Packet forwarding method and apparatus, and communication network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12537752-B2
Application number	US-202318524258-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2023
Priority date	Jun 4, 2021
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

Abstract

A packet forwarding method and apparatus, and a communication network, related to the field of communication technologies. In the solutions provided, a controller may obtain a correspondence between an application-aware identifier of a service flow and a network service required for transmitting the service flow, and deliver the correspondence to a network device. Further, when identifying the service flow as a service flow indicated by the application-aware identifier, the network device may directly forward a packet of the service flow by using the corresponding network service. The controller may establish and deliver the correspondence between the application-aware identifier and the network service, so that the network device can directly forward the service packet of the service flow based on the correspondence. Therefore, flexibility of forwarding the service packet is effectively improved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A network device, comprising:
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to: perform, based on in-situ flow detection information in a service packet, in-situ flow detection on a target service flow to which the service packet belongs, to obtain an in-situ flow detection result; and send the in-situ flow detection result and a target application-aware identifier of the target service flow to a controller in a network, wherein the target application-aware identifier is generated based on a user requirement of the target service flow, the target application-aware identifier includes a user identifier and an application identifier, and further includes at least one of a flow identifier, a service level agreement (SLA) level, or a service requirement, and the in-situ flow detection result and the target application-aware identifier are used by the controller to analyze transmission performance of the target service flow, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the controller to: display a performance indicator of the target service flow based on a target granularity, wherein the performance indicator indicates the transmission performance of the target service flow, and the target granularity is at least one of a user granularity and an application granularity indicated by the at least one identifier in the target application-aware identifier.

2 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the target application-aware identifier is encapsulated in the service packet, and the target application-aware identifier indicates a user and/or an application to which the target service flow belongs.

3 . The network device according to claim 2 , wherein the in-situ flow detection information is in-situ flow information telemetry (IFIT) information, and the target application-aware identifier is encapsulated in a flow identifier field or a reserved field of the IFIT information.

4 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive a correspondence between a first application-aware identifier and a first network service that is sent by a controller, wherein the first application-aware identifier is generated by the controller based on a user requirement of a service flow; and when the target service flow is a service flow indicated by the first application-aware identifier, forward a service packet of the target service flow by using the first network service based on the correspondence.

5 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive an identifier generation rule sent by the controller; and generate a second application-aware identifier of the target service flow according to the identifier generation rule; wherein the target application-aware identifier is the second application-aware identifier or the first application-aware identifier of the target service flow that is sent by the controller.

6 . The network device according to claim 5 , wherein the in-situ flow detection information is in-situ flow information telemetry (IFIT) information, and the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
encapsulate the target application-aware identifier in a flow identifier field or a reserved field of the IFIT information, and forward the service packet in which the target application-aware identifier is encapsulated.

7 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive a sending policy of the target service flow that is sent by the controller, wherein the sending policy indicates to report the in-situ flow detection result of the target service flow; and send the in-situ flow detection result and the target application-aware identifier of the target service flow to the controller based on the indication of the sending policy.

8 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
send the in-situ flow detection result, the target application-aware identifier of the target service flow, and a corresponding in-situ flow detection flow identifier to the controller in the network.

9 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the target application-aware identifier includes at least one of a user identifier and an application identifier.

10 . A controller, comprising:
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and configured to execute the instructions to cause the controller to: receive an in-situ flow detection result and a target application-aware identifier that are sent by a third network device, wherein the in-situ flow detection result is obtained by the third network device by performing in-situ flow detection on a target service flow, the target application-aware identifier is generated based on a user requirement of the target service flow, the target application-aware identifier includes a user identifier and an application identifier, and further includes at least one of a flow identifier, a service level agreement (SLA) level, or a service requirement; and analyze transmission performance of the target service flow based on the in-situ flow detection result and the target application-aware identifier, and display a performance indicator of the target service flow based on a target granularity, wherein the performance indicator indicates the transmission performance of the target service flow, and the target granularity is at least one of a user granularity and an application granularity indicated by the at least one identifier in the target application-aware identifier.

11 . The controller according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the controller to:
send a sending policy of the target service flow to the third network device, where the sending policy indicates to report the in-situ flow detection result of the target service flow.

12 . A network system, comprising:
a network device, and a controller; wherein the network device is configured to: perform, based on in-situ flow detection information in a service packet, in-situ flow detection on a target service flow to which the service packet belongs, to obtain an in-situ flow detection result; send the in-situ flow detection result and a target application-aware identifier of the target service flow to the controller, wherein the target application-aware identifier is generated based on a user requirement of the target service flow, the target application-aware identifier includes a user identifier and an application identifier, and further includes at least one of a flow identifier, a service level agreement (SLA) level, or a service requirement, and the in-situ flow detection result and the target application-aware identifier are used by the controller to analyze transmission performance of the target service flow, and display a performance indicator of the target service flow based on a target granularity, wherein the performance indicator indicates the tr

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Peng Shuping
• Yang Hongjie
• Zhou Tianran
• Wu Peng
• Li Zhenbin
• Zhou Yu

Classifications

• H04L43/062

  related to network traffic · CPC title

• H04L43/026 Primary

  using flow identification · CPC title

• H04L43/028

  by filtering · CPC title

• H04L41/0894

  Policy-based network configuration management · CPC title

• H04L43/20

  the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV · CPC title