Data transmission method, communication apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

Provided are a data transmission method, a communication apparatus, and a storage medium. The method is executed by a first node. The first node is a device in a forwarding layer of a software defined network (SDN). The method comprises: sending heartbeat information to a second node, the second node being a device in a control layer of the SDN, and the heartbeat information being carried by a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet.

Description

Data transmission methods, communication devices and storage media

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202411421427.9, filed on October 10, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a data transmission method, communication device and storage medium. Background Technology

[0003] To meet the diverse needs of network services and scenarios, network slicing has always been a hot research topic in the networking field. Increasingly, research is not limited to core network slicing and access network slicing, but considers resource configuration and performance optimization in end-to-end scenarios. Meanwhile, the complexity of modern networks and the rapid changes in service flows necessitate dynamic network slicing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] On one hand, this disclosure provides a data transmission method executed by a first node, which is a device in the forwarding layer of a software-defined network (SDN). The data transmission method includes:

[0005] Send heartbeat information to the second node; the second node is a device in the SDN control layer; the heartbeat information is carried by the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message.

[0006] On the other hand, embodiments of this disclosure provide a data transmission method executed by a second node, which is a device in the control layer of an SDN. This data transmission method includes:

[0007] Receive heartbeat information sent by at least one first node; the first node is a device in the forwarding layer of SDN; the heartbeat information is carried by the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message;

[0008] Store the heartbeat information of at least one first node.

[0009] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication device. The communication device includes a sending module. The sending module is used to send heartbeat information to a second node; the second node is a device in the control layer of an SDN; the heartbeat information is carried by a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message.

[0010] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication device. The communication device includes a receiving module and a storage module. The receiving module is used to receive heartbeat information sent by at least one first node; the first node is a device in the forwarding layer of an SDN; the heartbeat information is carried by a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message; the storage module is used to store the heartbeat information of at least one first node.

[0011] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0012] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program product including computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the methods described in any of the above aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in some embodiments of this disclosure will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely drawings of some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings.

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a communication system according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a data transmission method according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an LLDP message format according to some embodiments.

[0017] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an LLDPDU format according to some embodiments.

[0018] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a TLV package according to some embodiments.

[0019] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating another data transmission method according to some embodiments.

[0020] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to some embodiments.

[0021] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device according to some embodiments.

[0022] Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication device according to some embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of this disclosure will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this disclosure, and not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this disclosure without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0024] It should be noted that in this disclosure, expressions such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate that they are examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this disclosure should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Specifically, the use of expressions such as "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a detailed manner.

[0025] Hereinafter, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined with "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

[0026] In the description of this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or," for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this document is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist; for example, A and / or B can mean: only A, A and B, and only B. Furthermore, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more.

[0027] The Management and Orchestration (MANO) module is an architecture that goes from probing network topology to collecting server information. It can effectively and quickly collect network information and store it in its own database for easy updating and retrieval. In the context of network slicing, the MANO module needs to obtain real-time server resource information in order to allocate network function virtualization (NFV) and configure network slices.

[0028] In software-defined networking (SDN), due to the programmable nature of SDN control, the MANO module can be implemented programmatically at the SDN application layer. The SDN controller obtains information about the servers in the underlying network and feeds it back to the MANO module to achieve network resource scheduling.

[0029] In traditional network topology detection schemes, SDN controllers cannot obtain real-time resource information of servers in a highly dynamic network, and therefore cannot provide high-quality network slicing services to end-users.

[0030] In conclusion, how to obtain real-time resource information of servers in the network is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0031] Based on this, this disclosure provides a data transmission method. In SDN, a first node sends an LLDP message carrying heartbeat information to a second node. Upon receiving the LLDP message, the second node can store at least one heartbeat message from the first node. LLDP messages are defined by the data link layer protocol and can be effectively transmitted in SDN. Furthermore, LLDP messages have the advantage of carrying complete information, ensuring the accuracy of heartbeat information transmission. Since in this embodiment, the first node in the forwarding layer actively sends heartbeat information to the second node in the control layer, compared to traditional solutions, the second node can obtain resource information / heartbeat information from servers in the network in a timely manner, ensuring the timeliness of resource information.

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a communication system according to some embodiments. As shown in Figure 1, from top to bottom, it includes the application layer, the control layer, and the forwarding layer.

[0033] The application layer is the topmost layer of SDN, responsible for carrying various network applications and services. For example, the application layer includes a network resource monitoring unit, which is used to implement network topology management, server resource management, and storage functions.

[0034] The control layer is the core of SDN, containing the SDN controller, which is responsible for collecting a global network view, translating requirements from the application layer into detailed network configuration instructions, and passing these instructions to the underlying network devices. In this embodiment, the second node is located in the control layer and can be the SDN controller within that layer.

[0035] The forwarding layer is the foundation of an SDN network, containing the actual devices in the network, such as switches, routers (not shown in the diagram), and servers. The forwarding layer is responsible for executing instructions from the control layer, translating them into configurations for the underlying devices, and implementing the actual transmission and processing of data. In this embodiment, the first node is located in the forwarding layer, and this first node can be a server.

[0036] Given that network slicing typically operates in highly dynamic network environments, the MANO module needs to continuously optimize the orchestration of service function chains (SFCs) and node resource allocation strategies to provide end users with better service quality. In SDN, heartbeat-based probing can be used by the SDN controller to perceive the underlying physical network environment and resources.

[0037] LLDP messages are used to carry heartbeat information so that heartbeat packets can be transmitted at the link layer. Therefore, the heartbeat mechanism is applied in SDN scenarios to allow the controller to obtain resource information from the server. This disclosure first models a scenario where a traditional network application layer design and heartbeat mechanism are used, then encapsulates the application layer messages for transmission in SDN. This enables functions such as topology detection and awareness of underlying server nodes and virtual resource detection, assisting MANO in completing its orchestration strategy.

[0038] It should be understood that Figure 1 is an exemplary structural diagram, and the number of devices included in the communication system shown in Figure 1 is not limited, for example, the number of servers and switches is not limited. Furthermore, in addition to the devices shown in Figure 1, the communication system shown in Figure 1 may include other devices, and this is not limited.

[0039] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to some embodiments. Exemplarily, the data transmission method provided in this disclosure can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, for example, it can be executed by a device in the forwarding layer, i.e., the first node.

[0040] As shown in Figure 2, the data transmission method provided in this disclosure may include: S201.

[0041] S201, The first node sends heartbeat information to the second node.

[0042] The second node is a device in the SDN control layer, also known as an SDN controller. Heartbeat information is carried by LLDP messages.

[0043] In some embodiments, the heartbeat information includes at least one of the following: the latency of the first node; the data throughput of the first node; the bandwidth of the first node; the central processing unit (CPU) occupancy of the first node; and the virtual machine resource information of the first node.

[0044] It should be understood that latency is a key factor affecting the Quality of Service (QoS) metric of network slicing and is used to assist the MANO module in making reasonable decisions regarding the orchestration of service function chains (SFCs). Therefore, the second node needs to obtain the latency information of the first node. When it is determined that a first node may be experiencing congestion leading to abnormal processing latency, the MANO module will reallocate the SFC encoding in the next resource adjustment.

[0045] The MANO module needs to know information such as the computing resources and bandwidth of each node to assist in decision-making. Therefore, the heartbeat information also includes the resource usage of the first node, such as bandwidth, CPU usage, and graphics processing unit (GPU) usage.

[0046] The server's data throughput and packet queue length per unit time are important parameters for the MANO module in SFC orchestration, and also one of the reference indicators for the MANO module to judge the quality of SFC orchestration. Therefore, the heartbeat information sent by the first node also includes the data throughput of the first node.

[0047] In some embodiments, S201 can be implemented as follows: the first node periodically sends heartbeat information to the second node, and the sending period of the heartbeat information is configurable. That is, the time for any two consecutive heartbeat information transmissions is the same.

[0048] In some embodiments, S201 above can be implemented as follows: upon detecting a change in heartbeat information, sending heartbeat information to the second node. It should be understood that this allows the SDN controller to promptly understand changes in server resources and adjust resource orchestration strategies accordingly.

[0049] In some embodiments, during the process of the first node sending heartbeat information to the second node, there is a time interval between any two adjacent heartbeat information transmissions.

[0050] In some embodiments, the first node sets a first timer, which is started after the first node sends heartbeat information. When the first timer expires, the first node can send heartbeat information again; otherwise, the first node does not send heartbeat information. The maximum duration T of the first timer is... max It is configurable. The first timer timeout means that the first timer's timing exceeds the maximum duration T. max .

[0051] In some embodiments, heartbeat information is carried in the LLDP data unit (LLDPDU) of the LLDP message in the format of tag length value (TLV).

[0052] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an LLDP message format according to some embodiments, including a destination media access control (MAC) address (6 bytes), a source MAC address (6 bytes), a protocol type (2 bytes or 8 bytes), an LLDPDU, and a frame check sequence (FCS).

[0053] LLDP messages have two formats: Ethernet II and Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP). When the message is encapsulated in Ethernet II, the protocol type value is 0x88CC; when it is encapsulated in SNAP, the protocol type value is 0xAAAA-0300-0000-88CC.

[0054] LLDPDU is the data field in an LLDP message. The device can encapsulate the information to be transmitted into a TLV format, and then combine multiple TLVs into an LLDPDU, which is encapsulated in the data field of the LLDP message for transmission.

[0055] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an LLDPDU format according to some embodiments. As shown in Figure 4, TLV types 0 to 3 are mandatory, namely the end TLV, the chassis ID TLV, the port ID TLV, and the time-to-live (TTL) TLV, respectively. The remaining TLVs are optional. The first five items in the optional TLVs are basic TLVs, and the types of the basic TLVs correspond to the port description, system name, system description, system capabilities, and management address, respectively. The remaining types are reserved fields.

[0056] Referring to Figure 4, heartbeat information can be encapsulated in TLV format and carried in an optional TLV of the LLDPDU. The TLV encapsulation format of heartbeat information is shown in Figure 5, and includes at least one of the following:

[0057] Heartbeat information is contained in the TLV information string field, which includes fields for delay, throughput, bandwidth, CPU occupancy, VM resources, and reserved. Additionally, the optional TLV of an LLDPDU includes a TLV header, which contains a TLV Type field and a TLV information string length field, indicating the type of TLV and the length of the TLV information string, respectively.

[0058] It should be understood that Figure 5 is only one example, and any changes and combinations made to the number of fields, names, and sorting methods should be covered within the scope of this disclosure.

[0059] It's important to note that traditional heartbeat mechanisms were introduced to ensure a stable connection between a client and server or to detect dead links in the network. They accomplish the "heartbeat detection" task by sending a heartbeat packet to the destination, and can be sent bidirectionally between the server and client. When the server sends a heartbeat, it requires the client to respond upon receiving the message. The client can also be configured to actively send heartbeat packets to the server periodically. Typically, heartbeats are implemented at the transport or application layer. Transport layer heartbeats rely on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection to send and receive ACK packets to check the connection's integrity. These types of heartbeats can be used for network topology probing.

[0060] Traditional heartbeat packets are typically used between servers and clients. Using heartbeat packets for cross-subnet communication is quite complex, while network slicing requires cross-subnet operation. Therefore, this disclosure uses LLDP messages to carry heartbeat data, enabling heartbeat packets to be transmitted at the link layer, and applies the heartbeat mechanism to SDN scenarios, allowing the SDN controller to obtain server resource information.

[0061] In highly dynamic network environments, underlying server nodes may fail to provide the necessary resources or meet performance requirements for the virtual layer due to occasional malfunctions. To reduce resource waste and network slice orchestration failures, the MANO module needs to quickly initiate network function migration and resource reconfiguration. Therefore, implementing topology detection and resource awareness based on a heartbeat mechanism can quickly detect changes in the physical network topology and obtain server information.

[0062] LLDP is a neighbor discovery protocol. As a topology discovery protocol at the data link layer, LLDP not only boasts the advantage of carrying complete information but also offers strong operability, allowing for flexible adjustment of message transmission time to meet the needs of dynamic slicing. LLDP messages can also serve as carriers of heartbeat information. Servers in SDN encapsulate their CPU usage, memory usage, and other information into Tag-Length-Value (TLV) format and place it in LLDP messages, sending them to the SDN controller in heartbeat mode.

[0063] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to some embodiments. Exemplarily, the data transmission method provided in this disclosure can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, and can be executed by a device in the control layer, namely the second node (or SDN controller).

[0064] As shown in Figure 6, the data transmission method provided in this disclosure may include: S601 to S602.

[0065] S601, The second node receives heartbeat information sent by at least one first node.

[0066] The first node is a device in the SDN forwarding layer, and the heartbeat information is carried by LLDP packets.

[0067] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1, the second node can manage at least one first node. Each of the at least one first node can actively send heartbeat information via LLDP messages, and correspondingly, the second node can receive heartbeat information sent by at least one first node.

[0068] In some embodiments, the heartbeat information includes at least one of the following: the latency of the first node; the data throughput of the first node; the bandwidth of the first node; the central processing unit (CPU) occupancy of the first node; and the virtual machine resource information of the first node.

[0069] In some embodiments, heartbeat information is carried in the LLDPDU of the LLDP message in the format of Tag-Length-Value (TLV). Detailed encapsulation formats can be found in the relevant description on the first node side, and will not be repeated here.

[0070] In some embodiments, for each of the at least one first node's heartbeat information, if the time elapsed since the last heartbeat information was received exceeds a preset threshold, the second node considers the first node to be abnormal. The preset threshold is configurable.

[0071] That is, when the second node receives the heartbeat information, it records the time difference between the previous heartbeat information received from the same node and the previous heartbeat information received from the same node, and then saves the heartbeat information.

[0072] In some embodiments, S601 above can be implemented as follows: for each first node, a second timer is set; upon receiving heartbeat information sent by the first node, the second timer is started and begins counting until the next heartbeat information sent by the first node is received; upon receiving the next heartbeat information, the second timer is reset to zero and restarts counting; if the second timer times out, the heartbeat information reception is considered to have failed; the maximum duration of the second timer is configurable; the second timer timeout means that the counting duration of the second timer exceeds the maximum duration.

[0073] S602, The second node stores the heartbeat information of at least one first node.

[0074] In some embodiments, S602 above can be implemented as follows: for the heartbeat information of each of the at least one first node, if both the validity verification of the identity information of the first node and the validity verification of the heartbeat information pass, the heartbeat information is stored. This disclosure does not limit the method of validity verification.

[0075] It should be understood that the essence of network slicing is to map virtual logical links to the physical network. Therefore, changes in physical links will affect this mapping relationship. In order to detect changes in the network in a timely manner, the SDN controller needs to obtain the network topology map in a timely manner to determine whether the physical links have changed.

[0076] In traditional solutions, the SDN controller discovers connected switches using the OpenFlow protocol. However, not all parts of the network support OpenFlow. For non-OpenFlow domains and parts not directly connected to the OpenFlow controller, SDN cannot obtain topology and resource information. Therefore, this disclosure also provides a network topology discovery solution.

[0077] First, the second node probes the switches in the OpenFlow domain using the OpenFlow Discovery Protocol (OFDP) to obtain connection information of the switches in the forwarding layer. Then, when the first node sends LLDP packets to the second node, these packets can carry information about the switches along the path. In this way, after receiving and parsing the LLDP packets, the second node can determine which first nodes are connected to by the switches, and then construct an SDN network topology based on the switch connection information and the information about which first nodes the switches are connected to.

[0078] OFDP is a protocol that uses LLDP messages for link discovery in an OpenFlow environment. Based on this bidirectional topology discovery and information acquisition mode, the network resource monitoring unit in the SDN controller can store and update network topology and resource changes, enabling network slices to be remapped and dynamically deployed according to changes in user or operator needs.

[0079] The data transmission method of the present disclosure embodiments will be fully described below.

[0080] LLDP has four operating modes: TxRx mode (sends and receives LLDP messages), Tx mode (sends only LLDP messages), Rx mode (receives only LLDP messages), and Disable mode (neither sends nor receives messages).

[0081] Step 1: The SDN controller (the aforementioned second node) receives LLDP heartbeat packets from the server node (the aforementioned first node). The LLDP heartbeat packet is the heartbeat information of the server node carried by the LLDP message.

[0082] After the SDN controller detects the server and establishes a connection, the SDN controller enters Rx mode, and the server enters Tx mode and sends an LLDP heartbeat packet.

[0083] After enabling the heartbeat mechanism, each server node in the network will periodically send application-layer heartbeat information to the SDN controller, promptly notifying the SDN controller of changes in its own resource information. Additionally, if local configuration information changes, a heartbeat message will be sent to the SDN controller immediately.

[0084] Meanwhile, to prevent frequent changes in state information from causing a large number of LLDP heartbeat packets to be sent, the server node delays sending each packet for a certain period before sending the next. This delay, TxDelay, can be configured as needed. The server node sets a timer, which starts after each LLDP heartbeat packet is sent. When the timer expires, the server node sends another LLDP heartbeat packet. The timer duration is configurable. Timer timeout occurs when the timer's duration exceeds the maximum duration T. max .

[0085] Step 2: The SDN controller saves the heartbeat information in the LLDP heartbeat packet.

[0086] After receiving a heartbeat packet from the server node, the SDN controller node first verifies the identity information and the data carried by the packet. If any errors are found, the packet is discarded. Then, the controller records the most recent packet reception time to calculate the reception time difference and saves the node data to the network resource monitoring unit as auxiliary data for SFC orchestration, awaiting retrieval.

[0087] After receiving an LLDP heartbeat packet from the server node, the SDN controller node verifies the legitimacy of the LLDP heartbeat packet's identity information and the data it carries. If there is an error, it discards the packet; otherwise, the SDN controller node records the time difference between the last time it received the LLDP heartbeat packet and saves the server node's heartbeat information.

[0088] While network slicing increases network flexibility and improves QoS, it also increases network complexity. This necessitates planning a reasonable service function chain and effectively allocating resources when deploying slices. In the core network, slice resource configuration can be viewed as an SFC mapping problem, that is, mapping virtual service function chains to physical links. For network slices, virtualized network functions (VNFs) need to be allocated to them according to their requirements, and bandwidth resources need to be allocated to physical links based on this.

[0089] This disclosure provides a data transmission method in an SDN (Software-Defined Networking) system. A first node sends an LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) message carrying heartbeat information to a second node. Upon receiving the LLDP message, the second node can store the heartbeat information of at least one first node. LLDP messages are defined by the data link layer protocol and can be effectively transmitted in SDN. Furthermore, LLDP messages have the advantage of carrying complete information, ensuring the accuracy of heartbeat information transmission. Because in this embodiment, the first node in the forwarding layer actively sends heartbeat information to the second node in the control layer, compared to traditional methods, the second node can promptly obtain resource information / heartbeat information from servers in the network, ensuring the timeliness of resource information.

[0090] It is understood that, in order to achieve the above-mentioned functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the algorithmic steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments of this disclosure, this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this disclosure.

[0091] This disclosure embodiment can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiment. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or software. It should be noted that the module division in this disclosure embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The following description uses the example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0092] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments. The communication device can execute the data transmission method provided in the above-described method embodiments. As shown in Figure 7, the communication device includes a transmitting module 701.

[0093] The sending module 701 is used to send heartbeat information to the second node; the second node is a device in the control layer of SDN; the heartbeat information is carried by the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message.

[0094] In some embodiments, heartbeat information includes at least one of the following:

[0095] The latency of the first node;

[0096] Data throughput of the first node;

[0097] The bandwidth of the first node;

[0098] CPU usage of the central processing unit of the first node;

[0099] Virtual machine resource information for the first node.

[0100] In some embodiments, heartbeat information is carried in the LLDP data unit LLDPDU in the LLDP message in the format of tag-length-value (TLV).

[0101] In some embodiments, the sending module 701 is used to periodically send heartbeat information to the second node, and the sending period of the heartbeat information is configurable.

[0102] In some embodiments, the sending module 701 is configured to send heartbeat information to the second node when a change in heartbeat information is detected.

[0103] In some embodiments, during the process of sending heartbeat information to the second node, there is a time interval between any two adjacent heartbeat information transmissions.

[0104] In some embodiments, the sending module 701 is used to: set a first timer; start the first timer after the first node sends heartbeat information; send heartbeat information again when the first timer times out; otherwise, the first node does not send heartbeat information; the maximum duration of the first timer is configurable; the first timer timeout means that the time taken by the first timer exceeds the maximum duration.

[0105] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another communication device according to some embodiments, which can execute the data transmission method provided in the above-described method embodiments. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device includes a receiving module 801 and a storage module 802.

[0106] The receiving module 801 is used to receive heartbeat information sent by at least one first node, where the first node is a device in the forwarding layer of SDN, and the heartbeat information is carried by LLDP messages.

[0107] The storage module 802 is used to store the heartbeat information of at least one first node.

[0108] In some embodiments, the heartbeat information includes at least one of the following: the latency of the first node; the data throughput of the first node; the bandwidth of the first node; the CPU usage of the first node; and the virtual machine resource information of the first node.

[0109] In some embodiments, the storage module 802 is used to store the heartbeat information for each first node, provided that both the validity verification of the first node's identity information and the validity verification of the heartbeat information pass.

[0110] In some embodiments, the receiving module 801 is further configured to consider the first node to be abnormal if the time elapsed since the last received heartbeat information is greater than a preset threshold.

[0111] In some embodiments, the receiving module 801 is configured to: set a second timer for each first node; start the second timer when a heartbeat message is received from the first node; reset the second timer and restart the timing when the next heartbeat packet is received; consider the heartbeat message reception to have failed if the second timer times out; the maximum duration of the second timer is configurable; the second timer timeout means that the timing duration of the second timer exceeds the maximum duration.

[0112] In some embodiments, heartbeat information is carried in an LLDPDU within an LLDP message in the format of Tag-Length-Value (TLV).

[0113] In the case of implementing the functions of the integrated modules described above in hardware, this disclosure provides another structure of the communication device involved in the above embodiments. As shown in FIG9, the communication device 900 includes: a processor 902 and a bus 904. In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 901; in some embodiments, the communication device 900 may further include a communication interface 903.

[0114] Processor 902 may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with embodiments of this disclosure. Processor 902 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. Processor 902 may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with embodiments of this disclosure. Processor 902 may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0115] The communication interface 903 is used to connect to other devices via a communication network. This communication network can be Ethernet, wireless access network, wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

[0116] The memory 901 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0117] In one implementation, the memory 901 can exist independently of the processor 902. The memory 901 can be connected to the processor 902 via a bus 904 and is used to store instructions or program code. When the processor 902 calls and executes the instructions or program code stored in the memory 901, it can implement the method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0118] In another implementation, the memory 901 can also be integrated with the processor 902.

[0119] Bus 904 can be an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. Bus 904 can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used to represent it in Figure 9, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0120] In some embodiments, the memory 901 stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor 902, cause the communication device to perform the method described in any of the embodiments described above.

[0121] Some embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) storing computer program instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in any of the above embodiments.

[0122] Exemplary examples show that the aforementioned computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical discs (e.g., compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). The various computer-readable storage media described in this disclosure may represent one or more devices for storing information and / or other machine-readable storage media. The term "machine-readable storage media" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0123] This disclosure provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in any of the above embodiments.

[0124] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this disclosure, but the scope of protection of this disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this disclosure should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of this disclosure should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A data transmission method, wherein, The method is executed by a first node, which is a device in the forwarding layer of a software-defined network (SDN), and the method includes: A heartbeat message is sent to the second node; the second node is a device in the control layer of the SDN; the heartbeat message is carried by a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The heartbeat information includes at least one of the following: The latency of the first node; Data throughput of the first node; The bandwidth of the first node; CPU usage of the first node's central processing unit; Virtual machine resource information for the first node.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The heartbeat information is carried in the LLDP data unit LLDPDU in the LLDP message in the format of tag-length-value (TLV).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Sending the heartbeat information to the second node includes: The first node periodically sends the heartbeat information to the second node, wherein the sending period of the heartbeat information is configurable.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Sending the heartbeat information to the second node includes: If a change in the heartbeat information is detected, the heartbeat information is sent to the second node.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, During the process of sending the heartbeat information to the second node, there is a time interval between any two adjacent heartbeat information transmissions.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Sending the heartbeat information to the second node includes: The first node sets a first timer. After the first node sends heartbeat information, the first timer is started. When the first timer times out, the first node sends the heartbeat information again; otherwise, the first node does not send the heartbeat information. The maximum duration of the first timer is configurable. The first timer timeout means that the time taken by the first timer exceeds the maximum duration.

8. A data transmission method, wherein, The method is executed by a second node, which is a device in the control layer of a software-defined network (SDN), and the method includes: Receive heartbeat information sent by at least one first node; the first node is a device in the forwarding layer of SDN; the heartbeat information is carried by a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) message; Store the heartbeat information of at least one first node.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The heartbeat information includes at least one of the following: The latency of the first node; Data throughput of the first node; The bandwidth of the first node; CPU usage of the first node's central processing unit; Virtual machine resource information for the first node.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The storage of the heartbeat information of the at least one first node includes: For each first node's heartbeat information, if both the validity verification of the first node's identity information and the validity verification of the heartbeat information pass, the heartbeat information is stored.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: For each first node's heartbeat information, if the time elapsed since the last heartbeat information was received exceeds a preset threshold, the first node is considered abnormal.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein, Receiving heartbeat information sent by at least one first node includes: For each first node, a second timer is set; the second timer is started when a heartbeat message is received from the first node. Upon receiving the next heartbeat information, the second timer is reset to zero and restarts. If the second timer times out, the heartbeat information reception is considered to have failed. The maximum duration of the second timer is configurable; the second timer timeout means that the duration of the second timer exceeds the maximum duration.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The heartbeat information is carried in the LLDP data unit LLDPDU in the LLDP message in the format of tag-length-value (TLV).

14. A communication device, comprising: A processor and a memory for storing processor-executable instructions; Wherein, when the processor is configured to execute the instructions, the communication device performs the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1-13.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions that, when executed on the communication device, cause the communication device to perform the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1-13.

16. A computer program product, wherein, The computer program product includes computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1-13.

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