented in various ways, which will be described below in combination with some implementation examples.

[0387] Implementation Example A: The first information may include information for determining the frequency deviation.

[0388] In Implementation Example A, the first information includes a third indication information, and the third indication information is used to determine the frequency deviation. For example, the third indication information can be carried in the Frequency offset field in Table 8.

[0389] In the above process, the third indication information is determined based on the timestamp (e.g., T1) indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp (e.g., T2') when the first node receives the first message, and the delay (e.g., T1_CF) indicated by the correction field carried in the first message. In other words, the first node can determine the third indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and send the third indication information through the first information, so that the recipient of the first information can determine the above frequency deviation through the third indication information.

[0390] Exemplarily, the frequency offset information satisfies:

[0391]

[0392] Among them, the meanings of the parameters are:

[0393] represents the frequency information (e.g., the value of the frequency information is );

[0394] F A represents the frequency offset of the previous-hop BC node or OC node of the TC node (e.g., the previous-hop BC node or OC node of the above first node, e.g., the above third node);

[0395] F B represents the frequency offset of the TC node (e.g., the frequency offset of the above first node);

[0396] syncEventIngressTimestamp represents T1;

[0397] <synceventingresstimestamp> N Indicates T1 carried by the message currently received by the TC node (e.g., T1 corresponding to the first message received by the first node above);

[0398] <synceventingresstimestamp>0 represents T1 carried in the message received by the TC node historically (or the last received message) (for example, T1 corresponding to the first message received by the first node historically (or the last received message));

[0399] correctedMasterEventTimestamp satisfies:

[0400] correctedMasterEventTimestamp = <origintimestamp> + <meanpathdelay>

[0401] +correctionField of Sync message;

[0402] Among them, the meanings of the parameters are as follows:

[0403] originTimestamp represents the reception timestamp T2' when the TC node receives the message, or the transmission timestamp T2' when the TC node sends the message;

[0404] meanPathDelay represents the link delay between the TC node and the previous hop node; for example, in the P2P mode, the TC node can determine the link delay represented by meanPathDelay through the timestamp carried in the message transmitted by the previous hop node and the timestamp carried in the message transmitted locally;

[0405] As an example, during the process of the TC node determining the link delay, when the node is in P2P and one-step mode, the node sends a Pdelay_req message to the previous hop node, records the timestamp T1 at the moment when the message exits the port, and this T1 timestamp can be saved at this node. When the message reaches the previous hop node, the previous hop node receives the Pdelay_req message and records T2. At the same time, after receiving the Pdelay_req message, the previous hop node starts to send a Pdelay_resp message to this node, records the timestamp T3 when the Pdaley_resp message exits the port, and carries T3 - T2 in the RequestReceiptTimestamp field of the Pdelay_resp message and sends it to this TC node. When this node receives the Pdelay_resp message, it records the timestamp T4. Combining the original T1 timestamp stored at this node, the link delay can be obtained through meanpathdelay = [(T2 - T1) + (T4 - T3)] / 2.

[0406] As another example, during the process of the TC node determining the link delay, when the previous node is in two-step mode, the T2 timestamp is carried in the RequestReceiptTimestamp field of the Pdelay_resp message and sent to this node. At the same time, the previous node will send a Pdelay_resp_Follow_up message and carry the T3 timestamp in the ResponseOriginTimestamp field of this message to the downstream this node. This node can also obtain the link delay through meanpathdelay = [(T2 - T1) + (T4 - T3)] / 2.

[0407] The correctionField of Sync message indicates the latency indicated by the correction field carried in the message transmitted by the TC node (such as T1_CF or T1_CF'). Among them, the values of T1_CF carried in the message received by the TC node and T1_CF' carried in the message received by the TC node can be different, and T1_CF' can be determined based on T1_CF, the residence latency of the message, and the link latency of the message (for example, T1_CF' can be the sum of T1_CF, the residence latency of the message, and the link latency of the message);

[0408] <correctedmastereventtimestamp> N Indicates the information determined by the TC node based on the currently received message (for example, this information is determined based on T2', link delay, and T1_CF corresponding to the first message received by the first node);

[0409] <correctedmastereventtimestamp>0 represents the information determined by the TC node based on the historically received (or last received) message (for example, this information is determined based on T2', link delay, and T1_CF corresponding to the first message historically received (or last received) by the first node);

[0410] Optionally, without considering the historically received (or last received) first message, or, when the TC node determines that there is no relevant information about the historically received (or last received) first message in the cache, the frequency offset information satisfies:

[0411]

[0412] Optionally, in the E2E mode, the value of meanPathDelay is 0. Correspondingly, correctedMasterEventTimestamp satisfies:

[0413] correctedMasterEventTimestamp = <origintimestamp>+correctionField of Sync message;

[0414] As an example for implementing Example A, if the first node is an E2E node, the value of the above third indication information may be frequency offset information. Moreover, the value of meanPathDelay is 0, or meanPathDelay does not exist.

[0415] As another example for implementing Example A, if the first node is a P2P node, the value of the above third indication information may be frequency offset information. Moreover, T1_CF may be the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the message received by the first node (e.g., this delay is the same as the delay indicated by T1_CF carried in the first message), and the value of meanPathDelay may be determined by the timestamp carried in the message transmitted in P2P mode.

[0416] As another example for implementing Example A, if the first node is a P2P node, the value of the above third indication information may be frequency offset information. Moreover, T1_CF may be the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the message sent by the first node (e.g., this delay value is determined by T1_CF’ carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message, e.g., this delay value is the difference between the delay indicated by T1_CF’ carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message), and the value of meanPathDelay may be determined by the P2P mode.

[0417] In Implementation Example B, the first information may include information for determining the time deviation corresponding to the TC node in E2E mode.

[0418] In Implementation Example B, the first node is a TC node in E2E, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages for delay response; the method further includes: the first node receives a first Sync message; the first node sends a second Sync message based on the first Sync message; the first node receives a first Delay_Req message; the first node sends a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message; wherein, the first information includes a fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to determine the time deviation. For example, the fourth indication information may be carried in the Time offset field in Table 8.

[0419] In the above process, the fourth indication information is determined based on the timestamp (T1) indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp (T2') when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp (T3') when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp (T4) indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message. In other words, the first node can determine the fourth indication information based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message, and send the fourth indication information through the first information, so that the recipient of the first information can determine the above-mentioned E2E time deviation through the fourth indication information.

[0420] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes: the delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0421] Optionally, the basis for determining the fourth indication information further includes: the delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message and the delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0422] Exemplarily, in the E2E mode, the fourth indication information = [(T4 - T3' - T4_CF - T3_CF) - (T2' - T1 - T1_CF)] / 2.

[0423] In implementation example C, the first information may include information for determining the time deviation corresponding to the TC node in the P2P mode.

[0424] In implementation example C, the first node is a P2P TC node, and the first information includes fifth indication information for determining the time deviation. For example, the fourth indication information may be carried in the Time offset field in Table 8.

[0425] In the above process, the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp (T1) indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp (T2') when the first node receives the first message, the delay (T1_CF) indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and the link delay (meanpathdelay) between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the fifth indication information is based on the timestamp (T1) indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp (T2') when the first node receives the first message, the delay (T1_CF') indicated by the correction field carried in the second message, and the residence delay of the first message at the first node. Thus, the first node can determine the fifth indication information in any of the above manners and send the fifth indication information through the first message, so that the recipient of the first message can determine the time deviation of the above P2P based on the fifth indication information.

[0426] Exemplarily, in the P2P mode, the fifth indication information = T2' - T1 - T1_CF - meanpathdelay, where T1_CF is the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and meanpathdelay is the link delay between the previous hop node and the current node; when the first message continues to be transmitted downstream, meanpathdelay and the device residence delay will be added to T1_CF together.

[0427] Exemplarily, in the P2P mode, the fifth indication information = T2' - T1 - T1_CF' - residence delay, where T1_CF' is the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message (this delay is determined by meanpathdelay, for example, this delay includes the delay indicated by meanpathdelay).

[0428] Implementation example D, the first message may include information for determining the frequency deviation and / or time deviation corresponding to the TC node in the P2P mode.

[0429] In implementation example D, the first node is the TC node in the P2P; the first message includes the timestamp (T2') when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information; the sixth indication information is determined based on the delay (T1_CF) indicated by the correction field carried in the first message and the link delay (meanpathdelay) between the first node and the previous hop node; or, the sixth indication information is determined based on the delay (T1_CF') indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

[0430] Thus, the first node can determine the sixth indication information based on any of the above methods, and send, through the first message, the timestamp of the first node receiving the first packet and the sixth indication information, so that the receiver of the first message can determine the frequency deviation and / or time deviation of the above P2P based on the timestamp of the first node receiving the first packet and the sixth indication information.

[0431] Exemplarily, the receiver of the sixth indication information can determine the information of the frequency deviation and / or time deviation based on the sixth indication information. The specific determination process can refer to the implementation processes of the third indication information and the fifth indication information in the previous text.

[0432] Exemplarily, in implementation example D, the first message can include T2' and T1_CF and meanpathdelay in the sixth indication information. The former will be described exemplarily below with reference to the example shown in Table 9.

[0433] Table 9

[0434] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 clockID(1) 8 4 T2’(1) 10 12 T1_CF(1) 10 22 meanpathdelay(1) 10 32 clockID(2) 8 42 T2’(2) 10 50 T1_CF(2) 10 60 meanpathdelay(2) 10 70 ... ... ...

[0435] Exemplarily, in implementation example D, the first message can include T2' and T1_CF' in the sixth indication information and the residence delay of the first packet at the first node (referred to as residence delay for short). The former will be described exemplarily below with reference to the example shown in Table 10.

[0436] Table 10

[0437] Bits Octets TLV Offset tlvType 2 0 lengthField 2 2 clockID(1) 8 4 T2’(1) 10 12 T1_CF(1) 10 22 Residence delay(1) 10 32 clockID(2) 8 42 T2’(2) 10 50 T1_CF(2) 10 60 Residence delay(2) 10 70 ... ... ...

[0438] Among them, the parameters in Table 9 and Table 10 can refer to the previous description.

[0439] In implementation example E, the first message can include information for determining the frequency deviation corresponding to the TC node in the E2E mode.

[0440] In implementation example E, the first node is the TC node of E2E; among them, the first message is used to determine the frequency deviation, and the first message includes the timestamp (T2') of the first node receiving the first packet and the seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information is determined based on the delay (T1_CF) indicated by the correction field carried in the second packet and the residence delay of the first packet at the first node.

[0441] Thus, the first node can determine the seventh indication information based on the above method, and send, through the first message, the timestamp of the first node receiving the first packet and the seventh indication information, so that the receiver of the first message can determine the frequency deviation of the above E2E based on the timestamp of the first node receiving the first packet and the seventh indication information.

[0442] Exemplarily, the recipient of the seventh indication information may determine the frequency deviation based on the seventh indication information. The specific determination process may refer to the implementation process of the third indication information described above.

[0443] Exemplarily, in implementation example E, the first information may include T2’ and T1_CF and the dwell time delay in the seventh indication information.

[0444] In implementation example F, the first information may include information for determining the time deviation corresponding to the TC node in the E2E mode.

[0445] In implementation example F, the first node is the TC node of E2E, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; the method further includes: the first node receives a first Sync message; the first node sends a second Sync message based on the first Sync message; the first node receives a first Delay_Req message; the first node sends a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message.

[0446] Wherein, the first information is used to determine the time deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp (T1) indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp (T2’) when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp (T3’) when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp (T4) indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message. In other words, the first node may send the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message through the first information, so that the recipient of the first information can determine the E2E time deviation based on these information.

[0447] Optionally, the first information further includes: the time delay T1_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first Sync message.

[0448] Optionally, the first information further includes: the time delay T3_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the second Delay_Req message and the time delay T4_CF indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

[0449] Exemplarily, the recipient of the first information may determine the information of the time deviation based on the first information. The specific determination process may refer to the implementation process of the fourth indication information described above.

[0450] Optionally, the above-mentioned first message and the above-mentioned second message may be implemented in various ways.

[0451] For example, both the above-mentioned first message and the above-mentioned second message are Sync messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; among them, the transmission mode of the first message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0452] For another example, both the above-mentioned first message and the above-mentioned second message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; among them, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

[0453] For another example, both the first message and the second message are Announce messages.

[0454] In a possible implementation manner, the first message received by the first node in step A includes an eighth indication information, and the eighth indication information is used to indicate whether the message sent by the TC node includes the first information. For example, the eighth indication information may be carried when the previous-hop BC node, the previous OC node, or the GM node of the first node sends a message, and through the eighth indication information, it can be indicated whether the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information. And, when the eighth indication information indicates that the message sent by the subsequent TC node includes the first information, the recipient of the message sent by the TC node can obtain the time deviation and / or frequency deviation between the TC node and the third node through the first information, so as to facilitate problem location when the TC network time synchronization is abnormal and reduce the complexity of network operation and maintenance.

[0455] Please refer to Figure 7 , which is a schematic diagram of the communication device provided by this application. The communication device can be used to implement the functions of the communication device (i.e., the first node, the second node, or other nodes) in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. Among them, the communication device can be a router, a packet transport network (PTN) device, an optical transport network (OTN) device, etc.

[0456] As Figure 7 shown, the communication device may include a 1588 message processing module and one or more line cards. Among them, each port of the line card and the message receiving and sending module are responsible for receiving and sending 1588 messages (such as 1588v2 messages); the 1588 message processing module is used to modify the received 1588v2 message, add or modify some fields, and then send it out. In other words, the 1588 message processing module and one or more line cards can be used to implement the processes of receiving, processing, and sending the above messages.

[0457] Optionally, in Figure 7 , the 1588 message processing module may be located on the main control board or on the line board.

[0458] Please refer to Figure 8 . An embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device 800 may implement the functions of the communication device (i.e., the first node, the second node, or other nodes) in the foregoing method embodiment, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the foregoing method embodiment.

[0459] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the function of the foregoing first node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a first clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the processing unit 802 is used to determine a second clock message based on the first clock message; the transceiver unit 801 is further used to send the second clock message, and the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

[0460] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the function of the foregoing second node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a second clock message, and the second clock message includes the delay information of at least one TC node; the processing unit 802 is used to obtain the delay information of at least one TC node based on the second clock message.

[0461] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the function of the foregoing first node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a fifth clock message, where the first node is a TC node; the processing unit 802 is used to determine a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message; the transceiver unit 801 is further used to send the sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0462] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the function of the foregoing second node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer; the processing unit 802 is used to determine the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes.

[0463] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the foregoing first node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a first message, and the first node is a TC node; the processing unit 802 is used to send a second message based on the first message, and the second message includes first information, and the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or, the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

[0464] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the foregoing second node, the communication device includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802; the transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a second message, and the second message includes first information; the processing unit 802 is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or, the time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and the first node is a TC node.

[0465] It should be noted that for the information execution process and other contents of each unit of the foregoing communication device 800, please refer to the description in the method embodiments shown in the foregoing of this application for details, and will not be elaborated here.

[0466] Please refer to Figure 9 , the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device 900 can implement the functions of the communication device (i.e., the first node, the second node or other nodes) in the foregoing method embodiment, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the foregoing method embodiment.

[0467] Appendix Figure 9 The communication device 900 shown includes at least one processor 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 further includes a memory 902 (i.e., at least one processor 901 and the memory can be deployed in the same communication device), or, the communication device 900 can be externally connected to a memory (i.e., at least one processor 901 and the memory can be deployed in different communication devices). Figure 9 In the following, the case where at least one processor 901 and the memory are deployed in the same communication device (i.e., the communication device 900) will be taken as an example for description.

[0468] Optionally, the processor 901 implements the method in the foregoing embodiment by reading the instructions stored in the memory 902, or, the processor 901 can also implement the method in the foregoing embodiment by the instructions stored internally. In the case where the processor 901 implements the method in the foregoing embodiment by reading the instructions stored in the memory 902, the memory 902 stores the instructions for implementing the method provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present application.

[0469] Optionally, at least one processor 901 is one or more CPUs, or a single-core CPU, or a multi-core CPU.

[0470] Further optionally, at least one processor 901 can also be used to execute the implementation processes corresponding to the processing unit 802 in the foregoing Figure 8 illustrated embodiments, and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0471] The memory 902 includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash memory, or optical memory, etc. Instructions of the operating system are stored in the memory 902.

[0472] After the program instructions stored in the memory 902 are read by the at least one processor 901, the communication device performs the corresponding operations in the foregoing embodiments.

[0473] Optionally, the Figure 9 illustrated communication device further includes a network interface 903. The network interface 903 can be a wired interface, such as an FDDI or GE interface; the network interface 903 can also be a wireless interface. The network interface 903 is used to perform data reception and transmission in the Figure 3 and related embodiments.

[0474] Further optionally, the network interface 903 can also be used to execute the implementation processes corresponding to the transceiver unit 801 in the foregoing Figure 8 illustrated embodiments, and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0475] It should be understood that the network interface 903 has the functions of receiving data and sending data. The functions of "receiving data" and "sending data" can be implemented in the same transceiver interface, or the functions of "receiving data" and "sending data" can be implemented in different interfaces respectively, which is not limited herein. In other words, the network interface 903 can include one or more interfaces for implementing the functions of "receiving data" and "sending data".

[0476] For other functions that the communication device 900 can perform after the processor 901 reads the program instructions in the memory 902, please refer to the descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0477] Optionally, the communication device 900 further includes a bus 904. The foregoing processor 901 and memory 902 are generally connected to each other through the bus 904, or can also be connected to each other in other ways.

[0478] Optionally, the communication device 900 further includes an input / output interface 905, which is used to connect to an input device and receive relevant configuration information input by a user or other devices that can be linked with the communication device 900 through the input device. The input device includes, but is not limited to, a keyboard, a touch screen, a microphone, and the like.

[0479] The communication device 900 provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to execute the methods executed by the communication device (the first node or the second node) provided in the above respective method embodiments, and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects.

[0480] As an implementation example, the communication device 900 executes the functions of the first node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 executes the functions of other devices (such as the second node). The communication device 900 is used to receive a first clock message, wherein the first node is a TC node; the communication device 900 is further used to send the second clock message to the communication device 1000 based on the first clock message, and the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

[0481] As another implementation example, the communication device 900 executes the functions of the second node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 executes the functions of other devices (such as the first node). The communication device 900 is used to receive the second clock message from the communication device 1000; the communication device 900 is further used to obtain the delay information of at least one TC node based on the second clock message.

[0482] As an implementation example, the communication device 900 executes the functions of the first node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 executes the functions of other devices (such as the second node). The communication device 900 is used to receive a fifth clock message, wherein the first node is a TC node; the communication device 900 is further used to send a sixth clock message to the communication device 1000 based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

[0483] As another implementation example, the communication device 900 executes the functions of the second node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 executes the functions of other devices (such as the first node). The communication device 900 is used to receive the sixth clock message from the communication device 1000, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer; the communication device 900 is further used to determine the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes.

[0484] As an implementation example, the communication device 900 performs the functions of the first node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 performs the functions of other devices (such as the second node). The communication device 900 is used to receive a first message, and the first node is a TC node; the communication device 900 is further used to send a second message based on the first message, and the second message includes first information, and the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or, the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

[0485] As another implementation example, the communication device 900 performs the functions of the second node in the foregoing embodiments; wherein, the communication device 1000 performs the functions of other devices (such as the first node). The communication device 900 is used to receive a second message from the communication device 1000, and the second message includes first information; the communication device 900 is further used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or, the time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, and the first node is a TC node.

[0486] Figure 9 For the specific implementation manners of the shown communication device, reference may be made to the descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described herein one by one.

[0487] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium is used to store one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the methods described in the various implementation manners related to the communication device (such as the first node, the second node, etc.) in the foregoing embodiments.

[0488] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product (or computer program for short), and the program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the methods described in the various implementation manners related to the above communication device (such as the first node, the second node, etc.).

[0489] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, and the chip system includes at least one processor, which is used to support the communication device to implement the functions involved in the above implementation manners. Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit, and the interface circuit provides program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor. In a possible design, the chip system may further include a memory, and the memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the communication device. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices, wherein the communication device may specifically be the first node, the second node, etc. in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0490] The embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, which at least includes a first node for executing the foregoing method embodiments, or the communication system includes a first node and a second node for executing the foregoing method embodiments.

[0491] It should be understood that in this communication system, each network device can also apply other methods involved in the foregoing embodiments and achieve corresponding technical effects, which will not be elaborated here.

[0492] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the unit is only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces, indirect couplings or communication connections of devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0493] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application and are not intended to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or equivalently replace some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.< / origintimestamp> < / correctedmastereventtimestamp> < / correctedmastereventtimestamp> < / meanpathdelay> < / origintimestamp> < / synceventingresstimestamp> < / synceventingresstimestamp>

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: The first node receives a first clock message, where the first node is a transparent clock (TC) node. The first node sends a second clock message based on the first clock message, and the second clock message carries the delay information of the first node.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a first delay, where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message. Or, The first node is a point-to-point (P2P) TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the first delay, a second delay, and the sum of the first delay and the second delay; where the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message, and the second delay is the link delay between the port that receives the first clock message and the port that sends the first clock message.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Both the first clock message and the second clock message are synchronization (Sync) messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode. Wherein, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the one-step mode, or the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Both the first clock message and the second clock message are follow-up (Follow_Up) messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode. Wherein, the transmission mode of the first clock message is the two-step mode.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Both the first clock message and the second clock message are delay request (Delay_Req) messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode. Or, Both the first clock message and the second clock message are delay response (Delay_Resp) messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before the first node receives the first clock message, the method further includes: Receiving a third clock message, and the delay information of the first node is determined based on the third clock message. Sending a fourth clock message based on the third clock message.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The first node is an E2E TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate a third delay, where the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message. Or, The first node is a TC node of point-to-point P2P. The latency information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the third latency, the fourth latency, and the sum of the third latency and the fourth latency. Wherein, the third latency is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message, and the fourth latency is the link latency between the port that receives the third clock message and the port of the previous hop node of the first node that sends the third clock message.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein Both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages; Or, Both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The second clock message further carries first indication information and / or second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the second clock message includes the latency information of the first node, and the second indication information is used to indicate the clock identifier of the first node or the second indication information is the clock identifier of the first node.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The first clock message and the second clock message include the latency information of the previous hop TC node of the first node.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: The first node receives a fifth clock message; The first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein Both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV of the path tracking type length value in the Announce message.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, Both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous hop TC node of the first node.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: The second node receives a second clock message, and the second clock message includes the latency information of at least one TC node; Obtain the latency information of the at least one TC node based on the second clock message.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The at least one TC node includes a first node; The first node is an end-to-end E2E TC node. The latency information of the first node is used to indicate a first latency, and the first latency is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message, and the second clock message is determined based on the first clock message; Or, The first node is a TC node of point-to-point P2P, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the first delay, the second delay, and the sum of the first delay and the second delay; wherein, the delay information of the first node is used to indicate the first delay, and the first delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the first clock message and the time when the first node sends the second clock message, and the second delay is the link delay between the port that receives the first clock message and the port of the previous hop node of the first node that sends the first clock message.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first node is an E2E TC node, and the second clock message is a Sync message, a Follow_Up message, a Delay_Req message, or a Delay_Resp message; or the first node is a P2P TC node, and the second clock message is a Sync message, a Follow_Up message.

18. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The at least one TC node includes a first node; the first node is an E2E TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate the third delay, and the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message, and the fourth clock message is determined based on the third clock message; or the first node is a P2P TC node, and the delay information of the first node is used to indicate at least one of the third delay, the fourth delay, and the sum of the third delay and the fourth delay; wherein, the third delay is the difference between the time when the first node receives the third clock message and the time when the first node sends the fourth clock message, and the fourth delay is the link delay between the port that receives the third clock message and the port of the previous hop node of the first node that sends the third clock message.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the first node is an E2E TC node, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages; or, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Delay_Req messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Delay_Resp messages; or the first node is a P2P TC node, both the third clock message and the fourth clock message are Sync messages, and both the first clock message and the second clock message are Follow_Up messages.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, characterized in that The second node is an ordinary clock OC node or a boundary clock BC node or a grandmaster clock GM node.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 20, characterized in that The second node is a GM node or a BC node, and the method further includes: The second node sends a seventh clock message based on the second clock message, and the seventh clock message includes the delay information of the at least one TC node.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein, The second clock message is a Delay_Req message and the seventh clock message is a Delay_Resp message.

23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that, The second clock message further carries at least one first indication information and / or at least one second indication information, where the at least one first indication information is respectively used to indicate that the second clock message includes the delay information of the at least one node, and the at least one second indication information is respectively used to indicate the clock identifiers of the at least one node.

24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23, characterized in that, The second node is an OC node or a BC node, and the method further includes: The second node receives a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that, The sixth clock message is an Announce message.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein The clock identifiers of the N nodes are carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV of the Announce message.

27. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: A first node receives a fifth clock message, where the first node is a TC node; The first node sends a sixth clock message based on the fifth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifier of the first node.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein Both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message are Announce messages.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein The clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV of the Announce message.

30. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 29, characterized in that, Both the fifth clock message and the sixth clock message include the clock identifier of the previous-hop TC node of the first node.

31. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: A second node receives a sixth clock message, and the sixth clock message includes the clock identifiers of N TC nodes, where N is a positive integer; The second node determines the transmission path of the clock message based on the clock identifiers of the N TC nodes.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein The sixth clock message is an Announce message.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein The clock identifier of the first node is carried in the PATH_TRACE TLV of the Announce message.

34. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 33, characterized in that, The second node is an OC node or a BC node.

35. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: A first node receives a first message, and the first node is a transparent clock (TC) node; The first node sends a second message based on the first message, and the second message includes first information, where the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation between the first node and a third node, and / or, the first information is used to determine the time deviation between the first node and the third node.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein The third node is the previous-hop boundary clock (BC) node or the previous-hop ordinary clock (OC) node of the first node.

37. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first information includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to determine the frequency deviation; Wherein, the third indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

38. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; the method further includes: Receive the first synchronization (Sync) message; Receive the first delay request (Delay_Req) message; Send a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message; Wherein, the first information includes a fourth indication information for determining the time deviation, and the fourth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

39. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first node is a point-to-point (P2P) TC node, and the first information includes a fifth indication information for determining the time deviation; The fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and the link delay between the first node and the previous-hop node; or, The fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message, and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

40. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first node is a P2P TC node; The first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and a sixth indication information; The sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message and the link delay between the first node and the previous-hop node; or, The sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

41. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node; Wherein, the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and a seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

42. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that, The first node is an E2E TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; The method further includes: Receive the first Sync message; Receive the first Delay_Req message; Send a second Delay_Req message based on the first Delay_Req message; Wherein, the first information is used to determine the time deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

43. The method according to claim 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, or 41, wherein both the first message and the second message are Sync messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the one-step mode, or, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode; or both the first message and the second message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

44. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 43, characterized in that, The first node sending the second message based on the first message includes: The first node sending the second message to the network management device based on the first message.

45. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 44, characterized in that, The first message includes eighth indication information for indicating whether the message sent by the TC node includes the first information.

46. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 45, characterized in that, The first information further includes the clock identifier of the first node.

47. A communication method, characterized in that including: The second node receiving the second message, where the second message includes the first information; The second node determining the frequency deviation between the first node and the third node, and / or the time deviation between the first node and the third node based on the first information, where the first node is a transparent clock (TC) node.

48. The method according to claim 47, characterized in that, The third node is the upstream boundary clock (BC) node or the upstream ordinary clock (OC) node of the first node.

49. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first information includes third indication information for determining the frequency deviation, and the third indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, and the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message.

50. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first node is an end-to-end (E2E) TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; wherein, the first information includes fourth indication information for determining the time deviation, and the fourth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message received by the first node, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp when the first node sends the second Delay_Req message, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

51. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first node is a point-to-point (P2P) TC node, and the first information includes fifth indication information for determining the time deviation; the fifth indication information is determined based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message, and the link delay between the first node and the upstream node; or The fifth indication information is based on the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first message, the timestamp when the first node receives the first message, the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message, and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

52. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first node is a TC node of point-to-point P2P; The first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the sixth indication information; The sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the first message and the link delay between the first node and the previous hop node; or, The sixth indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

53. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first node is an E2E TC node; Wherein, the first information is used to determine the frequency deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp when the first node receives the first message and the seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information is determined based on the delay indicated by the correction field carried in the second message and the residence delay of the first message at the first node.

54. The method according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, The first node is an E2E TC node, and the first message and the second message are Delay_Resp messages; the method further includes: Wherein, the first information is used to determine the time deviation, and the first information includes the timestamp indicated by the original timestamp field carried in the first Sync message received by the first node, the timestamp when the first node receives the first Sync message, the timestamp of the second Delay_Req message sent by the first node, and the timestamp indicated by the received timestamp field carried in the first message.

55. The method according to claim 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, or 53, wherein Both the first message and the second message are Sync messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the one-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the one-step mode, or, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode; or, Both the first message and the second message are Follow_Up messages, and the transmission mode supported by the first node is the two-step mode; wherein, the transmission mode of the first message is the two-step mode.

56. The method according to any one of claims 47 to 55, characterized in that, The second node is a network management device.

57. The method according to any one of claims 47 to 56, characterized in that, The first message includes the eighth indication information, and the eighth indication information is used to indicate whether the message sent by the TC node includes the first information.

58. The method according to any one of claims 47 to 57, characterized in that, The first information further includes the clock identifier of the first node.

59. A communication system, characterized in that, The system includes a first node and a second node; at least one of the following is satisfied: The first node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, and the second node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 26; or, The first node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 27 to 30, and the second node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 31 to 34; or, The first node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 35 to 46, and the second node is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 47 to 58.

60. A communication device, characterized in that, comprising at least one processor, the processor being coupled to a memory for storing programs or instructions; The at least one processor is used to execute the program or instructions to enable the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 58.

61. The communication device according to claim 60, wherein The communication device further comprises the memory.

62. The communication device according to claim 60 or 61, characterized in that, The communication device is a chip or a chip system.

63. A computer program product, characterized in that, comprising instructions which, when running on a processor, implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 58.

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