Message forwarding method and device, network equipment and storage medium

Abstract

A message forwarding method and apparatus, a network device and a storage medium, applied to a network device in an access network, the method comprising: acquiring a first message from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal; determining a target network fragment matched with the first message and the first terminal; and carrying out QoS forwarding on the first message according to a forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network fragment. According to the scheme, the problem that forwarding strategies in a wired network and a wireless network are mutually independent can be solved, the management difficulty of the forwarding strategies is reduced, and the flow control effect is improved.

Description

Message forwarding method and device, network equipment and storage medium TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a message forwarding method and device, network equipment and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of wireless local area network (WLAN) technology and the promotion of network application, the traffic model of WLAN becomes complex, while the network resources are always relatively limited, which leads to the increasing urgency of quality of service (QoS) forwarding of messages, providing network differentiated services, and realizing reasonable planning and use of network resources.

[0003] Currently, some message forwarding methods are proposed, which use forwarding strategies to provide certain network differentiated services. However, the forwarding strategies in wired networks and wireless networks are independent of each other, which makes the management of forwarding strategies difficult and the effect of traffic control poor.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application aim to provide a message forwarding method and device, network equipment and storage medium to solve the problem of independent forwarding strategies in wired networks and wireless networks, reduce the management difficulty of forwarding strategies, and improve the effect of traffic control. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a message forwarding method applied to network equipment in an access network, and the method comprises:

[0007] obtaining a first message from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0008] determining a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal;

[0009] performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to a forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0010] In some embodiments, the network equipment is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on the forwarding path of the first message;

[0011] The step of determining the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal comprises:

[0012] According to a correspondence relationship between the pre-stored message information, terminal information and network slices, a network slice corresponding to the message information of the first message and the terminal information of the first terminal is determined, and the network slice is taken as a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal.

[0013] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first message.

[0014] The step of determining the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal comprises:

[0015] A first feature value filled in a specified field in the first message is obtained.

[0016] According to a correspondence relationship between the feature value associated with the forwarding strategy and the network slice, a network slice associated with the first feature value is determined, and a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal is obtained.

[0017] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device or an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first message.

[0018] The step of performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice comprises:

[0019] According to a correspondence relationship between the feature value associated with the forwarding strategy and the network slice, a second feature value associated with the target network slice is obtained.

[0020] The feature value filled in the specified field in the first message is modified to the second feature value, and a second message is obtained.

[0021] The second message is forwarded according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0022] In some embodiments, the network device is an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first message, and the method further comprises:

[0023] It is detected whether the second feature value is the same as the feature value filled in the specified field in the first message.

[0024] If not, the step of modifying the feature value filled in the specified field in the first message to the second feature value to obtain a second message is performed.

[0025] If yes, the first message is taken as the second message, and the step of performing QoS forwarding on the second message according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice is performed.

[0026] In some embodiments, the feature value comprises a virtual local area network identifier and / or a differentiated services code point.

[0027] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the first terminal is a wireless terminal, and before obtaining the first packet from the first terminal, the method further comprises:

[0028] determining a target network slice matching the first terminal when the first terminal is associated with the network device;

[0029] sending, to the first terminal, a first enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding policy; the first packet is a packet sent by the first terminal according to the first EDCA parameter.

[0030] In some embodiments, the network device is a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and a destination terminal corresponding to the first packet is a wireless terminal;

[0031] The step of performing QoS forwarding on the first packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice comprises:

[0032] preempting an air interface based on a second EDCA parameter of the network device associated with the forwarding policy.

[0033] In the case of preemption to the air interface, performing QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a priority order of the target network slice among multiple network slices.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0035] adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device.

[0036] In some embodiments, the step of adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device comprises:

[0037] determining a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device; determining a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion according to a correspondence between the proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets and the parameter ratio indicated by the preset adjustment strategy, the parameter ratio being a ratio of the first EDCA parameter to the second EDCA parameter; adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio; or,

[0038] reporting, to a policy controller, statistical values of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device; receiving and storing the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device issued by the policy controller.

[0039] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0040] receiving the forwarding policy issued by the policy controller;

[0041] storing the forwarding policy to the network device.

[0042] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a packet forwarding device applied to a network device in an access network, the device comprising:

[0043] a obtaining module configured to obtain a first packet from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0044] a first determining module configured to determine a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal;

[0045] a forwarding module configured to perform QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0046] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet.

[0047] The first determining module is specifically configured to determine a network slice corresponding to packet information of the first packet and terminal information of the first terminal according to a correspondence between the packet information, the terminal information and the network slice, and take the network slice as the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

[0048] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet.

[0049] The first determining module is specifically configured to: acquire a first feature value filled in a specified field in the first packet; and determine a network slice associated with the first feature value according to a correspondence between feature values associated with the forwarding policy and network slices, to obtain a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

[0050] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device or an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet.

[0051] The forwarding module is specifically configured to:

[0052] acquire a second feature value associated with the target network slice according to the correspondence between feature values associated with the forwarding policy and network slices;

[0053] modify the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet into the second feature value to obtain a second packet;

[0054] perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0055] In some embodiments, the network device is an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet; and the forwarding module is specifically configured to:

[0056] detect whether the second feature value is the same as the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet;

[0057] if not, modify the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet into the second feature value to obtain a second packet, and perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice;

[0058] if yes, take the first packet as a second packet, and perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0059] In some embodiments, the feature value includes a virtual local area network identifier and / or a differentiated services code point.

[0060] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the first terminal is a wireless terminal, and the apparatus further includes:

[0061] The second determining module is configured to, before acquiring the first packet from the first terminal, determine a target network slice matched with the first terminal when the first terminal is associated with the network device.

[0062] The sending module is configured to send, to the first terminal, first EDCA parameters corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding policy; and the first packet is a packet sent by the first terminal according to the first EDCA parameters.

[0063] In some embodiments, the network device is a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the destination terminal corresponding to the first packet is a wireless terminal.

[0064] The forwarding module is specifically configured to preempt an air interface based on second EDCA parameters of the network device associated with the forwarding policy, and perform QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a priority order of the target network slice in the plurality of network slices in a case where the air interface is preempted.

[0065] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes:

[0066] The adjusting module is configured to adjust the first EDCA parameters of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameters of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device.

[0067] In some embodiments, the adjusting module is specifically configured to:

[0068] determine a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device, determine a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion according to a correspondence between a proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets and a parameter ratio indicated by a preset adjustment policy, the parameter ratio being a ratio of the first EDCA parameters to the second EDCA parameters, and adjust the first EDCA parameters of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameters of the network device according to the target parameter ratio; or

[0069] report, to a policy controller, uplink packet statistical values and downlink packet statistical values received by the network device, and receive and store the first EDCA parameters of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameters of the network device issued by the policy controller.

[0070] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes:

[0071] The receiving module is configured to receive the forwarding policy issued by the policy controller.

[0072] The storage module is configured to store the forwarding policy to the network device.

[0073] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including:

[0074] a memory configured to store a computer program.

[0075] A processor is configured to implement the method described above when executing a program stored in a memory.

[0076] In a fourth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program. The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the packet forwarding method described above.

[0077] In an embodiment, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes instructions. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the packet forwarding method described above.

[0078] In the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device in the access network determines the target network slice, i.e., the network differentiated service, according to the first packet and the first terminal sending the first packet, and performs QoS forwarding on the first packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice, thereby achieving flow control. In the packet forwarding method, the network devices in the wired network and the wireless network can identify the packet and the terminal. Therefore, the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice in the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the wired network and the wireless network, so that the same packet and the same terminal in different network devices belong to the same network slice, and the same network slice corresponding forwarding policy is used to perform QoS forwarding on the packet, thereby solving the problem that the forwarding policies in the wired network and the wireless network are independent of each other, and reducing the management difficulty of the forwarding policy and improving the flow control effect.

[0079] Of course, implementing any product or method of the present application does not necessarily achieve all the advantages described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0080] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present application, form a part of the present application and illustrate the illustrative embodiments of the present application and together with the description serve to explain the present application. The accompanying drawings are not intended to limit the present application.

[0081] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an access network architecture;

[0082] FIG. 2a is a first structure schematic diagram of a packet forwarding system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0083] FIG. 2b is a second structure schematic diagram of a packet forwarding system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0084] FIG. 3 is a first flow schematic diagram of a packet forwarding method provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0085] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of networking provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0086] FIG. 5 is a second flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG. 6 is a third flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG. 7 is a fourth flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG. 8 is a fifth flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an access network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG. 10 is a sixth flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG. 11 is a seventh flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG. 12 is an eighth flow diagram of a packet forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a packet forwarding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present application clearer, further detailed descriptions will be given below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art belong to the scope of the present application.

[0097] With the development of WLAN network technology and the promotion of network application, the network is changing, mainly in the following two aspects:

[0098] Aspect one, the traffic model of WLAN becomes complex, specifically: 1) the traffic scale increases, the traffic of a single terminal and the total network traffic increases rapidly; 2) the data flow changes, from the initial downlink traffic dominated to the specific service to determine the traffic proportion of uplink and downlink. With the complexification of network traffic model, the network service differentiation demand increases.

[0099] Secondly, network resources are always relatively limited. Considering the economy of network construction, the configured network resources generally meet the daily demand, but the traffic always has a burst situation, so that the demand for network resources is greater than the configured network resources. In addition, even if the cost is not considered, when the wired network is used, the problem of traffic burst can be solved by increasing the network line. However, when the wireless network is used, the transmission medium of the wireless air interface is always limited, that is, the wireless terminals in a broadcast space share a certain channel for communication. In summary, network resources are always relatively limited, and there is a problem of resource competition.

[0100] Since the two changes of the network traffic model complication and the network resources being relatively limited are contradictory, it is more and more urgent to provide network differentiated services by forwarding the message with QoS (Quality of Service, QoS) and to realize the reasonable planning and use of network resources.

[0101] At present, the access network architecture includes wired network and wireless network, as shown in FIG. 1, the access network architecture includes an access point (Access Point, AP), an access switching device, a convergence switching device, an access controller (Access Controller, AC). The AP and the wireless terminal are wirelessly connected, that is, the network between the AP and the wireless terminal is a wireless network; the AP, the access switching device, the convergence switching device, and the AC are connected by wire, that is, the network between the AP, the access switching device, the convergence switching device, and the AC is a wired network. The forwarding strategies in the wired network and the wireless network are independent of each other, that is, the AP, the access switching device, the convergence switching device, the AC, and other network devices in the wired network and the AP and other network devices in the wireless network use different forwarding strategies to forward the message. The convergence switching device is used to connect other upper-layer networks.

[0102] In view of the increasingly urgent demand for network differentiated services, the above message forwarding method has the problems of difficult management of the forwarding strategy and far from achieving the expected network traffic control effect. For example, the forwarding strategy in the wireless network indicates that the traffic of message 1 is 5 Gbps, and the forwarding strategy in the wired network indicates that the traffic of message 1 is 10 Gbps. Since the traffic control in the wired network and the wireless network is not unified, the traffic of message 1 in the entire access network is 5 Gbps, which cannot reach the expected 10 Gbps.

[0103] To solve the problem that the forwarding policies in the wired network and the wireless network are independent of each other, reduce the management difficulty of the forwarding policies, and improve the traffic control effect, an embodiment of the present application provides a message forwarding system. In the networking of the AC+FIT (thin) AP, as shown in FIG. 2a, the message forwarding system can include an AP 201, an AC 202, an access switching device 203, an aggregation switching device 204, and a policy controller 205. In the networking of the FAT (fat) AP, as shown in FIG. 2b, the message forwarding system can include an AP 206, the access switching device 203, the aggregation switching device 204, and the policy controller 205. The AP 201 is the FIT AP, and the AP 206 is the FAT AP.

[0104] In an embodiment of the present application, the policy controller 205 is a controller entity, which is a role between a software defined network (SDN) controller and a network management server, such as a server, a personal computer, etc. The policy controller 205 is configured to manage the forwarding policies and to issue the forwarding policies to the AC 202, the AP 206, the access switching device 203, and the aggregation switching device 204.

[0105] The forwarding policies are used to control the traffic according to the network slices, such as controlling the sending rate, the sending port, the receiving rate, the receiving port, etc. of the message. In the forwarding policies, the basis for performing the network slicing includes the wired elements and the wireless elements. The wired elements can include but are not limited to the physical port, the traffic characteristics such as the differentiated services code point (DSCP), the virtual local area network (VLAN), the deep packet inspection (DPI) application identification information, etc. The wireless elements can include but are not limited to the service set identifier (SSID), the media access control (MAC) address, the VLAN, the DPI application identification information, etc. In an embodiment of the present application, the network slicing can be performed according to the single element network slicing or the multiple element network slicing, and no limitation is made in this regard. That is, the physical network is divided into multiple logical networks according to the single element or the multiple elements, and different logical networks can provide different QoS services. The network slice (which can also be referred to as the network slice) is a logical network in the physical network, and different QoS services can be provided for different messages through the network slicing, that is, the differentiated services are provided.

[0106] The forwarding policies include a forwarding policy corresponding to the wired network and a forwarding policy corresponding to the wireless network. The forwarding policy corresponding to the wireless network is sent to the AC 202 and the AP 206, and the forwarding policy corresponding to the wired network is sent to the access switching device 203 and the aggregation switching device 204.

[0107] The aggregation switching device 204 is configured to receive the forwarding policy sent by the policy controller 205, and control the traffic according to the forwarding policy, such as performing QoS forwarding on the packet.

[0108] The access switching device 203 can supply power for the AP 201 and the AP 206, and is also configured to receive the forwarding policy sent by the policy controller 205, and control the traffic according to the forwarding policy, such as performing QoS forwarding on the packet.

[0109] In the embodiments of the present application, one or more levels of access switching devices 203 and one or more levels of aggregation switching devices 204 can be deployed in the packet forwarding system. In FIGS. 2a and 2b, only one level of access switching device 203 and one level of aggregation switching device 204 are deployed as an example, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0110] The AC 202 is configured to manage the AP 201 and the wireless terminal accessing the AP 201. In addition, the AC 202 is also configured to receive the forwarding policy sent by the policy controller 205, and send the forwarding policy to the AP 201.

[0111] The AP 201 is configured to receive the forwarding policy sent by the AC 202, and control the traffic according to the forwarding policy, such as performing QoS forwarding on the packet.

[0112] The AP 206 is configured to manage the wireless terminal accessing the AP 206. In addition, the AP 206 is also configured to receive the forwarding policy sent by the policy controller 205, and control the traffic according to the forwarding policy, such as performing QoS forwarding on the packet.

[0113] Based on the above packet forwarding system, the embodiments of the present application provide a packet forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 3, which is applied to a network device in an access network. The network device can be any network device in the access network, such as the AP 201, the AP 206, the access switching device 203, and the aggregation switching device 204. The packet forwarding method includes the following steps:

[0114] In step S301, a first packet from a first terminal is obtained. The first terminal is a wired terminal or a wireless terminal.

[0115] In step S302, a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal is determined.

[0116] In step S303, the first message is forwarded according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0117] In the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device in the access network determines the target network slice according to the first message and the first terminal sending the first message. The network device forwards the first message according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice, thereby realizing flow control. In the message forwarding method, the network devices in the wired network and the wireless network can identify the message and the terminal. Therefore, the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice in the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the wired network and the wireless network, so that the same message and the same terminal in different network devices belong to the same network slice, and then the same message is forwarded according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the same network slice, thereby solving the problem that the forwarding policies in the wired network and the wireless network are independent of each other, reducing the management difficulty of the forwarding policy, and improving the flow control effect.

[0118] In step S301, the first terminal can be any terminal accessing the network. When the first terminal accesses the network in a wireless manner, for example, when the first terminal is wirelessly connected to the AP 201 or the AP 206, the first terminal is a wireless terminal. When the first terminal accesses the network in a wired manner, for example, when the first terminal is connected to the access switching device 203 in a wired manner, the first terminal is a wired terminal.

[0119] The first terminal sends the first message. The first message may need to pass through a plurality of network devices for transmission when being transmitted in the access network, and then reaches the destination terminal (for example, the second terminal). The plurality of network devices are network devices on the path of the first message, that is, network devices on the forwarding path of the first message, which can be specifically divided into a source device, an intermediate device, and a tail device. The source device is the first network device on the forwarding path of the first message, the tail device is the last network device on the forwarding path of the first message, and the intermediate device is a network device on the forwarding path of the first message except the source device and the tail device.

[0120] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal A (the first terminal) sends the message 1 to the terminal B (the second terminal). The message 1 passes through the network device A to the network device D in the access network, that is, the forwarding path of the message 1 is: the network device A, the network device B, the network device C, and the network device D. The network device A is the source device on the forwarding path of the message 1, the network device B and the network device C are the intermediate devices on the forwarding path of the message 1, and the network device D is the tail device on the forwarding path of the message 1.

[0121] Each network device on the forwarding path of the first message obtains the first message from the first terminal in turn.

[0122] In step S302, the network device stores the association relationship between the message, the terminal and the network slice. After obtaining the first message, the network device can identify the relevant information of the first message and the first terminal, and then determine the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal according to the association relationship. The relevant information can be used to distinguish the first message and the first terminal, and accurately determine the network slice.

[0123] In step S303, the network device stores the correspondence relationship between the network slice and the forwarding policy, such as the forwarding policy issued by the policy controller. After determining the target network slice, the network device can obtain the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice, and then perform QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding policy.

[0124] In the embodiment of the application, the forwarding policy in each network device can be uniformly issued by the policy controller, and the forwarding policy corresponding to the same network slice in different network devices is the same, thereby achieving the required traffic control effect.

[0125] For example, the forwarding policy in the wireless network indicates that the traffic of message 1 is 10 Mbps, and the forwarding policy in the wired network indicates that the traffic of message 1 is 10 Mbps. Since the traffic control in the wired network and the wireless network is unified, the traffic of message 1 in the entire access network is 10 Mbps, and the expected traffic control effect 10 Mbps is achieved.

[0126] In some embodiments, in order to accurately determine the network slice and accurately perform message forwarding, that is, traffic control, the embodiment of the application further provides a message forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 5, which can include the following steps:

[0127] Step S501, obtaining a first message from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0128] Step S502, determining the network slice corresponding to the message information of the first message and the terminal information of the first terminal according to the pre-stored correspondence relationship between the message information, the terminal information and the network slice, and taking the network slice as the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal;

[0129] Step S503, performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0130] In the method, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on the forwarding path of the first message.

[0131] Steps S501 and S503 are the same as steps S301 and S303, and will not be described here.

[0132] In step S502, the message and the related information of the terminal are represented by message information and terminal information. The message information can include, but is not limited to, quintuple information, traffic characteristics, VLAN identifier (ID), etc. The terminal information can include, but is not limited to, terminal type, terminal location, and terminal name, etc. The terminal type can be an audio acquisition device, an image acquisition device, a voice acquisition device, etc.

[0133] The network device can identify the first message, and obtain message information of the first message and terminal information of the first terminal. The network device pre-stores a correspondence relationship between message information, terminal information, and network slices. The correspondence relationship can be issued by the policy controller. The network device searches the pre-stored correspondence relationship between message information, terminal information, and network slices for a correspondence relationship including the message information of the first message and the terminal information of the first terminal. The network slice included in the searched correspondence relationship is taken as a target network slice, i.e., a network slice to which the first terminal belongs.

[0134] After the target network slice is determined, the network device can perform QoS forwarding on the first message according to the corresponding forwarding policy.

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, some fields in the message can be wrong in the transmission process, but the overall error probability of the message information and the terminal information is very small. The message information and the terminal information are used to determine the network slice, which greatly reduces the error rate of determining the network slice and improves the accuracy of traffic control.

[0136] In addition, in the access network, each network device determines the network slice in the same way, which facilitates the maintenance and management of each network device in the access network.

[0137] In some embodiments, in order to improve the efficiency of determining the network slice, the embodiments of the present application further provide a message forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 6, which can include the following steps:

[0138] In step S601, a first message from a first terminal is obtained. The first terminal is a wired terminal or a wireless terminal.

[0139] In step S602, a first feature value filled in a specified field in the first message is obtained.

[0140] In step S603, a network slice associated with the first feature value is determined according to a correspondence relationship between feature values associated with a forwarding policy and network slices, and a target network slice matching the first message and the first terminal is obtained.

[0141] In step S604, the first message is forwarded according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0142] In the method, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet.

[0143] The step S601 and the step S604 are the same as the step S301 and the step S303, and will not be described here.

[0144] In the embodiment, the forwarding policy is associated with the corresponding relationship between the feature value and the network slice.

[0145] In the step S602, a specified field is used to fill the feature value associated with the network slice. The specified field is an original field in the packet. In the embodiment, the feature value filled in the specified field is associated with the network slice. For example, the specified field can be a DSCP field and / or a VLAN identifier field. Correspondingly, the feature value is a DSCP and / or a VLAN identifier. The forwarding policy can indicate the corresponding relationship between the feature value filled in the specified field and the network slice. The network device analyzes the forwarding policy to obtain the corresponding relationship between the feature value and the network slice, and further stores the corresponding relationship between the feature value and the network slice.

[0146] In the embodiment, when the first terminal supports filling the specified field, that is, the specified field in the first packet sent by the first terminal carries the feature value associated with the network slice, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet. That is, each network device on the forwarding path of the first packet can execute the step S602 to the step S603 to extract the feature value, that is, the first feature value, from the specified field in the first packet, find the corresponding relationship including the first feature value in the corresponding relationship between the feature value filled in the specified field and the network slice associated with the forwarding policy, and take the network slice included in the found corresponding relationship as the target network slice.

[0147] When the first terminal does not support filling the specified field, that is, the specified field in the first packet sent by the first terminal does not carry the feature value associated with the network slice, the network device is an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet. That is, each intermediate device or tail device on the forwarding path of the first packet executes the step S602 to the step S603 to extract the feature value, that is, the first feature value, from the specified field in the first packet, find the corresponding relationship including the first feature value in the corresponding relationship between the feature value and the network slice associated with the forwarding policy, and take the network slice included in the found corresponding relationship as the target network slice.

[0148] For the source device on the forwarding path of the first packet, the first feature value associated with the target network slice is filled into the first packet, so that the subsequent intermediate device or tail device can determine the target network slice according to the first feature value, and further execute the corresponding QoS forwarding.

[0149] In the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device only needs to identify the characteristic value filled in the specified field, and can determine the target network slice according to the characteristic value filled in the specified field. This reduces the elements referred to in determining the target network slice, reduces the complexity of determining the target network slice, and improves the efficiency of determining the network slice.

[0150] In some embodiments, to ensure that the forwarding policies used by each network device for the same packet are consistent, and to ensure the effect of traffic control, for the source device or intermediate device on the forwarding path of the first packet, the embodiments of the present application further provide a packet forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 7, which can include the following steps:

[0151] Step S701: obtaining a first packet from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0152] Step S702: obtaining a first characteristic value filled in a specified field in the first packet;

[0153] Step S703: determining a network slice associated with the first characteristic value according to the correspondence between the characteristic values associated with the forwarding policy and the network slices, to obtain a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal;

[0154] Step S704: obtaining a second characteristic value associated with the target network slice according to the correspondence between the characteristic values associated with the forwarding policy and the network slices;

[0155] Step S705: modifying the characteristic value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second characteristic value to obtain a second packet;

[0156] Step S706: performing QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0157] The steps S701-S703 are the same as the steps S601-S603, and will not be described here.

[0158] In the step S704, the network device has pre-stored the correspondence between the network slices associated with the forwarding policy and the characteristic values, and the characteristic values in the correspondence are the characteristic values that need to be filled in the specified field. For example, the specified field is the DSCP field, and the characteristic value filled in the specified field is DSCP, so the characteristic value in the correspondence is DSCP.

[0159] After determining the target network slice, the network device can obtain the characteristic value associated with the target network slice, i.e., the second characteristic value, according to the pre-stored correspondence between the network slices and the characteristic values. In the embodiments of the present application, in the case of accurate transmission of the first packet, the second characteristic value is the same as the first characteristic value.

[0160] After obtaining the second characteristic value, the network device performs steps S705-S706, modifies the characteristic value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second characteristic value, and the modified first packet is the second packet; and performs QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice. For the operation of performing QoS forwarding on the second packet, refer to the related description in step S303, which will not be repeated here.

[0161] In the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application, after receiving the first packet, the network device may process the first packet, and the characteristic value filled in the specified field in the processed first packet may change. In the embodiments of the present application, when performing QoS forwarding on the first packet, the network device fills the second characteristic value associated with the target network slice into the first packet before forwarding, so that the subsequent network device still performs QoS forwarding on the first packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice, ensures that the forwarding policies used by the network devices on the same packet are consistent, and ensures the effect of traffic control.

[0162] In some embodiments, in order to reduce the burden of the network device, when the network device is an intermediate device on the forwarding path of the first packet, the embodiments of the present application further provide a packet forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 8, which can include the following steps:

[0163] Step S801: obtaining a first packet from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0164] Step S802: obtaining a first characteristic value filled in a specified field in the first packet;

[0165] Step S803: determining a network slice associated with the first characteristic value according to the correspondence between the characteristic values associated with the forwarding policy and the network slices, to obtain a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal;

[0166] Step S804: obtaining a second characteristic value associated with the target network slice according to the correspondence between the characteristic values associated with the forwarding policy and the network slices;

[0167] Step S805: detecting whether the second characteristic value is the same as the characteristic value filled in the specified field in the first packet; if not, performing step S806; if yes, performing step S807;

[0168] Step S806: modifying the characteristic value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second characteristic value to obtain a second packet;

[0169] Step S807: taking the first packet as the second packet;

[0170] Step S808: performing QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0171] The steps S801-S804, S806 and S808 are the same as the steps S701-S706, and thus are not described herein.

[0172] In the embodiment of the present application, after obtaining the second feature value, the network device detects that the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is different from the second feature value, i.e., the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is not the feature value associated with the target network slice, and then modifies the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet. If the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is the same as the second feature value, i.e., the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is the feature value associated with the target network slice, the network device does not modify the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet, but directly forwards the first packet as the second packet, thereby reducing the burden of the network device.

[0173] The packet forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an access network combining a wireless network and a wired network, which makes the QoS forwarding of the network device on the first packet involve the QoS forwarding of the wireless network and the QoS forwarding of the wired network. The QoS forwarding of the wireless network and the wired network is described below.

[0174] (1) QoS forwarding of the wired network.

[0175] In the wired network, the link between the terminal and the network device and the link between the network devices are full-duplex wired links. In the access network shown in FIG. 9, the wired link between the AP and the switching device and the wired link between the switching device and the upstream switching device are in an and relationship, i.e., can work at the same time, and multiple wired links are in a parallel model. In addition, for the wired link, the negotiated connection rate is the actual rate. Therefore, the wired link does not need to consider the initial port receiving problem of the packet, and the QoS only needs to consider the processing problem of the packet after entering the network device, which can be simply understood as that the QoS of the wired network only needs to focus on the final forwarding of the packet after queuing.

[0176] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device performs network slicing, i.e., performs traffic splitting, and after the traffic splitting is completed, the network device can perform QoS forwarding on the first packet. The QoS forwarding on the first packet can be achieved by using priority mapping, traffic policing and rate limiting, traffic filtering and the like, and specific descriptions can be referred to in the related art, which are not described herein.

[0177] (2) QoS forwarding of the wireless network.

[0178] In a wireless network, multiple wireless terminals are connected under an AP, the AP and the multiple terminals share a space channel medium, and a contention mode is used to communicate through a wireless link (i.e., an air interface link). As shown in FIG. 9, in an access network, the wireless link between the AP and the terminal is an or (or) relationship, i.e., only one wireless link can work, and multiple wireless links are in a serial model. In this case, in the wireless network, QoS first considers air interface reception, i.e., first considers the physical preemption of each wireless link, and then considers the final forwarding of the message after the message is received and queued.

[0179] To solve the air interface reception problem and the final forwarding problem of the message after queuing, the network device can perform reception and forwarding of the message based on enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameters.

[0180] The EDCA parameters are a set of channel contention parameters defined by the Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) protocol of the wireless network. The IEEE 802.11 working group formulates the QoS technology 802.11e protocol of the wireless network, defines the WMM protocol, and the WMM protocol is used to ensure that high-priority messages are preferentially transmitted.

[0181] The WMM protocol improves the 802.11 protocol, changes the completely fair contention mode of the entire network, divides the messages in the Basic Service Set (BSS) into four access categories (ACs), and the messages in the high-priority AC have a greater opportunity to occupy the channel than the messages in the low-priority AC, so that different ACs obtain different levels of service.

[0182] The EDCA parameters can distinguish high-priority messages and ensure that high-priority messages preferentially occupy channel resources to meet different service requirements. The WMM protocol defines a set of channel contention EDCA parameters for each AC, and the meanings of the EDCA parameters are as follows.

[0183] Arbitration Inter Frame Spacing Number (AIFSN): In the 802.11 protocol, the Distributed Inter-frame Spacing (DIFS) is a fixed value, and the WMM protocol configures the time slot that needs to be waited before backoff for different ACs. The smaller the AIFSN value, the shorter the idle waiting time of the user, i.e., the high-priority AC has a higher channel contention opportunity.

[0184] Exponent form of CWmin (ECWmin) and Exponent form of CWmax (ECWmax): determine the average backoff time value. The larger the two values are, the longer the average backoff time of the user is.

[0185] Transmission Opportunity Limit (TXOP Limit): the maximum duration that the user can occupy the channel after each successful competition. The larger the value is, the longer the duration that the user can occupy the channel is. If it is 0, only one message can be sent after each occupation of the channel.

[0186] In the solution to the air interface receiving problem, the network device is taken as the source device on the forwarding path of the first message, and the first terminal is taken as the wireless terminal, and the forwarding strategy is associated with the first EDCA parameter corresponding to the network slice; in this case, the embodiment of the application further provides a message forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 10, which can include the following steps:

[0187] Step S1001, when the first terminal is associated with the network device, determining a target network slice matched with the first terminal.

[0188] Step S1002, sending the first EDCA parameter corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding strategy to the first terminal; the first message is a message sent by the first terminal according to the EDCA parameter.

[0189] Step S1003, obtaining the first message from the first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal.

[0190] Step S1004, determining a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal.

[0191] Step S1005, performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0192] The steps S1003-S1005 are the same as the steps S301-S303.

[0193] In the step S1001, when the first terminal (i.e., the wireless terminal) initiates wireless association with the network device (such as an AP), the forwarding strategy matching is triggered, the network device matches the terminal information of the first terminal with the forwarding strategy, determines the forwarding strategy matched with the first terminal, and further determines the corresponding target network slice.

[0194] When the first terminal matches the forwarding policy (such as the target forwarding policy), that is, determines the target network slice, the network device performs step S1002, obtains the first EDCA parameter corresponding to the target network slice from the EDCA parameter (such as the first EDCA parameter) corresponding to the network slice associated with the target forwarding policy, and sends the first EDCA parameter to the first terminal.

[0195] After the first terminal is associated with the network device, the first terminal sends a message according to the first EDCA parameter, such as according to AIFSN, ECWmin, ECWmax, and TXOP Limit, preempts the air interface, and sends the first message to the network device when preempts the use right of the air interface.

[0196] The wireless terminal associated with the network device can obtain the corresponding EDCA parameter by using the above steps S1001-S1002. Further, the wireless terminals associated with the network device compete for forwarding messages in the WMM mode, so as to achieve the purpose of different priority preemption of the wireless link, and further solve the problem of priority sending of the network slice message of the wireless terminal.

[0197] In solving the problem of queuing and finally forwarding the message, the network device is taken as the tail device on the forwarding path of the first message, and the destination terminal (such as the second terminal) corresponding to the first message is taken as the wireless terminal, and the forwarding policy is associated with the second EDCA parameter of the network device; in this case, the embodiment of the application further provides a message forwarding method, as shown in FIG. 11, which can include the following steps:

[0198] Step S1101, obtaining a first message from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal;

[0199] Step S1102, determining a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal;

[0200] Step S1103, preemption of the air interface based on the second EDCA parameter of the network device associated with the forwarding policy;

[0201] Step S1104, in the case of preemption of the air interface, QoS forwarding of the first message according to the priority order of the target network slice in the plurality of network slices.

[0202] The above steps S1101-S1102 are the same as the above steps S301-S302.

[0203] In step S1103, the network device stores the forwarding policy (e.g., the target forwarding policy) corresponding to each network slice. After determining the target network slice, the network device obtains the EDCA parameter of the network device (i.e., the second EDCA parameter) from the EDCA parameter associated with the target forwarding policy, and then occupies the air interface according to the second EDCA parameter (e.g., AIFSN, ECWmin, ECWmax, and TXOP Limit), and sends the first message to the second terminal according to the priority order of the target network slice in the plurality of network slices.

[0204] For example, the network slices include slice 1 and slice 2, the priority of slice 1 is higher than that of slice 2, and in the case of occupying the air interface, the air interface is used to first send the message corresponding to slice 1 to the terminal, and then send the message corresponding to slice 2 to the terminal.

[0205] In addition, when sending the first message to the second terminal, the network device can use priority mapping, traffic policing and limiting, traffic filtering, and the like to achieve the purpose of QoS forwarding. Details can be referred to the description in the related art, which will not be described here.

[0206] In the embodiment of the application, the EDCA parameter associated with the forwarding policy and the priority of the network slice can be determined by the policy controller according to the expected uplink and downlink message ratio on the network device. The uplink and downlink message ratio refers to the ratio of uplink and downlink messages. For example, the policy controller stores an adjustment policy, i.e., a preset adjustment policy, which indicates the correspondence between the uplink and downlink message ratio and the parameter ratio. The parameter ratio is the ratio of the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter. The first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter are set according to the parameter ratio in the correspondence, so that the resource ratio occupied by the uplink and downlink messages in the access network matches the uplink and downlink message ratio in the correspondence, which can make the business more reasonable.

[0207] The policy controller can obtain the expected uplink and downlink message ratio on the network device, determine the target parameter ratio corresponding to the expected uplink and downlink message ratio according to the correspondence indicated by the preset adjustment policy, and adjust the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio. For example, the policy controller can preferentially adjust the second EDCA parameter to achieve the target parameter ratio. If the second EDCA parameter cannot achieve the target parameter ratio, the first EDCA parameter of each network slice is adjusted so that the ratio of all adjusted first EDCA parameters and the second EDCA parameter is the target parameter ratio.

[0208] The policy controller sends the adjusted EDCA parameters to the network device. When a new wireless terminal is associated with the network device, the network device sends the first EDCA parameters of the network slice to which the wireless terminal belongs to the wireless terminal.

[0209] The expected uplink message ratio and downlink message ratio can be input by a user to the policy controller, or can be determined by the policy controller according to historical uplink message ratios and downlink message ratios, and no limitation is imposed thereon. The network device mentioned herein is a network device connected to the wireless terminal.

[0210] In some embodiments, in order to make message forwarding more reasonable, the network device connected to the wireless terminal can acquire a current uplink message ratio and downlink message ratio of uplink messages and downlink messages received by the network device in real time; and the first EDCA parameters and / or the second EDCA parameters are adjusted according to the uplink message ratio and the downlink message ratio in the access network. The uplink message is a message sent by the terminal to the access network side, and the downlink message is a message sent by the access network side to the terminal.

[0211] The network device can periodically adjust the first EDCA parameters and / or the second EDCA parameters in any of the following manners.

[0212] Manner one, the network device itself calculates the adjustment.

[0213] The network device determines a current uplink message ratio and downlink message ratio of uplink messages and downlink messages received by the network device; determines a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current ratio according to a correspondence between the uplink message ratio and the downlink message ratio and the parameter ratio indicated by a preset adjustment strategy; and adjusts the first EDCA parameters and / or the second EDCA parameters according to the target parameter ratio. After the adjustment of the parameters, the ratio of the first EDCA parameters to the second EDCA parameters is the target parameter ratio.

[0214] For messages flowing through the network device, the network device can count a current uplink message ratio and downlink message ratio according to traffic size or message quantity. The preset adjustment strategy indicates a parameter ratio at different uplink message ratios and downlink message ratios.

[0215] After the current uplink message ratio and downlink message ratio are counted, the network device can determine a target parameter ratio corresponding to the counted current ratio according to the preset adjustment strategy, and then adjust the first EDCA parameters and / or the second EDCA parameters according to the target parameter ratio.

[0216] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can preferentially adjust the second EDCA parameters to achieve the target parameter ratio; if the adjustment of the second EDCA parameters cannot achieve the target parameter ratio, the first EDCA parameters of each network slice are adjusted so that the ratio of all the adjusted first EDCA parameters to the second EDCA parameters is the target parameter ratio.

[0217] For example, the proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets is 5:3. The network device can determine, according to a preset adjustment policy, that the target parameter ratio corresponding to the proportion 5:3 obtained by statistics is 4:1. The current ratio of the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter is 2:1, and the network device can reduce the second EDCA parameter by 50% to achieve the purpose that the ratio of the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter is 4:1.

[0218] If the second EDCA parameter cannot be reduced by 50%, the network device can increase the first EDCA parameter of each network slice by 1 times to achieve the purpose that the ratio of the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter is 4:1.

[0219] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can preferentially adjust the first EDCA parameter to achieve the target parameter ratio. If the first EDCA parameter cannot be adjusted to achieve the target parameter ratio, the second EDCA parameter of each network slice is adjusted so that the ratio of all adjusted second EDCA parameters and the first EDCA parameter is the target parameter ratio.

[0220] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can also adjust the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter at the same time, which is not limited.

[0221] This adjustment method of EDCA parameter improves the effectiveness of EDCA parameter and improves the efficiency of the network device forwarding packets.

[0222] Method two, the policy controller calculates the adjustment.

[0223] The network device reports the uplink packet statistics and the downlink packet statistics received by the network device to the policy controller. The policy controller determines the proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets according to the uplink packet statistics and the downlink packet statistics reported by the network device, determines the target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion according to the corresponding relationship between the uplink / downlink packet proportion and the parameter ratio indicated by the preset adjustment policy, adjusts the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio, and issues the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter to the network device. The network device receives and stores the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter issued by the policy controller.

[0224] The uplink packet statistical value is the traffic size or the number of packets of the uplink packets received by the network device, and the downlink packet statistical value is the traffic size or the number of packets of the downlink packets received by the network device. The determination manner of the uplink packet statistical value and the downlink packet statistical value can be referred to the description of the first manner, and will not be described here. The adjustment manner of the EDCA parameter reduces the burden of the network device and improves the efficiency of the network device in forwarding packets.

[0225] In the embodiment of the application, after the network device obtains the adjusted first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter, the second EDCA parameter can be immediately effective, that is, the air interface is preempted according to the second EDCA parameter, and the packet is forwarded.

[0226] For the first EDCA parameter, the network device can determine the network slice to which the wireless terminal belongs when the wireless terminal accesses the network device, and distribute the first EDCA parameter of the network slice to the wireless terminal. At this time, the first EDCA parameter of the network slice is effective in the wireless terminal, and the wireless terminal preempts the air interface according to the first EDCA parameter and sends the packet.

[0227] For the first EDCA parameter, the network device can also re-online the wireless terminals in each network slice after receiving the first EDCA parameter, and then distribute the first EDCA parameter of each network slice to the wireless terminals in each network slice when the wireless terminals in each network slice are re-online. At this time, the first EDCA parameter of each network slice is effective in the wireless terminal.

[0228] In the embodiment of the application, the network device can also use other manners to make the first EDCA parameter and the second EDCA parameter effective.

[0229] In the embodiment of the application, the preset adjustment strategy can also indicate the corresponding relationship between the uplink and downlink packet proportion and the priority of each network slice. The network device and the policy controller can adjust the priority of each network slice according to the preset adjustment strategy. The specific adjustment manner can be referred to the adjustment manner of the EDCA parameter.

[0230] In the embodiment of the application, by adjusting the EDCA parameter and the priority of the network slice, the packet forwarding is more reasonable.

[0231] The packet forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in combination with the packet forwarding process shown in Figure 12. In Figure 12, the switching device can include one or more levels of converged switching device and one or more levels of access switching device, which is simplified as one switching device in Figure 12. The controller can include an access controller (AC) and a policy controller. The forwarding policy corresponding to the wireless network is referred to as wireless policy, and the forwarding policy corresponding to the wired network is referred to as wired policy.

[0232] Before the packet is forwarded:

[0233] In step S1201, the policy controller issues the wireless policy to the AC.

[0234] In step S1202, the AC issues the wireless policy to the AP.

[0235] In the embodiment of the present application, after the AC receives the wireless policy, the wireless policy can be stored so as to be issued to the new AP by the AC when the new AP is online.

[0236] In step S1203, the policy controller issues the wired policy to each switching device.

[0237] In the embodiment of the present application, the execution order of step S1201 and step S1203 is not limited.

[0238] The packet forwarding process from the wireless network to the wired network is as follows:

[0239] In step S1204, the AP receives the packet sent by the wireless terminal.

[0240] The wireless terminal can occupy the air interface based on the EDCA parameter of the corresponding network slice association issued by the AP, and then send the packet to the AP.

[0241] In step S1205, the AP performs the matching of the forwarding policy (wireless policy), that is, determines the network slice matched with the packet and the wireless terminal and the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice.

[0242] In step S1206, the AP resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the packet and performs the QoS forwarding of the packet.

[0243] In the embodiment of the present application, only the DSCP field is taken as an example for description, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0244] After the forwarding policy is determined, the AP can obtain the DSCP of the corresponding network slice, update the DSCP to the DSCP field in the packet on the out-interface, and use the means such as priority mapping, flow monitoring and rate limiting, and flow filtering to forward the packet to the switching device. The priority mapping, flow monitoring and rate limiting, and flow filtering can be obtained through the forwarding policy.

[0245] Step S1207, the switching device performs the forwarding policy (wired policy) matching, that is, determines the network slice matched with the message and the wireless terminal and the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice.

[0246] Step S1208, the switching device resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the message and performs the QoS forwarding for the message.

[0247] After the forwarding policy is determined, the switching device acquires the DSCP of the corresponding network slice, updates the DSCP in the DSCP field of the message on the outgoing interface, and adopts the priority mapping, traffic policing and rate limiting, traffic filtering and the like to forward the message to the next level switching device. The next level switching device re-executes the steps S1207-S1208, and the like, and the cycle is executed until the message is forwarded out of the local access network.

[0248] The message forwarding flow from the wired network to the wireless network is as follows:

[0249] Step S1209, the switching device receives the message sent by the wired terminal.

[0250] Step S1210, the switching device performs the forwarding policy (wired policy) matching, that is, determines the network slice matched with the message and the wired terminal and the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice.

[0251] Step S1211, the switching device resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the message and performs the QoS forwarding for the message.

[0252] In the embodiment of the present application, only the message designated field as the DSCP field is taken as an example for description, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0253] After the forwarding policy is determined, the switching device acquires the DSCP of the corresponding network slice, updates the DSCP in the DSCP field of the message on the outgoing interface, and adopts the priority mapping, traffic policing and rate limiting, traffic filtering and the like to forward the message to the next level switching device. The next level switching device re-executes the steps S1210-S1211, and the like, and the cycle is executed until the message is forwarded out of the wired network and sent to the AP.

[0254] Step S1212, the AP performs the forwarding policy (wireless policy) matching, that is, determines the network slice matched with the message and the wireless terminal and the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice.

[0255] Step S1213, the AP performs the QoS forwarding for the message according to the forwarding policy.

[0256] After determining the forwarding policy, the AP can preempt the air interface based on the EDCA parameters of the AP, and send the message to the wireless terminal according to the priority order of each network slice, traffic policing and rate limiting, traffic filtering and the like.

[0257] The above Figure 12 is partially described by taking the local forwarding scenario as an example. The technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the centralized forwarding scenario. In the centralized forwarding scenario, the AC processes the message according to the wireless policy.

[0258] In the centralized forwarding scenario, the message forwarding process from the wireless network to the wired network is as follows: after the AP performs step S1204 and step S1205, when performing step S1206, the AP encapsulates the message into a CAPWAP tunnel message, resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the outer layer of the CAPWAP tunnel message, and performs QoS forwarding on the CAPWAP tunnel message. Each switching device in the switching network cyclically performs step S1207 to step S1208 until the CAPWAP tunnel message is forwarded to the AC. The AC disassembles the CAPWAP tunnel message to obtain the original message, performs the forwarding policy (wireless policy) matching according to the above step S1205 to step S1206, resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the message, and performs QoS forwarding on the message. Subsequently, each switching device in the switching network cyclically performs step S1207 to step S1208 until the message is forwarded out of the local access network.

[0259] In the centralized forwarding scenario, the message forwarding process from the wired network to the wireless network is as follows: the switching device cyclically performs step S1210 to step S1211 until the message is forwarded out of the wired network and sent to the AC. The AC performs the forwarding policy (wireless policy) matching according to step S1212, encapsulates the message into a CAPWAP tunnel message, resets the feature value of the DSCP field in the outer layer of the CAPWAP tunnel message, and performs QoS forwarding on the CAPWAP tunnel message. Each switching device in the switching network cyclically performs step S1210 to step S1211 until the CAPWAP tunnel message is forwarded to the AP. The AP disassembles the CAPWAP tunnel message to obtain the original message, and then performs step S1212 and step S1213.

[0260] In the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device performs network slicing from multiple angles such as terminals and services; wired networks and wireless networks are integrated, and the entire access network adopts a unified forwarding policy to process packets. The wireless networks and the wired networks are considered as a whole, and the forwarding policies corresponding to the wireless networks and the wired networks are consistent, and the effective range of network slicing includes the air interface and the wired access part, that is, the entire access network from the convergence switching device to the AP and the wireless terminal. In addition, the QoS processing is performed on the wireless air interface side, and the forwarding policy is adjusted for the air interface physical layer transmission, such as the above-mentioned preemption of the air interface based on the EDCA parameter. This greatly improves the traffic control effect.

[0261] In addition, the packet forwarding method provided by the embodiments of the present application does not use the packet header (such as the SRv6 identifier) to carry the network slicing identifier, and therefore, the application scenario is no longer limited to specific networking scenarios such as IPv6 networks, and any networking form such as IPv4 networks and IPv6 networks can apply the packet forwarding method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0262] Corresponding to the above packet forwarding method, the embodiments of the present application also provide a packet forwarding device, as shown in FIG. 13, applied to a network device in an access network, which comprises:

[0263] The obtaining module 1301 is configured to obtain a first packet from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal.

[0264] The first determining module 1302 is configured to determine a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

[0265] The forwarding module 1303 is configured to perform QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0266] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device, or a tail device on the forwarding path of the first packet.

[0267] The first determining module 1302 is specifically configured to determine, according to a pre-stored correspondence relationship between packet information, terminal information, and network slices, a network slice corresponding to the packet information of the first packet and the terminal information of the first terminal as the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

[0268] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device, an intermediate device, or a tail device on the forwarding path of the first packet.

[0269] The first determining module 1302 is specifically configured to acquire a first feature value filled in a specified field in the first packet; and determine a network slice associated with the first feature value according to a correspondence between feature values associated with a forwarding policy and network slices, to obtain a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

[0270] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device or an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet.

[0271] The forwarding module 1303 is specifically configured to:

[0272] acquire a second feature value associated with the target network slice according to the correspondence between feature values associated with the forwarding policy and network slices;

[0273] modify the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second feature value to obtain a second packet;

[0274] perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0275] In some embodiments, the network device is an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet; and the forwarding module 1303 is specifically configured to:

[0276] detect whether the second feature value is same as the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet;

[0277] if not, modify the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second feature value to obtain a second packet; and perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice;

[0278] if yes, take the first packet as the second packet, and perform QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

[0279] In some embodiments, the feature value includes a virtual local area network identifier and / or a differentiated services code point.

[0280] In some embodiments, the network device is a source device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the first terminal is a wireless terminal; and the packet forwarding apparatus can further include:

[0281] The second determining module is configured to, when the first terminal is associated with the network device, determine a target network slice matched with the first terminal before acquiring the first packet from the first terminal.

[0282] The sending module is configured to send, to the first terminal, a first EDCA parameter corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding policy; and the first packet is a packet sent by the first terminal according to the first EDCA parameter.

[0283] In some embodiments, the network device is a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the destination terminal corresponding to the first packet is a wireless terminal.

[0284] The forwarding module is specifically configured to preempt the air interface based on the second EDCA parameter of the network device associated with the forwarding policy, and perform QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a priority order of the target network slice in the multiple network slices in the case of preemption to the air interface.

[0285] In some embodiments, the packet forwarding apparatus can further include:

[0286] The adjusting module is configured to adjust the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of the uplink packet and the downlink packet received by the network device.

[0287] In some embodiments, the adjusting module is specifically configured to:

[0288] determine a current proportion of the uplink packet and the downlink packet received by the network device, determine a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion according to a corresponding relationship between the proportion of the uplink packet and the downlink packet and the parameter ratio indicated by the preset adjustment policy, the parameter ratio being a ratio of the first EDCA parameter to the second EDCA parameter, and adjust the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio; or,

[0289] report the uplink packet statistical value and the downlink packet statistical value received by the network device to the policy controller, and receive and store the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device issued by the policy controller.

[0290] In some embodiments, the packet forwarding apparatus can further include:

[0291] The receiving module is configured to receive the forwarding policy issued by the policy controller.

[0292] The storage module is configured to store the received forwarding policy to the network device.

[0293] In the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device in the access network determines the target network slice, that is, the network differentiated service, according to the first message and the first terminal sending the first message, and performs QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice, thereby realizing flow control. In the message forwarding method, the network devices in the wired network and the wireless network can identify the message and the terminal, and therefore, the forwarding policy corresponding to the network slice in the technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the wired network and the wireless network, so that the same message and the same terminal in different network devices belong to the same network slice, and then the same message is forwarded by using the forwarding policy corresponding to the same network slice, thereby solving the problem that the forwarding policies in the wired network and the wireless network are independent of each other, and at the same time, reducing the management difficulty of the forwarding policy and improving the flow control effect.

[0294] Corresponding to the above message forwarding method, the embodiments of the present application also provide a network device, as shown in FIG. 14, which includes a processor 1401 and a memory 1402.

[0295] The memory 1402 is used to store a computer program.

[0296] The processor 1401 is used to execute the program stored in the memory 1402, so as to realize any of the above message forwarding methods.

[0297] The memory can include a random access memory (RAM) and a non-volatile memory (NVM), for example, at least one disk memory. Optionally, the memory can also be at least one storage device located away from the aforementioned processor.

[0298] The above processor can be a general processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; and can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component.

[0299] In a further embodiment provided by the present application, a computer readable storage medium is provided, and the computer readable storage medium stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement any of the packet forwarding methods described above.

[0300] In a further embodiment provided by the present application, a computer program product containing instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the packet forwarding methods described in the above embodiments.

[0301] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (for example, DVD), or semiconductor media (for example, solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0302] It should be noted that, in this document, the relationship terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between the entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "contain" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed or inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement "including a" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0303] Each of the embodiments in the specification is described in a relevant manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. Each of the embodiments focuses on the difference from other embodiments. In particular, for the device, network equipment, storage medium and program product embodiments, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the part of the method embodiment.

[0304] The above only describes the preferred embodiments of the present application, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A packet forwarding method, characterized by, The method is applied to a network device in an access network, and comprises the following steps: obtaining a first packet from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal; determining a target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal; performing QoS forwarding on the first packet according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet. The step of determining the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal comprises the following steps: determining a network slice corresponding to packet information of the first packet and terminal information of the first terminal according to a pre-stored correspondence relationship between packet information, terminal information and network slices, and taking the network slice as the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network device is a source device, an intermediate device or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet. The step of determining the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal comprises the following steps: obtaining a first feature value filled in a specified field in the first packet; determining a network slice associated with the first feature value according to a correspondence relationship between feature values associated with forwarding policies and network slices, and obtaining the target network slice matched with the first packet and the first terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The network device is a source device or an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet. The step of performing QoS forwarding on the first packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice comprises the following steps: obtaining a second feature value associated with the target network slice according to the correspondence relationship between feature values associated with the forwarding policy and network slices; modifying the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second feature value to obtain a second packet; performing QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The network device is an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the method further comprises the following steps: detecting whether the second feature value is the same as the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet; if not, performing the step of modifying the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet to the second feature value to obtain a second packet; if yes, taking the first packet as the second packet and performing the step of performing QoS forwarding on the second packet according to the forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The feature value comprises a virtual local area network identifier and / or a differentiated services code point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network device is a source device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the first terminal is a wireless terminal, and before obtaining the first packet from the first terminal, the method further comprises the following steps: when the first terminal is associated with the network device, determining a target network slice matched with the first terminal; sending a first enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding policy to the first terminal; and the first packet is a packet sent by the first terminal according to the first EDCA parameter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network device is a tail device on a forwarding path of the first message, and a destination terminal corresponding to the first message is a wireless terminal; The step of performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to the forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice includes: Preempting an air interface based on a second EDCA parameter of the network device associated with the forwarding strategy; In a case of preemption to the air interface, performing QoS forwarding on the first message according to a priority order of the target network slice among multiple network slices.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink messages and downlink messages received by the network device. The step of adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink messages and downlink messages received by the network device includes:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, Determining a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion of uplink messages and downlink messages according to a correspondence relationship between a proportion of uplink messages and downlink messages and a parameter ratio indicated by a preset adjustment strategy, the parameter ratio being a ratio of the first EDCA parameter to the second EDCA parameter; adjusting the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio; or Reporting uplink message statistics and downlink message statistics received by the network device to a policy controller; receiving and storing the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device issued by the policy controller. The method further includes:

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, Receiving the forwarding strategy issued by the policy controller; Storing the forwarding strategy to the network device. The network device applied to an access network includes:

12. A packet forwarding device, comprising: An obtaining module configured to obtain a first message from a first terminal, the first terminal being a wired terminal or a wireless terminal; A first determining module configured to determine a target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal; A forwarding module configured to perform QoS forwarding on the first message according to a forwarding strategy corresponding to the target network slice. The network device is a source device, an intermediate device, or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first message; 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, The first determining module is specifically configured to determine a network slice corresponding to message information of the first message and terminal information of the first terminal according to a correspondence relationship between the message information, the terminal information, and the network slice, and take the network slice as the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal. The network device is a source device, an intermediate device, or a tail device on a forwarding path of the first message; 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, The first determining module is specifically configured to obtain a first feature value filled in a specified field of the first message; and determine a network slice associated with the first feature value according to a correspondence relationship between a feature value and a network slice associated with the forwarding strategy, to obtain the target network slice matched with the first message and the first terminal. ​ 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein, The network device is a source device or an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet; The forwarding module is specifically configured to: According to a correspondence relationship between the feature value associated with the forwarding policy and network slices, a second feature value associated with the target network slice is obtained; The feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is modified as the second feature value to obtain a second packet; The second packet is forwarded according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein, The network device is an intermediate device on a forwarding path of the first packet; and the forwarding module is specifically configured to: Detect whether the second feature value is the same as the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet; If not, the feature value filled in the specified field in the first packet is modified as the second feature value to obtain a second packet; The second packet is forwarded according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice. If yes, the first packet is taken as a second packet, and the second packet is forwarded according to a forwarding policy corresponding to the target network slice.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein, The feature value includes a virtual local area network identifier and / or a differentiated services code point.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, The network device is a source device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and the first terminal is a wireless terminal; and the apparatus further includes: A second determining module configured to, when the first terminal is associated with the network device, determine a target network slice matched with the first terminal before obtaining the first packet from the first terminal; A sending module configured to send, to the first terminal, a first EDCA parameter corresponding to the target network slice associated with the forwarding policy; and the first packet is a packet sent by the first terminal according to the first EDCA parameter.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, The network device is a tail device on a forwarding path of the first packet, and a destination terminal corresponding to the first packet is a wireless terminal; The forwarding module is specifically configured to preempt an air interface based on a second EDCA parameter of the network device associated with the forwarding policy; and in a case where the air interface is preempted, the first packet is forwarded according to a priority order of the target network slice among multiple network slices.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 or 19, wherein, The apparatus further includes: An adjusting module configured to adjust a first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or a second EDCA parameter of the network device according to a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein, The adjusting module is specifically configured to: Determine a current proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets received by the network device; determine a target parameter ratio corresponding to the current proportion according to a correspondence relationship between a proportion of uplink packets and downlink packets and a parameter ratio indicated by a preset adjustment policy, the parameter ratio being a ratio of the first EDCA parameter to the second EDCA parameter; and adjust the first EDCA parameter of each network slice and / or the second EDCA parameter of the network device according to the target parameter ratio; or reporting, to a policy controller, uplink packet statistical values and downlink packet statistical values received by the network device; receiving and storing first EDCA parameters of each network slice and / or second EDCA parameters of the network device issued by the policy controller.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, The apparatus further includes: a receiving module, configured to receive the forwarding policy issued by the policy controller; a storing module, configured to store the forwarding policy to the network device.

23. A network device, comprising: comprise: a memory, configured to store a computer program; a processor, configured to execute the program stored in the memory, and realize the method in any one of claims 1-11.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to realize the method in any one of claims 1-11. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to realize the method in any one of claims 1-11.

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