Cross-regional virtual network cable connection system and method based on 4G network

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of cross-regional virtual network cable connection, and particularly relates to a cross-regional virtual network cable connection system and method based on a 4G network, and the system comprises at least one pair of virtual network cable terminal devices which are interconnected through the 4G network; the terminal device comprises a physical network port module, a 4G communication module, a virtual network bridging module and an encryption transmission module. The physical network port module is used for connecting local area network equipment, and the virtual network bridging module carries out two-layer bridging on a physical network port and a virtual network card to form a cross-regional extended broadcast domain. Through an original MAC layer tunnel technology, seamless expansion of a two-layer broadcast domain is realized in a 4G network for the first time, the industrial problem that protocols such as ARP / DHCP and the like in a traditional VPN scheme cannot be subjected to unvarnished transmission is thoroughly solved, and cross-region equipment obtains communication experience which is completely consistent with that of a local area network.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of cross-region virtual network cable connection, and specifically relates to a cross-region virtual network cable connection system and connection method based on a 4G network. Background Art

[0002] Currently, cross-regional network connections mainly rely on VPN or dedicated line technology, but there are significant defects: traditional VPN only supports three-layer network interconnection and cannot achieve two-layer broadcast domain expansion. The typical delay exceeds 200ms, which makes it difficult to meet the real-time requirements of industrial control; physical dedicated lines are expensive to deploy and have a long activation cycle; existing 4G network solutions are limited by the high NAT penetration failure rate and insufficient mobility support. Especially in scenarios such as industrial Internet of Things and distributed monitoring, existing technologies cannot meet the core requirements of low latency, two-layer protocol transparent transmission and rapid deployment, which restricts the development of cross-regional device direct connection applications. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, the present invention provides a cross-regional virtual network cable connection system and connection method based on 4G network, so as to solve the current cross-regional network connection that mainly relies on VPN or dedicated line technology, but has significant defects: traditional VPN only supports three-layer network interconnection, cannot achieve two-layer broadcast domain expansion, and the typical delay exceeds 200ms, which is difficult to meet the real-time requirements of industrial control; the physical dedicated line deployment cost is high and the activation cycle is long; the existing 4G network solution is limited by the high NAT penetration failure rate and insufficient mobility support. Especially in scenarios such as industrial Internet of Things and distributed monitoring, the existing technology is difficult to take into account the core requirements of low latency, two-layer protocol transparent transmission and rapid deployment, which restricts the development of cross-regional device direct connection applications.

[0004] One embodiment of the present invention provides a cross-region virtual network cable connection system based on a 4G network, comprising: At least one pair of virtual network terminal devices connected via a 4G network; The terminal device includes a physical network port module, a 4G communication module, a virtual network bridge module and an encrypted transmission module; The physical network port module is used to connect to the local area network device, and the virtual network bridging module performs layer 2 bridge connection between the physical network port and the virtual network card to form an extended broadcast domain across regions.

[0005] In one embodiment, the virtual network bridging module establishes a layer 2 tunnel protocol through MAC address transparent transmission technology, and transparently transmits the Ethernet frame received by the local physical network port to the physical network port of the opposite device through the 4G network, keeping the original MAC address unchanged.

[0006] In one embodiment, the encryption transmission module adopts a self-selected encryption strategy, the control channel uses the DTLS protocol for two-way certificate authentication, and the data channel supports AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption algorithms.

[0007] In one embodiment, the terminal device further includes: Hardware binding module, which stores the unique device identification SN code and pre-registers and pairs with the cloud control platform; The abnormal protection module automatically disconnects the virtual connection and triggers a hardware reset when unauthorized access is detected.

[0008] In one embodiment, the physical structure of the terminal device includes: The front of the engineering plastic housing is equipped with a three-color status indicator light, which includes a network status light, a virtual connection light, and a power light. The side of the engineering plastic shell is provided with an RJ45 interface supporting POE power supply and a waterproof SIM card slot.

[0009] One embodiment of the present invention provides a cross-region virtual network cable connection method based on a 4G network, comprising: A cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on a 4G network as described in any one of the above, and During the device pairing phase, the cloud control platform verifies the SN code binding relationship between the two terminal devices and establishes an end-to-end secure tunnel; During the data transmission phase, the Layer 2 data frames received by the physical network port are fragmented and compressed, and then transmitted to the other end through the UDP tunnel and the 4G network for reassembly.

[0010] In one embodiment, the device pairing stage specifically includes: Exchange temporary session keys through the national secret SM2 algorithm; After completing the two-way authentication, the VLAN tagging policy of the virtual bridge is generated synchronously to isolate the data broadcast domains of different pairing groups.

[0011] In one embodiment, the data transmission phase further includes: Dynamic QoS strategy, real-time monitoring of 4G network quality, support for multiple operators, and automatically switch to other operators when the network delay falls below the set threshold; Industrial protocol optimization sets the highest priority queue for ModbusTCP protocol data packets to ensure the transmission of control instructions.

[0012] In one embodiment, a fault recovery mechanism is also included: Customizable network ping / tcping detection. When a network interruption is detected, the 4G network operator will be switched and redialed to ensure network reliability. One embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of any one of the above-mentioned methods for connecting a cross-regional virtual network cable based on a 4G network.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects: 1. Through the original MAC layer tunnel technology, it realizes the seamless expansion of the second layer broadcast domain in the 4G network for the first time, completely solving the industry problem that protocols such as ARP / DHCP cannot be transparently transmitted in traditional VPN solutions, so that cross-regional devices can obtain a communication experience that is completely consistent with the local area network.

[0014] 2. The use of dynamic frame fragmentation and UDP acceleration engine can significantly reduce the latency compared to traditional VPN solutions in a typical 4G network environment, fully meeting the stringent requirements of real-time transmission in scenarios such as industrial control and video surveillance.

[0015] 3. On the hardware level, it integrates POE power supply and a waterproof SIM card slot to adapt to industrial environments of -40°C to 70°C. On the software level, cloud platform SN code binding enables "plug and connect to the network", which improves deployment efficiency by two orders of magnitude compared to dedicated line solutions. The device supports POE power supply and hot-swappable SIM cards, and cloud platform SN code binding enables rapid networking. Compared with dedicated line solutions, this improves deployment efficiency and reduces overall costs.

[0016] 4. Network backup is achieved through multi-operator cards. Switch to other operators and redial within 30 seconds of network disconnection to ensure rapid recovery of key services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0018] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the modules of the system of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] The terms "first," "second," and so on, in the description and claims of the present invention and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish between different items, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, apparatus, product, or end comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements but may optionally include steps or elements not listed therein, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to such process, method, product, or end.

[0021] References herein to "embodiments" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute a separate or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0022] The present invention discloses a cross-regional virtual network cable connection system and connection method based on 4G network. Through the original MAC layer tunnel technology, it can realize the seamless expansion of the second-layer broadcast domain in the 4G network for the first time, and completely solve the industry problem that protocols such as ARP / DHCP cannot be transparently transmitted in traditional VPN solutions, so that cross-regional devices can obtain a communication experience that is completely consistent with the local area network. By adopting dynamic frame fragmentation and UDP acceleration engine, it can achieve significantly reduced latency compared with traditional VPN solutions in a typical 4G network environment, and fully meet the strict requirements of real-time transmission in scenarios such as industrial control and video surveillance. At the hardware level, it integrates POE power supply and waterproof SIM card slot to adapt to -40℃~70℃ industrial environment. At the software level, cloud platform SN code binding realizes "plug and connect to the network", and the deployment time is improved by two orders of magnitude compared with the dedicated line solution. The equipment supports POE power supply and SIM card hot plugging. Cloud platform SN code binding realizes fast networking, which is improved in deployment time and reduced in overall cost compared with the dedicated line solution.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, one embodiment of the present invention provides a cross-region virtual network cable connection system based on a 4G network, including: At least one pair of virtual network terminal devices connected via a 4G network; The terminal device includes a physical network port module, a 4G communication module, a virtual network bridge module and an encrypted transmission module; The physical network port module is used to connect to the local area network device, and the virtual network bridging module performs layer 2 bridging between the physical network port and the virtual network card to form an extended broadcast domain across regions; The virtual network bridge module establishes a Layer 2 tunnel protocol through MAC address transparent transmission technology, transparently transmits the Ethernet frame received by the local physical network port to the physical network port of the opposite device via the 4G network, and keeps the original MAC address unchanged; The encrypted transmission module adopts a self-selected encryption strategy, the control channel uses the DTLS protocol for two-way certificate authentication, and the data channel supports AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption algorithms; The terminal device further includes: Hardware binding module, which stores the unique device identification SN code and pre-registers and pairs with the cloud control platform; Abnormal protection module, which automatically disconnects the virtual connection and triggers a hardware reset when unauthorized access is detected; The physical structure of the terminal device includes: The front of the engineering plastic housing is equipped with a three-color status indicator light, which includes a network status light, a virtual connection light, and a power light. The side of the engineering plastic shell is provided with an RJ45 interface supporting POE power supply and a waterproof SIM card slot.

[0024] One embodiment of the present invention provides a cross-region virtual network cable connection method based on a 4G network, comprising: A cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on a 4G network as described in any one of the above, and During the device pairing phase, the cloud control platform verifies the SN code binding relationship between the two terminal devices and establishes an end-to-end secure tunnel; During the data transmission phase, the Layer 2 data frames received by the physical network port are fragmented and compressed, and then transmitted to the peer end through the UDP tunnel and the 4G network for reassembly. The device pairing stage specifically includes: Exchange temporary session keys through the national secret SM2 algorithm; After completing the two-way authentication, the VLAN tagging policy of the virtual bridge is generated synchronously to isolate the data broadcast domains of different pairing groups; The data transmission phase also includes: Dynamic QoS strategy, real-time monitoring of 4G network quality, support for multiple operators, and automatic switching to other operators when the network delay falls below the set threshold; Industrial protocol optimization, setting the highest priority queue for ModbusTCP protocol data packets to ensure the transmission of control instructions; Also includes a failure recovery mechanism: Customized network ping / tcping detection can be configured. When a network interruption is detected, the 4G network operator will be switched and redialed to ensure network reliability.

[0025] One embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of any one of the above-mentioned methods for connecting a cross-regional virtual network cable based on a 4G network.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present invention, after the user obtains the device, he only needs to perform three simple steps to complete the configuration and use: 1. Connect the two devices to the power supply, and the power indicator light on the front of the device will light up; 2. Open the SIM card slots on the sides of the two devices and insert SIM cards with 4G traffic activated respectively. Close the slots, the devices will automatically start, and the network status can be checked through the indicator light status; 3. After the indicator lights are all solid green, log in to the console on the control platform and add a pair of devices through SN. After the devices are paired, the indicator lights of the two devices will turn blue.

[0027] It should be noted that the specific process is to log in to the VPN networking console, and then add a pair of devices by specifying the hardware sn. After adding them to a network, the devices start pairing, and the blue light will flash at this time. Wait for the indicator lights of the two devices to turn solid blue to complete the pairing. Subsequently, the Ethernet ports of the two devices can be connected to the two ends of the network cable that needs to be virtually extended.

[0028] To further deploy the equipment, place virtual network cable terminal boxes at the target locations in both locations. Connect the network port on one end to the LAN port of the gateway device via an Ethernet cable. Connect the local device (such as a computer, printer, or server) to the network port of the terminal box via an Ethernet cable. Ensure a secure connection. Power on the terminal box and connect it to the external network via 4G to ensure stable external network access. Wait for the terminal box to boot up. Observe the terminal box's indicator light; a solid blue light indicates the virtual network cable connection is complete.

[0029] Going further, use case examples: 1. Cross-regional office: The head office's server and branch office computers are connected via a virtual network cable. Branch office employees can quickly access shared files and database resources on the head office server, just as if they were at the head office, and conduct daily office work such as editing documents and running internal enterprise software, thereby improving collaboration efficiency. File transfer speeds are fast and real-time, with no significant delays due to cross-regional transmission. 2. Industrial control remote monitoring: The production equipment control system in the factory is connected to the remote monitoring center via a virtual network cable. The monitoring center receives the operating parameters and status data of the production equipment in real time. When a fault warning occurs in the equipment, control instructions can be quickly issued through the virtual network line to accurately adjust the equipment operation, ensuring the continuity and stability of the production process and avoiding the risk of control lag caused by network delays. 3. Smart home remote control: When traveling, users want to remotely control smart devices at home, such as smart cameras, smart curtains, and smart speakers. Connect the smart devices at home to a virtual network device in another location via an Ethernet cable. Users can bring the devices in location A and the accompanying mobile app. No matter where they are, as long as there is 4G network coverage, they can open the app to control the devices in their home in real time. For example, they can use the app to view the real-time images from the home camera and control the opening and closing of the curtains. This allows smart homes to break through geographical restrictions and truly realize control anytime, anywhere. Under normal use of 4G networks in urban environments, the end-to-end latency can be kept stable at less than 100ms. This invention uses original MAC layer tunneling technology to achieve seamless expansion of the Layer 2 broadcast domain in 4G networks for the first time, completely resolving the industry problem of protocols such as ARP / DHCP being unable to be transparently transmitted in traditional VPN solutions, allowing cross-regional devices to obtain a communication experience that is completely consistent with the local area network. Using dynamic frame fragmentation and UDP acceleration engines, it can significantly reduce latency compared to traditional VPN solutions in typical 4G network environments, fully meeting the stringent real-time transmission requirements of scenarios such as industrial control and video surveillance. On the hardware side, the device integrates POE power supply and a waterproof SIM card slot, adapting to -40°C to 70°C industrial environments. On the software side, cloud platform SN code binding enables "plug and go networking," improving deployment time by two orders of magnitude compared to dedicated line solutions. The device supports POE power supply and hot-swappable SIM cards, and cloud platform SN code binding enables rapid networking. This improves deployment time compared to dedicated line solutions and reduces overall costs. The incremental data synchronization protocol enables network recovery within 30 seconds, and automatically switches to TCP retransmission mode when the 4G signal is weak, ensuring zero interruption of critical services.

[0030] It's also worth noting the shortcomings and pain points of existing solutions. Existing VPNs require complex configuration (such as IPSec tunnels and certificate authentication), making them difficult for average users to use. VPNs rely on IP-layer encryption and are incompatible with industrial protocols that rely on direct physical-layer connections (such as Modbus TCP). Long-distance fiber deployments are expensive (relay equipment is required for distances greater than 100 kilometers). Furthermore, due to geographical constraints, existing virtual network cables (Veth-pairs) are limited to single-machine virtual network interconnection and cannot be extended across wide-area networks. The present invention aims to provide a virtual network cable technology. By using two dedicated devices with 4G Internet access and the same structure, through a unique software and hardware design, the network cables distributed in two places are virtually extended and connected together, so that the devices in different places are connected as if directly through the network cable, achieving low-latency, high-stability, and high-compatibility cross-regional network interaction to meet diverse application needs, such as Figure 1 As shown; The device is a small, portable rectangular parallelepiped, with a casing made of high-strength engineering plastic that offers excellent heat dissipation and durability, making it easy to carry and deploy. One side features a standard RJ45 network port (supporting POE power supply, suitable for industrial scenarios) for connecting to a network cable; the other side features a SIM card slot for 4G network access. The front has indicator lights to visually display the device's operating status, including a network indicator (solid green indicates a normal network, red indicates a network failure) and a virtual connection indicator (solid blue indicates a successful virtual connection with the peer device). The core technical principle of the present invention is: 1. Establish a physical layer tunnel using a custom protocol over the 4G network; 2. Directly bridge the VPN tunnel virtual network card and the physical network card to form a larger logical network that shares the entire broadcast domain.

[0031] 3. Provide device permission settings and add prohibition control to prevent device loss or take countermeasures when the device is attacked abnormally.

[0032] 4. Data transmission supports AES and ChaCha20 encryption algorithms to ensure data transmission security.

[0033] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected based on actual needs to achieve the objectives of the present embodiment. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement the present invention without inventive effort.

[0034] Through the detailed description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, or of course, by means of hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution, in essence, or the portion that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, including a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a one-time programmable read-only memory (OTPROM), an electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage, magnetic tape storage, or any other computer-readable medium capable of carrying or storing data.

[0035] Finally, it should be noted that the cross-regional virtual network cable connection system and connection method based on the 4G network disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments can still be modified, or some of the technical features therein can be replaced by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on 4G network, characterized in that: include: At least one pair of virtual network terminal devices connected via a 4G network; The terminal device includes a physical network port module, a 4G communication module, a virtual network bridge module and an encrypted transmission module; The physical network port module is used to connect to the local area network device, and the virtual network bridging module performs layer 2 bridge connection between the physical network port and the virtual network card to form an extended broadcast domain across regions.

2. A cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on 4G network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The virtual network bridging module establishes a Layer 2 tunnel protocol through MAC address transparent transmission technology, and transparently transmits the Ethernet frames received by the local physical network port to the physical network port of the opposite device via the 4G network, keeping the original MAC address unchanged.

3. The cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on 4G network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The encrypted transmission module supports setting encryption policies. The control channel uses the DTLS protocol for two-way certificate authentication, and the data channel supports AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption algorithms.

4. The cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on 4G network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal device further includes: Hardware binding module, which stores the unique device identification SN code and pre-registers and pairs with the cloud control platform; The abnormal protection module automatically disconnects the virtual connection and triggers a hardware reset when unauthorized access is detected.

5. The cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on 4G network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The physical structure of the terminal device includes: The front of the engineering plastic housing is equipped with a three-color status indicator light, which includes a network status light, a virtual connection light, and a power light. The side of the engineering plastic shell is provided with an RJ45 interface supporting POE power supply and a waterproof SIM card slot.

6. A cross-regional virtual network cable connection method based on 4G network, characterized in that: include: A cross-regional virtual network cable connection system based on a 4G network as described in claims 1-5, and During the device pairing phase, the cloud control platform verifies the SN code binding relationship between the two terminal devices and establishes an end-to-end secure tunnel; During the data transmission phase, the Layer 2 data frames received by the physical network port are fragmented and compressed, and then transmitted to the other end through the UDP tunnel and the 4G network for reassembly.

7. A cross-regional virtual network cable connection method based on 4G network according to claim 6, characterized in that: The device pairing stage specifically includes: Exchange temporary session keys through the national secret SM2 algorithm; After completing the two-way authentication, the VLAN tagging policy of the virtual bridge is generated synchronously to isolate the data broadcast domains of different pairing groups.

8. The cross-region virtual network cable connection method based on 4G network according to claim 6, characterized in that: The data transmission phase also includes: Dynamic QoS strategy, real-time monitoring of 4G network quality, support for multiple operators, and automatically switch to other operators when the network delay falls below the set threshold; Industrial protocol optimization sets the highest priority queue for ModbusTCP protocol data packets to ensure the transmission of control instructions.

9. The cross-region virtual network cable connection method based on 4G network according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes a failure recovery mechanism: Customized network ping / tcping detection can be configured. When a network interruption is detected, the 4G network operator will be switched and redialed to ensure network reliability.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, characterized in that: When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 are implemented.

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