CN109088821B

CN109088821B - Message transmission method, service chain system and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN109088821B
Application number: CN201710450137.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 井惟栋; 蔡洪波; 王军; 高申存
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2017-06-14
Filing date: 2017-06-14
Publication date: 2022-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-14
Also published as: CN109088821A

Abstract

The invention discloses a message transmission method, a service chain system and a computer readable storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: when a service function proxy node receives a network flow message sent by a classifier, if the received network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, acquiring identification information of a record corresponding to the network flow; if the identification information is the first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in the service chain path information sent by the service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path; the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop. The invention reduces the forwarding times of the message between the service function node which does not support NSH and the service function proxy node on the service chain, shortens the transmission path of the message in the service chain, reduces the forwarding time delay and improves the service quality.

Description

Message transmission method, service chain system and computer readable storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a packet transmission method, a service chain system, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background

Value-Added Service (VAS) is becoming more and more abundant. In order to solve the flexible deployment of the value-added Service, a Service Function Chain (SFC) technology is introduced. In a Service chain system, there are a plurality of Service chains, each of which is a series of sequential SF (Service Function) sequences. The number, type and sequence of the SFs on each service chain may be different, and different service chains are flowed differently.

When a Service chain is deployed, a message needs to be forwarded for multiple times between Service function Proxy nodes (SFC Proxy) which do not support an SF of an NSH (Network Service Header) on the Service chain, which increases consumption of Network bandwidth and forwarding delay, and causes Service quality degradation.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a message transmission method, a service chain system and a computer readable storage medium, aiming at solving the technical problems that the message needs to be repeatedly forwarded between service function nodes which do not support NSH on a service chain and service function proxy nodes, so that the consumption of network bandwidth and the forwarding delay are increased, and the service quality is reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a message transmission method, which includes the steps of:

when a service function proxy node receives a network flow message sent by a classifier, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of a network flow;

if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, acquiring identification information of the corresponding record of the network flow, and judging whether the identification information is a first identification;

if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by a service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

and the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop.

Preferably, after the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow when the service function proxy node receives the network flow packet, the method further includes:

if the network flow message is the first message of the network flow, recording the first message as an uplink first message;

establishing a record of a network flow corresponding to the uplink first message, and adding a second identifier to the record;

sending the uplink first message to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service chain path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message;

when the downlink first message is received, changing the recorded second identifier into a first identifier;

the second identifier indicates that the downlink first message is not received, and the first identifier indicates that the downlink first message is received; and the default transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function proxy node of the next hop.

Preferably, the step of establishing a record of a network flow corresponding to the uplink first packet and adding a second identifier to the record includes:

acquiring IP five-tuple information and header information of a network service header NSH in the uplink first message;

and obtaining a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message according to the IP five-tuple information and the NSH header information, and adding a second identifier for the record.

Preferably, the header information of the NSH includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, and a correspondence between each service function node and a service function proxy node in the service chain is determined by the service path identifier and the service identifier.

Preferably, the step of sending the uplink first packet to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first packet corresponding to the uplink first packet includes:

removing NSH encapsulation of a network service head of the uplink first message, sending the uplink first message after removing the encapsulation to a service function node corresponding to the service function proxy node, so that the service function node processes the uplink first message according to a preset function, and returning the processed uplink first message to the service function proxy node;

and when the processed uplink first message is received, performing NSH (non-subsampled) encapsulation on the processed uplink first message to obtain the encapsulated uplink first message, and sending the encapsulated uplink first message to the next-hop service function proxy node until the last-hop service function proxy node in the service chain sends the uplink first message to a destination network so that the destination network can return a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message.

Preferably, after the step of obtaining the identification information recorded corresponding to the network flow and determining whether the identification information is the first identification if the network flow packet is not the first packet of the network flow, the method further includes:

and if the recorded identification information is not the first identification, transmitting the network flow message according to a default transmission path in the service chain path information.

Preferably, when the service function proxy node receives a network flow packet sent by the classifier, the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is a first packet of a network flow includes:

when a service function agent node receives a network flow message sent by a classifier, acquiring an IP five-tuple in the network flow message, and detecting whether a pre-stored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists or not;

if no pre-stored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple exists, determining the network flow message as a first message of the network flow;

and if the pre-stored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists, determining that the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow.

Preferably, at least one service function node exists in the service chain, and each service function node corresponds to one service function proxy node.

In addition, to achieve the above object, the present invention further provides a service chain system, where the service chain system includes a service function proxy node, a classifier, a service chain controller, a service function node, a memory, a processor, and a message transmission program stored in the memory and operable on the processor, where the message transmission program, when executed by the processor, implements the following steps:

when the service function proxy node receives a network flow message sent by the classifier, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of the network flow;

if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by the service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

In addition, to achieve the above object, the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a message transmission program stored thereon, where the message transmission program, when executed by a processor, implements the following steps:

when a network flow message sent by a classifier is received, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of a network flow;

if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by a service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

and the optimized transmission path is used for sending the network flow message to a service function node of the next hop when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain.

When a service function proxy node receives a network flow message sent by a classifier, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of a network flow; if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, acquiring identification information of the corresponding record of the network flow, and judging whether the identification information is a first identification; if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by a service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path; and the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop. Compared with the prior art that when the message needs to be sent to the next hop of the service chain, the message is sent to the service function proxy node of the next hop, and when the message needs to be sent to the next hop of the service chain, the message is directly sent to the service function proxy node of the next hop, for the service function proxy node of the first hop or the last hop of the service chain, the data forwarding amount can be reduced by 25%, and for the service function proxy nodes except the first hop or the last hop in the service chain, the data forwarding amount can be reduced by 50%. Therefore, the invention reduces the forwarding times of the message between the service function node which does not support NSH and the service function proxy node on the service chain, shortens the transmission path of the message in the service chain, reduces the forwarding time delay and improves the service quality.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a network architecture diagram of a service chain system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a message transmission method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of transmitting a network flow packet in a service chain according to an optimized transmission path in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a message transmission method according to the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating that a network flow packet is transmitted in a service chain according to a default transmission path in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a system for transmitting a network flow packet in a service chain according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

The solution of the embodiment of the invention is mainly as follows: when a service function proxy node receives a network flow message sent by a classifier, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of a network flow; if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, acquiring identification information of the corresponding record of the network flow, and judging whether the identification information is a first identification; if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by a service chain controller, and transmitting the network flow message in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path; and the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop. The method and the device solve the problem that the service quality is reduced because the message is transmitted for multiple times between the service function nodes which do not support NSH on a service chain and the service function proxy nodes, and the consumption of network bandwidth and the transmission delay are increased.

As shown in fig. 1, fig. 1 is a network architecture diagram of a service chain system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The service chain system in the embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of SFC function nodes, and specifically, referring to fig. 1, the service chain system includes the SFC function nodes that include: classifier 105(Classifier), Service Function Forwarder 104 (SFF), Service Function node 101(Service Function, SF) not supporting NSH and Service Function node 103 supporting NSH, Service Function Proxy 102(SFC Proxy), Service chain Controller 106 (SFC-Controller). In a service chain system, there may be one or more instances of the classifier 105, service function node and service function forwarder 104, and there may be 0, 1 or more instances of the service function proxy node 102. In a service chain system, there are a plurality of service chains, each of which is a sequence of sequential service function nodes. The number, type and sequence of the service function nodes on each service chain can be the same or different, and different network flows are associated with different service chains. Each service chain has at least one service function node, and each service function node corresponds to one service function proxy node 102.

In the embodiment of the invention, in order to enable the message to be forwarded between the SFC functional nodes without changing the basic network equipment, a network service header NSH is defined for encapsulating the message. After the message is encapsulated in the NSH, the message does not need to be forwarded depending on the destination address of the message, so the message can be transmitted between the SFC functional nodes on the basis of not changing the basic network equipment.

The network flow refers to a unidirectional packet flow transmitted between a source IP (Internet Protocol, Protocol for interconnection between networks) address and a destination IP address within a period of time, and all packets have the same source port number, destination port number, transport layer Protocol, source IP address and destination IP address, that is, the IP quintuple contents are the same. It can be seen that the IP quintuple of each packet in the same network flow is the same.

The service function node 101 and the service function node 103 are functional units that process network flow packets according to specific function requirements, and the service function node receives the network flow packets from one or more service function repeaters 104, and after processing the network flow packets, sends the processed network flow packets to one or more service function repeaters 104.

The service function proxy node 102, as a proxy for the service function node 101 that does not support NSH, removes NSH encapsulation for the service function node 101 for the network flow packet that needs to be sent to the service function node 101, performs NSH encapsulation on the network flow packet received from the service function node 101, and then sends the encapsulated network flow packet to another node, for example, to the service function repeater 104.

The Service function forwarder 104 is configured to forward the network flow packet according to a Service Path Identifier (SPI) and a Service Identifier (Service Index, SI) in the header information of the NSH. The service function nodes and the service function forwarders 104 together constitute the data plane of the SFC.

The classifier 105 is configured to identify and associate a network flow with a traffic chain, and transmit the network flow to the traffic chain associated therewith.

The service chain controller 106 is a control plane function in the service chain, and is configured to generate a corresponding packet transmission path according to the topology of the service chain, and send the service transmission path to the classifier 105, the service function repeater 104, the service function node, and the like.

It should be noted that NSH is a data plane transmission protocol, a service plane completes forwarding control and service of a network flow packet according to header information of NSH (implements a policy issued by an SFC control plane), and header information of an NSH includes three parts: basic header information of NSH; service path information; and Metadata information. The service path information includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, the service path identifier is used to indicate a service function proxy node 102, and the service identifier is used to indicate a position of a service function node corresponding to the service function proxy node 102.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the business chain system architecture shown in FIG. 1 does not constitute a limitation of the business chain system and may include more or fewer components than shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

In the service chain system, the system further comprises a processor, a memory and a communication bus. Wherein the communication bus is used for realizing connection communication among the components. The memory 1005 may be a high-speed RAM memory or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a magnetic disk memory). The memory may alternatively be a storage device separate from the aforementioned processor.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a memory, which is a computer storage medium, may include an operating system and a messaging program. The operating system is a program that manages and controls the hardware and software resources of the business chain system, and supports the operation of the messaging program and other software and/or programs.

In a business chain system, a processor may be configured to invoke a messaging program stored in memory and perform the following steps:

when the service function proxy node 102 receives a network flow message sent by the classifier 105, detecting whether the network flow message is a first message of a network flow;

if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in the service chain path information sent by the service chain controller 106, and transmitting the network flow message in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 sends the network flow packet to the service function node 101 of the next hop.

Further, after the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow when the service function proxy node 102 receives the network flow packet, the processor may be further configured to call a packet transmission program stored in the memory, and execute the following steps:

the second identifier indicates that the downlink first message is not received, and the first identifier indicates that the downlink first message is received; the default transmission path is that when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 sends the network flow packet to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop.

Further, the step of establishing a record of a network flow corresponding to the uplink first packet and adding a second identifier to the record includes:

Further, the header information of the NSH includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, and a correspondence between each service function node 101 and each service function proxy node 102 in the service chain is determined by the service path identifier and the service identifier.

Further, the step of sending the uplink first packet to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first packet corresponding to the uplink first packet includes:

removing the NSH encapsulation of the network service header of the uplink first message, sending the uplink first message after removing the encapsulation to a service function node 101 corresponding to the service function proxy node 102, so that the service function node 101 processes the uplink first message according to a preset function, and returning the processed uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102;

and when the processed uplink first message is received, performing NSH (non-subsampled) encapsulation on the processed uplink first message to obtain the encapsulated uplink first message, and sending the encapsulated uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop until the service function proxy node 102 of the last hop in the service chain sends the uplink first message to a destination network so that the destination network returns a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message.

Further, after the step of obtaining the identification information recorded corresponding to the network flow and determining whether the identification information is the first identification if the network flow packet is not the first packet of the network flow, the processor may be further configured to call a packet transmission program stored in the memory, and execute the following steps:

Further, when the service function proxy node 102 receives the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105, the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow includes:

when receiving a network flow message sent by a classifier 105, a service function proxy node 102 acquires an IP quintuple in the network flow message and detects whether a pre-stored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple exists;

Further, at least one service function node 101 exists in the service chain, and each service function node 101 corresponds to one service function proxy node 102.

Based on the above structure, various embodiments of a message transmission method are provided.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a message transmission method according to the present invention.

In the present embodiment, an embodiment of a message transmission method is provided, and it should be noted that although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different from that here.

In The embodiment of The invention, The message transmission method is realized on The basis of an SFC architecture defined by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) related protocols. It should be noted that, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to forward the packet for many times between the service function node 101 and the service function proxy node 102 that do not support NSH in the service chain, which increases the consumption of network bandwidth and the forwarding delay, resulting in the problem of service quality degradation. Therefore, the service function node in the embodiment of the present invention is the service function node 101 that does not support NSH.

The message transmission method comprises the following steps:

step S10, when the service function proxy node 102 receives the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105, it detects whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow.

When the service function proxy node 102 receives the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105, it detects whether the received network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow received by the service function proxy node.

Further, step S10 includes:

step a, when the service function proxy node 102 receives a network flow message sent by the classifier 105, acquiring an IP quintuple in the network flow message, and detecting whether a pre-stored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple exists.

And b, if no pre-stored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple exists, determining the network flow message as the first message of the network flow.

And c, if a prestored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists, determining that the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow.

The specific process of the service function proxy node 102 detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow is as follows: when the service function proxy node 102 receives the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105, an IP five-tuple in the network flow packet is acquired, and whether a pre-stored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists in a memory of the service chain system is detected. It should be noted that the IP five-tuple refers to a source IP address, a source port, a destination IP address, a destination port, and a transport layer protocol. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the service function proxy node 102 receives a packet of a certain network flow for the first time, the IP five-tuple of the network flow packet is acquired, and the acquired IP five-tuple is stored in the memory. When an IP five-tuple of a network flow packet exists in the memory, it indicates that the service function proxy node 102 has received the packet of the network flow; when the IP five-tuple of a network flow packet does not exist in the memory, it indicates that the service function proxy node 102 has not received the packet of the network flow.

When the pre-stored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple does not exist in the memory of the service chain system, the service function proxy node 102 determines that the currently received network flow packet is the first packet of the current network flow; when a pre-stored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists in the memory, the service function proxy node 102 determines that the currently received network flow packet is not the first packet of the current network flow.

Step S20, if the network flow packet is not the first packet of the network flow, obtain the identification information recorded corresponding to the network flow, and determine whether the identification information is the first identification.

If the currently received network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, the service function proxy node 102 acquires the identifier information recorded corresponding to the network flow, and determines whether the acquired recorded identifier information is the first identifier.

Step S30, if the identifier information is the first identifier, obtaining an optimized transmission path in the service link path information sent by the service link controller 106, and transmitting the network flow packet in the service link according to the optimized transmission path.

If the recorded identification information is the first identification, the service function proxy node 102 acquires the service link path information sent by the service link controller 106, extracts the optimized transmission path from the service link path information, and transmits the network flow packet in the service link according to the optimized transmission path. When the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 directly sends the network flow message to the service function node 101 of the next hop, instead of sending the network flow message to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop.

Before the network flow packet enters the service chain system, the service chain controller 106 may send service chain path information to each service function proxy node 102 in the service chain, and may know, through the service chain path information, the number of service function nodes 101 that the network flow packet needs to pass through, the sequence of each service function node 101, the service function proxy node 102 corresponding to each service function node 101, and the like. The issuing manner of the service chain controller 106 issuing the service chain path information includes, but is not limited to, restful and netconf.

For better understanding of the present invention, it is explained below by taking as an example that there are three service function nodes 101 that do not support NSH in a service chain, where these three service function nodes 101 are SF1, SF2, and SF3, respectively, and correspondingly, there are three service function Proxy nodes 102 in the service chain, which are SFC Proxy1, SFC Proxy2, and SFC Proxy3, respectively. For convenience of description, in the service chain, an order of an uplink (uplink) service function node 101 is defined as SF1, SF2, and SF3, and an order of a corresponding downlink (downlink) service function node 101 is defined as SF3, SF2, and SF 1. In the uplink direction, the SFC Proxy1 is a service function Proxy node 102 of a first hop of a service chain, and the SF1 is a service function node 101 of the first hop of the service chain; the SFC Proxy2 is a service function Proxy node 102 of a second hop of the service chain, and the SF2 is a service function node 101 of the second hop of the service chain; the SFC Proxy3 is a service function Proxy node 102 of the third hop of the service chain, and the SF3 is a service function node 101 of the third hop of the service chain. Conversely, in the downlink direction, the SFC Proxy3 is the service function Proxy node 102 of the first hop of the service chain, and the SF3 is the service function node 101 of the first hop of the service chain; the SFC Proxy2 is a service function Proxy node 102 of a second hop of the service chain, and the SF2 is a service function node 101 of the second hop of the service chain; the SFC Proxy1 is a service function Proxy node 102 of the third hop of the service chain, and the SF1 is a service function node 101 of the third hop of the service chain.

It is understood that the uplink direction and the downlink direction in the embodiment of the present invention are only for convenience of distinguishing 2 directions in the service chain, and in other embodiments, the order of the service function node 101 in the uplink direction and the downlink direction may be interchanged.

When a network flow message enters a service chain system, the service chain controller 106 issues service function node 101 information of respective next hop to the SFC Proxy1, the SFC Proxy2 and the SFC Proxy3, where the service function node 101 information at least includes an IP address of the service function node 101 for receiving the network flow message by the next hop, so that the current service function Proxy node 102 sends the network flow message to the next hop of the service chain. Specifically, referring to fig. 6, in fig. 6, SFP info represents a process of the service chain controller 106 issuing information of the service function node 101 to the service function proxy node 102 in the service chain. When the service function proxy node 102 receives the service function node 101 information sent by the service chain controller 106, the received service function node 101 information is stored for subsequent use in transmitting other messages in the network flow.

Further, the service chain controller 106 may also issue all service function node 101 information in the service chain to the SFC Proxy1, the SFC Proxy2 and the SFC Proxy 3. When the SFC Proxy1, the SFC Proxy2, and the SFC Proxy3 receive all the service function node 101 information in the service chain issued by the service chain controller 106, the SFC Proxy1, the SFC Proxy2, and the SFC Proxy3 find the service function node 101 information needed by each of the received service function node 101 information and store the service function node 101 information.

Specifically, referring to fig. 3 and 6, in fig. 6, packett 2.. n denotes other packets except for the first packet of the network flow. As shown by the dotted line in fig. 3, when the network flow packet is an uplink packet, the specific process of transmitting the network flow packet in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path includes that the classifier 105 transmits the network flow data to the SFC Proxy1, the SFC Proxy1 transmits the network flow packet to the SF1 through the service function forwarder 104, and the SF1 processes the network flow packet and transmits the processed network flow packet to the SFC Proxy1 through the service function forwarder 104; the SFC Proxy1 sends the network flow message to the SF2 through the service function forwarder 104, and after the SF2 processes the network flow message, the SFC Proxy2 sends the processed network flow message to the service function forwarder 104; the SFC Proxy2 sends the Network flow message to the SF3 through the service function forwarder 104, the SF3 processes the Network flow message and then sends the processed Network flow message to the SFC Proxy3 through the service function forwarder 104, and the SFC Proxy3 sends the received Network flow message to the destination Network Dest Network. The whole process is as follows: classincer → SFC Proxy1 → SF1 → SFC Proxy1 → SF2 → SFC Proxy2 → SF3 → SFC Proxy3 → Dest Network.

As shown by the solid line in fig. 3, when the Network flow packet is a downlink packet, the specific process of transmitting the Network flow packet in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path is Dest Network → SFC Proxy3 → SF3 → SFC Proxy3 → SF2 → SFC Proxy2 → SF1 → SFC Proxy1 → Classifier.

It should be noted that, when the destination network receives the uplink packet, the destination network responds to the uplink packet to obtain a downlink packet corresponding to the uplink packet, and returns the downlink packet to the classifier 105 according to the original route. One uplink packet may correspond to one or more downlink packets.

Further, the message transmission method further includes:

step S40, if the recorded identification information is not the first identification, transmitting the network flow packet according to a default transmission path in the service link path information.

When the service function proxy node 102 receives that the network packet is not the first packet of the current network flow, but the identification information correspondingly recorded by the service function proxy node is not the first identification but the second identification, the service function proxy node 102 transmits the network flow packet in the service chain according to the default transmission path information in the service chain path information. The default transmission path is that when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 sends the network flow packet to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop.

In this embodiment, when the service function proxy node 102 receives a network flow packet sent by the classifier 105, it detects whether the network flow packet is a first packet of a network flow; if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, acquiring identification information of the corresponding record of the network flow, and judging whether the identification information is a first identification; if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in the service chain path information sent by the service chain controller 106, and transmitting the network flow message in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path; the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 sends the network flow packet to the service function node 101 of the next hop. Compared with the prior art that when the message needs to be sent to the next hop of the service chain, the message is sent to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop, and when the message needs to be sent to the next hop of the service chain, the message is directly sent to the service function node 101 of the next hop, the data forwarding amount can be reduced by 25% for the service function proxy node 102 of the first hop or the last hop of the service chain, and the data forwarding amount can be reduced by 50% for the service function proxy nodes 102 except the first hop or the last hop in the service chain. Therefore, the invention reduces the forwarding times of the message between the service function node 101 which does not support NSH and the service function proxy node 102 on the service chain, shortens the transmission path of the message in the service chain, reduces the forwarding time delay and improves the service quality of the service.

Further, a second embodiment of the message transmission method of the present invention is provided.

The difference between the second embodiment of the message transmission method and the first embodiment of the message transmission method is that, referring to fig. 4, the message transmission method further includes:

step S50, if the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow, recording the first packet as an uplink first packet.

Step S60, creating a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first packet, and adding a second identifier to the record.

Step S70, sending the uplink first packet to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first packet corresponding to the uplink first packet.

When the network flow message received by the service function proxy node 102 is the first message of the current network flow, the first message of the current network flow is recorded as an uplink first message, a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message is established, and the uplink first message is sent to the destination network according to the default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns the downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message. The default transmission path is that when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node 102 sends the network flow packet to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop.

Further, step S60 includes:

and d, acquiring the IP five-tuple information in the uplink first message and the header information of the network service header NSH.

And e, obtaining a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message according to the IP five-tuple information and the NSH header information, and adding a second identifier for the record.

The header information of the NSH includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, and a correspondence between each service function node 101 and a service function proxy node 102 in the service chain is determined by the service path identifier and the service identifier.

The process of the service function proxy node 102 establishing the record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first packet is as follows: the service function proxy node 102 acquires the IP quintuple information and the NSH header information in the uplink first message, obtains a record of a network flow corresponding to the uplink first message according to the acquired IP quintuple information and the NSH header information, and adds a second identifier to the record. Specifically, the IP quintuple information and the header information of the NSH may be spliced into a string to form a record, or the IP quintuple information and the header information of the NSH may be formed into a record by using another method. The header information of the NSH includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, and a correspondence between each service function node 101 and each service function proxy node 102 in the service chain is determined by the service path identifier and the service identifier.

Further, step S70 includes:

step f, removing the NSH encapsulation of the network service header of the uplink first message, sending the uplink first message after removing the encapsulation to the service function node 101 corresponding to the service function proxy node 102, so that the service function node 101 processes the uplink first message according to a preset function, and returning the processed uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102;

step g, when the processed uplink first message is received, performing NSH encapsulation on the processed uplink first message to obtain the encapsulated uplink first message, and sending the encapsulated uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop until the service function proxy node 102 of the last hop in the service chain sends the uplink first message to a destination network, so that the destination network returns a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message.

When the service function proxy node 102 receives the uplink first message, the NSH encapsulation of the uplink first message is removed, and the uplink first message after the encapsulation removal is sent to the service function node 101 corresponding to the service function proxy node 102, so that the service function node 101 processes the uplink first message according to a preset function, and returns the processed uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102. When the service function proxy node 102 receives the processed uplink first message, performing NSH encapsulation on the processed uplink first message to obtain a re-encapsulated uplink first message, and sending the re-encapsulated uplink first message to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop until the service function proxy node 102 of the last hop in the service chain sends the uplink first message to the destination network. When the destination network receives the uplink first message, the destination network responds to the uplink first message to obtain a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message, and sends the downlink first message to the service function proxy node 102 in the service chain.

It should be noted that different service function nodes 101 have different functions, and the preset function may be to filter an illegal URL (Uniform Resource Locator), optimize video data or picture data, and the like. The types of network flow messages transmitted in the service chain are different, and the preset functions corresponding to the service function nodes 101 are also different. In the process of transmitting the network flow packet between the service function proxy node 102 and the service function node 101 through the service function repeater 104, the service function proxy node 102 needs to remove the NSH encapsulation of the network flow packet and perform the NSH encapsulation again on the network flow packet forwarded by the service function node 101. For example, during the transmission of the network flow message between the SFC Proxy1 and the SF1 and the transmission of the network flow message between the SFC Proxy1 and the SF2, operations of performing NSH decapsulation on the network flow message and performing NSH decapsulation again are required.

Step S80, when receiving the downlink first packet, changing the recorded second identifier into the first identifier, where the second identifier indicates that the downlink first packet has not been received, and the first identifier indicates that the downlink first packet has been received.

When the service function proxy node 102 receives the downlink first message, the second identification information recorded correspondingly is changed into the first identification, wherein the second identification indicates that the service function proxy node 102 does not receive the downlink first message, and the first identification indicates that the service function proxy node 102 has received the downlink first message. In this embodiment, the first identifier and the second identifier may be set according to specific needs, for example, when the recorded identifier information is Rd, if the service function proxy node 102 has received the downlink first packet, the identifier information Rd is set to "yes"; if the service function proxy node 102 does not receive the downlink first message, the identification information Rd is set to "no", that is, the first identification information is "yes", and the second identification information is "no". In other embodiments, the first identification information may be set to "1" and the second identification information may be set to "0".

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, in fig. 6, packets 1-u represent the upstream first packet, and packets 1-d represent the downstream first packet. As can be seen from the dotted line in fig. 5, the specific process of transmitting the uplink first packet in the service chain according to the default transmission path is as follows: classincer → SFC Proxy1 → SF1 → SFC Proxy1 → SFC Proxy2 → SF2 → SFC Proxy2 → SFC Proxy3 → SF3 → SFC Proxy3 → Dest Network. As can be seen from the solid line in fig. 5, the specific process of transmitting the downlink first packet in the service chain according to the default transmission path is as follows: dest Network → SFC Proxy3 → SF3 → SFC Proxy3 → SFC Proxy2 → SF2 → SFC Proxy2 → SFC Proxy1 → SF1 → SFC Proxy1 → Classifier.

In this embodiment, when the network flow message received by the service function proxy node 102 is the first message of the current network flow, the uplink first message and the downlink first message of the network flow are transmitted in the service chain according to the default transmission path in the service chain path information, and when the service function proxy node 102 receives the downlink first message, the identification information of the corresponding record is updated, so that the situations that the first message in the network flow is lost in the service chain transmission process and the transmission path in the service chain is not successfully established are avoided.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a message transmission program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when executed by a processor, the message transmission program implements the following steps:

when a network flow message sent by the classifier 105 is received, detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of a network flow;

if the identification information is a first identification, acquiring an optimized transmission path in service chain path information sent by a service chain controller 106, and transmitting the network flow message in the service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

and the optimized transmission path is to send the network flow message to the service function node 101 of the next hop when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain.

Further, after the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow when the network flow packet is received, the packet transmission program implements the following steps when executed by the processor:

the second identifier indicates that the downlink first message is not received, and the first identifier indicates that the downlink first message is received; the default transmission path is to send the network flow packet to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop when the network flow packet needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain.

Further, after the step of obtaining the identification information recorded corresponding to the network flow and determining whether the identification information is the first identification if the network flow packet is not the first packet of the network flow, the message transmission program implements the following steps when executed by the processor:

Further, the step of detecting whether the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow when receiving the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105 includes:

when receiving a network flow message sent by the classifier 105, acquiring an IP quintuple in the network flow message, and detecting whether a prestored IP quintuple consistent with the IP quintuple exists or not;

The specific implementation of the computer-readable storage medium of the present invention is substantially the same as the embodiments of the message transmission method described above, and is not described herein again.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a message transmission apparatus, where the message transmission apparatus is applied in a service chain system, and specifically, the message transmission apparatus includes:

the detection module is configured to detect whether a network flow packet sent by the classifier 105 is a first packet of a network flow when the network flow packet is received;

the acquisition module is used for acquiring the identification information of the record corresponding to the network flow if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow;

the judging module is used for judging whether the identification information is a first identification;

the obtaining module is further configured to obtain an optimized transmission path in the service link path information sent by the service link controller 106 if the identification information is the first identification;

a transmission module, configured to transmit the network flow packet in a service chain according to the optimized transmission path;

Further, the message transmission apparatus further includes:

a marking module, configured to mark the first packet as an uplink first packet if the network flow packet is the first packet of the network flow;

the establishing module is used for establishing a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message and adding a second identifier to the record;

a sending module, configured to send the uplink first packet to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first packet corresponding to the uplink first packet;

a changing module, configured to change the recorded second identifier to the first identifier when the downlink first packet is received;

Further, the establishing module comprises:

a first obtaining unit, configured to obtain IP quintuple information and header information of a network service header NSH in the uplink first message;

and the processing unit is used for obtaining a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message according to the IP five-tuple information and the NSH header information, and adding a second identifier for the record.

Further, the sending module comprises:

a decapsulation unit, configured to decapsulate the network service header NSH of the uplink first packet;

a sending unit, configured to send the decapsulated uplink first packet to a service function node 101 corresponding to the service function proxy node 102, so that the service function node 101 processes the uplink first packet according to a preset function, and returns the processed uplink first packet to the service function proxy node 102;

the encapsulation unit is used for performing NSH encapsulation on the processed uplink first message to obtain the encapsulated uplink first message when the processed uplink first message is received;

the sending unit is further configured to send the encapsulated uplink first packet to the service function proxy node 102 of the next hop until the service function proxy node 102 of the last hop in the service chain sends the uplink first packet to a destination network, so that the destination network returns a downlink first packet corresponding to the uplink first packet.

Further, the transmission module is further configured to transmit the network flow packet according to a default transmission path in the service link path information if the recorded identification information is not the first identification.

Further, the detection module includes:

a second obtaining unit, configured to obtain an IP quintuple in a network flow packet when the network flow packet sent by the classifier 105 is received;

a detection unit for detecting whether there is a pre-stored IP quintuple identical to the IP quintuple;

a determining unit, configured to determine that the network flow packet is a first packet of the network flow if there is no pre-stored IP quintuple that is consistent with the IP quintuple; and if the pre-stored IP five-tuple consistent with the IP five-tuple exists, determining that the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow.

The specific implementation of the message transmission device of the present invention is basically the same as that of the above message transmission method, and is not described herein again.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by using the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A message transmission method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the optimized transmission path is that when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop;

after the steps of obtaining the identification information of the record corresponding to the network flow and judging whether the identification information is the first identification if the network flow message is not the first message of the network flow, the method further comprises:

2. The message transmission method according to claim 1, wherein after the step of detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of the network flow when the service function proxy node receives the network flow message, the method further comprises:

3. The message transmission method according to claim 2, wherein the step of establishing a record of the network flow corresponding to the uplink first message and adding a second identifier to the record comprises:

acquiring interconnection protocol IP five-tuple information between networks in the uplink first message and header information of a network service header NSH;

4. The message transmission method according to claim 3, wherein the header information of the NSH includes a service path identifier and a service identifier, and the correspondence between each service function node and a service function proxy node in the service chain is determined by the service path identifier and the service identifier.

5. The message transmission method according to claim 2, wherein the step of sending the uplink first message to a destination network according to a default transmission path in the service link path information, so that the destination network returns a downlink first message corresponding to the uplink first message includes:

6. The message transmission method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the step of detecting whether the network flow message is the first message of the network flow when the service function proxy node receives the network flow message sent by the classifier comprises:

7. The message transmission method according to claim 6, wherein there is at least one service function node in the service chain, and each service function node corresponds to a service function proxy node.

8. A service chaining system comprising a service function proxy node, a classifier, a service chaining controller, a service function node, a memory, a processor, and a messaging program stored on said memory and executable on said processor, said messaging program when executed by said processor implementing the steps of:

when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain, the service function proxy node sends the network flow message to the service function node of the next hop;

9. A computer-readable storage medium having a messaging program stored thereon, the messaging program when executed by a processor implementing the steps of:

the optimized transmission path is used for sending the network flow message to a service function node of a next hop when the network flow message needs to be transmitted to the next hop of the service chain;