NAT Application Flow Mapping for Terminal Fault Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
In broadband communication networks, existing systems struggle to identify the specific terminal device experiencing a poor quality of service event due to the use of network address translation, where traffic information is aggregated at the household level, making it difficult to pinpoint the affected device within a network.
Innovation Solution
A port pre-allocation table is utilized to allocate unique port number ranges to each terminal device, ensuring non-overlapping ranges for devices sharing the same public IP address, enabling identification of the terminal device based on the obtained public IP address and port number, even when network address translation is employed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If network address translation is used to translate private IP addresses into public IP addresses, then the gateway device can forward application flows to external networks, but the traffic information becomes aggregated at the household level and the specific terminal device experiencing quality of service issues cannot be identified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the public IP address space by allocating unique port number ranges to different terminal devices. Even though multiple terminal devices share the same public IP address through NAT, each device is assigned a distinct port range (e.g., device1: 1024-2048, device2: 2049-3072), enabling the OLT to identify which specific terminal device is experiencing quality of service issues by examining the port number in the application flow.
2Productivity
If the same public IP address is allocated to multiple terminal devices, then the gateway device can efficiently manage multiple devices with a single public IP, but the port number ranges must be carefully managed to avoid overlap and ensure device identification
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-allocating port number ranges to terminal devices before they connect to the network. The gateway device maintains a port pre-allocation table that maps terminal devices to their assigned port ranges in advance. When a terminal device connects, it is immediately assigned a port range from the pre-configured table, eliminating the need for dynamic port allocation and reducing management complexity.
3Measurement precision
If port number ranges are allocated to terminal devices, then the OLT can identify the specific terminal device by examining the port number, but the port number ranges must not overlap between devices to ensure accurate identification
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different port number range characteristics to different terminal devices. Each terminal device receives a unique port range (e.g., device1: 1024-2048, device2: 2049-3072) that does not overlap with others. This localized differentiation allows the OLT to precisely identify which terminal device is sending traffic by examining the port number, while maintaining clear boundaries between devices to prevent identification conflicts.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of this application disclose an information processing method and a related device, to identify a terminal device based on an application flow. In this application, a port pre-allocation table is first received, where the port pre-allocation table indicates public IP addresses and port number ranges that are respectively allocated to a plurality of terminal devices, the public IP addresses allocated to the plurality of terminal devices are not exactly the same, and in the port pre-allocation table, port number ranges that are allocated to any two terminal devices to which a same public IP address is allocated do not overlap. In this case, when a first public IP address and a first port number of a public network application flow are obtained, a first terminal device corresponding to the first public IP address and the first port number may be determined based on the port pre-allocation table, and the first terminal device is one of the plurality of terminal devices, so that the corresponding terminal device that sends the public network application flow can be identified, and the terminal device on which a network fault occurs can be determined when a poor quality of service event occurs, so as to improve quality of service.