Packet processing method and system, and device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11616720-B2
Application number	US-202017107909-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2020
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Mar 28, 2023
Grant date	Mar 28, 2023

Abstract

The application disclose a packet processing method that includes: receiving, by a service distribution node, service routing information sent by a controller, where the service routing information includes a flow identifier, a service identifier, and a next-hop address, the flow identifier is used to identify a packet flow, the service identifier is used to identify a sequence of a service node instance that processes the packet flow, and the next-hop address is used to identify the service node instance that processes the packet flow; receiving a first packet; acquiring a first flow identifier according to the first packet, and searching the service routing information according to the first flow identifier to acquire a matched service identifier and a matched next-hop address; and sending a second packet to a first service node instance that has the matched next-hop address, which implements service processing on a packet flow.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A packet processing method, comprising:
receiving from a controller, by a service distribution node, a first flow identifier, a first service identifier, and a first next-hop address, wherein the first flow identifier identifies a packet flow, the first service identifier is allocated to the packet flow, and the first next-hop address identifies an address of a first service node instance that processes the packet flow;
receiving a first packet of the packet flow;
obtaining, by the service distribution node, the first flow identifier of the first packet;
generating, by the service distribution node, a second packet based on the first packet and the first service identifier corresponding to the first flow identifier, wherein the second packet comprises the first packet and the first service identifier; and
sending, by the service distribution node, the second packet to the first service node instance that matches the first next-hop address.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining, by the service distribution node, a first entry based on the first service identifier and the first next-hop address, wherein the first entry comprises the first service identifier and the first next-hop address.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining the second packet comprises:
obtaining, by the service distribution node, the first service identifier based on the obtained first flow identifier; and
generating, by the service distribution node, the second packet based on the first packet and the obtained first service identifier.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sending the second packet comprises:
querying, by the service distribution node, the first entry based on the first service identifier to obtain the first next-hop address; and
sending, by the service distribution node, the second packet to the first service node instance based on the first next-hop address.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the service distribution node, an identifier of the first service node instance from the controller; and
obtaining, by the service distribution node, a first entry based on the first service identifier, the identifier of the first service node instance and the first next-hop address, wherein the first entry comprises the first service identifier, the identifier of the first service node instance and the first next-hop address.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein generating the second packet comprises:
obtaining, by the service distribution node, the first service identifier and the identifier of the first service node instance based on the obtained first flow identifier; and
generating, by the service distribution node, the second packet based on the first packet, the obtained first service identifier and the obtained identifier of the first service node instance, wherein the second packet further comprises the identifier of the first service node instance.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the sending the second packet comprises:
querying, by the service distribution node, the first entry based on the first service identifier and the identifier of the first service node instance to obtain the first next-hop address; and
sending, by the service distribution node, the second packet to the first service node instance based on the first next-hop address.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first flow identifier comprises 5-tuple information of the packet flow.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the address of the first service node instance is an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first service node instance, or an Media Access Control (MAC) address of the first service node instance, or an Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) label of the first service node instance.

10. A service distribution node, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the processor, the programming instructions cause the service distribution node to:
receive from a controller, a first flow identifier, a first service identifier, and a first next-hop address, wherein the flow identifier identifies a packet flow, the first service identifier is allocated to the packet flow, and the first next-hop address identifies an address of a first service node instance that processes the packet flow;
receive a first packet of the packet flow;
obtain a first flow identifier of the first packet;
generate a second packet based on the first packet and the first service identifier corresponding to the first flow identifier, wherein the second packet comprises the first packet and the first service identifier; and
send the second packet to the first service node instance that matches the first next-hop address.

11. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the programming instructions further instruct the processor to:
obtain a first entry based on the first service identifier and the first next-hop address, wherein the first entry comprises the first service identifier and the first next-hop address.

12. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the programming instructions instruct the processor to:
obtain the first service identifier based on the obtained first flow identifier; and
generate, the second packet based on the first packet and the obtained first service identifier.

13. The service distribution node according to claim 11 , wherein the programming instructions cause the service distribution node to:
query the first entry based on the first service identifier to obtain the first next-hop address; and
send the second packet to the first service node instance based on the first next-hop address.

14. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the programming instructions further cause the service distribution node to:
receive an identifier of the first service node instance from the controller; and
obtain a first entry based on the first service identifier, the identifier of the first service node instance and the first next-hop address, wherein the first entry comprises the first service identifier, the identifier of the first service node instance and the first next-hop address.

15. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the programming instructions cause the service distribution node to:
obtain the first service identifier and the identifier of the first service node instance based on the obtained first flow identifier; and
generate the second packet based on the first packet, the obtained first service identifier and the obtained identifier of the first service node instance, wherein the second packet further comprises the identifier of the first service node instance.

16. The service distribution node according to claim 14 , wherein the programming instructions service distribution node to:
query the first entry based on the first service identifier and the identifier of the first service node instance to obtain the first next-hop address; and
send the second packet to the first service node instance based on the first next-hop address.

17. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the first flow identifier comprises 5-tuple information of the packet flow.

18. The service distribution node according to claim 10 , wherein the address of the first service node instance is an Internet Protocol (

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yan Changjiang

Classifications

• H04L45/66

  Layer 2 routing, e.g. in Ethernet based MAN's · CPC title

• H04L2101/622

  Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses · CPC title

• H04L45/38

  Flow based routing · CPC title

• H04L45/74 Primary

  Address processing for routing · CPC title

• H04L45/306 Primary

  Route determination based on the nature of the carried application · CPC title