This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2006/000635 filed Apr. 10, 2006, which claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 200510073460.8, filed May 30, 2005, the entire respective disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) techniques, and more particularly, to a method for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on an RPR and a device for implementing the method.
2. Related Technology
The RPR technique is a new-style Media Access Control (MAC) layer technique which is able to optimize data transmission over a ring-topology network, and by which multiple service types, such as data, voice, and image, may be effectively transmitted. The technique has the characteristics of the Ethernet such as economy, flexibility, and extensibility, the merit of rapid protection of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ring network, and the technical advantages such as network topology automatic discovery, ring bandwidth sharing, equitable allocation, and strict Classification of Services (COS). The main object of the RPR technique is to provide a more economic and effective Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) solution without lowering the performance or reliability of a network. The main characteristics of the RPR technique are summed up as follows.
1. Dual-ring structure is adopted.
Referring to
2. Rapid protection under 50 ms is supported.
Since the RPR network has a dual-ring structure, if one ring fails, data which are transmitted on the ring may be switched to the other ring for transmission. By doing so, higher reliability is ensured. According to the IEEE 802.17 standard, an RPR network may adopt two protection manners. One is Steering protection, and the other is Wrapping protection. Generally, each site on the RPR network may use a ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module thereon to collect topology information of the ring network, and detect the location of a failure timely if the RPR network fails, thereby implementing protection control, i.e. controlling the time and manner of protection at this site.
The Steering protection refers to that, in the case that a current data transmitting path fails, the data are directly switched from the failed ring to the ring without a failure at the source site of traffic.
The Wrapping protection refers to that, in the case that a link in the current data transmitting path fails, the data are switched at two end sites of the failed link.
3. Not only unicast is supported, but also multicast and broadcast are supported.
It is understood by those skilled in the art that, transmission of unicast, multicast, and broadcast data traffic on the RPR ring according to the RPR MAC address of a site may be implemented by mapping the unicast, multicast, and broadcast data packets based on IEEE 802.3 MAC address to the RPR MAC address of the site.
It is clearly proposed by IEEE 802.17 standard that an RPR network may adopt two broadcast/multicast manners of which one is unidirectional broadcast/multicast and the other is bidirectional broadcast/multicast. Generally, which broadcast/multicast manner each site on the RPR network adopts to transmit broadcast or multicast traffic data is decided by a broadcast/multicast control sub-module in a ringlet selection module of each site.
The unidirectional broadcast/multicast means that the site transmitting the broadcast/multicast traffic decides one ring on which broadcast/multicast traffic data are transmitted.
The bidirectional broadcast/multicast means that the site which transmits the broadcast/multicast traffic transmits broadcast/multicast traffic data on both rings simultaneously, and sets respectively the Time to Live (TTL) of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted on the two rings according to the topology of the RPR network and the number of sites on the ring network.
It can be seen from the above description that, the broadcast or multicast traffic may be implemented easily when the RPR network is used.
In terms of the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner, on one hand, since Steering protection is performed at the source site of broadcast or multicast traffic, the Steering protection may result in loss of the broadcast or multicast traffic.
With respect to the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner, in case that an RPR network fails, both the Steering protection and Wrapping protection are not required, and the loss of broadcast or multicast traffic may be avoided by respectively setting the TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted on the external ring and internal ring. However, since the site transmitting the broadcast or multicast packet will occupy the two rings for transmitting the broadcast or multicast packet, double of the access bandwidth of the site will be occupied, which reduces the bandwidth of the site for transmitting other traffic.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on an RPR network without requiring both the Steering protection and Wrapping protection. On one hand, the method may avoid the possible loss of traffic when the RPR network fails. On the other hand, the method may avoid waste of bandwidth, thereby the reliability and utilization of bandwidth of the RPR network may be guaranteed.
The method for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on resilient packet ring (RPR) provided by an embodiment of the invention includes the steps of:
deciding, by a source site of broadcast or multicast traffic, whether an RPR where said source site is located works normally when said broadcast or multicast traffic is transmitted;
transmitting the broadcast or multicast traffic adopting a unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner if the RPR works normally;
transmitting the broadcast or multicast traffic adopting a bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner if the RPR fails, according to information of protection of the RPR.
The deciding step preferably includes:
deciding, by said source site of the broadcast or multicast traffic, whether the RPR works normally according to current topology information of the RPR transmitted from adjacent sites on the RPR.
The information of protection preferably includes location information of a failed link on the RPR; and
said step of adopting the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner preferably includes:
calculating, according to location information of the failed link, the Time to Live (TTL) of each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring when transmitting the broadcast or multicast traffic adopting the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner;
setting said TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted on the internal ring and the external ring according to the TTL calculated;
transmitting each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring simultaneously according to the TTL set.
The step of calculating the TTL preferably includes:
determining, according to relationship between the location of the source site and the location of the failed link, said TTL which ensures that each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted by the source site achieves all the sites on the RPR through the internal ring and the external ring.
A device for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on Resilient Packet Ring (RPR), applied in a site of an RPR, includes: a ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module and a broadcast/multicast control sub-module; wherein,
the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module is used for collecting topology information of the RPR, controlling the site to perform protection when the topology of the RPR changes, and transmitting a trigger signal indicating the current working status of the RPR to said broadcast/multicast control sub-module;
the broadcast/multicast control sub-module is used for receiving said trigger signal from said ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module, deciding the working status of the RPR where the site is located according to said trigger signal, performing multicast or broadcast adopting a unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner if the RPR works normally, and performing broadcast or multicast adopting a bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner if the RPR fails.
The ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module is preferably further used for calculating said TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring when the broadcast or multicast traffic is transmitted in the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner according to the location of the failure on the RPR when the RPR fails, and transmitting said TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring to said broadcast/multicast control sub-module; and
the broadcast/multicast control sub-module is further used for receiving said TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring from said ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module, and performing the bidirectional broadcast/multicast according to said TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet on the internal ring and external ring.
The method and device for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on an RPR network provided by an embodiment of the invention combine the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner and the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner. If the RPR network works normally, the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to implement the broadcast or multicast traffic so as to ensure the access bandwidth of each site on the RPR. If a link on the RPR network fails, the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to implement the broadcast or multicast traffic, which on one hand may avoid the loss of traffic, on the other hand may save the bandwidth of the RPR network and improve the reliability of an RPR network and the utilization of bandwidth.
The method and device of the invention are illustrated in detail below with reference to the attached drawings and preferred embodiments of the invention hereinafter.
In order to avoid loss of traffic or waste of bandwidth when a unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is used, and to solve the problem that too much access bandwidth is occupied when a bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is used, an embodiment of the invention provides a method for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on an RPR network. In the method according to the embodiment, the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner and the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner are combined. When the RPR network works normally, the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to implement the broadcast or multicast traffic so as to ensure the access bandwidth of each site on the RPR. If the RPR network fails, the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to implement the broadcast or multicast traffic to avoid the loss of traffic and the waste of bandwidth.
Referring to
a. When a site on the RPR network transmits broadcast or multicast traffic, the source site of the broadcast or multicast traffic decides whether the RPR network works normally. If the RPR network works normally, perform step b. Otherwise, perform step c.
b. The unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to transmit the broadcast or multicast traffic.
c. According to the information of protection of the RPR network, the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner is adopted to transmit the broadcast or multicast traffic.
According to the IEEE 802.17 standard, each site on the RPR network may learn current working conditions of the RPR network through network topology information transmitted by adjacent sites so as to decide whether the current RPR network fails. If a failure of the RPR network is currently detected, each site may further learn the location information of the failed link or failed site according to the topology information.
The above-mentioned information of protection includes the location information of the failed link on the RPR network.
The source site of the broadcast or multicast traffic first calculates the TTL of each broadcast packet transmitted on the internal ring and external ring according to the location information of the above failed link when the source site transmits the broadcast or multicast traffic in the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner, and then sets the TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted by itself according to the calculated result and further transmits the broadcast or multicast packet to the internal network and external network of the RPR ring simultaneously. The TTL calculated of each broadcast or multicast packet should ensure that the broadcast or multicast packet respectively transmitted may arrive at all the sites of the RPR on the two rings.
Site S2 transmitting broadcast traffic is hereinafter taken as an example to illustrate in detail the method of the embodiment of the invention.
When transmitting broadcast traffic, if site S2 detects that the current RPR network works normally, site S2 will transmit a broadcast packet on the transmitting path as shown in
According to the method of the illustrated embodiment of the invention, when the RPR network works normally, the access bandwidth of each site on the RPR may be ensured, and when the RPR network fails, loss of traffic may be avoided, thereby reliability of an RPR network and utilization of the bandwidth may be improved.
In order to implement the above method, an embodiment of the invention further provides a device for implementing broadcast or multicast traffic on an RPR network in accordance with the above method.
Since each site on an RPR network collects ring network topology status and controls the protection through a ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module in an MAC control module, and the broadcast/multicast manner to be adopted is decided by a broadcast/multicast control sub-module in a ringlet selection module of each site, the device according to an embodiment of the invention may be implemented as follows. Set up a signal connection between the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module and the broadcast/multicast control sub-module of each site on the RPR network. When the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module of the source site of broadcast or multicast traffic detects that the RPR network topology has changed and the RPR network needs to implement protection, for example, when the RPR network fails or is restored from the failure, the module transmits a trigger signal to the broadcast/multicast control sub-module of the source site to notify the broadcast/multicast control sub-module of a change of topology status of the RPR network and a need for changing the broadcast/multicast manner of the source site. And then the broadcast/multicast control sub-module of the source site of the broadcast or multicast traffic controls the protection of the broadcast/multicast manner.
The detailed description is as follows. The device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is used in each site on an RPR network as shown in
The ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module is mainly used for collecting network topology information including location information of a failed link, controlling the source site to perform protection when the topology and protection status of the RPR network change, for example, implement protection when a failure happens or is removed, and transmitting a trigger signal to the broadcast/multicast control sub-module at the same time. As such, the broadcast/multicast control sub-module may determine, according to the received trigger signal, that the current RPR network fails or is restored from the failure.
In case that the RPR network fails, the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module further needs to calculate the TTL of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted on the internal ring and external ring by the source site in the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner according to the location information of the failed link, and transmits the TTL calculated of each broadcast or multicast packet to the broadcast/multicast control sub-module. It should be noted that, the TTL calculated of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted should ensure that the broadcast or multicast packet to be transmitted on the two rings respectively may reach all sites on the RPR.
The broadcast/multicast control sub-module is used for receiving the trigger signal from the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module, and selecting a current broadcast/multicast manner according to the trigger signal, that is, when the RPR network works normally, adopting the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner to perform the broadcast or multicast; when the RPR network fails, adopting the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner to perform the broadcast or multicast according to the TTL received of each broadcast or multicast packet transmitted on the internal network and external network of the RPR network.
It can be seen that the device for implementing broadcast/multicast traffic on an RPR in accordance with an embodiment of the invention enables the broadcast/multicast control sub-module to control the broadcast/multicast manner according to a change of the topology status of the RPR network by adding a trigger signal between the ring network topology discovery and protection sub-module and the broadcast/multicast control sub-module. By doing so, when the RPR network works normally, the site is controlled to select the unidirectional broadcast/multicast manner to transmit a broadcast or multicast packet, thereby guaranteeing the access bandwidth of each site on the RPR network. When the RPR network fails, the site is controlled to select the bidirectional broadcast/multicast manner to transmit a broadcast or multicast packet, thereby improving reliability and utilization of bandwidth.
The foregoing descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of the invention rather than limiting examples. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make numerous changes and variations on the solution of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, it is intended that this invention includes the changes and variations in case that such changes and variations come within the scope as set forth in the appended claims and the equivalent techniques thereof.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200510073460.8 | May 2005 | CN | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN06/00635 | Apr 2006 | US |
Child | 11652897 | Jan 2007 | US |