Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device, which can be applied to the field of communication. In the technical scheme provided by the invention, the IP-MAC address information of the user equipment stored in the vCPE in the iBNG can be shared among the iBNGs in the two-layer network, and the MAC address information of the user equipment serving by the remote gateway can be acquired without broadcasting a message among network nodes, so that the broadcast flow among the network nodes in the large two-layer network is reduced, and the user experience is improved. And the link congestion problem in the network is relieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to communication methods and communication devices. Background Technology

[0002] In some networks, Layer 2 LANs are equipped with intelligent broadband network gateways (iBNGs). The iBNGs are connected to each other through Ethernet virtual private networks (EVPNs) and IPv6 segment routing over IPv6 (SRV6), forming a large Layer 2 LAN, which is called a large Layer 2 LAN.

[0003] In a network containing the aforementioned large Layer 2 LAN, before the first terminal connected to the first iBNG communicates with the second terminal connected to the second iBNG, the first terminal sends a broadcast Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request message to the first iBNG to request the media access control (MAC) address of the second terminal. After receiving the ARP request message, the first iBNG forwards the ARP request message to multiple iBNGs in the large Layer 2 LAN. After receiving the ARP request message, the second iBNG obtains the MAC address of the second terminal and sends the MAC address of the second terminal back to the first iBNG. The second iBNG then sends the MAC address of the second terminal back to the first terminal.

[0004] However, link congestion can occur between iBNGs in a large Layer 2 LAN. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The communication method and communication device provided in this application can reduce the broadcast traffic between network nodes in a large Layer 2 network and alleviate the link congestion problem in the network.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a communication method that can be executed by a communication device, or by a chip, chip system, processor, processor system, circuit unit, or circuit system configured to be used in a communication device. As an example, the communication device is a gateway device. For ease of description, the following content in this aspect will use the communication device as an example of a first gateway.

[0007] This communication method includes: a first gateway receiving first information from a second gateway or a first device, the first information indicating the media access control (MAC) address of at least one user device served by the second gateway, including a second user device, and the first device sending the first information to the first gateway; the first gateway receiving a first request from the first user device, the first user device serving the first gateway being the first gateway, the first request requesting the MAC address of the second user device; and the first gateway sending second information to the first user device, the second information including the MAC address of the second user device.

[0008] For example, the first device may be a device independent of the Layer 2 forwarding plane, such as an Authentication Authorization Accounting (AAA) server or a third-party public management server.

[0009] The second gateway can be understood as any gateway in a large Layer 2 LAN other than the first gateway. For the user equipment served by the first gateway, the first gateway can be called the local gateway, and the second gateway can be called the remote gateway.

[0010] "From the second gateway or the first device" can be understood as the second gateway or the first device being the source of the first information, not a relay of the first information; "the user device served by the second gateway" can be understood as the user device connecting to the large Layer 2 LAN through the second gateway, i.e., the user device at the second gateway's local end; "the service gateway of the first user device is the first gateway" can be understood as the first user device connecting to the large Layer 2 LAN through the first gateway.

[0011] In this design, the first gateway can obtain the MAC information of the user equipment served by the remote gateway through other gateways or devices. In this way, when the user equipment served by the first gateway requests communication with the user equipment served by the remote gateway, the first network element can feed back the MAC address of the user equipment served by the remote gateway to the user equipment served by the first gateway without sending ARP message broadcasts between gateway nodes. This can reduce the propagation traffic of ARP request message broadcasts between gateway nodes in a large Layer 2 network, thereby reducing the probability of link congestion between gateways.

[0012] In some possible designs, the first gateway sends third information to the third gateway or the second device, the third information indicating the MAC address of at least one user device served by the first gateway, and the second device is used to send the third information to the third gateway.

[0013] In this design, the first gateway sends third information to the third gateway, which can inform the third gateway of the MAC address of the user equipment at the first gateway's local end. When the third gateway has a user equipment requesting the MAC address of the user equipment at the first gateway's local end, the third gateway answers the ARP request on behalf of the user equipment without sending an ARP broadcast to the large Layer 2 network. This reduces the propagation traffic of ARP request packets between gateway nodes in the large Layer 2 network, thereby reducing the probability of link congestion between gateways.

[0014] For example, the second device may be a device independent of the Layer 2 forwarding plane, such as an AAA server or a third-party public management server.

[0015] In this design, the second gateway can forward the third information to the third gateway through a second device that is independent of the Layer 2 forwarding plane, which further reduces the information transmission traffic between gateway nodes and thus reduces the probability of link congestion between gateways.

[0016] In some implementations, the third gateway includes, but is not limited to, the second gateway.

[0017] In one possible design, the first gateway includes a virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) device and an Ethernet virtual private network device. The MAC address of the first user equipment is stored in the virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE). Sending third information to the third gateway or the second device includes: transmitting the MAC address of the first user equipment to the EVPN via the vCPE; and sending the third information to the third gateway or the second device via the Ethernet virtual private network device.

[0018] In this design, the vCPE in iBNG proactively informs the EVPN of the user equipment's MAC address. When answering ARP requests, the EVPN answers on behalf of the user, instead of the EVPN obtaining the user equipment's MAC address by listening to ARP requests in the network. This reduces the overhead of the EVPN listening to ARP requests. Moreover, compared to the EVPN listening to ARP broadcast requests, this design does not broadcast ARP requests, further reducing the number of broadcast packets in the large Layer 2 network and alleviating the link congestion problem.

[0019] In one possible design, the first gateway obtains fourth information indicating that the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third user device is invalid; it receives a second request from the fourth user device requesting the MAC address of the third user device; the first gateway does not forward the second request.

[0020] An invalid IP address for a user device can be understood as the user device being offline, but the user is still online via the point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) WAN port. In other words, even though the user device has shut down or disconnected, the PPPoE session remains active between network devices. This is because the establishment and termination of PPPoE sessions are typically controlled by network devices, not directly by the user device.

[0021] In this design, the first gateway obtains the invalid IP of the third user device. When there is an ARP broadcast request from a user device for the MAC address of the invalid IP user device, it will not send a broadcast to the Layer 2 network. This avoids the situation where the fourth user device continues to send multiple ARP requests after the ARP request fails, thus reducing the broadcast packet traffic in the network when the user goes offline.

[0022] In one possible design, the first gateway sends fifth information to the optical line terminal (OLT) served by the first gateway. The fifth information includes the identifier of the fifth user equipment.

[0023] In this design, the identifier of the user information stored in the first gateway is sent to the downstream gateway. When the gateway storing the identifier receives the ARP request from the downstream user device, and the target of the ARP request is in the stored identifier, the gateway unicasts the ARP request to the first gateway and does not broadcast the ARP request message, which further reduces the broadcast message traffic in the local area network.

[0024] Secondly, this application provides a communication method that can be executed by a communication device, or by a chip, chip system, processor, processor system, circuit unit, or circuit system configured for use in a communication device. As an example, the communication device is a gateway device. For ease of description, the following content in this aspect will use an optical line terminal unit (OLT) as an example of the communication device.

[0025] This communication method includes: an optical line terminal receiving fifth information, the fifth information including the identifier of a fifth user equipment; receiving a third request from a sixth user equipment, the third request being used to request the MAC address of the fifth user equipment; and unicasting the third request to a first gateway.

[0026] In this design, the identifier of the user information stored in the first gateway is sent to the downstream gateway. When the gateway storing the identifier receives the ARP request from the downstream user device, and the target of the ARP request is in the stored identifier, the gateway unicasts the ARP request to the first gateway and does not broadcast the ARP request message, which further reduces the broadcast message traffic in the local area network.

[0027] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device. This communication device may include modules corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. These modules may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software.

[0028] In one design, the device may include a processing module and a communication module. The communication module is used to perform the sending and receiving actions in the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, while the processing module is used to perform the processing actions involved in the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0029] In one design, the device can be a gateway device, or a device, module, circuit, or chip configured in the gateway device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the gateway device.

[0030] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device. This communication device may include modules corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0031] In one design, the device may include a processing module and a communication module. The communication module is used to perform the sending and receiving actions in the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof, while the processing module is used to perform the processing actions involved in the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0032] In one design, the device can be an optical line terminal, or a device, module, circuit, or chip configured in the optical line terminal, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the optical line terminal.

[0033] Fifthly, an apparatus is provided, including a processor, wherein instructions, when executed by the processor, cause a method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0034] Optionally, the device may further include a storage medium that stores the instructions executed by the processor.

[0035] A sixth aspect provides an apparatus including a processor, wherein instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0036] Optionally, the device may further include a storage medium that stores the instructions executed by the processor.

[0037] In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, including processing circuitry for running a program or instructions to implement a method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0038] Optionally, the chip may further include a memory for storing programs or instructions.

[0039] Optionally, the chip may also include the transceiver circuit, or an input / output interface.

[0040] Eighthly, a chip is provided, including processing circuitry for running a program or instructions to implement the methods described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0041] Optionally, the chip may further include a memory for storing programs or instructions.

[0042] Optionally, the chip may also include the transceiver circuit, or an input / output interface.

[0043] A ninth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0044] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0045] Eleventhly, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product including computer program code or instructions, which, when the computer program code or instructions are run, cause the method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect to be implemented.

[0046] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions that, when the computer program code or instructions are executed, cause the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0047] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: means for performing the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, and means for performing the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0048] It is understood that the technical effects of any of the second to thirteenth aspects of this application can be referred to the relevant content in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0049] Figure 1 This is a network architecture example diagram according to an embodiment of this application;

[0050] Figure 2 This is a network architecture example diagram according to an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0052] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0053] Figure 5 Example diagram of the communication method applicable to embodiments of this application;

[0054] Figure 6 Example diagram of the communication process applicable to embodiments of this application;

[0055] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the communication process applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0056] Figure 8 Example diagram of the communication process applicable to embodiments of this application;

[0057] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0058] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device applicable to embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0059] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0060] To facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used in the embodiments of this application to distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the terms "first" and "second" are not necessarily different.

[0061] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0062] In this application embodiment, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, and / or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0063] In a communication system, one network element can send signals to or receive signals from another network element. These signals can include information, signaling, or data. The term "network element" can also be replaced by an entity, network entity, device, communication equipment, communication module, node, communication node, etc. This application uses a device as an example. For instance, a communication system can include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device can send downlink signals to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device can send uplink signals to the network device.

[0064] To facilitate understanding of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, the system architecture of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application will be described below. It is understood that the system architecture described in the embodiments of this application is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the solutions of the embodiments of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the solutions provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0065] Figure 1 This is a network architecture example diagram of an embodiment of this application, including a terminal cluster, optical modem, OLT and iBNG.

[0066] The terminal cluster includes at least one terminal device. In this embodiment, the terminal device can also be called a terminal, which can be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities. It can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as on ships); and it can also be deployed in the air (such as on airplanes, balloons, and satellites). The terminal device can be user equipment (UE), where UE includes handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, or computing devices with wireless communication capabilities. For example, the UE can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, or computer with wireless transceiver capabilities. The terminal device can also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in autonomous driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, and so on.

[0067] Terminal devices can also be devices that provide voice / data, such as handheld devices with wireless connectivity, in-vehicle devices, etc. Currently, examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving vehicles, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, or future public land mobile communication networks. Terminal devices in a network (PLMN), devices in a Zigbee network, devices in a LoRa network, Bluetooth slaves, BLE slaves, Wi-Fi stations (STAs), etc.

[0068] Terminal devices can also be terminal devices in an IoT system, also known as IoT nodes. IoT is an important component of future information technology development. Its main technical characteristic is connecting objects to networks through communication technologies, thereby realizing an intelligent network that enables human-machine interconnection and machine-to-machine interconnection. Connectivity can be achieved through broadband or narrowband technologies. IoT technology, for example, can achieve massive connectivity, deep coverage, and low terminal power consumption through narrowband (NB) technology. IoT technologies include reflective communication technology, spread spectrum technology, and ultra-wideband (UWB), which will not be elaborated further.

[0069] In this application embodiment, the device for implementing the terminal's functions can be a terminal itself; it can also be a device capable of supporting the terminal in implementing those functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal. In this application embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the device for implementing the terminal's functions is a terminal, and the terminal is a UE (User Equipment) as an example, to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0070] An optical modem, or Fiber To The Room (FTTR) device, is a user-side device responsible for converting optical signals into electrical signals, providing a user interface, and aggregating traffic from the terminal cluster. An OLT (Optical Network Terminal) is a network service provider-side device responsible for network management and centralized data distribution, aggregating traffic from the optical modem. iBNG ensures that devices within the local area network can securely and efficiently access external network resources while also enhancing network intelligence, providing differentiated services, and optimizing the user experience.

[0071] In the diagram, terminal clusters 1 to p are aggregated to the OLT via the optical network terminal (ONT), and then from the OLT to the iBNG to form a network that operates at the data link layer, called a Layer 2 LAN.

[0072] For ease of understanding, in the diagram, m, n, p, and q are all identifiers for nodes, and m, n, p, and q are all positive integers.

[0073] In such Figure 1 In the network shown, the user equipment served by iBNG includes any user equipment in terminal cluster 1 to terminal cluster p. iBNG can also be called the service gateway of any user equipment in terminal cluster 1 to terminal cluster p. OLT 1 ​​to OLT q can be called the downstream OLT of iBNG. Similarly, any user equipment in terminal cluster 1 to n can also be called the downstream user equipment of OLT 1, and any user equipment in terminal cluster 1 to n can also be called the downstream user equipment of iBNG.

[0074] Figure 2 This is a network architecture example diagram of an embodiment of this application. Figure 2In the example, terminal cluster A is aggregated to OLT A via optical modem A, and then from OLT A to iBNG A, forming a Layer 2 LAN; terminal cluster B is aggregated to OLT B via optical modem B, and then from OLT B to iBNG B, forming a Layer 2 LAN; terminal cluster C is aggregated to OLT C via optical modem C, and then from OLT C to iBNG C, forming a Layer 2 LAN. EVPN VPLS over SRv6 tunnels (hereinafter referred to as SRv6 tunnels) are deployed between each pair of iBNG A, iBNG B, and iBNG C. In this way, multiple Layer 2 LANs are connected through SRv6 tunnels to form a large Layer 2 LAN, called a large Layer 2 LAN.

[0075] To facilitate the demonstration of the system architecture, each iBNG is configured with an optical line terminal, and an optical modem and a terminal cluster are connected to the optical line terminal. Figure 2 The system architecture described herein is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the solutions of the embodiments of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the solutions provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0076] like Figure 3 The diagram shown is an application scenario diagram of an embodiment of this application, which integrates computing, business, and cloud services into such a system. Figure 1 The network architecture forms a converged edge cloud gateway architecture. The converged edge cloud gateway architecture includes terminal clusters, optical modems, OLTs, iBNGs, edge cloud converged gateways (Virtual Service Gateway, VSGW), virtual hosts (vHost), cloud network access servers (NAS), as well as the metro backbone (MB), provincial backbone (PB), and provincial edge (PE) layers.

[0077] A terminal cluster comprises multiple terminal devices, which converge to an optical modem. The optical modem is configured with a virtual local area network (VLAN) and then converges to an OLT (Optical Line Transport). The OLT connects to the iBNG (Internet Protocol Generation Network) via 802.1Q in 802.1Q (QINQ) encapsulation technology. Through QinQ encapsulation, operators can effectively manage traffic from different customers within their network, while allowing customers to use their own VLAN IDs without worrying about conflicts with the operator's network or other customers' VLAN IDs. This technology improves network scalability and flexibility while reducing network management complexity.

[0078] The Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS) in the iBNG carries vCPE and virtual value-added services (vVAS). Based on the SRv6 channel, home traffic flows from the iBNG through the vSGW into the edge cloud, accesses the cloud NAS, and then connects to the internet. Simultaneously, home traffic can also flow through the iBNG into the backbone network composed of MB, PB, and PE, which together form a regional network infrastructure. They are responsible for transmitting data from one network node to another until it reaches its final destination, capable of handling large-scale data traffic and long-distance transmission.

[0079] The converged gateway combines the Layer 3 functionality of a home gateway with SRv6 scheduling capabilities for metropolitan area networks. It handles traffic for both cloud access and internet browsing, serving as a new traffic anchor point. It enables application access proxying, bidirectional network address translation (NAT), and application private IP address allocation. Compared to centralized cloud, edge cloud allows for agile expansion of home value-added services through cloud-based development, while providing a lower latency and higher bandwidth access experience.

[0080] like Figure 3 In the architecture shown, the optical modem only maintains Layer 2 bridging functionality, while Layer 3 networking and value-added services are handled by the edge cloud. Unlike typical public clouds that offer Layer 3 access, the converged edge cloud maintains the home's LAN access habits by using a large Layer 2 network between the home and applications. Simultaneously, the home LAN is open to the metropolitan area network and the edge cloud.

[0081] During the process of obtaining an IP address, the vCPE dials with the BRAS to obtain a public IP address, while the terminal dials with the vCPE using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to obtain a local area network (LAN) address. In a home environment, the vSGW generates a vhost after cloud services are activated, internally mapping a Layer 3 IP address within the cloud to access cloud applications, and dials with the vCPE via DHCP to obtain a LAN address. Thus, the home terminal and the cloud vhost establish a LAN connection, obtaining IP addresses within the same network segment. The home terminal then uses ARP requests to obtain the vhost's MAC address within the Layer 2 LAN. When accessing cloud applications, Layer 2 traffic is forwarded to the BRAS based on the MAC address.

[0082] During the process of terminal device traffic entering the cloud, the terminal obtains the vHost MAC address within the Layer 2 LAN via ARP requests. The destination IP is a LAN IP address. Traffic is split at the optical modem and exits from the WAN port, learning the vHost MAC address via the iBNG-vSGW. The terminal accesses cloud applications through the vHost MAC address, forwarding the data to the vSGW based on the MAC address. At the vSGW, bidirectional NAT is performed to translate the data into a cloud IP address, allowing access to cloud applications, including decentralized cloud rendering applications. When cloud applications access terminal traffic, the vSGW performs NAT to translate the data into a LAN IP address, allowing access to the terminal within the Layer 2 network based on the MAC address. Cloud NAS allows users to connect to the network and access network resources or the internet through various access methods, such as dial-up, DSL, cable, fiber optic, or wireless.

[0083] like Figure 4 The diagram illustrates an application scenario of this application, depicting a scenario where interconnected households establish a connection. The children's and parents' households establish an SRv6 channel to form a large Layer 2 LAN. Both households access the network from the nearest edge cloud location. DHCP gateway collaboration is implemented between vCPEs within the iBNG to ensure that the LAN IPs allocated between the multiple households do not conflict. The children's internet traffic originates from the BRAS device within their connected iBNG, without altering their existing internet access behavior, and PPPoE encapsulation is performed within their respective iBNGs for internet access.

[0084] When children visit their parents' home, the MAC address of the parents' terminal devices can be learned via ARP within the local area network. Traffic is then forwarded via the iBNG connected to the children's home network using the MAC address, and finally delivered to the parents' iBNG through an EVPN VPLS SRv6 tunnel. The traffic then enters the parents' home network address, where QinQ translation is performed, enabling access to the parents' terminals. Cloud applications between families can be shared on demand, with the vSGW controlling whether the parents' home network is allowed QinQ access to the cloud services activated by the children's home network.

[0085] When terminals in a large Layer 2 network access each other, they broadcast ARP request packets to the vSGW and other iBNG devices in the Layer 2 network. ARP requests are very common in real-world applications, and flooding can have a significant impact in networks with 32k users. Assuming an average of ten terminals per household, this can generate huge amounts of broadcast packet traffic between nodes. Excessive broadcast packet traffic can affect the functionality of vSGW and vCPE, as well as user online / offline functionality and other network performance issues.

[0086] When a user device comes online, it obtains its own IP address through the DHCP process and broadcasts a discover message to find a DHCP server on the network. Since the user device usually does not know the location of the server when requesting an address, it sends broadcast messages to the entire network, which generates a huge amount of broadcast traffic.

[0087] When nodes such as routing nodes and vSGW in the network fail, terminal devices that fail to access the network will attempt to establish a connection, continuously sending request messages or connection establishment messages, and also broadcasting to all nodes, generating huge broadcast traffic.

[0088] These broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast (BUM) streams can cause bandwidth waste and link congestion.

[0089] To address the aforementioned issues, this application provides a communication method that can reduce broadcast traffic in the aforementioned large Layer 2 network and avoid link congestion.

[0090] Figure 5 This is an example diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 5 As shown, this communication method may include S510, S520, and S530. This communication method can be executed by a gateway device or a chip applied in a gateway device. The following description takes the gateway device as the executing entity as an example.

[0091] S510, the second gateway or the first device sends first information, the first information indicating the Media Access Control (MAC) address of at least one user device served by the second gateway, including the second user device. Accordingly, the first gateway receives the first information.

[0092] S520, the first user equipment sends a first request, which is used to request the MAC address of the second user equipment, and the service gateway of the first user equipment is the first gateway.

[0093] S530, the first gateway sends the second information, which includes the MAC address of the second user equipment.

[0094] For example, the first device may be a device independent of the Layer 2 forwarding plane, such as an AAA server or a third-party public management server.

[0095] For example, such as Figure 6As shown, iBNG B receives the first information from iBNG A, indicating the MAC address of user equipment A in terminal cluster A. When iBNG B receives the first request from user equipment B in terminal cluster B, requesting the MAC address of user equipment A, iBNG B can directly respond to the first request and send it to user equipment B in terminal cluster B. Similarly, iBNG C can also respond to ARP requests from user equipment in terminal cluster C for user equipment A.

[0096] The format for iBNG to distribute MAC A to other iBNGs is shown in Tables 1 and 2. For the PPPoE client table entry (pppoe-client-table) as shown in Table 1, it can include the following: username, private virtual local area network (PVLAN) identifier, customer virtual local area network (CVLAN) identifier, wan-ip, session identifier (session-id), wan-mac, pppoe-server-mac, and several example home terminal MAC addresses are given.

[0097] Table 1

[0098]

[0099]

[0100] As shown in Table 2, a family table entry may include the following: username, pvlan identifier, cvlan identifier, local area network (LAN) MAC address, lan-IP address, and several example home terminal IP addresses.

[0101] Table 2

[0102] Serial Number Table Items username pvlan cvlan lan-mac lan-ip Home terminal IP User 1 family-table … … … … … 192.168.1.2 User 2 family-table … … … … … 192.168.1.6 User 3 family-table … … … … … 192.168.1.14

[0103] In some implementations, the first gateway includes a vCPE and an EVPN. The vCPE stores the MAC address of the first user device. The vCPE transmits the MAC address of the first user device to the EVPN. The EVPN sends third information to the third gateway or the second device.

[0104] For example, after user device A comes online, it initiates a DHCP dial-up to obtain an IP address. The vCPE will receive a discover message broadcast by user device A, which carries the MAC address of user device A. As a DHCP server, after receiving the DHCP discover broadcast, the vCPE selects an unassigned IP address from the address pool and sends a message to the terminal containing the IP address offered to user device A. Through this process, the vCPE generates the user table entry information for the newly online user's IP-MAC address, such as... Figure 7 As shown, multiple vCPEs can be deployed in an iBNG. Each vCPE stores multiple IP-MAC user entries. The vCPE directly inserts these entries into the EVPN's ARP Snooping component. In other words, ARP replies are no longer generated by listening and learning to generate IP-MAC ARP information, but are inserted into the EVPN track's ARP-Snooping entries by the vCPE actively informing the user. Figure 7 In this context, x, y, and z are all positive integers, representing identifiers for IP-MAC user table entries. EVPN responds to ARP requests on behalf of its users.

[0105] In some implementations, the first gateway sends fifth information to the optical line terminal served by the first gateway, the fifth information including the identifier of the fifth user equipment; the optical line terminal stores the identifier of the fifth user equipment.

[0106] For example, the fifth piece of information is gratuitous ARP.

[0107] In some implementations, the optical line terminal receives a third request from the sixth user equipment, which requests the MAC address of the fifth user equipment; the third request is unicast to the first gateway.

[0108] For example, a user with MAC address A comes online on terminal cluster A. The user obtains IP address A through vCPE on iBNG A, generates a corresponding IP-MAC entry for A, and iBNG A sends gratuitous ARP information to the local OLT. As a result, the local OLT has the ARP entry information of the newly online user. When the target location information of the ARP request is in the ARP entry information, the OLT does not broadcast the ARP request, but unicasts it to iBNG B.

[0109] As you can understand, gratuitous ARP is a special type of ARP request. It doesn't expect to obtain the MAC address corresponding to an IP address. Gratuitous ARP sends data packets out in a broadcast manner, not expecting a response, simply to inform other computers of its IP address and MAC address. When a host sends a gratuitous ARP request packet and receives an ARP response packet, it means that a host using that IP address already exists on the network. If that host changes its MAC address, but other hosts' ARP cache tables still retain the old MAC address, then a gratuitous ARP packet can be sent. Upon receiving this packet, other hosts will update their ARP cache tables, replacing the old MAC address with the new one.

[0110] The difference between a gratuitous ARP packet and a regular ARP request packet lies in the destination IP address. In a regular ARP packet, the destination IP address is another host's IP address; while in a gratuitous ARP request packet, the destination IP address is the device's own IP address. Devices proactively send gratuitous ARP packets to detect IP address conflicts and notify other devices on the network of their MAC address changes. If an ARP reply is received, it indicates that an IP address that duplicates the device's own exists on the network.

[0111] In some implementations, the first gateway obtains fourth information indicating that the IP address of the third user device is invalid; it receives a second request from the fourth user device, which requests the MAC address of the third user device; the first gateway does not forward the second request.

[0112] For example, such as Figure 6 In one multi-access scenario, after a user goes offline from their child's home, the iBNG at the offline end stores the relationship between the MAC address and the invalid IP address. This iBNG then advertises this relationship to other iBNGs in the Layer 2 LAN. When an iBNG storing the user's invalid IP address receives an ARP broadcast requesting the offline user's address information, it does not broadcast the ARP broadcast. This avoids bandwidth consumption caused by failed ARP requests to the offline user's address information and the user continuously sending ARP broadcasts.

[0113] In the offline scenario, when a user device comes back online at the parents' home, the online iBNG forwards the online message unicast to other iBNGs in the Layer 2 LAN, without sending a broadcast message.

[0114] In some implementations, third information is sent to a third gateway or a second device. The third information includes the MAC address of at least one user device served by the first gateway, and the second device is used to send the third information to the third gateway.

[0115] For example, the second device can be a device independent of the Layer 2 forwarding plane, such as a third-party system like an AAA server or a third-party public management server.

[0116] For example, such as Figure 8 As shown, iBNG A is considered the first gateway, and iBNG B is considered the third gateway. The MAC address MAC A of a user device in terminal cluster A is recorded as the third piece of information. iBNG A sends MAC A to iBNG B through the SRv6 channel between gateways, or iBNG A sends MAC A to the second device, and the second device sends MAC A to other gateways, including iBNG B.

[0117] As an example, the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) protocol is configured for the second device. For multi-address users within the same household, their online connections share a common customer option to identify them as users within the same household. An option is added to the AAA authentication or billing message sent to this user to store the MAC address information of the dialing terminal. Whenever a terminal goes online, iBNG is triggered to send the information to the AAA server or a third-party common management server.

[0118] When iBNG A sends billing or authentication messages to the second device, the AAA service management center will identify that the access user is a multi-address home user. It will respond with authentication or billing response information from the remote iBNG (B and C), pass the MAC address of terminal cluster A to iBNG B or C, and send the MAC address of terminal cluster A to the EVPN Layer 2 forwarding plane. In this way, the remote BNG (Band C) can perceive the terminal cluster information on the iBNGA side without address learning through Layer 2 MAC address bum traffic. This method greatly reduces the multicast address flooding of iBNG A, B, and C.

[0119] For example, in the RADIUS protocol, there are fields in a specified area for developing and extending functions. In this application embodiment, value192-223 or value224-240 can be used to implement iBNG uploading messages.

[0120] In some implementations, the first gateway simultaneously sends the MAC address information of multiple users of the second device.

[0121] For example, if N terminals access the network at the same time, where N is an integer greater than 1, the data can be sent to a third-party server in one message instead of sending N messages.

[0122] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 9 As shown, the communication device 900 may include a processing unit 910 and a transceiver unit 920.

[0123] As a first example, device 900 can be used to implement Figure 5 The illustrated embodiment demonstrates a communication method implemented by a gateway device. The processing unit 910 is used to implement... Figure 5 The steps related to the processing performed by the gateway device in the illustrated embodiment include, for example, in step S530, when iBNG receives an ARP request, it retrieves the identifier of the user device in ARP-Snooping and determines the MAC address corresponding to the user device. In the process of iBNG obtaining the IP-MAC user table entry information of the user device, iBNG assigns an IP address to the user device and saves the address information of the user device, and transmits the address information of the user device to EVPN through vCPE.

[0124] Transceiver unit 920 is used to implement Figure 5 The steps of sending and / or receiving performed by the gateway device in the illustrated embodiment include, for example, S510 receiving first information from the second gateway or the first device, S520 receiving a first request from the first user equipment, S530 sending second information to the first user equipment, or performing the steps in the embodiment of this application to send the address information of the user equipment to the second device or send a gratuitous ARP to the downstream optical line terminal.

[0125] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of this application. (See attached diagram.) Figure 10 As shown, the communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. The processor 1010 and the interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the device 1000 may further include a memory 1030 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1010, or storing input data required by the processor 1010 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 1010 executes instructions. It is understood that the memory 1030 can be located outside the processor 1010, or inside the processor 1010.

[0126] As an example, processor 1010 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 910 described above, and interface circuit 1020 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 920 described above.

[0127] The communication device 1000 can be a gateway device or a chip used in a gateway device.

[0128] It is understandable that when the communication device 1000 is a gateway device, the interface circuit 1020 can be a transceiver. When the communication device 1000 is a chip, the interface circuit 1020 can be an input / output interface.

[0129] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a gateway device, the gateway device chip implements the functions of the gateway device in the above method embodiments. The gateway device chip receives information from the terminal, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the gateway device, and then sent to the gateway device chip by these modules. The gateway device chip sends information to the terminal, which can be understood as the information being forwarded to other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the gateway device, and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0130] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within RAN nodes or terminals. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminals, such as between network devices and terminals; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or between a gateway chip and other modules of the network device.

[0131] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0132] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a gateway device or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a gateway device or terminal.

[0133] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a gateway device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first gateway, the method includes: Receive first information from a second gateway or a first device, wherein the first information is used to indicate the media access control MAC address of at least one user device served by the second gateway, and the first device is used to send the first information to the first gateway; A first request is received from a first user equipment, wherein the service gateway of the first user equipment is the first gateway, and the first request is used to request the MAC address of a second user equipment, wherein the at least one user equipment includes the second user equipment. Send second information to the first user equipment, the second information including the MAC address of the second user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send third information to a third gateway or a second device, the third information including the MAC address of at least one user device served by the first gateway, and the second device being used to send the third information to the third gateway.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first gateway includes a virtual client terminal device and an Ethernet virtual private network device, wherein the virtual client terminal device stores the MAC address of the first user equipment; The step of sending third information to the third gateway or the second device includes: The MAC address of the first user equipment is transmitted to the Ethernet virtual private network device through the virtual client terminal device. The third information is sent to the third gateway or the second device through the Ethernet virtual private network device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtain fourth information, which indicates that the MAC address of the third user equipment is invalid; Receive a second request from a fourth user equipment, the second request being used to request the MAC address of the third user equipment; Do not forward the second request.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send fifth information to the optical line terminal served by the first gateway, the fifth information including the identifier of the fifth user equipment.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Applied to optical line terminals, the method further includes: Receive fifth information, the fifth information including the identifier of the fifth user equipment; Receive a third request from the sixth user equipment, the third request being used to request the MAC address of the fifth user equipment; The third request is unicast to the first gateway.

7. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor configured to execute computer program instructions to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 or claim 6.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 or claim 6.

9. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes computer program code or instructions that, when executed, cause the method described in any one of claims 1 to 5 or claim 6 to be implemented.

10. A communication system, characterized in that, Includes means for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 or claim 6.

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