Coordination and management method for distributed deterministic controllers in large-scale wide-area open network

Abstract

The present invention relates to a coordination and management method for distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network, comprising a three-tier network architecture, i.e., a deterministic service manager, distributed Det-AS controllers, and Det-ASs. In the network architecture, the large-scale wide-area open network is divided into a plurality of Det-ASs according to division rules such as network requirements, and the distributed Det-AS controllers are configured. Each Det-AS controller comprises three functional modes of intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction, and end-to-end control. On the basis of the distributed Det-AS controllers, a deterministic service flow information collection method is designed by means of open interfaces of functional entities, and during communication of a deterministic service flow, the Det-AS controllers perform switching of the functional modes and coordinated interaction among the Det-AS controllers. The method improves service information collection capability and load balancing capability of an open large-scale wide-area deterministic network, and achieves end-to-end low-latency data forwarding of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

Description

Distributed deterministic controller cooperative management method in large-scale wide-area open network TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a distributed deterministic controller cooperative management method in a large-scale wide-area open network, in particular to the design of a multi-functional mode deterministic controller, and belongs to the field of Internet Protocol and Internet technology. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the vigorous development and iterative update of emerging technologies, the demand for real-time services of emerging network systems is increasing, such as network transmission services requiring ultra-low delay and ultra-high reliability. Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) has attracted widespread attention from various industries. As an extension of Ethernet, TSN provides deterministic low-latency transmission services for Layer 2 networks. In recent years, with the continuous evolution of network technology standards, Deterministic Networking (DetNet) has become a hot topic of widespread concern in academia and industry, aiming to solve the problem of realizing deterministic transmission paths on Layer 2 bridging and Layer 3 routing segments, thereby providing extremely low packet loss rates and deterministic end-to-end transmission delays for specific real-time applications. However, with the emerging demand for deterministic networks and the promotion of industrial Internet, the application scope of existing deterministic networks has gradually exceeded the scope of local area networks and expanded to large-scale wide-area open networks. Therefore, how to design an efficient network control and management scheme to adapt to the current large-scale wide-area deterministic network is still one of the future challenges.

[0003] Currently, regarding the technical standards of the data plane, the standards of TSN have basically matured, while the related standards of DetNet are still being developed. In addition, the related technical standards of TSN and DetNet in the control plane are also being improved. Among them, the network configuration and management function plays a very important role in the running process of the control plane, especially in terms of network deployment, routing management, traffic scheduling, and configuration efficiency. Therefore, an efficient configuration and management scheme is crucial for the running efficiency and reliability of the entire network.

[0004] IEEE TSN task group formulates the 802.1Qcc standard, which aims to control and manage the network of TSN, and introduces three control and management models, including full-distributed user and network, centralized network and distributed user, and full-centralized network and user, so as to configure network resources for time-sensitive applications and ensure that the network can meet its bounded delay requirements. However, it should be noted that the above-mentioned scheme is mainly applicable to small-scale network scenarios, for example, in factory and campus networks. For large-scale networks and wide-area networks, due to network characteristics such as long-distance link transmission, the signaling round-trip time between the terminal device sending the service flow and the controller is large, which cannot provide meaningful support for time-sensitive service flows. In addition, the centralized controller also faces problems such as single-point failure and excessive load.

[0005] The IETF DetNet working group formulates a draft of the network management model for DetNet control plane, which extends the control and management model of 802.1Qcc and provides preliminary specifications for network architecture. However, in large-scale wide-area deterministic networks, the network control and management scheme is still in the formulation stage, and the above-mentioned scheme is obviously no longer applicable. Especially when considering the network quality factors such as bandwidth and delay in large-scale wide-area deterministic networks, if a centralized network and user configuration scheme is adopted, challenges such as difficulty in obtaining network global state, complex network configuration, and computational difficulty will be faced.

[0006] In view of the problems of difficulty in obtaining global information, single computing node, and excessive load of large-scale wide-area deterministic networks, the above-mentioned scheme does not improve the existing network in a targeted manner, and mainly has the following problems:

[0007] 1. In the original local closed scene scheme, the control plane can master global network topology information and service load information, and adopts centralized control and management to perform end-to-end routing calculation and service flow scheduling. However, in the large-scale wide-area open scene, it is difficult to centrally master the above-mentioned global information, which makes the original scheme no longer applicable to large-scale wide-area open scenarios. In addition, in view of the demand for end-to-end routing management and service flow scheduling in wide-area deterministic networks, a control and management network function entity is still needed to collect global network topology information and service load information in the communication process of related service flows, but the existing scheme does not provide a clear solution to this demand.

[0008] 2. For the problems of wide network coverage, large business scale and huge business load in the large-scale wide open scene, the traditional single centralized control node is difficult to manage the end-to-end routing and service flow scheduling. At the same time, considering that the large-scale wide deterministic network puts forward clear practical demand for service load balancing, but there is no scheme to effectively solve this problem. Therefore, it is necessary to explore and study how to realize the cooperation and management of distributed deterministic controllers. However, there is no scheme to support the cooperation and management of distributed deterministic controllers in large-scale wide deterministic networks. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a new scheme to solve the above technical problems. SUMMARY

[0009] The present application is aimed at the problems existing in the prior art, and provides a method for cooperation and management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide open network. The technical scheme mainly solves the following problems: in the large-scale wide open scene, obtaining global network state information such as service load; coping with the load balancing demand of large-scale wide deterministic network; solving the problems of too large load and single computing node caused by centralized controller; in addition, realizing the control and management of end-to-end low-latency data forwarding in large-scale wide deterministic network.

[0010] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical scheme of the present application is as follows: a method for cooperation and management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide open network, the method comprising the following steps:

[0011] Step 1: According to the network demand and other division rules, the original open large-scale wide deterministic network is divided into multiple Det-ASs, and the Det-AS controllers and their function distribution are configured for the service flow of different user terminals accessing the Det-ASs;

[0012] Step 2: Through the open interface of each functional entity in the large-scale wide deterministic network architecture, the communication process of deterministic service flow is realized, and when the terminal user initiates the deterministic service flow, the related information of the service flow will be transmitted to the network equipment through the open interface for further processing;

[0013] Step 3: When initiating the communication of deterministic service flow, a distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller information collection method is provided, which only collects the network state information within the Det-AS related to the initiated service flow communication, thereby improving the network computing efficiency;

[0014] Step 4: When the communication of deterministic service flow is carried out, the distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller will switch the function mode of each Det-AS controller according to the service flow information, network state and network demand information, so as to dynamically adjust and optimize the network performance;

[0015] Step 5: Further, Det-AS controllers interact with each other to optimize the data forwarding delay of deterministic service flow by reconfiguring and planning the path and delivering information of each Det-AS controller to calculate the end-to-end data forwarding delay.

[0016] The method can realize the collection of global network state information in a large-scale wide-area deterministic network, cross-domain end-to-end low-delay data forwarding, and effectively avoid and reduce the delay and jitter caused by centralized network control, so that the network has the ability to adapt to the load balancing requirements in emerging application scenarios.

[0017] In step 1, the following steps are performed:

[0018] Step 101: First, according to certain rules, a large-scale wide-area deterministic network is divided into multiple Det-ASs (Deterministic Autonomous System, Det-AS) for domain management, each Det-AS including a plurality of router devices and terminal devices, the router devices including forwarding routers (FR) and edge routers (ER), wherein the ER is used to implement cross-domain data forwarding, and the FR is used for intra-domain data forwarding;

[0019] Step 102: Then, according to the deterministic service flow initiated by different user terminals, the source Det-AS, the destination Det-AS and the relay Det-AS are determined. For different Det-ASs, each Det-AS controller performs different functions through the C1 interface, as shown in FIG. 2, taking two different types of service flows as an example, which correspond to two different receiving end users, terminal 1 sending service flows f1 and f2 to terminal 2 and terminal 3, respectively;

[0020] Step 103: Further, the control and management of each Det-AS is performed by the Det-AS controller, and according to the Det-AS corresponding to the access terminal, the Det-AS controller will perform different function modes, the source Det-AS and the relay Det-AS generally adopt the functions of intra-domain control and inter-domain interaction, and the destination Det-AS needs to have the function of end-to-end control in addition to the above two functions. For example, for the service flow f1 initiated by the terminal user, the controller of the access Det-AS 2 will provide an end-to-end secondary routing calculation platform, and for the service flow f2, the Det-AS 3 controller will perform the functions of intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control;

[0021] Step 104: Finally, according to the function distribution of the deterministic controller described above, the intra-domain control function is responsible for collecting the network state information in the domain, performing the intra-domain routing calculation task; the inter-domain interaction function is responsible for the inter-domain information forwarding; and the end-to-end control function is responsible for collecting the global network state information in the communication process of the related service flow and performing the end-to-end routing calculation to ensure the end-to-end data forwarding.

[0022] In the distributed large-scale wide-area network, different Det-AS controllers can perform any end-to-end data forwarding delay calculation. Therefore, the function distribution of the deterministic controller can realize the load balancing problem in the large-scale open network. At the same time, it can avoid wasting controller resources and effectively improve the efficiency of end-to-end delay calculation. The flexible and intelligent multi-functional mode controller setting helps to better manage different types of service flows in the network. The distributed control and management scheme can solve the management and routing problems of large-scale networks and improve the network performance and calculation efficiency.

[0023] In step 2, the following steps are performed:

[0024] Step 201: The end user initiates a deterministic service request to the deterministic service manager through an application programming interface protocol, and the deterministic service manager collects the service requirements of different end users initiating communication in order to configure the deterministic characteristics of the end user;

[0025] Step 202: The deterministic service manager transmits the collected deterministic service requirements to each Det-AS controller through the user network information protocol configured by the N1 interface to meet the acquisition of different terminal service requirements, wherein the function mode of the Det-AS controller includes intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control;

[0026] Step 203: After each Det-AS controller collects the service requirements, the network topology discovery in the Det-AS is performed, each Det-AS uploads the network state information in the domain to each intra-domain controller through the network management protocol of the C1 interface, and then each intra-domain controller performs the intra-domain control function, performs the initial intra-domain routing calculation and scheduling management on the collected service requirements and network state information in the domain;

[0027] Step 204: Each intra-domain controller issues the routing and scheduling strategy in the Det-AS to each corresponding Det-AS to perform the configuration of the intra-domain deterministic network, so as to guide the network equipment in the domain to perform the routing and scheduling of the deterministic service flow according to certain rules;

[0028] Step 205: Each Det-AS controller obtains the network state, route and delay result information of each domain according to the in-domain control operation to perform the control and management of each Det-AS, and each Det-AS controller performs the inter-domain interaction function through the C2 interface protocol, forwards the cross-domain information, and interacts the message content and in-domain service load information of other Det-AS controllers;

[0029] Step 206: Each Det-AS controller aggregates the obtained delay network information to the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function, and the end-to-end controller performs the end-to-end data forwarding delay calculation according to the collected related in-Det-AS information. In order to meet the deterministic service demand of a specific user terminal and realize the optimal data forwarding delay, the end-to-end controller will coordinate each in-domain controller and inter-domain interaction controller to formulate the optimal end-to-end data forwarding delay strategy;

[0030] Step 207: Through the coordination and interaction of each Det-AS controller, each Det-AS controller performs real-time adaptive adjustment on the in-domain network according to the allocation of the end-to-end controller, and issues the in-domain network reconfiguration and in-domain service flow forwarding path task to each Det-AS;

[0031] Step 208: Each Det-AS controller reports the result of reconfiguring and planning the service flow in the respective domain to the corresponding end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller, and the end-to-end controller re-performs the end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay calculation of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network according to the reported configuration information;

[0032] Step 209: According to the cooperative operation of each Det-AS controller, the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function feeds back the calculated end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay and other information to the deterministic service manager, and the deterministic service manager performs corresponding configuration and management operation on the user terminal;

[0033] Step 210: According to the configuration result of the deterministic service manager, the deterministic network characteristics of the user terminal device are deployed, and when all the configuration and deployment operations are completed, the user terminal device starts to transmit the deterministic service flow;

[0034] Step 211: When the deterministic service flow starts to be transmitted, each Det-AS controller needs to monitor the network state in each Det-AS, wherein each Det-AS controller should discover the newly initiated service flow or network fault condition in the deterministic network in real time, so as to perform the reconfiguration operation on the network in each Det-AS according to the network state information and the demand of the service flow;

[0035] Step 212: If the network state in a certain domain changes, each Det-AS controller needs to make corresponding configuration updates according to the current network situation, performs the intra-domain control function through the Det-AS controller, performs intra-domain routing calculation and management operations, updates the configuration of the deterministic network in the domain, and reports the routing, delay calculation results and fault recovery situation to the end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller, and then repeats the Det-AS controller configuration and coordination operation until the configuration and deployment of the user terminal are realized.

[0036] The above steps collectively constitute a deterministic service flow initiation process, which ensures that each deterministic service flow in a large-scale wide-area deterministic network meets user demand and can achieve optimal deterministic network performance. This process covers coordination and configuration at different levels to ensure effective network operation.

[0037] In step 3, the information collection process is specifically as follows:

[0038] According to the deterministic service flow initiated by different terminals, each Det-AS controller first performs the intra-domain control function to collect the node state, link state and intra-domain delay and other network state information in the domain to the Det-AS controller, and then performs mutual coordination and cross-domain forwarding through the inter-domain interaction function of the Det-AS controller, and aggregates the network state information of each Det-AS to the end-to-end controller to which the destination Det-AS belongs.

[0039] Compared with the traditional centralized control method, the control and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller provided by the present application significantly reduces the scale of information collection, and the size of information collected by the end-to-end controller of the Det-AS is positively correlated with the business scale of the related Det-AS. Compared with the traditional method, this method only needs to collect the global network state information, business load and other information of the Det-AS related to the current business flow communication, without the need to aggregate all network information to the same centralized control node for calculation and processing, thereby avoiding network failures, single calculation node and other problems caused by excessive business load, greatly reducing the network load of the Det-AS controller. At the same time, the interaction scale between Det-AS controllers is also greatly reduced, and only cross-domain information interaction and coordination between Det-ASs related to business flow communication is needed, which avoids the waste of controller resources and the increase of traversal complexity. Compared with the traditional centralized control method, this distributed deterministic controller control and management scheme has obvious advantages such as reduction of information scale, load balancing, and effective use of resources.

[0040] In step 4, the detailed steps of the Det-AS controller function mode switching are as follows:

[0041] Step 401: Referring to FIG. 6, for the service flow f1, the sending end is connected to Det-AS1, the service flow f1 is sent from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5, first, the Det-AS1 controller transmits the requirement of the deterministic service flow f1 collected by the deterministic service manager to the Det-AS1 controller through the N1 interface;

[0042] Step 402: The Det-AS1 controller performs the intra-domain control function, which is mainly responsible for collecting the node information, link information and network state information in the Det-AS, and according to these information and the control and management strategy selected by the controller, applies it to the corresponding intra-domain network equipment for intra-domain network management and route calculation to meet the requirement of the service flow;

[0043] Step 403: After the Det-AS1 controller performs the intra-domain control function and issues the route calculation and service flow management operation through the C1 interface, the deterministic service flow in Det-AS1 will perform the data forwarding in Det-AS, and upload the calculation result in the Det-AS to the Det-AS1 controller, which ensures that the service flow is transmitted in the Det-AS in a low-latency data forwarding path;

[0044] Step 404: According to the data forwarding in Det-AS1, the service flow f1 is forwarded to the border router and establishes a connection relationship with the next Det-AS through the border router. At the same time, after the service flow f1 enters the next Det-AS, the intra-domain control operation is also performed by the controller of the Det-AS, as shown in FIG. 6, the cross-domain forwarding of the service flow f1 has two ways, which are represented by f1.1 and f1.2 respectively, f1.1 represents one of the cross-domain forwarding paths, the service flow f1 is forwarded from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5, and f1.2 represents that the service flow f1 is forwarded from Det-AS1 to Det-AS2, and then from Det-AS2 to Det-AS5;

[0045] Step 405: The controllers of each Det-AS related to Det-AS1 obtain the data forwarding delay, service load and other network state information in each domain according to the route calculation and traffic management in the domain, each Det-AS controller performs the inter-domain interaction function to make a more global decision, and transmits the above information to the Det-AS5 controller through the C2 interface for cross-domain forwarding;

[0046] Step 406: When the relevant Det-AS controller of the service flow f1 collects the information in each domain to the Det-AS5 controller by performing the inter-domain interaction function, the Det-AS5 controller will provide an end-to-end data forwarding calculation platform for the collected information, adjust the global routing settings by performing the end-to-end control function, and perform the secondary routing to ensure that the service flow meets the specific terminal user requirements and realizes the end-to-end optimal deterministic service flow forwarding delay calculation;

[0047] Step 407: The end-to-end controller coordinates other Det-AS controllers to make each Det-AS controller respond to the adjustment of the end-to-end controller and the change of the network dynamics in real time, and updates the network configuration in the Det-AS in real time to adapt to various network burst situations such as the deployment of the Det-AS controller, network failure and service demand change, so as to obtain the end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay of the service flow f1;

[0048] Step 408: Finally, the end-to-end data forwarding of the deterministic service flow f2 also cooperates with the relevant Det-AS controllers in the above steps to obtain the optimal end-to-end service flow forwarding path of the service flow f2 and the corresponding data forwarding delay, so as to meet the distributed deterministic communication requirements in the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. As shown in FIG. 6, the service flow f2 is forwarded from the Det-AS4 to the Det-AS3, and the cross-domain forwarding of the service flow has two ways, which are represented by f2.1 and f2.2 respectively. In the service flow forwarding process, the Det-AS3 controller has the end-to-end control function, so the switching of the Det-AS controller function mode proposed in the application can effectively realize the load balancing of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0049] In step 5, the cooperation and interaction process between the Det-AS controllers is as follows:

[0050] Firstly, each relevant Det-AS controller in the control plane of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network collects the network state information, routing information and delay calculation results in each domain of the data plane by performing the intra-domain control function through the C1 interface. This process is an important link in the distributed deterministic controller control and management scheme, which ensures that the end-to-end controller can obtain detailed information from the relevant Det-AS,

[0051] Secondly, each Det-AS controller performs the inter-domain interaction function to forward the collected delay, service load and network state information of the relevant Det-AS to the adjacent Det-AS controller, and transmits the information to the receiving end corresponding to the Det-AS controller.

[0052] Further, according to the deterministic service requirements of specific end users obtained from the deterministic service manager, the Det-AS controller to which the receiving end belongs will perform end-to-end control functions to calculate the end-to-end routing and scheduling of this service flow initiation, thereby obtaining the optimal data forwarding delay of the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. This key decision-making process of the Det-AS controller ensures that the large-scale wide-area deterministic network can meet the service requirements of specific user terminals and achieve the best performance of the deterministic network.

[0053] Finally, through the C2 interface in the control plane, the end-to-end controller collects and aggregates the relevant Det-AS controller information of this service initiation, then coordinates other Det-AS controllers to perform reconfiguration and planning operations of each Det-AS, and issues the configuration to the data forwarding plane. Further, the end-to-end controller finally selects the optimal routing forwarding path to ensure that the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network can achieve low-latency data forwarding.

[0054] This process demonstrates how Det-AS controllers communicate information, make decisions, and coordinate operations in a distributed large-scale wide-area deterministic network environment to meet the needs of deterministic service flows while optimizing network performance. This is a key step to ensure that the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network can meet various service requirements.

[0055] A collaborative management system for distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network, which controls and manages the large-scale wide-area deterministic network by adopting a distributed deterministic controller collaboration and management scheme. The system is divided into three layers, where the first layer represents the deterministic service manager of heterogeneous services, the second layer represents the functional distribution of each Det-AS controller, and the third layer represents the sub-domain topology structure of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0056] The collaborative and management system

[0057] The system includes a deterministic service manager, a deterministic autonomous domain controller, and several deterministic autonomous domains. In this system, several user terminals are accessed in the same Det-AS, and the user terminals include various types of heterogeneous services such as smart factories and autonomous driving. The control and management of each Det-AS are performed by the Det-AS controller;

[0058] The certainty autonomous domain (Det-AS) describes the sub-domain management structure of the whole open large-scale wide-area deterministic network, including source Det-AS, relay Det-AS and destination Det-AS, each of which is composed of a plurality of routers and terminal devices, the router devices including forwarding routers and border routers, which are respectively used for realizing the intra-domain data forwarding and cross-domain data forwarding of the deterministic service flow, the source Det-AS refers to the domain where the sending terminal device is located, the destination Det-AS refers to the domain where the receiving terminal device is located, and the relay Det-AS refers to all Det-ASs except the domains where the sending terminal device and the receiving terminal device are located, by setting the Det-AS, the sub-domain control and management of the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network are realized, so as to reduce the computational complexity and improve the manageability of the network.

[0059] The certainty autonomous domain controller (Det-AS controller) includes three functional modes of intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control, and the multi-functional mode controller provided by the application is conducive to managing and scheduling the whole open large-scale wide-area deterministic network, the intra-domain control is used for the route calculation and network management in each Det-AS, the inter-domain interaction is used for the information transmission and sharing between Det-AS controllers, and the end-to-end control is used for the domain where the receiving terminal user is located and provides a calculation platform for the end-to-end optimal route calculation of the related service flow, and the multi-functional mode Det-AS controller is helpful for realizing the collaborative management of the network, the collaborative and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller in the large-scale wide-area open network provided by the application firstly performs the route calculation in the Det-AS through the intra-domain control function of each Det-AS controller, then the information such as the intra-domain information and calculation results is summarized to the Det-AS controller where the receiving terminal is located through the inter-domain interaction function of each Det-AS controller, and finally, the end-to-end control function of the Det-AS controller where the receiving terminal is located is executed to perform the secondary route calculation, so as to obtain the end-to-end global optimal data forwarding delay, in addition, each controller of the Det-AS can set the above three functional modes, and the switching of the different functional modes is mainly determined by the initiated service flow.

[0060] The deterministic service manager includes the functions of terminal user discovery, terminal user information registration, user demand collection, terminal user configuration and heterogeneous service flow processing, the registration usually includes application program ID, service flow ID, transmission period of the service flow, service flow size and quality of service requirement information of the application program, meanwhile, the deterministic service manager is different from other controllers, and the main role of the deterministic service manager is to configure the terminal user, by setting the deterministic service manager, the functions are realized without complex network configuration and through the hop-by-hop network forwarding.

[0061] The network architecture controls and manages the large-scale wide-area deterministic network by adopting a collaborative and management scheme of a distributed deterministic controller, and the hierarchical and distributed scheme can improve the manageability and operation efficiency of the entire open large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0062] The open interfaces of the functional entities in the collaborative and management system are as follows:

[0063] A deterministic service manager-controller interface N1, through which the deterministic service manager issues the service requirements obtained from the end user to the Det-AS controllers in the control plane to ensure that the specific requirements of the end user are met, and collects the routing and delay network state information in the Det-ASs in the control plane for the end user to configure and use, in addition, the interface can support multiple deterministic service requirements, and the Det-AS controllers can configure and optimize according to the requirements of different user terminals.

[0064] A deterministic controller-Det-AS interface C1, through which the Det-ASs upload the network state information and service load information in the domain to the Det-AS controller responsible for controlling and managing the domain, then the Det-AS controller performs real-time monitoring of the network state, routing management and service flow scheduling on the Det-ASs by using the network state information, through the C1 interface, the Det-AS controller issues the corresponding routing selection configuration and other strategies in the domain to the routing devices in the domain to ensure that the network devices in the Det-AS can manage and process the deterministic service flow according to specific rules, finally, the Det-AS controller calculates the routing and delay results in each domain to maintain and adjust the global network state during the related service flow communication process, and enables the Det-AS controller to adjust and optimize to meet the changing deterministic service flow requirements;

[0065] A deterministic controller interface C2, which is used for information exchange between different controllers in the control plane, including collaboration between Det-AS controllers, through the domain control function performed by the Det-AS controllers, the network state information collected in the Det-ASs is used for initial domain routing calculation, and the domain calculation results and network congestion information are forwarded to the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function across the domain through the inter-domain interaction function of the Det-AS controller, at this time, the Det-AS controller serves as a global information controller that summarizes the global information of this service flow, has the calculation capability of global network information, and uses the global network information to make further end-to-end secondary routing calculation and network optimization decision through the interface to obtain the optimal end-to-end data forwarding delay of this service flow,

[0066] Terminal interface U1, which connects the terminal users of each source / destination Det-AS, is responsible for data transmission between the terminal users and the Det-AS, and allows the terminal user equipment supporting the deterministic function to communicate with the corresponding source / destination Det-AS through the interface,

[0067] Intra-Det-AS equipment interface R1, which connects the network equipment within the same Det-AS, is mainly responsible for realizing the communication connection between the network equipment within each Det-AS in the distributed Det-AS system, and allows the network equipment to perform data forwarding and resource sharing within the same Det-AS through the interface,

[0068] Inter-Det-AS equipment interface R2, which connects different Det-ASs, is mainly applied to connect the cross-domain network equipment between different Det-ASs in a large-scale open deterministic network, and helps to realize cross-domain communication and data transmission between different Det-ASs.

[0069] These interfaces assist the information transmission between different Det-AS controllers and functional entities, thereby ensuring the effective cooperation and coordination of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network. Through these interfaces, distributed control of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network can be effectively performed to meet the needs of different terminal users and provide optimal network performance.

[0070] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following advantages, (1) the present application provides a cooperation and management scheme of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network, which divides the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network into source Det-ASs, relay Det-ASs and destination Det-ASs for distributed processing, for realizing load balancing and lower end-to-end data forwarding of service flows.

[0071] (2) Through the working process and the transmitted information of the open interfaces of each functional entity, and through the cooperation between the interfaces, the effective cooperation and coordination of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network are ensured.

[0072] (3) The present application provides a design scheme of a multi-functional mode of distributed deterministic controllers, and the functional modes include: intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control.

[0073] (4) The functional distribution of the distributed deterministic controller, the intra-domain control function is used for route calculation and network management within the Det-AS, the inter-domain interaction function is used for cross-domain information forwarding and sharing between multiple different Det-ASs, and the end-to-end control is used for receiving the domain of the terminal user and providing a calculation platform for end-to-end optimal route calculation of related service flows.

[0074] (5) By providing an information collection scheme of the deterministic controller, the information collection scale of the deterministic controller in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network is reduced, thereby avoiding network failure, single computing node and other problems caused by excessive business load.

[0075] (6) The main process of the service flow initiation communication includes terminal service demand acquisition, network topology discovery, network control and management, user terminal configuration and network monitoring. In the network control and management, the cooperative process of the deterministic controller of each functional mode is mainly embodied.

[0076] (7) Through the switching of the related relationship of the functional modes of the distributed deterministic controller, the cooperation among various deterministic controllers and the switching of the functional modes under different conditions can be fully embodied, thereby ensuring the load balancing in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0077] (8) The cooperative interaction of each deterministic controller meets the demand of the deterministic service flow according to the information transmission, reconfiguration, decision and coordination and other operations in the distributed large-scale wide-area deterministic network environment, and achieves optimal end-to-end data forwarding.

[0078] (9) In order to meet the business demand in the large-scale wide-area open scenario, including global network state information collection and end-to-end routing management, the present application provides a cooperative and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller, which designs a network function entity for collecting global network state and business load and other information in the communication process of the related service flow, and performing end-to-end routing management and service flow scheduling.

[0079] (10) The information scale collected and interacted by the cooperative and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller in the large-scale wide-area open network is relatively small, only the global network topology information and business load and other information related to the corresponding deterministic autonomous domain need to be collected. At the same time, the size of the collected information is positively correlated with the business scale of the corresponding deterministic autonomous domain. The cooperative and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller can solve the business load balancing demand of the large-scale wide-area open network. The scheme distributes the service flow corresponding to different user terminals on different network function entities for routing management and service flow scheduling, thereby avoiding the problems of single computing node and excessive business load in the large-scale wide-area open scenario. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0080] Fig. 1 is a functional distribution diagram of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network architecture of the embodiment of the present application,

[0081] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the role and attribute of the distributed deterministic controller of the embodiment of the present application,

[0082] Fig. 3 is a working schematic diagram of the open interface related to each functional entity of the embodiment of the present application,

[0083] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the information collection process of the deterministic autonomous domain controller of the embodiment of the present application,

[0084] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the signaling interaction in the service flow initiation process of the embodiment of the present application,

[0085] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the functional mode switching and related relationship of the deterministic autonomous domain controller of the embodiment of the present application,

[0086] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of the collaborative interaction process of each deterministic autonomous domain controller of the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0087] In order to deepen the understanding of the present application, the embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0088] Embodiment 1: Referring to Figs. 1-7, the present application provides a distributed deterministic controller collaborative management method in a large-scale wide-area open network, which can realize the collection of global network state information and the like in a large-scale wide-area deterministic network, cross-domain end-to-end low-latency data forwarding, and the like, effectively avoiding and reducing the latency and jitter caused by network centralized control. In addition, the scheme enables the network to adapt to the load balancing requirements in emerging application scenarios, and specifically includes the following steps:

[0089] Step 1: According to the division rules such as network requirements, the original open large-scale wide-area deterministic network is divided into multiple Det-ASs, and the Det-AS controllers and their functional distribution are configured for the service flows of different user terminals accessing the Det-ASs;

[0090] Step 2: Through the open interfaces of each functional entity in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network architecture, the communication process of the deterministic service flow is realized, and when the terminal user initiates the deterministic service flow, the related information of the service flow will be transmitted to the network device through the open interface for further processing;

[0091] Step 3: Further, when initiating the communication of the deterministic service flow, a distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller information collection method is provided, which only collects the network state information and the like in the related Det-ASs of the initiated service flow communication;

[0092] Step 4: When performing the communication of the deterministic service flow, the distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller will switch the functional mode according to the service flow information, network state and network requirement information, so as to dynamically adjust and optimize the network performance;

[0093] Step 5: Det-AS controllers interact with each other to pass information between Det-AS controllers through reconfiguration and path planning to calculate the data forwarding delay of end-to-end data forwarding, thereby optimizing the data forwarding delay of deterministic service flow.

[0094] The configuration of Det-AS controller and the role and attribute of each function mode in step 1 are described in detail below. Referring to FIG. 2, the first layer represents the function distribution of each Det-AS controller, and the second layer represents the sub-domain topology structure of large-scale wide-area network. The core idea of the distributed deterministic controller coordination and management scheme provided by the present application is to solve the problems of large network size, difficult management and control faced by large-scale wide-area deterministic network, and to achieve the effects of load balancing, end-to-end low-delay data forwarding, etc. Therefore, the present application adopts deterministic controller to control and manage large-scale open network, but directly deploying Det-AS controller faces many problems, such as wide optimization range, large calculation complexity and long operation time, etc.

[0095] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a multi-function mode distributed deterministic controller network function entity, which can distribute large-scale wide-area deterministic network for processing, and realize end-to-end load balancing, low-delay data forwarding and high reliability, etc. by multi-function mode deterministic controller. The specific steps are as follows:

[0096] Step 101: First, according to certain rules, the large-scale wide-area deterministic network is divided into multiple Det-ASs for sub-domain management. Each Det-AS includes a plurality of routing devices and terminal devices, wherein the ER is used to realize cross-domain data forwarding, and the FR is used for intra-domain data forwarding;

[0097] Step 102: Then, according to the deterministic service flow initiated by different user terminals, the source Det-AS, the destination Det-AS and the relay Det-AS are determined. For different Det-ASs, each Det-AS controller performs different functions through the C1 interface. As shown in the figure, taking two different types of service flows as an example, they correspond to two different receiving end users, which are terminal 1 sending service flows f1, f2 to terminal 2 and terminal 3, respectively;

[0098] Step 103: Further, the control and management of each Det-AS is performed by a Det-AS controller, and the Det-AS controller will perform different functional modes according to the Det-AS to which the access terminal corresponds. The source Det-AS and the relay Det-AS generally adopt the functions of intra-domain control and inter-domain interaction, and the destination Det-AS needs to have the function of end-to-end control in addition to the above two functions. For example, for the service flow f1 initiated by the terminal user, the controller of the access Det-AS 2 will provide an end-to-end secondary routing calculation platform for it, and for the service flow f2, the Det-AS 3 controller will perform the functions of intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control;

[0099] Step 104: Finally, according to the above functional distribution of the deterministic controller, the intra-domain control function is responsible for collecting intra-domain network state information and performing intra-domain routing calculation and other tasks; the inter-domain interaction function is responsible for inter-domain information forwarding and the like; and the end-to-end control function is responsible for collecting global network state information in the communication process of related service flows and performing end-to-end routing calculation to ensure end-to-end data forwarding.

[0100] In a distributed large-scale wide-area network, different Det-AS controllers can perform any end-to-end data forwarding delay calculation. Therefore, the functional distribution of such deterministic controllers can achieve load balancing and other problems in large-scale open networks. At the same time, it can avoid wasting controller resources and effectively improve the efficiency of end-to-end delay calculation. The flexible and intelligent multi-functional mode controller setting helps to better manage different types of service flows in the network. The distributed control and management scheme can solve the management and routing problems of large-scale networks and improve network performance and calculation efficiency.

[0101] Step 2: The process of initiating communication of service flows in the entire large-scale wide-area deterministic network involves multiple steps, including terminal service demand acquisition, network topology discovery, network control and management, user terminal configuration and network monitoring, to ensure smooth transmission of deterministic service flows. The following are the detailed steps:

[0102] Step 201: The terminal user initiates a deterministic service request to the deterministic service manager through an application programming interface protocol. The deterministic service manager collects the service requirements of different terminal users initiating communication in order to configure the deterministic characteristics of the terminal users;

[0103] Step 202: The deterministic service manager transmits the collected deterministic service requirements to each Det-AS controller through the user network information protocol configured by the N1 interface to meet the acquisition of different terminal service requirements. The functional modes of the Det-AS controller include intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control;

[0104] Step 203: After each Det-AS controller collects the service requirements, network topology discovery within the Det-AS is performed. Each Det-AS uploads information such as network status within the domain to each intra-domain controller through a network management protocol of the C1 interface. Then, each intra-domain controller performs intra-domain control functions. The collected service requirements, network status within the domain, and the like are subjected to initial intra-domain routing calculation and scheduling management;

[0105] Step 204: Further, each intra-domain controller issues the routing and scheduling strategy within the Det-AS to each corresponding Det-AS to perform intra-domain deterministic network configuration, thereby guiding the network devices within the domain to route and schedule deterministic service flows according to certain rules;

[0106] Step 205: Each Det-AS controller obtains information such as network status, routing, and delay results of each domain according to the intra-domain control operation to perform control and management of each Det-AS. Each Det-AS controller performs inter-domain interaction functions through a C2 interface protocol, performs cross-domain information forwarding, and interacts with other Det-AS controllers in terms of message content, service load within the domain, and the like;

[0107] Step 206: Further, each Det-AS controller aggregates the obtained network information such as delay to a Det-AS controller with end-to-end control functions. The end-to-end controller performs end-to-end data forwarding delay calculation according to the collected information within the related Det-AS. In order to meet the deterministic service requirements of specific user terminals and achieve optimal data forwarding delay, the end-to-end controller will coordinate with each intra-domain controller and inter-domain interaction controller to formulate an optimal end-to-end data forwarding delay strategy;

[0108] Step 207: Through the coordination and interaction of each Det-AS controller, each Det-AS controller performs real-time adaptive adjustment of the network within its domain according to the allocation of the end-to-end controller, and issues intra-domain network reconfiguration and intra-domain service flow forwarding path tasks to each Det-AS;

[0109] Step 208: Each Det-AS controller reports the results of reconfiguring and planning service flows within its respective domain to the corresponding end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller. The end-to-end controller re-performs end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay calculation of large-scale wide-area deterministic networks according to the reported configuration information;

[0110] Step 209: According to the cooperative operation of each Det-AS controller, the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function feeds back the calculated end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay and other information to the deterministic service manager, and the deterministic service manager makes corresponding configuration and management operations on the user terminal.

[0111] Step 210: According to the configuration result of the deterministic service manager, the deployment of deterministic network characteristics of the user terminal device is realized. Further, when all configuration and deployment operations are completed, the user terminal device starts to transmit deterministic service flow.

[0112] Step 211: When starting to transmit deterministic service flow, each Det-AS controller needs to monitor the network state in each Det-AS. Among them, each Det-AS controller should discover the newly initiated service flow or network failure in the deterministic network in real time, so as to reconfigure the network in each Det-AS according to the network state information and the demand of service flow, etc.

[0113] Step 212: If the network state in a certain domain changes, each Det-AS controller needs to make corresponding configuration update according to the current network situation. Through the intra-domain control function of Det-AS controller, intra-domain routing calculation and management operations are performed, the configuration of the deterministic network in the domain is updated, and the routing, delay calculation result and fault recovery are reported to the end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller, and then the Det-AS controller configuration and cooperative operation are repeated until the configuration and deployment of the user terminal are realized.

[0114] The above steps constitute the deterministic service flow initiation process together, which ensures that each deterministic service flow in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network can meet the user demand and achieve the optimal deterministic network performance. This process covers coordination and configuration at different levels to ensure the effective operation of the network.

[0115] Referring to FIG. 4, taking three pairs of terminal initiated service flow communication as an example, the process of Det-AS controller collecting global network state, service load and other information in large-scale wide-area deterministic network is introduced in detail. At the same time, information collection plays an important role in end-to-end routing calculation and service flow scheduling process. The information collection process of step 3 is as follows:

[0116] According to the deterministic service flow initiated by different terminals, the source Det-AS and the destination Det-AS corresponding to different service flows can be determined. As shown in FIG. 4, the service flows f1 and f2 are respectively sent by the terminal 1 to the terminal 2 and the terminal 3, and the service flow f3 is sent by the terminal 2 to the terminal 4. Obviously, the source Det-AS corresponding to the service flows f1 and f2 is both the Det-AS1, and the source Det-AS corresponding to the service flow f3 is the Det-AS2. The destination Det-AS corresponding to the service flows f1, f2 and f3 is respectively the Det-AS2, the Det-AS3 and the Det-AS4.

[0117] Further, according to the above description, each Det-AS controller first performs the intra-domain control function, collects the network state information such as the node state and the link state in the domain and the information such as the intra-domain delay to the Det-AS controller. Then, the inter-domain interaction function of the Det-AS controller is used for mutual coordination and cross-domain forwarding, and the network state information of each Det-AS is summarized to the end-to-end controller to which the destination Det-AS belongs. From the information scale, the size of the information collected by the end-to-end controller of the Det-AS is positively correlated with the service scale of the related Det-AS, and only the network information of the related Det-AS initiating the current service flow communication needs to be collected, and the information of the whole network does not need to be summarized to the controller, so that the network load of the Det-AS controller is greatly reduced. For example, for the service flow f2, there are two ways of collecting information. The service flow f2 can reach the destination Det-AS through the relay Det-AS of the Det-AS2, or directly from the Det-AS1 to the Det-AS2. Compared with collecting the whole network information of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network, the information collection manner greatly reduces the scale of the collected information.

[0118] Compared with the traditional centralized control method, the control and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller provided by the application significantly reduces the scale of the collected information. The scheme only needs to collect the global network state information and the service load information of the Det-AS related to the current service flow communication, and does not need to summarize the information of the whole network to the same centralized control node for calculation and processing, thereby avoiding the problems such as network failure and single calculation node caused by too large service load. At the same time, the interaction scale between the Det-AS controllers is also greatly reduced. The cross-domain information interaction and coordination between the Det-ASs related to the service flow communication are only needed, which avoids the waste of controller resources and the increase of traversal complexity.

[0119] Compared with the traditional centralized control method, the control and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller has obvious advantages such as reduction of information scale, load balancing, and effective utilization of resources.

[0120] Referring to FIG. 6, the switching process of the Det-AS controller in each function mode and the related relationship thereof in step 4 will be further introduced mainly based on the deterministic service flow f1 initiated this time. The distributed Det-AS controller proposed in the present application can meet the load balancing in a large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0121] Specifically, taking the deterministic service flows f1 and f2 initiated from the sending end to the receiving end as an example, the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function is used to coordinate the data forwarding of other Det-AS controllers to meet the requirements of the terminal-initiated specific service flow. At the same time, the Det-AS controller can dynamically adjust its function mode according to different service flows to realize the distributed end-to-end data forwarding in an open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. The following are the detailed steps of the function mode switching of the Det-AS controller:

[0122] Step 401: For the service flow f1, the sending end is connected to Det-AS1, and the service flow f1 is sent from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5 for reception. First, the Det-AS1 controller transmits the requirements of the deterministic service flow f1 collected by the deterministic service manager to the Det-AS1 controller through the N1 interface;

[0123] Step 402: Further, the Det-AS1 controller performs the intra-domain control function, which is mainly responsible for collecting the node information, link information, network state and other information within the Det-AS, and applying these information and the control and management strategy selected by the controller to the corresponding intra-domain network equipment for intra-domain network management and routing calculation to meet the requirements of the service flow;

[0124] Step 403: After the routing calculation and service flow management operations are issued by the Det-AS1 controller through the C1 interface, the deterministic service flow within Det-AS1 will perform the Det-AS internal data forwarding, and the calculation results within the Det-AS will be uploaded to the Det-AS1 controller. This ensures that the service flow is transmitted in a low-latency data forwarding path within the Det-AS;

[0125] Step 404: According to the data forwarding in Det-AS1, the service flow f1 is forwarded to the border router, and the connection relationship with the next Det-AS is established through the border router. At the same time, after the service flow f1 enters the next Det-AS, the in-domain control operation is also performed by the controller of the Det-AS. As shown in FIG. 6, there are two ways for the cross-domain forwarding of the service flow f1, which are denoted as f1.1 and f1.2. f1.1 represents one of the cross-domain forwarding paths, and the service flow f1 is forwarded from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5. f1.2 represents that the service flow f1 is forwarded from Det-AS1 to Det-AS2, and then from Det-AS2 to Det-AS5;

[0126] Step 405: The controllers of the Det-ASs related to Det-AS1 obtain the network state information such as the data forwarding delay and service load in each domain according to the route calculation and traffic management in the domains. Further, the Det-AS controllers perform the inter-domain interaction function to make more global decisions, and perform the cross-domain forwarding of the above information to the controller of Det-AS5 through the C2 interface;

[0127] Step 406: After the related Det-AS controllers of the service flow f1 perform the inter-domain interaction function to aggregate the information in each domain to the controller of Det-AS5, the controller of Det-AS5 provides an end-to-end data forwarding calculation platform for the aggregated information. The end-to-end control function is performed to adjust the global route settings, to perform the secondary routing in an end-to-end manner, so as to ensure that the service flow meets the specific terminal user demand, and to realize the end-to-end optimal deterministic service flow forwarding delay calculation;

[0128] Step 407: The end-to-end controller coordinates the other Det-AS controllers, so that each Det-AS controller responds to the adjustment of the end-to-end controller and the network dynamic change in real time, and updates the network configuration in the Det-AS in real time, so as to adapt to various network burst situations such as the adjustment of the Det-AS controller, network failure and service demand change, so as to obtain the end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay of the service flow f1;

[0129] Step 408: Finally, the end-to-end data forwarding of the deterministic service flow f2, through the cooperation of the relevant Det-AS controllers in the above steps, can obtain the optimal end-to-end service flow forwarding path of the service flow f2 and obtain the corresponding data forwarding delay, thereby meeting the distributed deterministic communication requirements in the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. As shown in FIG. 6, the service flow f2 is forwarded from the Det-AS 4 to the Det-AS 3, and the cross-domain forwarding of the service flow has two ways, which are represented by f2.1 and f2.2 respectively. In this service flow forwarding process, the Det-AS 3 controller has an end-to-end control function, so the switching of the Det-AS controller function mode proposed in the present application can effectively realize the load balancing of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0130] Step 5: The cooperative interaction process between Det-AS controllers, as shown in FIG. 7. This interaction information process is through the C2 interface and is based on the information collected by each Det-AS controller and the switching of the function mode of each Det-AS controller.

[0131] Firstly, each relevant Det-AS controller in the control plane of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network performs the intra-domain control function through the C1 interface, collects the network state information, routing information and delay calculation results in each intra-domain network in the data plane and other information. This process is an important link in the distributed deterministic controller control and management scheme, which ensures that the end-to-end controller can obtain detailed information from the relevant Det-AS.

[0132] Secondly, each Det-AS controller performs the inter-domain interaction function, transmits the collected delay, service load and network state information of the relevant Det-AS to the adjacent Det-AS controller, and transmits the information to the adjacent Det-AS controller. As shown in the figure, the dashed arrow in the control plane represents the transmission of information from the sending end corresponding Det-AS to the receiving end corresponding Det-AS (Det-AS 5 controller) until the network state information of the intra-domain controller of the relevant Det-AS is transmitted.

[0133] Further, according to the deterministic service requirements of a specific terminal user obtained from the deterministic service manager, the Det-AS controller to which the receiving end belongs will perform the end-to-end control function to perform the end-to-end routing and scheduling calculation of the service flow initiation, so as to obtain the optimal data forwarding delay of the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. This key decision process of the Det-AS controller ensures that the large-scale wide-area deterministic network can meet the service requirements of a specific terminal user and realize the best performance of the deterministic network.

[0134] Finally, through the C2 interface in the control plane, the end-to-end controller collects and aggregates the relevant Det-AS controller information of this service initiation, then coordinates other Det-AS controllers to perform reconfiguration and planning of each Det-AS, and issues the configuration to the data forwarding plane. Further, the end-to-end controller finally selects the optimal routing forwarding path to ensure that the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network can achieve low-latency data forwarding. As shown in the figure, the end-to-end controller (Det-AS5 controller) coordinates with the relevant Det-AS controllers. Obviously, reconfiguration may cause changes in the interaction between the corresponding Det-AS controllers, and the Det-ASs in the corresponding data forwarding plane also change with the changes in the control plane. Among them, the solid arrows represent the end-to-end secondary routing interaction process of the Det-AS controllers for reconfiguration and planning. It can be seen that there are several planning methods between controllers to achieve the effect of low-latency data forwarding in an end-to-end manner. Corresponding in the data forwarding plane, according to the coordination and interaction of the Det-AS controllers, several end-to-end latency results are obtained (such as T1-T4), and finally the end-to-end controller selects the optimal routing planning path (such as T1) according to the application requirements.

[0135] This process shows how Det-AS controllers pass information, make decisions, and coordinate operations in a distributed large-scale wide-area deterministic network environment to meet the needs of deterministic service flows while optimizing network performance. This is a key step to ensure that open large-scale wide-area deterministic networks can meet various business needs.

[0136] Embodiment 2: Referring to FIGS. 1-7, a collaborative and management system of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network is provided, which realizes end-to-end low-latency data forwarding in a large-scale wide-area deterministic network across domains by designing network function distribution, multi-functional mode controllers, etc. The core idea of the collaborative and management scheme of the distributed deterministic controller is to divide the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network into multiple smaller closed Det-ASs (Deterministic Autonomous System, Det-AS) according to different network requirements, and the function distribution diagram of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network architecture is shown in FIG. 1. The network architecture includes a deterministic service manager, a deterministic autonomous domain controller, and a plurality of deterministic autonomous domains. In this network architecture, a plurality of user terminals can be connected in the same Det-AS, and the user terminals include a plurality of types of heterogeneous services, such as smart factories, autonomous driving, etc.

[0137] The main network elements and functional entities involved in the network architecture include:

[0138] Det-AS, describes the whole open large-scale wide-area deterministic network sub-domain management structure, including source Det-AS, relay Det-AS and destination Det-AS. Each Det-AS described includes several routers and user terminal equipment. Among them, the router equipment includes forwarding router (Forwarding Router, FR) and edge router (Edge Router, ER), respectively used to realize the intra-domain data forwarding and cross-domain data forwarding of deterministic service flow. Router equipment includes forwarding router and edge router, respectively used to realize the intra-domain data forwarding and cross-domain data forwarding of deterministic service flow. Source Det-AS refers to the sending end device domain, destination Det-AS refers to the receiving end device domain, and relay Det-AS refers to all Det-ASs except the sending end and receiving end device domains. By setting Det-AS, the sub-domain control and management of open large-scale wide-area deterministic network can be realized, thereby reducing the computational complexity and improving the manageability of the network.

[0139] Det-AS controller, including intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction and end-to-end control three function modes. The multi-function mode controller proposed by the present application is conducive to the management and scheduling of the whole open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. Intra-domain control is used for route calculation and network management in each Det-AS, inter-domain interaction is used for information transmission and sharing between Det-AS controllers, and end-to-end control is used for the receiving end user domain and provides a computing platform for end-to-end optimal route calculation of related service flow. The multi-function mode Det-AS controller helps to realize the collaborative management of the network. The collaborative and management scheme of distributed deterministic controller in large-scale wide-area open network provided by the present application, firstly, the route calculation in Det-AS is performed by each Det-AS controller executing the intra-domain control function; then, the intra-domain information and calculation results and other information are summarized to the Det-AS controller where the receiving end is located through the inter-domain interaction function of each Det-AS controller; finally, the end-to-end control function is executed by the Det-AS controller where the receiving end is located to perform secondary route calculation, so as to obtain the end-to-end global optimal data forwarding delay. In addition, each controller of Det-AS can set the above three function modes, and the switching of different function modes is mainly determined by the initiated service flow.

[0140] The deterministic service manager includes functions such as end user discovery, end user information registration, user demand collection, end user configuration, and heterogeneous service flow processing. The registration usually includes information such as application ID, service flow ID, transmission period of the service flow, service flow size, and quality of service requirement of the application. Meanwhile, the service manager is distinguished from other controllers, and its main role is to configure the end user. By setting the deterministic service manager, the functions can be realized without complex network configuration and network forwarding through hop-by-hop.

[0141] The network architecture controls and manages the large-scale wide-area deterministic network by adopting a collaborative and management scheme of a distributed deterministic controller. The hierarchical and distributed scheme can improve the manageability and operation efficiency of the entire open large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0142] The open interfaces of the functional entities involved in the network architecture are as follows:

[0143] The embodiment takes a simple data forwarding of a pair of end users as an example to introduce the working process and the information transmitted by the related interfaces of the functional entities in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network architecture in detail, as shown in FIG. 3. These open interfaces play a key role in the coordination and configuration in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0144] The deterministic service manager-controller interface N1 is used for the deterministic service manager to issue the service requirements obtained from the end user to the Det-AS controllers in the control plane to ensure that the specific requirements of the end user are met. Meanwhile, the network state information such as routing and delay in each Det-AS in the control plane can be collected for the end user to use for configuration. These end users can be applied to different deterministic network scenarios such as automatic driving, intelligent factory, and smart grid. In addition, the interface can support various deterministic service requirements, including load balancing, intelligent routing, service flow scheduling, and ultra-high reliability and low latency service requirements. Through the interface, the Det-AS controllers can be configured and optimized according to the service requirements of different user terminals, thereby realizing the high flexibility and adaptability of the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

[0145] The deterministic controller-Det-AS interface C1 is used to upload the network state information and service load information of each Det-AS to the Det-AS controller responsible for controlling and managing each domain. Real-time uploading of network state information helps the Det-AS controller to perform subsequent related work. Then, each Det-AS controller monitors the network state, route management and service flow scheduling of each Det-AS through the network state information to ensure that each Det-AS meets specific deterministic service requirements. Further, each Det-AS controller sends the corresponding routing selection configuration and other strategies in each domain to the routing device in each domain through the C1 interface to ensure that the network device in the Det-AS can manage and process the deterministic service flow according to specific rules. Finally, the routing and delay results of each domain can be obtained through the calculation of each Det-AS controller to maintain and adjust the global network state during the communication process of related service flows, and each Det-AS controller can be adjusted and optimized to meet the changing deterministic service flow requirements. Through the C1 interface, real-time response and flexibility of each Det-AS can be achieved to adapt to various network conditions and terminal user requirements.

[0146] The deterministic controller-to-controller interface C2 is used for information exchange between different controllers in the control plane, especially the coordination between Det-AS controllers. The function distribution and attributes of the multi-functional mode Det-AS controller are described in detail in Embodiment 2. Therefore, the coordination and other related operations between Det-AS controllers need to be realized through C2. Through the execution of the in-domain control function by each Det-AS controller, the network state information and other information in each Det-AS are collected for initial in-domain route calculation, and the in-domain calculation results and network congestion information are forwarded to the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function across domains through the inter-domain interaction function of each Det-AS controller. At this time, the Det-AS controller serves as a global information controller for this service flow, has the ability to calculate global network information, and uses the global network information to make further end-to-end secondary route calculation and network optimization decisions to obtain the optimal end-to-end data forwarding delay of this service flow. Through the C2 interface, the different Det-AS controllers realize coordinated work, so that the global network state can be optimized and managed. This information sharing and coordinated operation helps to ensure the efficiency and reliability of the entire open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. The multi-functional mode controller can better cope with complex network conditions and changes in terminal user requirements.

[0147] Terminal interface U1, which is connected to each terminal user (e.g., autonomous driving, smart factory, and the like) of each source / destination Det-AS. This interface is responsible for data transmission between the terminal user and the Det-AS, and allows the terminal user equipment supporting the deterministic function to communicate with the corresponding source / destination Det-AS through this interface.

[0148] Intra-Det-AS device interface R1, which is connected to the network devices within the same Det-AS. This interface is mainly responsible for implementing the communication connection between the network devices within each Det-AS in the distributed Det-AS system, and allows the network devices to perform data forwarding and resource sharing within the same Det-AS through this interface.

[0149] Inter-Det-AS device interface R2, which is connected to different Det-ASs. This interface is mainly applied to connect the cross-domain network devices (e.g., border routers and the like) between different Det-ASs in a large-scale open deterministic network, and helps to implement cross-domain communication and data transmission between different Det-ASs.

[0150] These interfaces facilitate the information transmission between different Det-AS controllers and functional entities, thereby ensuring the effective cooperation and coordination of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network. Through these interfaces, distributed control of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network can be effectively performed to meet the needs of different terminal users and provide optimal network performance.

[0151] It should be noted that the above embodiments are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application, and any equivalent transformations or substitutions made on the basis of the above technical solutions fall within the scope of protection of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: Step 1: Divide the original open large-scale wide-area deterministic network into multiple Det-ASs according to the network demand division rules. Configure each Det-AS controller and its functional distribution for the service flows of different user terminals accessing the Det-AS. Step 2: Through the open interfaces of various functional entities in the large-scale wide-area deterministic network architecture, the communication process of deterministic business flows is realized. When the end user initiates a deterministic business flow, the relevant information of the business flow will be passed to the network device through the open interface. Step 3: When initiating a deterministic service flow communication, a distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller information collection method is provided. This method only collects the network status information within the Det-AS related to the service flow communication initiated this time. Step 4: When communicating with deterministic service flows, the distributed deterministic autonomous domain controller will switch the functional mode of each Det-AS controller based on service flow information, network status, and network demand information. Step 5: Det-AS controllers interact collaboratively, reconfigure and plan paths, and transmit information about each Det-AS controller to perform end-to-end data forwarding delay calculation.

2. The method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step 1 is as follows: Step 101: First, a large-scale wide-area deterministic network is divided into multiple Det-AS (deterministic autonomous domains) for domain-specific management. Each Det-AS includes several routers and terminal devices. Routers include forwarding routers and border routers. ERs are used for cross-domain data forwarding, while FRs are used for intra-domain data forwarding. Step 102: Next, based on the deterministic service flows initiated by different user terminals, the source Det-AS, destination Det-AS, and relay Det-AS are determined. For different Det-ASs, each Det-AS controller performs different functions through the C1 interface. Step 103: Each Det-AS is controlled and managed by a Det-AS controller. Depending on the Det-AS corresponding to the access terminal, the Det-AS controller will implement different functional modes. The source Det-AS and relay Det-AS use intra-domain control and inter-domain interaction functions. The destination Det-AS, in addition to the above two functions, also needs to have end-to-end control. Step 104: Finally, according to the functional distribution of the above-mentioned deterministic controller, the intra-domain control function is responsible for collecting network status information within the domain and performing routing calculation tasks within the domain; the inter-domain interaction function is responsible for forwarding information between domains; and the end-to-end control function is responsible for collecting global network status information during the communication process of related business flows and performing end-to-end routing calculation to ensure end-to-end data forwarding.

3. The method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step 2 is as follows: Step 201: The terminal user initiates a deterministic service request to the deterministic service manager through the application programming interface protocol. The deterministic service manager collects the service requirements of different terminal users initiating communication and configures deterministic features for the terminal users. Step 202: The deterministic service manager transmits the collected deterministic service requirements to each Det-AS controller through the user network information protocol configured on the N1 interface to meet the service requirements of different terminals. The functional modes of the Det-AS controller include intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction, and end-to-end control. Step 203: After collecting service requirements, each Det-AS controller discovers the network topology within the Det-AS. Each Det-AS uploads the network status information within the domain to each domain controller via the network management protocol of the C1 interface. Then, each domain controller performs domain control functions, performing initial domain routing calculation and scheduling management based on the collected service requirements and network status information within the domain. Step 204: Each domain controller sends the routing and scheduling policies within the Det-AS to each corresponding Det-AS to configure the deterministic network within the domain, thereby guiding the network devices within the domain to perform deterministic routing and scheduling of service flows according to the rules. Step 205: Each Det-AS controller obtains the network status, routing, and latency information of each domain based on the intra-domain control operation, and controls and manages each Det-AS. Each Det-AS controller performs inter-domain interaction via the C2 interface protocol, forwarding cross-domain information and exchanging message content and intra-domain service load information with other Det-AS controllers. Step 206: Each Det-AS controller aggregates the obtained network latency information to a Det-AS controller with end-to-end control capabilities. The end-to-end controller calculates the end-to-end data forwarding latency based on the collected relevant Det-AS information. The end-to-end controller collaborates with the intra-domain controllers and the inter-domain interaction controller to develop an optimal end-to-end data forwarding latency strategy. Step 207: Through coordination and interaction among the Det-AS controllers, each Det-AS controller performs real-time adaptive adjustments to its intra-domain network based on the dispatch of the end-to-end controller, and issues intra-domain network reconfiguration and intra-domain service flow forwarding path tasks to each Det-AS. Step 208: Each Det-AS controller reports the results of its own domain reconfiguration and service flow planning to the corresponding end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller. The end-to-end controller recalculates the end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network based on the reported configuration information. Step 209: Based on the coordinated operation of each Det-AS controller, the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control function feeds back the calculated end-to-end optimal data forwarding delay information to the deterministic service manager, which then performs corresponding configuration and management operations on the user terminal. Step 210: Deploy the deterministic network features to the user terminal device based on the configuration results of the deterministic service manager. After all configuration and deployment operations are completed, the user terminal device begins transmitting the deterministic service flow. Step 211: When starting to transmit deterministic service flows, each Det-AS controller needs to monitor the network status within each Det-AS. Specifically, each Det-AS controller should detect newly initiated service flows or network failures in the deterministic network in real time and reconfigure the network within each Det-AS based on the network status information and service flow requirements. Step 212: If the network status within a domain changes, each Det-AS controller needs to make corresponding configuration updates based on the current network situation. The Det-AS controller executes the intra-domain control function, performs intra-domain routing calculation and management operations, updates the configuration of the deterministic network within the domain, and reports the routing, delay calculation results and fault recovery status to the end-to-end controller through the inter-domain interaction controller. Then, the Det-AS controller configuration and collaborative operations are repeated until the configuration and deployment of the user terminal are realized.

4. The method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The information collection method in step 3 is as follows: Based on the deterministic service flows initiated by different terminals, each Det-AS controller first performs intra-domain control functions, collecting node status, link status, and intra-domain latency network status information within the domain to the Det-AS controller. Then, through the inter-domain interaction function of the Det-AS controller, mutual coordination and cross-domain forwarding are carried out, and the network status information of each Det-AS is aggregated to the end-to-end controller to which the destination Det-AS belongs. The amount of information collected by the end-to-end controller of the Det-AS is positively correlated with the service scale of the related Det-AS.

5. The method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detailed steps for switching the Det-AS controller function mode in step 4 are as follows: Step 401: For service flow f1, the sender connects to Det-AS1. Service flow f1 is sent from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5. First, the Det-AS1 controller transmits the requirements of deterministic service flow f1 collected by the deterministic service manager to the Det-AS1 controller via the N1 interface. Step 402: The Det-AS1 controller performs the intra-domain control function. This function is mainly responsible for collecting node information, link information, and network status information within the Det-AS. Based on this information and the control and management policies selected by the controller, it applies them to the corresponding intra-domain network devices to perform intra-domain network management and routing calculations to meet the needs of the service flow. Step 403: After the intra-domain control function of the Det-AS1 controller issues routing calculation and service flow management operations through the C1 interface, the deterministic service flows within Det-AS1 will forward data within the Det-AS and upload the calculation results within the Det-AS to the Det-AS1 controller. Step 404: Based on data forwarding within Det-AS1, service flow f1 is forwarded to the border router, which establishes a connection with the next Det-AS through the border router. Meanwhile, after service flow f1 enters the next Det-AS, the controller of that Det-AS also performs intra-domain control operations. There are two ways to forward service flow f1 across domains, represented by f1.1 and f1.

2. f1.1 represents one of the cross-domain forwarding paths, forwarding service flow f1 from Det-AS1 to Det-AS5. f1.2 represents forwarding service flow f1 from Det-AS1 to Det-AS2, and then from Det-AS2 to Det-AS5. Step 405: The controllers of each Det-AS related to Det-AS1 obtain data forwarding delay, service load and network status information within each domain based on routing calculation and traffic management within their domain. Each Det-AS controller makes a more global decision by performing inter-domain interaction and forwards the above information across domains to the Det-AS5 controller via the C2 interface. Step 406: After the Det-AS controllers associated with service flow f1 aggregate their domain information to the Det-AS5 controller through inter-domain interaction, the Det-AS5 controller provides an end-to-end data forwarding calculation platform for the aggregated information. By performing end-to-end control functions, the Det-AS5 controller adjusts its global routing settings to perform end-to-end secondary routing, ensuring that the service flow meets end-user requirements and achieving end-to-end optimal deterministic service flow forwarding delay calculation. Step 407: The end-to-end controller coordinates with other Det-AS controllers to enable each Det-AS controller to respond to the end-to-end controller's adjustments and network dynamic changes in real time, and to update the network configuration within the Det-AS in real time to adapt to various network emergencies. Step 408: Finally, the end-to-end data forwarding of the deterministic service flow f2 is also carried out through the cooperation of the relevant Det-AS controllers in the above steps. The optimal end-to-end service flow forwarding path of the service flow f2 is obtained, and the corresponding data forwarding delay is obtained to meet the distributed deterministic communication requirements in the open large-scale wide-area deterministic network. The service flow f2 is forwarded from Det-AS4 to Det-AS3. There are also two ways to forward the cross-domain of this service flow, represented by f2.1 and f2.2 respectively. During this service flow forwarding process, the Det-AS3 controller has the end-to-end control function.

6. The method for collaborative management of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The collaborative interaction process between Det-AS controllers in step 5 is as follows: First, the relevant Det-AS controllers in the control plane of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network perform intra-domain control functions through the C1 interface, collecting network status information, routing information, and latency calculation results in each domain in the data plane. Second, each Det-AS controller performs inter-domain interaction, forwarding the collected information about the latency, service load, and network status of the relevant Det-AS across domains. This information is then passed to the receiving end's Det-AS controller. Based on the end user's deterministic service requirements obtained from the deterministic service manager, the Det-AS controller performs end-to-end control and performs end-to-end routing and scheduling calculations for this service flow. Finally, through the C2 interface in the control plane, the end-to-end controller collects and summarizes the relevant Det-AS controller information initiated by this service, coordinates other Det-AS controllers to reconfigure and plan each Det-AS, and sends the configuration to the data forwarding plane.

7. A collaborative management system for distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide-area open network, characterized in that: Implementing the collaborative management method described in any one of claims 1 to 6, the system controls and manages a large-scale wide-area deterministic network by adopting a collaborative and management solution of a distributed deterministic controller. The system is divided into three layers, wherein the first layer represents the deterministic service manager of heterogeneous services, the second layer represents the functional distribution of each Det-AS controller, and the third layer represents the domain topology structure of the large-scale wide-area deterministic network.

8. The collaborative management system of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 7, characterized in that: The collaborative and management system includes a deterministic service manager, a deterministic autonomous domain controller and several deterministic autonomous domains. In this system, several user terminals are connected to the same Det-AS, and the user terminals include various types of heterogeneous services. The control and management of each Det-AS is performed by the Det-AS controller.

9. The collaborative management system of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 8, characterized in that: A deterministic autonomous domain (Det-AS) consists of a source Det-AS, a relay Det-AS, and a destination Det-AS. Each Det-AS is composed of several routers and terminal devices. Routers include forwarding routers and border routers, which are used to implement intra-domain and inter-domain data forwarding of deterministic service flows, respectively. The source Det-AS refers to the domain where the sending device is located, the destination Det-AS refers to the domain where the receiving device is located, and the relay Det-AS refers to all Det-ASs except the domains where the sending and receiving devices are located. By setting up Det-AS, domain-specific control and management of open, large-scale, wide-area deterministic networks can be achieved, reducing computational complexity and improving network manageability. The Deterministic Autonomous Domain Controller (Det-AS) has three functional modes: intra-domain control, inter-domain interaction, and end-to-end control. Intra-domain control is used for routing calculation and network management within each Det-AS. Inter-domain interaction is used for information transmission and sharing between Det-AS controllers. End-to-end control is used in the domain where the receiving end user resides and provides a computing platform for end-to-end optimal routing calculation for related service flows. The deterministic service manager includes end-user discovery, end-user information registration, user demand collection, end-user configuration, and heterogeneous service flow processing functions. Its main function is to configure end users. By setting up a deterministic service manager, these functions can be implemented without complex network configuration and hop-by-hop network forwarding.

10. The collaborative management system of distributed deterministic controllers in a large-scale wide area open network according to claim 7, characterized in that: The open interfaces of the functional entities in the collaborative management system are as follows: Deterministic service manager-controller interface N1: Through this interface, the deterministic service manager sends service requirements obtained from end users to each Det-AS controller of the control plane to ensure that the end user's needs are met. At the same time, it collects routing and latency network status information within each Det-AS of the control plane for end users to configure and use. Deterministic controller-Det-AS interface C1. Through this interface, each Det-AS uploads network status information and service load information within the domain to the Det-AS controller responsible for controlling and managing each domain. Then, each Det-AS controller uses this network status information to perform real-time network status monitoring, routing management, and service flow scheduling operations on each Det-AS. Through the C1 interface, each Det-AS controller sends the routing selection configuration policy within the corresponding domain to the routing devices within each domain to ensure that the network devices within the Det-AS can manage and process deterministic service flows according to the rules. Finally, each Det-AS controller calculates the routing and latency results for each domain to maintain and adjust the global network status during the communication process of related service flows, and enables each Det-AS controller to adjust and optimize to meet the ever-changing deterministic service flow requirements. The deterministic inter-controller interface C2 is used for information exchange between different controllers of the control plane, including collaboration between Det-AS controllers. Each Det-AS controller performs intra-domain control functions, collects network status information within each Det-AS, performs initial intra-domain routing calculations, and forwards intra-domain calculation results and network congestion information across domains to the Det-AS controller with end-to-end control functions through the inter-domain interaction functions of each Det-AS controller. As the global information controller that summarizes this business flow, the Det-AS controller has the ability to calculate global network information and uses the global network information it has to perform further end-to-end secondary routing calculations and network optimization decisions through this interface to obtain the optimal end-to-end data forwarding delay for this business flow. Terminal interface U1: This interface connects the end user of each source / destination Det-AS. This interface is responsible for data transmission between the end user and the Det-AS, and allows the end user device that supports deterministic functions to communicate with the corresponding source / destination Det-AS through this interface. Det-AS intra-device interface R1, which connects to network devices within the same Det-AS. This interface is mainly responsible for realizing communication connections between network devices within each Det-AS in the distributed Det-AS system, and allows network devices to forward data and share resources within the same Det-AS through this interface. Det-AS device interface R2, this interface connects different Det-AS. This interface is mainly used to connect cross-domain network devices between different Det-AS in large-scale open deterministic networks, and helps to achieve cross-domain communication and data transmission between different Det-AS.

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