BIER Multicast Traffic Statistics Collection via Flow Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
The BIER multicast technology faces challenges in collecting traffic statistics, making it difficult to identify packet loss or interruption in multicast flows, as network devices cannot distinguish between multicast and unicast traffic or differentiate between various multicast groups, complicating operation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for collecting BIER multicast traffic statistics by identifying multicast flows through specific information such as BFIR-ID, entropy labels, source addresses, or multicast source groups, allowing network devices to perform traffic statistics collection and send results to a controller for analysis, which can locate fault points and restore service paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If BIER technology performs unicast forwarding multiple times based on bit string and bit identifiers, then efficient point-to-multipoint data transmission is achieved and network bandwidth is saved, but network devices cannot distinguish multicast flows from unicast flows, making traffic statistics collection difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (traffic statistics collection identifier and mapping relationship) between the BIER forwarding process and the statistics collection function. The intermediary allows the forwarding plane to operate efficiently without multicast flow distinction while enabling the control plane to retrieve multicast flow statistics through the mapping relationship between bit identifiers and multicast flow information
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the statistics collection function into two parts: (1) the forwarding plane collects statistics using bit identifiers without needing to understand multicast flows, and (2) the control plane uses mapping relationships to correlate bit identifier statistics with actual multicast flow statistics. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing efficient forwarding while preserving statistics capability
2Device complexity
If BIER technology uses a unified bit index forwarding table entry for all multicast flows, then forwarding guidance is simplified, but differentiation between various multicast groups is lost, complicating operation and maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds another dimension (the mapping relationship dimension) to connect the simplified bit identifier-based forwarding table with multicast flow identification. The forwarding table operates in the bit identifier dimension for simplicity, while the mapping relationship provides the bridge to the multicast flow dimension for operation and maintenance purposes
Solution Approach 2:
The mapping relationship acts as an intermediary between the simplified bit identifier forwarding table and the multicast flow statistics collection requirement. It enables operators to trace bit identifier statistics back to specific multicast groups without complicating the forwarding table structure
Data Source
AI summary
This application provides a BIER multicast traffic statistics collection method, a device, and a system. The method includes: A first network device obtains a first BIER packet. The first network device performs traffic statistics collection on the first BIER packet based on multicast flow information, to obtain a traffic statistics collection result of the first BIER packet, where the multicast flow information is used to identify a multicast flow to which the first BIER packet belongs. The first network device sends the multicast flow information and the traffic statistics collection result of the first BIER packet to a controller.