Control device and control method

Abstract

A communication system 7 comprises a network W to be tested, a plurality of measurement systems 3 that send test packets to the network W, an L2 switch 5 that is connected to the network W and the plurality of measurement systems 3, and a control device 1. The control device 1 comprises an allocation unit 16 that allocates different rules for generating MAC addresses for the test packets to the measurement systems 3 and a provision unit 17 that provides the measurement systems 3 with rule data 13 that specifies the allocated rules and provides the L2 switch 5 with table data 14 that associates the rules allocated to the measurement systems 3 with ports that are connected to the measurement systems 3. The measurement systems 3 generate MAC addresses for the test packets in accordance with the rule data 13 transmitted from the control device 1, and the L2 switch 5 sends packets received from the network W to the ports that correspond to the rules that match the MAC addresses of the packets in accordance with the table data 14.

Description

Control device and control method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device and a control method.

[0002] With the penetration of 5G or e-sports, strict network requirements such as ultra-low delay, low jitter, and high reliability are required.

[0003] Patent Document 1 can measure the delay of required node sections in a communication network, and grasp the delay of each node section in the entire network at low cost.

[0004] WO2021 / 166266

[0005] However, when the network scale is large, in the Layer 2 switch connecting server clusters, the MAC (Media Access Control) address table for test packets may become large and consume resources of the Layer 2 switch. In addition, as a result of resource consumption, when the upper limit of the table is exceeded, there may be a problem that flooding occurs.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology capable of avoiding the enlargement of a MAC address table related to test packets.

[0007] A control device in one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system comprising a network under test, a plurality of measurement systems that send test packets to the network, an L2 switch connected to the network and the plurality of measurement systems, and a control device connected to the plurality of measurement systems and the L2 switch, wherein the control device comprises an assignment unit that assigns different rules to each measurement system for generating the MAC address of the test packet, a provision unit that provides the measurement systems with rule data that identifies the rules assigned to the measurement systems, and a provision unit that provides the L2 switch with ports connected to the measurement systems and table data that associates the rules assigned to the measurement systems, the measurement systems generate the MAC address of the test packet according to the rule data transmitted from the control device, and the L2 switch sends packets received from the network to ports corresponding to the rules that match the MAC address of the packets according to the table data.

[0008] A control method in one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system comprising a network under test, a plurality of measurement systems that send test packets to the network, an L2 switch connected to the network and the plurality of measurement systems, and a control device connected to the plurality of measurement systems and the L2 switch, wherein the control device assigns different rules to each measurement system for generating the MAC address of the test packet, provides the measurement system with rule data that identifies the rules assigned to the measurement system, provides the L2 switch with table data that associates ports connected to the measurement system with the rules assigned to the measurement system, the measurement system generates the MAC address of the test packet according to the rule data transmitted from the control device, and the L2 switch sends packets received from the network to the port corresponding to the rule that matches the MAC address of the packet according to the table data.

[0009] This disclosure provides a technique that can avoid the bloat of the MAC address table related to test packets.

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of the communication system of this disclosure. Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control device, measurement system, and L2 switch. Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the data structure and an example of data in a filtering table. Figure 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating the control method in the communication system. Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the data structure and an example of data in a typical MAC address table. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of a computer used in the control device.

[0011] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted.

[0012] (Communication System) The communication system 7 shown in Figure 1 comprises a network W, a plurality of measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c, an L2 switch 5, and a control device 1. In this disclosure, when the plurality of measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c are not specifically distinguished, they may be referred to as measurement system 3. The communication system 7 is described in the case of comprising three measurement systems 3, but is not limited thereto. The number of measurement systems 3 is irrelevant.

[0013] Network W is the subject of testing by multiple measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c. Network W is connected to multiple nodes N via multiple relay devices R and multiple lines L. When a node N receives a test packet, it sets the MAC address of the source packet as the destination and sends the test packet back.

[0014] Measurement system 3 sends a test packet to the network W under test. Measurement system 3 sets the MAC address that identifies the source measurement system 3 in the test packet. Multiple measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c may each constitute a server cluster that forms a single measurement system.

[0015] The L2 switch 5 connects to the network W under test and to multiple measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c. The L2 switch 5 sends the test packet to the port corresponding to the destination MAC address set in the test packet.

[0016] The control device 1 connects to multiple measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c and to the L2 switch 5. The control device 1 controls the MAC address of the measurement system 3 set in the test packet. The control device 1 controls the rules by which the measurement system 3 generates MAC addresses and the settings of the L2 switch 5 according to those rules. The control device 1 prevents the MAC address table in the L2 switch 5 from becoming excessively large and enables the measurement system 3 to properly send and receive each test packet.

[0017] For example, in the communication system 7 shown in Figure 1, each line connected to the relay device R requires two types of test packets: one destined for node N and one originating from node N. If the network W under test has 1000 lines, the path taken by the test packets transmitted by the measurement system 3 is: 1000 There are P2 (= 999,000) possibilities. As the number of nodes N increases, the number of paths increases.

[0018] Referring to Figure 5, a typical MAC address table in an L2 switch is explained. The MAC address table associates MAC addresses with port identifiers. When an L2 switch receives a packet, it refers to the MAC address table and sends the received packet to the port corresponding to the destination MAC address of the received packet.

[0019] In a typical L2 switch, the number of MAC addresses set in test packets increases with the number of lines in the network W under test, so there is generally concern about MAC address table bloat.

[0020] Therefore, the control device 1 according to this disclosure controls the measurement system 3 and the L2 switch 5 to prevent the MAC address table for test packets from becoming excessively large. The control device 1 controls the rules by which the measurement system 3 generates MAC addresses and the settings of the L2 switch 5 according to those rules, so that the measurement system 3 can appropriately send and receive each test packet.

[0021] (Measurement System) As shown in Figure 2, the measurement system 3 includes test packet 31 and result data 32, as well as the functions of a generation unit 36 ​​and a transmission / reception unit 37. Each piece of data is stored in a storage device such as memory 902 or storage 903. Each function is implemented in the CPU 901.

[0022] The test packet 31 is sent by the measurement system 3 to node N of the network W under test. The MAC address generated by the generation unit 36 ​​is set in the source MAC address field of the test packet 31.

[0023] The result data 32 stores measurement data related to the ultra-low latency, low jitter, or high reliability of the network W under test, such as the transmission and reception times of test packets sent and received by the measurement system 3. The result data 32 is data that can be accessed from each of the multiple measurement systems 3a, 3b, and 3c, and may store measurement data from each measurement system 3.

[0024] The generation unit 36 ​​generates the MAC address of the test packet 31 transmitted by the measurement system 3. The generation unit 36 ​​generates the MAC address according to the rule data 13 generated by the control device 1. The generation unit 36 ​​further generates a test packet 31 in which the generated MAC address is set as the MAC address of the measurement system 3. The generated MAC address is set as the source MAC address of the test packet transmitted by the measurement system 3.

[0025] The transmitting / receiving unit 37 transmits the test packet 31 to the L2 switch 5. The transmitting / receiving unit 37 receives a reply packet of the test packet 31 from the L2 switch 5 and measures data related to ultra-low latency, low jitter, or high reliability. The transmitting / receiving unit 37 stores the measured data in the result data 32.

[0026] (L2 switch) The L2 switch 5 sends packets received from the network W to a predetermined port in accordance with the control of the control device 1. The L2 switch 5 executes the control of the control device 1 by operating in accordance with the table data 14 received from the control device 1.

[0027] As shown in Figure 2, the L2 switch 5 has multiple ports for connecting to other devices, as well as the data in the filtering table 51 and the functions of the transfer unit 56. Each piece of data is stored in a storage device such as the memory 902 or storage 903. Each function is implemented in the CPU 901.

[0028] As shown in Figure 3, the filtering table 51 associates rules regarding destination MAC addresses with identifiers of the output ports for packets that match those rules. The data in each row of the filtering table 51 is provided by the control device 1.

[0029] For example, as shown in Figure 1, a packet whose destination MAC address starts with bit A is output to port A. Port A is connected to the first measurement system 3a. A packet whose destination MAC address starts with bit B is output to port B. Port B is connected to the second measurement system 3b. A packet whose destination MAC address starts with bit C is output to port C. Port C is connected to the third measurement system 3c.

[0030] The forwarding unit 56 sends the packet input to the L2 switch 5 to the port identified in the filtering table 51. The forwarding unit 56 compares the destination MAC address of the input packet with the rules in the filtering table 51 and identifies the rule that matches the destination MAC address of the input packet. The forwarding unit 56 sends the input packet to the port corresponding to the identified rule.

[0031] (Control device) The control device 1 includes MAC address list 11, connection data 12, rule data 13, and table data 14, as well as the functions of allocation unit 16 and provision unit 17. Each piece of data is stored in a storage device such as memory 902 or storage 903. Each function is implemented in the CPU 901.

[0032] The MAC address list 11 is a list of MAC addresses that the control device 1 can assign to test packets. The MAC address list 11 only needs to be able to identify MAC addresses that can be assigned to test packets. The MAC address list 11 may also be a list of MAC addresses that the measurement system 3 cannot assign to test packets.

[0033] The connection data 12 is data that identifies the connection status of ports in the L2 switch 5. For example, the connection data 12 associates the identifier of a port in the L2 switch 5 with the identifier of the device to which that port is connected. In the example shown in Figure 1, the connection data 12 associates the identifier of port A with the identifier of the first measurement system 3a, the identifier of port B with the identifier of the second measurement system 3b, and the identifier of port C with the identifier of the third measurement system 3c.

[0034] Rule data 13 is data that identifies the rule assigned to the measurement system 3. Rule data 13 identifies the MAC address rules that can be assigned to the measurement system 3. Rule data 13 is provided for each measurement system 3. In the example shown in Figure 1, the MAC address rule that can be assigned to the first measurement system 3a has a leading bit of A. The MAC address that can be assigned to the second measurement system 3b has a leading bit of B. The MAC address that can be assigned to the third measurement system 3c has a leading bit of C. In this disclosure, the rule is identified by a function that can identify multiple MAC addresses, and the enumeration of MAC addresses is excluded.

[0035] Table data 14 associates the ports connected to the measurement system 3 with the rules assigned to the measurement system 3. Table data 14 is data corresponding to rule data 13 and is data set in the filtering table 51 of the L2 switch 5.

[0036] The allocation unit 16 assigns different rules to each measurement system 3 for generating MAC addresses of test packets. Here, different rules mean that the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to each system do not overlap. In this disclosure, the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to the first measurement system 3a, the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to the second measurement system 3b, and the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to the third measurement system 3c do not overlap.

[0037] The MAC address allows for the identification of the measurement system 3 corresponding to that MAC address. The L2 switch 5 can identify the measurement system 3 to which the packet is sent by comparing the packet's destination MAC address with the rules assigned to the measurement system 3.

[0038] The supply unit 17 provides rule data 13 to the measurement system 3 and table data 14 to the L2 switch 5.

[0039] The supply unit 17 generates rule data 13 that associates an identifier for a measurement system 3 with the rules to be provided to that measurement system 3. The supply unit 17 provides each measurement system 3 with the rule data 13 that is associated with that measurement system 3.

[0040] The supply unit 17 further generates table data 14 by associating the rules to be provided to the measurement system 3 with the identifiers of the ports connected to the measurement system 3 in the L2 switch 5. The supply unit 17 provides the table data 14 to the L2 switch 5. The L2 switch 5 sets up the filtering table 51 according to the table data 14.

[0041] The measurement system 3 generates the MAC address of the test packet according to the rule data 13 transmitted from the control device 1. The L2 switch 5 sends the packet received from the network W under test to the port corresponding to the rule that matches the MAC address of the packet, according to the filtering table 51 in which the table data 14 is set.

[0042] The rule assigned to each measurement system 3 relates, for example, to the value of one or more predetermined bits of a MAC address. The value of the one or more predetermined bits of the MAC address generated by the first measurement system 3a, the value of the one or more predetermined bits of the MAC address generated by the second measurement system 3b, and the value of the one or more predetermined bits of the MAC address generated by the third measurement system 3c are different from each other.

[0043] The measurement system 3 sets the source MAC address of a test packet according to the rule assigned to the measurement system 3 by the control device 1. The measurement system 3 sets the MAC address according to the rule in the latest rule data 13 provided from the control device 1. Further, the L2 switch 5 updates the filtering table 51 by associating the rule assigned by the control device 1 with the identifier of the port connected to the measurement system 3 that is the assignment destination. When new table data 14 is provided from the control device 1, the L2 switch 5 updates the filtering table 51.

[0044] The measurement system 3 sets, according to the rule assigned by the control device 1, a value assigned from the control device 1 to one or more predetermined bits of the source MAC address of a test packet 31. The L2 switch 5 refers to the value of the one or more predetermined bits of the received packet to determine which rule of which measurement system 3 the value matches, and then transmits the received packet to the port of the measurement system 3 corresponding to the matching rule. Note that the one or more bits may be adjacent bits or non-adjacent bits.

[0045] In the present disclosure, an example in which different values are set for predetermined bits of a MAC address for each measurement system 3 has been described, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As another example, the MAC address assigned to each measurement system 3 may be specified by a predetermined function. A different function is assigned to each measurement system 3. Here, the MAC addresses specified by the respective functions assigned to the respective measurement systems do not overlap.

[0046] Accordingly, the filtering table 51 of the L2 switch 5 only needs to associate, for each measurement system 3 of the communication system 7, the rule assigned to that measurement system 3. For example, the filtering table 51 only needs to have records equal to the number of measurement systems 3 of the communication system 7. A general MAC address table has records equal to the number of MAC addresses used in a communication system. Therefore, the amount of data in the filtering table 51 of the present disclosure can be reduced, and enlargement of the MAC address table related to test packets can be avoided.

[0047] The control method according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

[0048] In step S101, the control device 1 assigns a different rule for generating a MAC address to each measurement system 3. In step S102, the control device 1 generates rule data 13 and table data 14 from the rules assigned in step S101.

[0049] In step S103, the control device 1 transmits the rule data 13 generated in step S102 to the measurement system 3. In step S104, the control device 1 transmits the table data 14 generated in step S102 to the L2 switch 5. The L2 switch 5 sets the received table data 14 in the filtering table 51.

[0050] The measurement system 3 generates a test packet. The measurement system 3 sets a MAC address conforming to the rule data received in step S103 as the source address. In step S106, the measurement system 3 transmits the test packet generated in step S105 to the L2 switch 5.

[0051] In step S106, when the test packet is received, the L2 switch 5 sends it to the destination of the test packet. In step S107, when the L2 switch 5 receives a reply packet for the test packet 31, it identifies the destination port from the destination MAC address of the reply packet. At this time, the L2 switch 5 refers to the filtering table 51 which has the table data 14 received in step S104 set up, and sends the reply packet to the port associated with the rule that matches the destination MAC address of the reply packet.

[0052] In the communication system 7 of this disclosure, the control device 1 sets a rule to assign MAC addresses to each measurement system 3 so that the MAC address of the test packet transmitted by each measurement system 3 can be identified from the MAC address. The rule assigned to each measurement system 3 is shared between the measurement system 3 and the L2 switch 5.

[0053] The L2 switch 5 only needs to store the rules assigned to the measurement system 3 and the identifiers of the ports connected to the measurement system 3, in association with each other. Even if the scale of the network W under test in the communication system 7 is large and the number of MAC addresses to be assigned to test packets becomes enormous, the amount of data that the L2 switch 5 stores depends on the number of measurement systems 3 and not on the scale of the network W under test. This avoids the MAC address table for test packets in the L2 switch 5 becoming excessively large.

[0054] In the communication system 7, even if the number of measurement systems 3 increases or decreases, the operator only needs to change the settings of the control device 1. Specifically, the operator sets MAC addresses that can be assigned to the measurement systems 3 in the MAC address list 11 and sets the connection port between the L2 switch 5 and the measurement systems 3 in the connection data 12. As a result, the control device 1 assigns rules to the measurement systems 3 and updates the filtering table 51 of the L2 switch 5. Compared to the case where the operator themselves applies the rule data 13 and table data 14 to the measurement systems 3 and L2 switch 5 on behalf of the control device 1, the operator's workload is reduced in the communication system 7 of this disclosure.

[0055] The control device 1 described above in this disclosure uses, for example, a general-purpose computer system comprising a CPU (Central Processing Unit, processor) 901, memory 902, storage 903 (HDD: Hard Disk Drive, SSD: Solid State Drive), communication device 904, input device 905, and output device 906. In this computer system, each function of the control device 1 is realized by the CPU 901 executing a program loaded onto the memory 902.

[0056] The control device 1 may be implemented on a single computer, or on multiple computers. Furthermore, the control device 1 may be a virtual machine implemented on a computer.

[0057] The program of the control device 1 can be stored on a computer-readable recording medium such as an HDD, SSD, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, CD (Compact Disc), or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or it can be distributed over a network. A computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory recording medium.

[0058] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and numerous modifications are possible within the scope of its essence.

[0059] 1 Control device 3 Measurement system 5 L2 switch 7 Communication system 11 MAC address list 12 Connection data 13 Rule data 14 Table data 16 Allocation unit 17 Provision unit 31 Test packet 32 ​​Result data 36 Generation unit 37 Transmit / receive unit 51 Filtering table 56 Forwarding unit 901 CPU 902 Memory 903 Storage 904 Communication device 905 Input device 906 Output device L Line N Node R Relay device W Network

Claims

1. A communication system comprising: a network under test; a plurality of measurement systems that send test packets to the network; an L2 switch connected to the network and the plurality of measurement systems; and a control device connected to the plurality of measurement systems and the L2 switch, wherein the control device comprises: an assignment unit that assigns different rules to each measurement system for generating the MAC address of the test packet; a provision unit that provides the measurement system with rule data that identifies the rules assigned to the measurement system and provides the L2 switch with table data that associates ports connected to the measurement system with the rules assigned to the measurement system; the measurement system generates the MAC address of the test packet according to the rule data transmitted from the control device; and the L2 switch sends packets received from the network to ports corresponding to rules that match the MAC address of the packets, according to the table data.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to the first measurement system and the MAC addresses generated according to the rules assigned to the second measurement system do not overlap.

3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the rule has a value in one or more predetermined bits of a MAC address, and the value in one or more predetermined bits of a MAC address generated by the first measurement system is different from the value in one or more predetermined bits of a MAC address generated by the second measurement system.

4. A communication system comprising: a network under test; a plurality of measurement systems that send test packets to the network; an L2 switch connected to the network and the plurality of measurement systems; and a control device connected to the plurality of measurement systems and the L2 switch, wherein the control device assigns different rules to each measurement system for generating the MAC address of the test packet; provides the measurement system with rule data that identifies the rules assigned to the measurement system; provides the L2 switch with table data that associates ports connected to the measurement system with the rules assigned to the measurement system; the measurement system generates the MAC address of the test packet according to the rule data transmitted from the control device; and the L2 switch sends packets received from the network to ports corresponding to rules that match the MAC address of the packets, according to the table data.

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