Method for processing packet in access network and network device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016294689-A1
Application number	US-201615177922-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Dec 12, 2013
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

This application provides a method for processing a packet in an access network. The method includes: receiving, by an access device, a layer 2 protocol packet sent by a central device, where a destination address of the layer 2 protocol packet is a MAC address of the access device; obtaining, flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet, and generating a flow table entry, where the flow table entry includes a match field and an instruction; receiving a service packet; and determining a matching flow table entry according to the service packet, and when the matching flow table entry is the generated flow table entry, processing the service packet according to the instruction in the generated flow table entry. According to the technical solution, the access device can obtain the flow table information from the central device without the need of configuring a public IP address.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for processing a packet in an access network, comprising:
receiving, by an access device, a layer 2 protocol packet sent by a central device, wherein a destination address of the layer 2 protocol packet is a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the access device, the access device is configured to connect to user equipment, and the central device is configured to connect the access device to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; obtaining, by the access device, flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet, wherein the flow table information comprises a match field and an instruction, and generating, by the access device, a flow table entry according to the flow table information, wherein the flow table entry comprises the match field and the instruction; receiving, by the access device, a service packet sent by the user equipment; and determining, by the access device, a matching flow table entry according to the service packet, and when the matching flow table entry is the generated flow table entry, processing the service packet according to the instruction in the generated flow table entry.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein when a gigabit passive optical network (GPON) or a next-generation GPON is between the access device and the central device, the central device is an optical line terminal (OLT), the access device is an optical network unit (ONU), and the layer 2 protocol packet is an optical network terminal (ONT) management and control interface (OMCI) protocol packet.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the OMCI protocol packet carries an OpenFlow message, wherein the OpenFlow message carries the flow table information, and the OMCI protocol packet comprises a first message identifier, wherein the first message identifier is used to identify that the OMCI protocol packet carries the OpenFlow message; and the obtaining, by the access device, flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet comprises:
when the access device determines that the OMCI protocol packet carries the first message identifier, obtaining, by the access device, the flow table information according to the OpenFlow message carried in the OMCI protocol packet.

4 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the OMCI protocol packet carries a uniform resource identifier (URI) of a configuration file, and the OMCI protocol packet comprises a second message identifier, where the second message identifier is used to identify that the OMCI protocol packet carries the URI; and the obtaining, by the access device, flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet comprises:
when the access device determines that the OMCI protocol packet carries the second message identifier, accessing, by the access device, the configuration file according to the URI, to obtain the flow table information from the configuration file.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the configuration file further comprises line management information, where the line management information comprises: a type of an access line on a user side of the access device and a physical layer parameter of the access line, and the line management information is used by the access device to configure and manage the access line; and the method further comprises:
accessing, by the access device, the configuration file according to the URI of the configuration file, to obtain the line management information from the configuration file.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein when an Ethernet passive optical network EPON or a next-generation EPON is between the access device and the central device, the central device is an OLT, the access device is an ONU, and the layer 2 protocol packet is an Ethernet packet.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein when either of an Ethernet network and an IP network is between the access device and the central device, the central device is either of an edge device of the IP network and an OLT, the access device is a digital subscriber line access multiplexer DSLAM, and the layer 2 protocol packet is an Ethernet packet.

8 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein a payload part of the Ethernet packet carries an OpenFlow message, and the Ethernet packet comprises a third message identifier, wherein the third message identifier is used to identify that the Ethernet packet carries the OpenFlow message; and the obtaining, by the access device, flow table information according to the Ethernet packet comprises:
when the access device determines that the Ethernet packet carries the third message identifier, obtaining, by the access device, the flow table information according to the OpenFlow message carried in the payload part of the Ethernet packet.

9 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the Ethernet packet carries a URI of a configuration file, and the Ethernet packet comprises a fourth message identifier, wherein the fourth message identifier is used to identify that the Ethernet packet carries the URI, and the obtaining, by the access device, flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet comprises:
when the access device determines that the Ethernet packet carries the fourth message identifier, accessing, by the access device, the configuration file according to the URI, carried in the Ethernet packet, of the configuration file, to obtain the flow table information from the configuration file.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the configuration file further comprises line management information, wherein the line management information comprises: a type of an access line on a user side of the access device and a physical layer parameter of the access line, and the line management information is used by the access device to configure and manage the access line; and the method further comprises:
accessing, by the access device, the configuration file according to the URI carried in the Ethernet packet, to obtain the line management information from the configuration file.

11 . An access device in an access network, wherein the access device comprises:
a receiving unit, configured to receive a layer 2 protocol packet sent by a central device, wherein a destination address of the layer 2 protocol packet is a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the access device, the access device is configured to connect to user equipment, and the central device is configured to connect the access device to an Internet Protocol (IP) network; a generation unit, configured to obtain flow table information according to the layer 2 protocol packet received by the receiving unit, wherein the flow table information comprises a match field and an instruction, and generate a flow table entry according to the flow table information, wherein the flow table entry comprises the match field and the instruction, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive a service packet sent by the user equipment; and a processing unit, configured to determine a matching flow table entry according to the service packet, and when the matching flow table entry is the generated flow table entry, process the service packet according to the instruction in the generated flow table entry.

12 . The access device according to claim 11 , wherein when a gigabit passive optical network (GPON) or a next-generation GPON is between the access device and the central device, the central device is an optical line terminal (OLT), the access device is an optical network unit (ONU), and the layer 2 protocol packet received by the receiving unit is an optical network terminal (ONT) management an

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zheng Ruobin

Classifications

• H04Q2213/13389

  LAN, internet · CPC title

• H04L47/00

  Traffic control in data switching networks (arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received H04L1/00) · CPC title

• H04Q11/0067

  Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring · CPC title

• H04Q2213/1301

  Optical transmission, optical switches · CPC title

• H04L45/74

  Address processing for routing · CPC title