CN116980345A

CN116980345A - Fault processing method, network equipment, storage medium and chip system

Info

Publication number: CN116980345A
Application number: CN202210430189.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王海波; 闫刚; 杨平安; 姜兆宇
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-04-22
Filing date: 2022-04-22
Publication date: 2023-10-31
Also published as: WO2023202645A1

Abstract

A fault processing method, network equipment, storage medium and chip system relate to the field of communication and are used for reducing the generation of loops in a network under the condition of network faults. In the application, the first network equipment determines a first main path fault, and switches the path corresponding to the route associated with the first main path from the first main path to a first standby path, wherein the first main path and the first standby path correspond to the same prefix. The first network device sends a data surface notification message to the second network device, where the data surface notification message is used to notify the first main path fault. The first network device notifies the fault by sending the data surface notification message, and the second network device can perform path switching faster because the processing speed of the data surface notification message is faster, so that the generation of a loop in the network after the fault occurs can be reduced.

Description

Fault processing method, network equipment, storage medium and chip system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a fault handling method, a network device, a storage medium, and a chip system.

Background

The ethernet related standards promulgated by the IEEE 802.3 working group have gained widespread popularity in the network industry, and ethernet has gained great popularity by network vendors in its concise, best effort transmission and standardized interworking interconnection mechanism. Fig. 1 schematically shows a network architecture, and as shown in fig. 1, the network includes an area 1 (area 1) and an area 0 (area 0). In region 1, 12 network devices (e.g., routers) are shown, RT1, RT2, RT3, RT4, RT5, RT6, RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10, RT11, and RT12, respectively. The 12 network devices form an open loop (no direct link between RT1 and RT 12).

As shown in fig. 1, RT1 and RT12 introduce a route (Prefix) 10.1.1.0/24 from region 0 and issue on the network, and each node of the network can calculate (for example, can calculate by using standard shortest path first (Shortest Path First, OSPF) algorithm) the outgoing interface of the route on the respective node according to the topology learned by itself. For example, the direction of the main path corresponding to the route calculated by each node in RT2, RT3, RT4, RT5 and RT6 faces the link on the RT1 side (for example, the outgoing interface of the main path corresponding to the route calculated by RT4 is the interface connected to RT3 on RT 4). The direction of the main path corresponding to the route calculated by each node in RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10 and RT11 is toward the link on the RT12 side.

When a fault occurs in the network, all network devices affected by the fault complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the route list item, and the message transmission can be recovered. Loops are easily created in the network if there is at least one network device that does not complete the re-computation of the route and the updating of the routing table entry.

In connection with fig. 1, for example, when a link between RT3 and RT4 fails, and when RT4 receives a message from terminal device 43, if RT4 sends a message to be sent to area 0 to RT5 according to the recalculated route and updated route table, but RT5 has not completed the recalculation of the route and the updating of the route table, then RT5 resends the message to RT4 according to the previous route table, thereby forming a loop.

As technology advances, more and more network devices (such as routers) are in the network, and the more network devices, the longer the recovery process of the message transmission, and thus the more loops appear in the network. Accordingly, there is a need for a fault handling scheme for reducing the occurrence of loops in a network in case of a network fault.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a fault processing method, network equipment, a storage medium and a chip system, which are used for reducing the generation of loops in a network under the condition of network faults.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a fault handling method, which may be performed by a first network device or a unit, module or chip within the first network device, where the method is illustrated as being performed by the first network device. The method provided by the application can be applied to the looped network, and the first network equipment and the second network equipment can be equipment in the looped network. The method comprises the following steps:

the first network device determines that the first main path fails, and the first network device switches a path corresponding to a route associated with the first main path from the first main path to a first standby path, wherein the first main path and the first standby path correspond to the same prefix. The first network device sends a data surface notification message to the second network device, where the data surface notification message is used to notify the first main path fault.

The first network device notifies the fault by sending the data surface notification message, so that the second network device can process the data surface notification message at a higher processing speed, thereby enabling the second network device to perform path switching faster, and reducing the generation of loops in the network after the fault occurs.

In the present application, there are various ways in which the first network device determines that the first main path has a fault, and in one possible implementation, the first network device is a device that senses the fault, and the first network device determines that a link that connects the first network device with other devices has a fault, where the faulty link is a link in the first main path. In this case, after the first network device determines the first primary path failure, the first network device generates a data plane advertisement message.

In yet another possible implementation, the first network device may determine the first primary path failure according to the messages sent by the other network devices. In this case, the manner in which the first network device determines the first primary path failure is similar to the manner in which the subsequent second network device determines the second primary path failure, which will not be described in more detail herein.

In one possible implementation, the data plane advertisement message may include indication information for indicating the first main path. For example, the data notification message may include a prefix (the prefix is the same as a prefix corresponding to the first main path, and the first main path may also be understood as a main path corresponding to the first network device by a route associated with the prefix), so after receiving the data plane notification message, the second network device may find the second main path according to the prefix in the data plane notification message.

In one possible implementation, the data plane advertisement message further includes hop count information, where the hop count information indicates a hop count of the data plane advertisement message being forwarded.

When the network equipment which finds the fault generates the data surface notification message, the number of the network equipment affected by the fault can be determined according to the network topology information, and the hop count of the data surface notification message which needs to be transmitted is further determined. And then other network devices can determine whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message to other network devices according to the hop count information, in the scheme, the second network device does not need to calculate whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message by itself, so that the workload of the second network device can be reduced, the processing speed of the second network device on the data surface notification message can be improved, the transmission efficiency of the data surface notification message can be improved, and the generation of loops in the network can be further reduced.

In addition, the hop count information is carried in the data surface notification message, so that the data surface notification message can be prevented from being sent to network equipment which is not affected by faults, invalid transmission of the data surface notification message in a network can be avoided, and resources can be saved.

In one possible implementation, the data plane advertisement message may be a UDP broadcast message. The format of the data surface notification message is TLV format. In this way, the prior art can be more compatible.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a fault handling method, which may be performed by a second network device or a unit, module or chip within the second network device, where the method is illustrated as being performed by the second network device. The method provided by the application can be applied to the looped network, and the first network equipment and the second network equipment can be equipment in the looped network. The method comprises the following steps:

the second network device receives a data plane notification message from the first network device, where the data plane notification message is used to notify the first primary path failure. The second network equipment determines a second main path fault according to the data surface notification message, switches a path corresponding to a route associated with the second main path from the second main path to a second standby path, and the first main path and the second main path correspond to the same prefix; the second primary path and the second backup path correspond to the same prefix.

The first network device transmits the data surface notification message to notify the fault, so that the second network device can process the data surface notification message, determine the second main path fault according to the processing result of the data surface notification message, and the processing speed is higher, so that the second network device can perform path switching faster, and the generation of loops in the network can be reduced.

In the present application, after the second network device receives the data plane notification message from the first network device, the second network device may not continue to transmit the data plane notification message, or may continue to send the data plane notification message through the second standby path, so that other network devices affected by the link failure execute path switching.

In one possible implementation, the data plane advertisement message further includes hop count information, where the hop count information indicates a hop count of the data plane advertisement message being forwarded. And the second network equipment determines whether the data surface notification message needs to be sent according to the hop count information.

For example, the second network device sends the data plane notification message through the second standby path when the hop count information indicates that the hop count of the data plane notification message forwarded is greater than 0. Specifically, the second network device may subtract one from the hop count indicated by the hop count information included in the data plane advertisement packet, and send the data plane advertisement packet after updating the hop count information through the second backup path.

For another example, the second network device determines that the data plane advertisement message is not sent any more when the hop count information indicates that the hop count of the data plane advertisement message forwarded is equal to 0.

It can be seen that when the network device that finds the fault generates the data plane notification message, the number of network devices affected by the fault can be determined according to the network topology information, so as to determine the hop count of the data plane notification message to be transmitted. And then other network devices can determine whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message to other network devices according to the hop count information, in the scheme, the second network device does not need to calculate whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message by itself, so that the workload of the second network device can be reduced, the processing speed of the second network device on the data surface notification message can be improved, the transmission efficiency of the data surface notification message can be improved, and the generation of loops in the network can be further reduced.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the second network device may determine whether to continue to transmit the data plane advertisement packet according to whether the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second backup path belongs to the first specific link.

Two interfaces are arranged at two ends of the first specific link, one interface is an outgoing interface of the second standby path, and the other interface is called a first interface. The first specific link in the present application may satisfy the condition: the first interface of the first specific link is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix (for example, the first interface is an outgoing interface of the backup path corresponding to the prefix). Because the first interface is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix, the main path of the network device where the first interface is located, which is used for transmitting the data message corresponding to the prefix, is not affected by the fault, i.e. the network device where the first interface is located does not need to execute path switching.

For example, the second network device may send the data plane notification packet through the second backup path when the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second backup path does not belong to the first specific link.

Because the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second standby path does not belong to the first specific link, the second network device can infer that the interface of the outgoing interface connection of the second standby path is the interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix, that is, the main path corresponding to the prefix on the network device connected with the second standby path is affected by the fault (or called as faulty), and the network device connected with the second standby path needs to execute path switching, so that the second network device sends the data plane notification message through the second standby path, so that the network device receiving the data plane notification message executes path switching, thereby reducing the generation of loops in the network.

For another example, the second network device may determine that the data plane advertisement packet is no longer sent when the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second backup path belongs to the first specific link.

Because the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second standby path belongs to the first specific link, the second network device can infer that the interface of the outgoing interface connection of the second standby path is not the interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix, that is, the prefix is not affected by the fault (or called not to occur) on the network device connected with the second standby path, and the network device connected with the second standby path does not need to execute path switching, so that the second network device does not send the data plane notification message to the network device connected with the second standby path any more, thereby avoiding the data plane notification message from being sent to the network device not affected by the fault, and avoiding the invalid transmission of the data plane notification message in the network, and saving resources.

In another possible implementation manner, a main path with a fault may exist in the paths corresponding to the second network device, or a main path with a fault may not exist. For example, the second network device may find a routing table corresponding to the link with the failure according to the data plane advertisement packet (for example, find a routing table corresponding to the prefix according to the prefix in the data plane advertisement packet), so as to determine whether an outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table corresponds to an interface of the second network device receiving the data plane advertisement packet:

for example, if the outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table entry corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message (for example, the outgoing interface of the second main path is the same as the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message), the second network device determines that the main path in the routing table entry has failed (i.e., the second main path has failed); and then the data surface notification message can be sent through the second standby path.

Because the outgoing interface of the second main path corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message, the second network device can determine that the main path corresponding to the prefix on the second network device is affected (or called as failed) by the failure, and the second network device needs to execute path switching, so that the generation of a loop in the network can be reduced.

For another example, if the outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table entry does not correspond to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification packet (for example, the outgoing interface of the second main path is not the same as the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification packet), the second network device may determine that no main path has failed in the main path corresponding to the second network device (may also be understood as that the second main path has not failed), and then may determine to stop continuing to transmit the data plane notification packet.

Because the outgoing interface of the second main path does not correspond to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message, the second network device can determine that the main path corresponding to the prefix on the second network device is not affected by (or is called as failed by) the fault, the second network device does not need to perform path switching, and then does not send the data plane notification message any more, so that the data plane notification message is prevented from being sent to network devices which are not affected by the fault too much, and excessive invalid transmission of the data plane notification message in the network can be prevented, and resources can be saved.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a fault handling method, which may be performed by a first network device or a unit, module or chip within the first network device, where the method is illustrated as being performed by the first network device. The method provided by the application can be applied to the looped network, and the first network equipment and the second network equipment can be equipment in the looped network. The method comprises the following steps:

the first network device receives the data message. The first network device determines a third primary path failure for transmitting the data message. The first network device sets indication information in the data message, where the indication information is used to indicate a third main path fault. The first network device sends the data message of the setting indication information through a third standby path for sending the data message.

In this way, when the network device that receives the data message of the setting indication information determines that the main path for sending the data message fails according to the data message, the data message is sent through the standby path, so that the scheme can reduce the generation of a loop in the network after the failure occurs.

In one possible implementation, the indication information is located in an explicit congestion notification (explicit congestion notification, ECN) or network protocol (internet protocol, IP) extension header of the data packet. In this way, it is more compatible with the prior art.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a fault handling method, which may be performed by the second network device or a unit, module or chip within the second network device, where the method is illustrated as being performed by the second network device. The method provided by the application can be applied to the looped network, and the first network equipment and the second network equipment can be equipment in the looped network. The method comprises the following steps:

the second network device receives a data message with indication information, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the fault of the third main path. And the second network equipment sends the data message through a fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message.

Since the second network device can infer that the path corresponding to the link of the interface receiving the data packet provided with the indication information has a fault. The correspondence between the interface for receiving the data packet and the fourth main path for sending the data packet may mean that the interface for receiving the data packet is located in the fourth main path, for example, the output interface of the fourth main path is the same as the interface for receiving the data packet of the second network device. In this case, since the link of the interface of the second network device that receives the data packet provided with the indication information corresponds to the fourth path, the second network device may determine that the fourth path fails, and further send the data packet through the fourth standby path. That is, after the second network device determines that the fourth main path for sending the data packet fails, the second network device sends the data packet through the switched fourth standby path, which can reduce the generation of a loop in the network after the failure occurs.

It should be noted that, the second network device may receive the data packet of the setting indication information from the first network device, or may receive the data packet of the setting indication information from other network devices, which is not limited in the present application.

In the application, after the second network device receives the data message from the first network device, the second network device can send the data message carrying the indication information or send the data message not carrying the indication information.

In one possible implementation manner, the second network device may determine whether the sent data packet carries the indication information according to whether the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the fourth backup path belongs to the second specific link.

Two interfaces are arranged at two ends of the second specific link, wherein one interface is an output interface of the fourth standby path, and the other interface is called a second interface. The second specific link in the present application may satisfy the condition: the second interface is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the data packet (for example, the second interface is an output interface of the standby path corresponding to the data packet). Because the second interface is not the interface of the main path corresponding to the data message, the main path of the network device where the second interface is located for transmitting the data message is not affected by the fault, i.e. the network device where the second interface is located does not need to execute path switching.

For example, the second network device sends the data message with the setting indication information through the fourth standby path for sending the data message when the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path does not belong to the second specific link.

Because the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the fourth standby path does not belong to the second specific link, it can be inferred that the interface connected to the outgoing interface of the fourth standby path is the interface of the main path corresponding to the data packet, that is, the main path corresponding to the data packet on the network device connected to the fourth standby path is not affected (or called as failed) by the failure, so that the second network device sends the data packet carrying the indication information through the fourth standby path, so that the network device receiving the data packet carrying the indication information sends the data packet through the standby path, thereby reducing the generation of a loop in the network.

For another example, the second network device clears the indication information in the data packet with the indication information when the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path belongs to the second specific link; the second network device sends the data message of the clearing indication information through a fourth standby path for sending the data message.

Because the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the fourth backup path belongs to the second specific link, it can be inferred that the interface of the outgoing interface connection of the fourth backup path is not the interface of the main path corresponding to the data message, that is, the main path corresponding to the data message on the network device connected to the fourth backup path is not affected by the fault (or is not affected by the fault), and the network device connected to the second backup path does not need to execute path switching, so that the second network device sends the data message not carrying the indication information through the fourth backup path, so that the network device receiving the data message not carrying the indication information sends the data message through the main path corresponding to the data message, thereby avoiding that the data message carrying the indication information is sent to the network device not affected by the fault.

In another possible implementation manner, a main path with a fault may exist in the paths corresponding to the second network device, or a main path with a fault may not exist. I.e. the path of the second network device may or may not be affected by the network failure. The second network device may search the routing table entry corresponding to the data packet (for example, find the routing table entry corresponding to the destination address according to the destination address in the data packet), so as to determine whether the output interface of the main path (i.e., the fourth main path) in the routing table entry corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data packet:

For example, the second network device sends the data message with the setting indication information through the fourth standby path for sending the data message when the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message (for example, the interface for receiving the data message is the same as the output interface of the fourth main path for sending the data message).

Because the outgoing interface of the fourth main path corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data packet, the second network device can determine that the main path of the second network device for sending the data packet is affected (or called as failed) by the failure, and the second network device needs to send the data packet carrying the indication information through the fourth standby path, so that the generation of a loop in the network can be reduced.

For another example, the second network device clears the indication information in the data packet with the indication information set under the condition that the interface for receiving the data packet does not correspond to the fourth main path for sending the data packet (for example, the interface for receiving the data packet is different from the output interface of the fourth main path for sending the data packet); and the second network equipment sends the data message of the clearing indication information through the fourth main path.

Because the output interface of the fourth main path does not correspond to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data message, the second network device can determine that the main path of the second network device for sending the data message is not affected by the fault (or is called as not being affected by the fault), and therefore the second network device sends the data message which does not carry the indication information through the fourth main path, and the data message carrying the indication information can be prevented from being sent to more network devices which are not affected by the fault.

In one possible implementation, the indication information is located in the ECN field, or IP extension header, of the data message. In this way, it is more compatible with the prior art.

The application also provides a network device corresponding to any one of the fault handling methods of the first aspect to the fourth aspect. The network device may also be called a network forwarding device, a forwarding device, an intermediate node, a switching node, etc., and is a device with a data exchange (forwarding) function, which may be a switch, a router, a gateway, etc., or other devices or devices with a data exchange function, or components in these devices, such as a chip or a chip system, etc. The application is not limited in this regard. During communication, the device at the transmitting end and the device at the receiving end are opposite. In some communication processes, the network device may be used as the first network device or a communication chip for the first network device, and the network device may be used as the second network device or a communication chip for the second network device; in some communication processes.

In a fifth aspect, a network device is provided, comprising a communication unit and a processing unit, to perform any implementation manner of the fault handling method of any one of the first to fourth aspects. The communication unit is configured to perform functions related to transmission and reception. Optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. In one design, the network device may be a communication chip, and the communication unit may be an input/output circuit or port of the communication chip.

In another design, the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver.

Optionally, the network device further comprises respective modules operable to perform any implementation of the method of any of the first to fourth aspects above.

In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided, which is the first network device or the second network device. Including a processor and a memory. Optionally, the system further comprises a transceiver for storing a computer program or instructions, the processor being adapted to call and run the computer program or instructions from the memory, which when executed by the processor, cause the network device to perform any one of the embodiments of the fault handling methods of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In the alternative, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor or the memory may be separate from the processor.

Alternatively, a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver) may be included in the transceiver.

In a seventh aspect, a network device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to perform the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects. Optionally, the network device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the network device further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the network device is a first network device. When the network device is a first network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the network device is a second network device. When the network device is a second network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In yet another implementation, the network device is a chip or a system-on-chip. When the network device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or related circuitry on the chip or chip system, etc. A processor may also be embodied as processing or logic circuitry.

In an eighth aspect, a system is provided, the system comprising the first network device and the second network device described above.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above, or causes a computer to perform the method in any one of the implementations of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, a system on a chip is provided, which may include a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to perform the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of any one of the first to fourth aspects. Optionally, the system on a chip further comprises a memory. Memory for storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions). A processor for invoking and running a computer program from a memory, causing a device on which the system-on-chip is installed to perform any one of the first to fourth aspects and a method in any one of the possible implementations of any one of the first to fourth aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a processing apparatus comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and to transmit a signal via the output circuit such that the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects is implemented.

In a specific implementation process, the processing device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the output signal may be output by, for example and without limitation, a transmitter and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The application is not limited to the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a fault handling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another fault handling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an IPv4 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 illustrates an example of meanings of respective bits of a type of service (type of service) field in fig. 6;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a header structure of IPv4 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of a network device in the system architecture of FIG. 2;

fig. 10B is a schematic diagram of still another architecture of the network device in the system architecture of fig. 2.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the application can be applied to various ring networks such as a mobile backhaul network, a metropolitan area network and the like. The scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can also be applied to various communication systems, such as a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) network architecture, a global system for mobile communications (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM) system, a code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS), a long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, a long term evolution (Advanced long term evolution, LTE-a) system, a universal mobile communication system (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS), an evolved long term evolution (evolved Long Term Evolution, eLTE) system, and other mobile communication systems such as 6G in the future.

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates one possible system architecture to which embodiments of the present application may be applied. As shown in fig. 2, the system includes a terminal device and a network device.

(1) And a terminal device.

One or more terminal devices may be included in a system architecture suitable for use in embodiments of the present application (the terminal devices are illustrated in fig. 2 by way of example as computers). The terminal device in the embodiment of the application can transmit data through the network device.

The terminal device in the embodiment of the application can be a device for realizing the wireless communication function. The terminal device may be a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent, a terminal apparatus, or the like in a 5G network or a future evolved public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN). An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, cordless telephone, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capability, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device or wearable device, virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), wireless terminal in self-driving (self-driving), wireless terminal in telemedicine (remote medium), wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), etc. The terminal may be mobile or stationary.

(2) A network device.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a network forwarding device, a forwarding device, an intermediate node, a switching node, etc., and is a device with a data exchange (forwarding) function, which may be a switch, a device such as a router, a gateway, etc., or other devices or devices with a data exchange function, or components in these devices, such as a chip or a chip system, etc. The embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

The system architecture suitable for the embodiment of the application comprises at least three network devices. The at least three network devices may form a ring network therebetween. For example, the at least three network devices may be sequentially connected, and there may be no direct link between the network devices at two ends, thereby forming an open loop network.

In fig. 2, the third network device, the first network device, the second network device, and the fourth network device are shown by taking sequential connection as an example, and in fig. 2, there is no direct link between the third network device and the fourth network device. The third network device and the second network device are respectively located at two sides of the first network device, and the first network device and the fourth network device are respectively located at two sides of the second network device for illustration. The system applicable to the embodiment of the application can at least comprise the first network device, the second network device and the fourth network device in fig. 2; alternatively, a system to which the embodiment of the present application is applicable may include at least the third network device, the first network device, and the second network device in fig. 2.

The network device may include a plurality of interfaces. The interface may be a physical interface or a logical interface, and embodiments of the present application are not limited. For example, in fig. 2, the first network device includes an interface 211 and an interface 212, where the first network device may be connected to the third network device through the interface 211, and the first network device may be connected to the second network device through the interface 212. The third network device includes an interface 231 and an interface 232, wherein the interface 231 may connect to other devices located in area 1 or in area 0 and the interface 232 may connect to the first network device. The second network device comprises an interface 221 and an interface 222, wherein the interface 221 may be connected to the first network device and the interface 222 may be connected to the fourth network device. The fourth network device includes an interface 241 and an interface 242, wherein the interface 241 may connect to the second network device and the interface 242 may connect to other devices located in zone 1 or zone 0. Any network device in the embodiments of the present application may be further connected to a network device other than the ring network, for example, the second network device may be located in a plurality of ring networks, where the second network device is connected to a plurality of devices in a plurality of ring networks, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the connection between any two network devices (for example, the connection between the first network device and the second network device, for example, the connection between the second network device and the fourth network device, for example, the connection between the first network device and the third network device) may be a direct connection or an indirect connection through other devices, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the first network device and the second network device may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected through other devices, that is, the first network device and the second network device may not include other devices, or may include other devices, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

(3) Area, network segment, and subnetwork.

The network is divided into areas in the system architecture shown in fig. 2, and exemplary areas include area 1 (area 1) and area 0 (area 0). In fig. 2, the first network device, the third network device, the second network device, and the fourth network device are shown in the area 1 as an example, and any two devices in the four devices may also belong to different areas in practical application, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application. Any network device in the embodiment of the present application may also be located in multiple areas at the same time, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the third network device may also be located in both area 1 and area 0. Other network devices may or may not be included between the third network device and the device in the area 0 in fig. 2; other network devices may be included or not be included between the fourth network device and the device in the area 0, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

One or more segments may be included within a region (such as region 0 or region 1 shown in fig. 2). A network segment may include multiple subnets. An area 0 such as that shown in fig. 2 includes the prefix of a segment: 10.1.1.0/24.

Terms related to the embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to fig. 2.

(1) And routing a forwarding table.

The network device in the system architecture to which the embodiment of the present application is applicable may construct an external gateway protocol (IGP (Interior Gatewary Protocol, IGP) protocol, perform route computation (such as Fast Reroute (FRR) computation) and obtain a primary path and a backup path.

After the network device obtains the message, the routing table item corresponding to the message in the routing forwarding table can be searched according to the destination address of the message, and then the message is sent according to the outgoing interface (such as the outgoing interface of the main path) in the routing table item.

(2) And (5) data messages.

A data message may refer to a message containing information to be transmitted. For example, the "information" in the data packet may be a service data packet generated during the service execution of the terminal device.

The "terminal device performs service" may include that the terminal device runs various application programs. For example, in a scenario where the terminal device runs a WeChat application to make a voice call with a contact, the "information" may be a voice data packet, and then the data packet is a packet including the voice data packet. For another example, in the scenario that the terminal device runs a short message application, the user edits the short message content and sends the short message content to the contact person, the "information" may be text information, etc., and then the data message is a message containing text information.

(3) Control plane messages and data plane messages.

In the embodiment of the application, the message category can also comprise a control plane message and a data plane message. The control plane message and the data plane message are different in that the processing flows of the network device and the control plane message are different.

(3.1) control plane messages.

When a message is designated as a control plane message in the embodiment of the present application, it is understood that the message is required to be processed by a network device through a slow path.

Specifically, when a message is a control plane message, after the network device (such as a router) receives the message (such as the network device receives the message on a data plane), it needs to perform "processing of uploading to a CPU" on the message, where the CPU may be a general-purpose CPU in the network device, for example, a CPU that processes a network protocol message. After the message is sent to the CPU, the CPU may discard the message or resend the message to the data plane of the network device, and the CPU may further specify a specific port in the ASIC chip to forward the message.

(3.2) data plane messages.

When a message is indicated as a data plane message in the embodiment of the present application, it can be understood that the message needs to be processed by a network device through a fast path.

Specifically, when a message is a data plane message, the network device directly processes and forwards the message on the data plane after receiving the message on the data plane. That is, the network device, after receiving the data plane message, does not need to perform "upload to CPU" processing on the message. The message is processed on the data plane, and may be processed by dedicated hardware or a chip in the network device, for example, by a routing chip or a switching chip, for example, an ASIC chip, a network processing (network processor) chip. The "processing the message on the data plane" may also be implemented by software on the data plane of the network device, which is not limited by the present application.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that when a message is a control plane message, the message needs to be "processed for uploading to the CPU" on a network device. If the message is a data plane message, the message may be processed directly on the data plane of the network device without being executed "upload to CPU". It can be seen that the network device processes data plane messages faster than control plane messages.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, for a message, when the message is not explicitly indicated as a data plane processing message, and is not indicated as a control plane message, the message may be a data plane message or a control plane message, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

The values are described in terms of content contained in the control plane messages and the data plane messages, and embodiments of the present application are not limited.

(4) Type-length-value (TLV).

The TLV is an information encoding format, and may also be understood as an encapsulation format for a packet, where the packet in the format may include three areas, namely a value (value), a type (type), and a length (length). Wherein, the value (value) represents a data area (or an information area) in the message, and is used for storing information to be transmitted. The type (type) is a type representing a value (value) in a message, and the length (length) represents a size (e.g., byte size) of the value (value).

In the prior art, after a fault occurs in the ring network, all network devices affected by the fault complete the recalculation of routes and the updating of route table entries, so that the message transmission can be recovered. If there is at least one network device that does not complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the routing table, the network device that does not complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the routing table will use the original path to transmit the data message, thus causing a loop in the network. Moreover, the more routes in the network, the longer the recovery process of the message transmission (i.e., after the link fails, before all the affected network devices complete the recalculation of the routes and the updating of the routing entries), and thus the more loops appear in the network. Thus, in order to reduce loops occurring in the network, embodiments of the present application provide several possible implementations:

one possible implementation is: during the recovery period of message transmission (i.e. after the link fails, before all affected network devices complete route recalculation and route table entry updating), each affected network device may perform fault notification by transmitting a data plane notification message. Because the processing speed of each network device to the data surface message is faster, the scheme can complete fault notification more quickly during the recovery period of message transmission, so that the affected network device can execute path switching more quickly during the recovery period of message transmission, and further, when the network device which does not complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the route table item needs to transmit the data message, the original path is not used for transmission, but the switched path is used for transmission, thereby reducing the generation of loops in the network during the recovery period of message transmission.

Yet another possible embodiment: during the recovery period of message transmission (i.e. after the link fails, before all the affected network devices complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the routing table entry), the network device capable of identifying the link failure can add the indication information into the data message after receiving the data message to be transmitted, so that other network devices can transmit the data message carrying the indication information through the switched paths when transmitting the data message. Because the data message carries the indication information, the network equipment which does not complete the recalculation of the route and the updating of the route list item does not use the original path to transmit the data message, but uses the switched path to transmit the data message, so that the generation of a loop in the network during the recovery period of message transmission can be reduced.

The solution provided by the embodiments of the present application will be further described below with reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

Based on the foregoing related content and other content of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 schematically shows a flow chart of a possible fault handling method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in fig. 3 is illustrated with the first network device and the second network device as examples of execution. The solution on the first network device side in the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by an internal unit, module or chip of the first network device, and the solution on the second network device side in the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by an internal unit, module or chip of the second network device.

The first network device in the embodiment of the present application may be the first network device in fig. 2. The second network device in the embodiment of the present application may be the second network device in fig. 2. The method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to a ring network, and the first network device and the second network device can be devices in the ring network, and the ring network can be an open loop, such as the open loop structure described in the foregoing fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

in step 301, a first network device determines a first primary path failure.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first main path and the first standby path correspond to the same prefix. The prefix in the embodiment of the application can also be called a routing prefix. For example, referring to fig. 2, for example, the prefix may be 10.1.1.0/24, after route distribution, the network device may perform route calculation (such as FRR calculation) to obtain a main path and a standby path, where the main path and the standby path correspond to the prefix: 10.1.1.0/24.

For distinguishing, in the embodiment of the present application, the main path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the first network device is referred to as a first main path, and the first main path may also be a main path between the first network device and the area corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the first network device is RT4, the first main path may be a main path between RT4 and the corresponding area of the prefix 10.1.1.0/24.

In the embodiment of the application, the standby path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the first network device is referred to as a first standby path, and the first standby path may also be a standby path between the first network device and the region corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the first network device is RT4, and the first backup path may be a backup path between RT4 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24.

In the embodiment of the application, the main path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the second network device is called a second main path, and the second main path can also be the main path between the second network device and the area corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the second network device is RT5, the second main path may be a main path between RT5 and the corresponding area of the prefix 10.1.1.0/24.

In the embodiment of the application, the standby path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the second network device is referred to as a second standby path, and the second standby path may also be a standby path between the second network device and the region corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the second network device is RT5, and the second backup path may be a backup path between RT5 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24.

In step 301, there are various ways in which the first network device determines that the first main path has failed, and in one possible implementation, the first network device is a device that senses the failure, and the first network device determines that a link that the first network device connects with other devices has failed, where the failed link is a link in the first main path.

In yet another possible implementation, the first network device may determine the first primary path failure from messages sent by other network devices (network devices other than the second network device and the first network device). In this case, the manner in which the first network device determines the first primary path failure is similar to the manner in which the subsequent second network device determines the second primary path failure, which will not be described in more detail herein.

In step 302, the first network device switches a path corresponding to a route associated with the first main path from the first main path to the first standby path.

In the embodiment of the application, the switching of the path from the main path to the standby path by the network equipment can also be called as the execution of the path switching by the network equipment. For example, step 302 may also be described as the first network device performing a path switch for a route associated with the first primary path. When the network device is configured with FRR handoff, path handoff performed by the network device may also be referred to as FRR handoff.

In particular, the network device performing path switching on the route may include: the network device adds a label to the outgoing interface of the primary path in the routing table entry corresponding to the route, such as referred to as a failure label. For example, in step 302, the first network device sets a fault flag in the outgoing interface of the main path in the corresponding routing table entry in the routing forwarding table for the first main path, and the first network device sends the data packet through the outgoing interface of the standby path in the routing table entry because the first main path has the fault flag and the destination address of the data packet matches the destination address in the routing table entry.

In step 303, the first network device sends a data plane advertisement message to the second network device. The data plane notification message is used for notifying the first main path fault.

Correspondingly, the second network device receives the data plane notification message from the first network device.

In the case where the first network device is a failure-aware device, the first network device generates a data plane advertisement message after determining that the first primary path failed, prior to step 303. In the case where the first network device is not a failure-aware device, the data plane advertisement message sent by the first network device to the second network device may be sent by other devices (network devices other than the second network device and the first network device) to the first network device.

The data plane advertisement message may be a message constructed based on a user data protocol (User Datagram Protocol, UDP) data protocol, or may be a message based on another protocol, such as an original IP packet (raw IP) protocol. The format of the data plane advertisement message may be TLV format. In this way, the prior art can be more compatible. Other names may be given to the data plane notification message in the embodiment of the present application, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

Step 304, the second network device determines a second primary path failure according to the data plane notification message. The first and second main paths correspond to the same prefix.

The second network device may find the second main path in various manners, for example, the data plane advertisement message may include indication information for indicating the first main path. The indication information for indicating the first main path may include a prefix (the prefix is the same as a prefix corresponding to the first main path, and the first main path may also be understood as a main path corresponding to the first network device by a route associated with the prefix), and after the second network device receives the data plane advertisement packet, the second network device may find the second main path according to the prefix in the data plane advertisement packet.

For another example, the data plane advertisement message may include indication information for indicating the first main path. The indication information for indicating the first main path may include, for example, an address of an outgoing interface for sending the data plane notification packet, and after the second network device receives the data plane notification packet, the main path corresponding to the interface for sending the outgoing interface connection of the data plane notification packet on the second network device may be the second main path. In this manner, the first main path may also be understood as a main path (the two paths are associated and may be understood as having the same prefix) associated with a path corresponding to the outgoing interface for sending the data plane advertisement packet (the path is a standby path).

For another example, the data plane advertisement message does not need to include indication information for indicating the first main path. For example, after the second network device receives the data plane notification packet, the main path corresponding to the interface on the second network device for receiving the data plane notification packet may be the second main path. In this manner, the first main path may also be understood as a main path (the two paths are associated with the same prefix as the two paths) associated with a path corresponding to an interface (the path is a standby path) connected to an interface on the second network device for receiving the data plane advertisement packet.

In step 305, the second network device switches the path corresponding to the route associated with the second main path from the second main path to the second standby path. The second primary path and the second backup path correspond to the same prefix.

From the above, it can be seen that, since the second network device receives the data plane notification message, and the data plane notification message belongs to the data plane message, the second network device can process the data plane notification message in the data plane.

It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present application, after a network fails, a data plane notification packet is transmitted between network devices, so that each network device affected by the failure can perform path switching faster, and thus, the generation of a loop in the network after the failure occurs can be reduced.

It should be noted that, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applicable to a scenario where the network device is not configured with a tunnel, and the scenario may also be referred to as a pure network protocol (native internet protocol, active-IP) scenario when the network device is not configured with a tunnel. Namely, when the network equipment is not provided with a tunnel, and a fault occurs in the network, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can reduce the generation of a loop in the network after the fault occurs. Therefore, after the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application is applied, a tunnel is not required to be configured for the network equipment, so that the cost of the network equipment can be reduced. In addition, when the network device in the system architecture is configured with a tunnel, the scheme provided by the implementation of the present application may also be applied, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

After the step 303, or after the second network device receives the data plane advertisement message from the first network device, in a possible implementation manner, the second network device may not continue to transmit the data plane advertisement message, or may continue to send the data plane advertisement message through the second standby path, so that other network devices affected by the link failure perform path switching. The solution executed by the network device that receives the data plane notification message sent by the second network device may refer to the content of the side of the second network device in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again. Several possible embodiments are described below by way of example with reference to embodiment A1, embodiment A2 and embodiment A3.

In embodiment A1, the data notification packet may carry hop count information, and the second network device may determine whether to continue to transmit the data plane notification packet according to the hop count information.

In embodiment A2, the second network device may determine whether to continue to transmit the data plane advertisement packet according to whether the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second backup path belongs to the first specific link.

In embodiment A3, the second network device may determine whether to continue to transmit the data plane advertisement message according to whether the output interface of the second main path corresponds to an interface for receiving the data plane advertisement message.

Embodiments A1, A2 and A3 are further described below.

Embodiment A1

In embodiment A1, the data plane advertisement packet may include indication information for indicating that the data plane advertisement packet needs to be continuously transferred, or indication information for indicating that the data plane advertisement packet does not need to be continuously transferred. When the data plane notification message includes indication information for indicating that the data plane notification message needs to be continuously transmitted, the second network device determines that the data plane notification message needs to be continuously transmitted when determining that the data plane notification message includes indication information for indicating that the data plane notification message needs to be continuously transmitted. When the data plane notification message includes indication information for indicating that the data plane notification message does not need to be continuously transmitted, the second network device does not continuously transmit the data plane notification message.

The indication information for indicating that the data plane advertisement message needs to be continuously transferred may include hop count information indicating that the hop count is greater than 0. The indication information for indicating that the data plane advertisement message does not need to be continuously transferred may include hop count information indicating that the number of hops is 0.

It can also be understood that: the data plane notification message further includes hop count information, where the hop count information is used to indicate the hop count of the data plane notification message forwarded. The second network device may determine whether to continue delivering the data plane advertisement message according to the hop count information in the data advertisement message.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends the data plane notification message through the second standby path according to the hop count information. For example, the second network device sends the data plane notification message through the second standby path when the hop count information indicates that the hop count of the data plane notification message forwarded is greater than 0. In a possible implementation manner, the second network device subtracts one from the hop count indicated by the hop count information included in the data plane advertisement packet, and sends the data plane advertisement packet after updating the hop count information through the second standby path.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the second network device determines that the data plane advertisement packet is not sent any more if the hop count information indicates that the hop count of the data plane advertisement packet forwarded is equal to 0.

As can be seen from the above, in embodiment A1, when the network device that finds the fault generates the data plane notification message, the number of network devices affected by the fault can be determined according to the network topology information, so as to determine the hop count that the data plane notification message needs to be transmitted. And then other network devices can determine whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message to other network devices according to the hop count information, in the scheme, the second network device does not need to calculate whether to continue transmitting the data surface notification message by itself, so that the workload of the second network device can be reduced, the processing speed of the second network device on the data surface notification message can be improved, the transmission efficiency of the data surface notification message can be improved, and the generation of loops in the network can be further reduced.

An embodiment of the present application is further described below in conjunction with fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application, where, as shown in fig. 4, the ring network includes an area 1 (area 1) and an area 0 (area 0). In region 1, 12 network devices are shown, respectively, RT1, RT2, RT3, RT4, RT5, RT6, RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10, RT11, and RT12. The 12 network devices form an open loop (no direct link between RT1 and RT 12).

As shown in fig. 4, RT1 and RT12 introduce a route corresponding to a Prefix (Prefix) 10.1.1.0/24 from region 0 and issue the route in a ring, and each node (RT 2 to RT 11) in the ring can calculate the outgoing interface of the route on the respective node according to the topology (topology) learned by itself (for example, can calculate by using a standard shortest path first (Shortest Path First, OSPF) algorithm).

For example, each node of RT2, RT3, RT4, RT5 and RT6 calculates the direction of the path corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 to be directed to the RT1 side. The direction of the path corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 calculated by each node in RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10 and RT11 is towards RT12 side. Table 1 illustrates one example of routing entries at each network device for the corresponding routes 10.1.1.0/24 maintained at each network device in fig. 2. The main path next hop address of RT1 may be the IP address of the interface of one device in region 0 (which interface is connected to RT 1), not shown in fig. 2, not populated in table 1. The main path next hop address of RT12 may be the IP address of the interface of one device in region 0 (which interface is connected to RT 1), not shown in fig. 2, not populated in table 1.

Table 1 routing table entries corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding tables of the respective network devices in RT1 to RT12

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In the embodiment of the application, after the network equipment acquires the message, the routing table item corresponding to the message in the routing forwarding table can be searched according to the destination address of the message, and then the message is sent according to the output interface in the routing table item. For example, RT4 receives a data message from terminal device 43, the destination address of which is 10.1.1.1/24. The RT4 queries the route forwarding table to find out the route table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 of the route table item corresponding to the destination address, and because the exit interface of the main path indicated in the route table item is E41, the RT4 can send the message through the exit interface E41.

When RT4 determines that the link between RT4 and RT3 is faulty, the routing of messages received by RT1 and RT12 with a destination address prefix of 10.1.1.0/24 is not affected. The routing of messages with the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 of the destination address received by RT2 and RT3 is not affected and is still transmitted through the path towards the RT1 side. The routing of messages received by RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10 and RT11 with destination address prefix 10.1.1.0/24 is not affected and is still sent through the path towards RT12 side. Network devices affected by link failure are RT4, RT5, and RT6.

With continued reference to fig. 4, the above embodiment A1 is illustrated with reference to fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 4, after RT4 determines that a link between RT4 and RT3 fails, RT4 generates a data plane notification message, and RT4 sets a failure flag for an outgoing interface E41 of a main path corresponding to a routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24 in a routing table maintained by RT 4. And sends the data plane notification message through the exit interface E42 of the standby path corresponding to the routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24. And the data surface notification message carries a prefix 10.1.1.0/24 and hop count information, and the hop count indicated by the hop count information is 1.

After receiving the data surface notification message through the interface E51, the RT5 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT5, and sets the failure mark for the exit interface E51 of the main path in the routing table entry. Because the hop count indicated by the hop count information in the data plane notification message is 1, the rt5 subtracts one hop count indicated by the hop count information, and sends the data plane notification message updated with the hop count information through the egress interface E52 of the standby path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

Similarly, after receiving the data plane notification message, the RT6 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT6, and sets the failure flag on the outgoing interface E61 of the main path in the routing table entry. Because the hop count indicated by the hop count information in the data plane notification message is 0, the RT6 does not send the data plane notification message any more, i.e. does not continue to transmit the data plane notification message any more.

Embodiment A2

Two interfaces are arranged at two ends of the first specific link, one interface is an outgoing interface of the second standby path, the other interface is called a first interface, and the first specific link can meet the conditions: the first interface of the first specific link is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix (for example, the first interface is an outgoing interface of the backup path corresponding to the prefix). Because the first interface is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the prefix, the main path of the network device where the first interface is located, which is used for transmitting the data message corresponding to the prefix, is not affected by the fault, i.e. the network device where the first interface is located does not need to execute path switching.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends the data plane notification message through the second standby path when the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second standby path does not belong to the first specific link.

In another possible implementation manner, the second network device determines that the data plane notification packet is no longer sent when the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second backup path belongs to the first specific link.

The first specific link may be a manually configured link, for example, the first specific link may be a link in a manually specified network, for example, a link between RT6 and RT7, and for example, a link between RT9 and RT 10. The first particular link may also be a median link. A median link may refer to a link at an intermediate location in the network, such as in the network shown in fig. 4 described above, the link between RT6 and RT7 may be referred to as a median link. When the network includes an odd number of network devices, the median link may refer to one of the links on two sides of the network device located in the middle position of the network, for example, the network architecture shown in fig. 4 includes 11 network devices with RT1 values RT11, where RT6 is a network device located in the middle position in the network, the median link may be a link between RT6 and RT7, or the median link is a link between RT6 and RT5, and the median link may be determined according to the actual situation, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

With continued reference to fig. 4, the foregoing embodiment A2 is illustrated in conjunction with fig. 4, where the first specific link is described as a median link, and the median link is a link between RT6 and RT 7.

As shown in fig. 4, after RT4 determines that a link between RT4 and RT3 fails, RT4 generates a data plane notification message, and RT4 sets a failure flag for an outgoing interface E41 of a main path corresponding to a routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24 in a routing table maintained by RT 4. And sends the data plane notification message through the exit interface E42 of the standby path corresponding to the routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24. And the data plane notification message carries a prefix 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data surface notification message through the interface E51, the RT5 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT5, and sets the failure mark for the exit interface E51 of the main path in the routing table entry. RT5 determines that the link corresponding to the exit interface E52 of the standby path in the routing table entry is not a median link, and sends the data plane notification message through the exit interface E52 of the standby path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

Similarly, after receiving the data plane notification message, the RT6 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT6, and sets the failure flag on the outgoing interface E61 of the main path in the routing table entry. And when the RT6 determines that the link corresponding to the exit interface E62 of the standby path in the routing table entry is a median link, the RT6 does not send the data plane notification message any more, namely does not continue to transmit the data plane notification message any more.

Embodiment A3

In embodiment A3, a main path with a failure may exist or may not exist in the paths corresponding to the second network device. For example, the second network device may find a routing table corresponding to the link with the failure according to the data plane advertisement packet (for example, find a routing table corresponding to the prefix according to the prefix in the data plane advertisement packet), so as to determine whether an outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table corresponds to an interface of the second network device receiving the data plane advertisement packet:

for example, if the outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table entry corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message, the second network device determines that the main path in the routing table entry has a fault (i.e., the second main path has a fault); and then the data surface notification message can be sent through the second standby path. In the embodiment of the present application, the correspondence between the second main path and the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message may mean that the interface for receiving the data plane notification message is located on the second main path, for example, the outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table entry is the same as the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message.

For another example, if the outgoing interface of the primary path (i.e., the second primary path) in the routing table entry does not correspond to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane advertisement packet, the second network device may determine that no primary path with a fault exists in the primary path corresponding to the second network device (may also be understood as that the second primary path has not failed), and then may determine to stop continuing to transmit the data plane advertisement packet. In the embodiment of the present application, the fact that the second main path is not corresponding to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message may mean that the interface for receiving the data plane notification message is not located in the second main path, for example, the outgoing interface of the main path (i.e., the second main path) in the routing table entry is different from the interface of the second network device for receiving the data plane notification message.

With continued reference to fig. 4, the above embodiment A3 is illustrated with reference to fig. 4.

After receiving the data plane notification message through the interface E51, the RT5 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT5, and determines that the outgoing interface E51 of the main path in the routing table entry is the same as the interface for receiving the data plane notification message, so that the RT5 sets the outgoing interface E51 of the main path in the routing table entry to a fault mark, and sends the data plane notification message through the outgoing interface E52 of the standby path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

Similarly, after receiving the data plane notification message through the interface E61, the RT6 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT6, and determines that the outgoing interface E61 of the main path in the routing table entry is the same as the interface for receiving the data plane notification message, so that the RT6 sets the fault flag on the outgoing interface E61 of the main path in the routing table entry, and sends the data plane notification message through the outgoing interface E62 of the backup path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data plane notification message through the interface E72, the RT7 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT7, and determines that the outgoing interface E71 of the main path in the routing table entry is different from the interface E72 for receiving the data plane notification message, so that the RT7 discards the data plane notification message, that is, the RT7 does not perform path switching on the path in the routing table entry, and does not continue to send the data plane notification message.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, after the link fails, the network device that perceives the failure may not only execute the embodiment of fig. 3, but also continue to announce the failure condition through the control plane message, so that the affected network device in the network recalculates the route and updates the routing table entry.

For example, in the example shown in fig. 4, RT4 may perform the scheme of the first network device in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, and send a data plane advertisement packet to RT 5. On the other hand, RT4 may recalculate the route and generate a new route entry, where the main path exit interface of the route corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 in the new route entry is E42. After the new routing entry is enabled, the old routing entry corresponding to the original 10.1.1.0/24 (i.e., the 10.1.1.0/24 corresponding routing entry maintained by RT4 in Table 1) is invalidated. And the RT4 may send a fault notification message to the RT5, where the fault notification message is a control plane message. After the data plane receives the fault notification message, the RT5 sends the fault notification message to the CPU of the RT 5. After that, the CPU of RT5 processes the message, determines that the path corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 fails, recalculates the route corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24, obtains the new path corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24, and generates a new routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24, where the main path outgoing interface of the route corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 in the new routing table entry is E52. Further, RT5 forwards the failure notification message to next hop, RT6. The processing manner of RT6 is similar to that of RT5, and will not be described again.

After all network devices affected recalculate the routes and update the routing entries, all network devices affected (i.e., RT4, RT5, and RT 6) process the received data message according to the latest routing entry. It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present application, after a failure occurs in the network and before all affected network devices recalculate routes and update routing table entries, during this period, the affected network devices may transmit a data plane advertisement packet to complete path switching, and during this period, the network devices may transmit data packets through the switched paths, so that the generation of loops in the network during this period may be reduced.

Based on the foregoing related content and other content of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, fig. 5 schematically shows a flow chart of a possible fault handling method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in fig. 5 is illustrated with the first network device and the second network device as examples. The solution on the first network device side in the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by an internal unit, module or chip of the first network device, and the solution on the second network device side in the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by an internal unit, module or chip of the second network device.

As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

in step 501, a first network device receives a data message.

The related description of the data message may be referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated.

In step 502, the first network device determines a third primary path failure for sending the data message.

In step 502, in one possible implementation, the first network device is a device that senses a failure, and the first network device determines that a link to which the first network device is connected with other devices fails, where the failed link is a link in the third main path.

In the embodiment of the present application, in order to distinguish between the first network device and the second network device, the main path calculated by the first network device and used for sending the data packet to the destination address is referred to as a third main path, where the third main path may also be understood as a main path between the first network device and the destination address of the data packet. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the first network device is RT4, the prefix of the target address is 10.1.1.0/24, and the third main path may be a main path between RT4 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24. In the embodiment of the application, the third main path and the first main path can be the same or different, and no necessary connection exists between the third main path and the first main path.

In the embodiment of the application, the standby path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the first network device is referred to as a third standby path, and the third standby path may also be a standby path between the first network device and the area corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the first network device is RT4, the prefix of the target address is 10.1.1.0/24, and the third backup path may be a backup path between RT4 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24. In the embodiment of the application, the third standby path and the first standby path can be the same or different, and no necessary connection exists between the third standby path and the first standby path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the main path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the second network device is referred to as a fourth main path, and the fourth main path may also be the main path between the second network device and the area corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the second network device is RT5, the prefix of the target address is 10.1.1.0/24, and the fourth main path may be a main path between RT5 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24. In the embodiment of the application, the fourth main path and the second main path can be the same or different, and no necessary connection exists between the fourth main path and the second main path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the standby path corresponding to the prefix calculated by the second network device is referred to as a fourth standby path, and the fourth standby path may also be a standby path between the second network device and the region corresponding to the prefix. Referring to fig. 2, for example, the second network device is RT5, the prefix of the target address is 10.1.1.0/24, and the fourth backup path may be a backup path between RT5 and the area corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24. In the embodiment of the application, the fourth standby path and the second standby path can be the same or different, and no necessary connection exists between the fourth standby path and the second standby path.

In step 503, the first network device sets indication information in the data packet, where the indication information is used to indicate a failure of the third main path.

In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information in the data packet may be set in various manners, for example, the indication information may be a preset bit value on one or more preset bits in the data packet, for example, the indication information occupies two preset bits, and when the bit value carried by the two preset bits is 01, 01 on the two preset bits is the indication information.

In step 504, the first network device sends the data packet of the setting indication information to the second network device through the third standby path for sending the data packet.

Correspondingly, the second network device receives the data message of the setting indication information from the first network device.

In step 505, the second network device sends the data packet through the fourth backup path for sending the data packet when the interface for receiving the data packet corresponds to the fourth primary path for sending the data packet.

In the embodiment of the application, the second network device can infer that the path corresponding to the link of the interface receiving the data message provided with the indication information has faults. The correspondence between the interface for receiving the data packet and the fourth main path for sending the data packet may mean that the interface for receiving the data packet is located in the fourth main path, for example, the output interface of the fourth main path is the same as the interface for receiving the data packet of the second network device. In this case, since the link of the interface of the second network device that receives the data packet provided with the indication information corresponds to the fourth path, the second network device may determine that the fourth path fails, and further send the data packet through the fourth standby path. That is, after the second network device determines that the fourth main path for sending the data packet fails, the second network device sends the data packet through the switched fourth standby path, which can reduce the generation of a loop in the network after the failure occurs.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device sends the data message of the setting indication information to the second network device through the third standby path for sending the data message, that is, the connection between the first network device and the second network device is illustrated as an example, and in practical application, the second network device may also be the data message carrying the indication information received from other network devices except the first network device. In addition, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the second network device may also continue to send the data packet to other network devices except the first network device and the second network device, and if the other network devices receive the data packet carrying the indication information, the scheme executed by the other network devices is similar to that executed by the second network device, which is not described herein.

The scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for the scene that the network equipment is not configured with the tunnel, and the related content can be referred to the related content of the embodiment of the foregoing fig. 3, and is not repeated.

In the embodiment of the present application, after the step 504, or after the second network device receives the data packet from the first network device, the second network device may send the data packet carrying the indication information, or may send the data packet not carrying the indication information. The solution executed by the network device that receives the data packet carrying the indication information sent by the second network device may refer to the content of the side of the second network device in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again. Several possible embodiments are described below by way of example with reference to embodiments B1 and B2.

In embodiment B1, the second network device may determine whether the sent data packet carries the indication information according to whether the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the fourth backup path belongs to the second specific link.

In embodiment B2, the second network device may determine whether the sent data packet carries the indication information according to whether the output interface of the second main path corresponds to the interface for receiving the data plane notification packet.

Embodiments B1 and B2 are further described below.

Embodiment B1

Two interfaces are arranged at two ends of the second specific link, wherein one interface is an output interface of the fourth standby path, and the other interface is called a second interface. The second specific link in the embodiment of the application can meet the condition: the second interface is not an interface of the main path corresponding to the data packet (for example, the second interface is an output interface of the standby path corresponding to the data packet). Because the second interface is not the interface of the main path corresponding to the data message, the main path of the network device where the second interface is located for transmitting the data message is not affected by the fault, i.e. the network device where the second interface is located does not need to execute path switching.

The second specific link may be a manually configured link, such as the second specific link may be a link in a manually specified network, such as a link between RT6 and RT7, and further such as a link between RT9 and RT 10. The second particular link may also be a median link. For the relevant content of the median link, reference may be made to the foregoing description of the embodiment of fig. 3, and details are not repeated.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends the data packet with the setting indication information through the fourth backup path for sending the data packet when the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth backup path does not belong to the second specific link.

In another possible implementation manner, the second network device clears the indication information in the data packet with the indication information when the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path belongs to the second specific link; the second network device sends the data message of the clearing indication information through a fourth standby path for sending the data message.

With continued reference to fig. 4, the foregoing embodiment B1 is illustrated in conjunction with fig. 4, where the second specific link is described by taking a median link as an example, and the median link is a link between RT6 and RT 7.

As shown in fig. 4, RT4 receives a data message from terminal device 43. RT4 determines that the prefix of the destination address of the data message is 10.1.1.0/24. After the RT4 determines that the link between the RT4 and the RT3 fails, the RT4 sets indication information in the data message, and sends the data message carrying the indication information through an output interface E42 of the standby path corresponding to the routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message carrying the indication information through the interface E51, the RT5 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT5, and sends the data message carrying the indication information through the egress interface E52 of the backup path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 when it is determined that the link corresponding to the egress interface E52 of the backup path in the routing table entry is not a median link.

After receiving the data message carrying the indication information, the RT6 searches the routing table item corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT6, and when the RT6 determines that the link corresponding to the exit interface E62 of the standby path in the routing table item is a median link, the RT6 clears the indication information in the data message and sends the data message not carrying the indication information through the exit interface E62 of the standby path of the routing table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message without the indication information, the RT7 searches the routing table item corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT7, and the RT7 sends the data message without the indication information through the output interface E71 of the main path of the routing table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 according to the routing table item. And finally, transmitting the data message to a destination address of the data message through RT8 to RT12, wherein the scheme executed by network equipment in RT8 to RT12 is similar to that executed by RT7, and the description is omitted.

Embodiment B2

In embodiment B2, a main path with a failure may exist or may not exist in the paths corresponding to the second network device. I.e. the path of the second network device may or may not be affected by the network failure. The second network device may search the routing table entry corresponding to the data packet (for example, find the routing table entry corresponding to the destination address according to the destination address in the data packet), so as to determine whether the output interface of the main path (i.e., the fourth main path) in the routing table entry corresponds to the interface of the second network device for receiving the data packet:

For example, the second network device sends the data message of the setting indication information through the fourth standby path for sending the data message when the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message. In the embodiment of the present application, the correspondence between the fourth main path and the interface of the second network device for receiving the data packet may mean that the interface for receiving the data packet is located in the fourth main path, for example, the output interface of the main path (i.e., the fourth main path) in the routing table entry is the same as the interface of the second network device for receiving the data packet.

For another example, the second network device clears the indication information in the data packet with the indication information set under the condition that the interface for receiving the data packet does not correspond to the fourth main path for sending the data packet; and the second network equipment sends the data message of the clearing indication information through the fourth main path. In the embodiment of the present application, the fact that the interface of the fourth main path and the interface of the second network device that receives the data packet is not corresponding may mean that the interface that receives the data packet is not located in the fourth main path, for example, the output interface of the main path (i.e., the fourth main path) in the routing table entry is different from the interface that receives the data packet by the second network device.

With continued reference to fig. 4, the above-described embodiment B2 is illustrated with reference to fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 4, RT4 receives a data message from terminal device 43. RT4 determines that the prefix of the destination address of the data message is 10.1.1.0/24. After RT4 determines that the link between RT4 and RT3 fails, RT4 sets indication information in the data message. And sends the data message carrying the indication information through the exit interface E42 of the standby path corresponding to the routing table entry 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message through the interface E51, the RT5 searches the routing table item corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT5, and determines that the output interface E51 of the main path in the routing table item is the same as the interface for receiving the data message, so that the RT5 sends the data message carrying the indication information through the output interface E52 of the standby path of the routing table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message through the interface E61, the RT6 searches the routing table item corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT6, and determines that the output interface E61 of the main path in the routing table item is the same as the interface for receiving the data message, so that the RT6 sends the data message carrying the indication information through the output interface E62 of the standby path of the routing table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message through the interface E72, the RT7 searches the routing table entry corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT7, and determines that the outgoing interface E61 of the main path in the routing table entry is the same as the interface for receiving the data message, so that the RT7 clears the indication information in the data message, and sends the data message without the indication information through the outgoing interface E71 of the main path of the routing table entry corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24.

After receiving the data message without the indication information, the RT8 searches the routing table item corresponding to the prefix 10.1.1.0/24 in the routing forwarding table maintained by the RT8, and the RT8 sends the data message without the indication information through the output interface E81 of the main path of the routing table item corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 according to the routing table item. And finally, transmitting the data message to a destination address of the data message through the transmission from the RT9 to the RT12, wherein the scheme executed by the network equipment in the RT9 to the RT12 is similar to the scheme executed by the RT8, and the description is omitted.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, after the link fails, the network device that perceives the failure may not only execute the embodiment of fig. 3, but also continue to announce the failure condition through the control plane message, so that the affected network device in the network recalculates the route and updates the routing table entry. The related content refers to the description of the related content of fig. 3, and is not repeated.

After all the affected network devices recalculate the routes and update the routing table entries, the first network device (such as RT4 in fig. 4) enables the latest routing table entry for the data packet to be sent to the 10.1.1.0/24 corresponding area after all the affected network devices (such as RT4, RT5 and RT6 in fig. 4), since the outgoing interface of the main path corresponding to the data packet in the latest routing table entry is E42, and the link corresponding to E42 does not fail, the first network device does not need to set indication information in the data packet. I.e. after all affected network devices enable the latest routing table entry, each network device transmits the received data message according to the latest routing table entry. It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present application, after a failure occurs in the network and before all affected network devices recalculate routes and update routing table entries, the affected network devices can transmit data packets through switched paths, so that the generation of loops in the network during the period can be reduced.

The indication information referred to in the above step 503 may be located in the ECN field of the data packet or in the network protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) extension header. For example, the indication information may be located in a hop-by-hop (hop-to-hop) extension header field in the IP extension header.

Fig. 6 illustrates a schematic structure diagram of an IPv4 provided by an embodiment of the present application, where an IPv4 base header includes a version (version) field, a header length (internet header length, IHL), a type of service (type of service) field, a total length (total length) field, an identification (identification) field, a tag (flags) field, a fragment offset (fragment offset) field, a time to live (time to live) field, a protocol (protocol) field, a header check (header) field, a source address (source address) field, a destination address (destination address) field, an options field, and a padding (padding) field.

Wherein a type of service (type of service) field occupies 8 bits.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of the meaning of respective bits of a type of service (type of service) field in fig. 6.

And bits 0-2 are a priority (priority) field. Bit 3, bit 0, identifies a normal delay, and 1 represents a low delay. Bit 4, bit 0, identifies regular throughput (normal throughput), and 1 indicates low throughput (low throughput). Bit 5, bit 0, identifies regular confidence (normal relibility), and 1 indicates high throughput (high reliability). Bits 6-7 are reserved bits (reserved) that may be used for future use.

The 1 st bit to the 5 th bit of a type of service (type of service) field in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a differentiated services code point (differentiated services code point, DSCP) area. The 6 th bit and the 7 th bit of a type of service (type of service) field in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as an ECN area. The ECN zone may carry indication information. For example, the indication information is: the 6 th bit and 7 th bit of the type of service (type of service) field are 00. For another example, the indication information is: the 6 th bit and 7 th bit of the type of service (type of service) field are 01.

Fig. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of an IPv4 header structure according to an embodiment of the present application, where the header structure includes an IPv4 header (IPv 4 header) field, a hop-by-hop (hop-by-hop) field, and a transmission control protocol (Transmission Control Protocol, TCP) header field and data (data) as shown in fig. 8. Wherein, the value of a protocol (protocol) field in an IPv4 header (IPv 4 header) field is a hop-by-hop (hop-by-hop) field, so as to indicate that the next field in the IPv4 header is a hop-by-hop (hop-by-hop) field. The next header (next header) field in the hop-by-hop field is TCP to indicate that the next field in the IPv4 base header is a TCP header field. In the embodiment of the application, the indication information can be carried through the bit of the hop-by-hop field.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, a certain network element (for example, an a network element) receives information from another network element (for example, a B network element), which may mean that the a network element receives information directly from the B network element, or that the a network element receives information from the B network element via another network element (for example, a C network element). When the a network element receives information from the B network element via the C network element, the C network element may transmit the information, or process the information, for example: and carrying the information in different messages for transmission or screening the information, and only sending the screened information to the A network element. Similarly, in embodiments of the present application, the sending of information by the a network element to the B network element may refer to the sending of information by the a network element directly to the B network element, or may refer to the sending of information by the a network element to the B network element via other network elements (e.g., C network element).

The terms "system" and "network" in embodiments of the application may be used interchangeably. "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated object is an or relationship, such as "signaling/data" as occurs in embodiments of the present application refers to signaling or data. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

And, unless otherwise specified, references to "first," "second," etc. ordinal words of embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing between multiple objects and not for defining a sequence, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects.

It should be noted that the names of the above-mentioned messages are merely examples, and any message may change its name with the evolution of the communication technology, and no matter how the name changes, it falls within the protection scope of the present application as long as the meaning of the message is the same as that of the message of the present application.

Based on the above embodiments and the same concept, fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a network device provided by the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 9, the network device 901 may be a first network device or a second network device, or may be a chip or a circuit, for example, may be provided in the first network device or the second network device. The network device 901 shown in fig. 9 may be any one of the network devices in fig. 2, may be a network device for performing the first network device side method shown in fig. 3 or fig. 5, or may be a network device for performing the first network device side method shown in fig. 3 or fig. 5.

The network device 901 comprises a processing unit 902 and a communication unit 903. Further, the network device 901 may include the storage unit 904, or may not include the storage unit 904. The dashed line of the memory cell 904 in the figure further identifies the memory cell as optional.

In the case where the network device 901 is the first network device, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform by the communication unit 903: determining a first main path fault, switching a path corresponding to a route associated with the first main path from the first main path to a first standby path, wherein the first main path and the first standby path correspond to the same prefix, and sending a data plane notification message to the second network equipment, wherein the data plane notification message is used for notifying the first main path fault.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: receiving a data surface notification message from a first network device, wherein the data surface notification message is used for notifying a first main path fault; determining a second main path fault according to the data plane notification message, switching a path corresponding to a route associated with the second main path from the second main path to a second standby path, wherein the first main path and the second main path correspond to the same prefix; the second primary path and the second backup path correspond to the same prefix.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and sending the data surface notification message through the second standby path.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and sending the data surface notification message through the second standby path according to the hop count information.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and under the condition that the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second standby path does not belong to the first specific link, sending a data surface notification message through the second standby path.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and under the condition that the link corresponding to the outlet interface of the second standby path belongs to the first specific link, determining that the data surface notification message is not sent any more.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and determining a fault of the second main path under the condition that the interface for receiving the data surface notification message corresponds to the second main path.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and under the condition that the interface for receiving the data surface notification message by the second network equipment is not corresponding to the second main path, determining that the second main path is not in fault, and determining that the data surface notification message is not transmitted any more.

In the case where the network device 901 is the first network device, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform by the communication unit 903: receiving a data message; determining a third main path fault for transmitting the data message; setting indication information in the data message, wherein the indication information is used for indicating a third main path fault; and sending the data message of the setting indication information through a third standby path for sending the data message.

In the case where the network device 901 is a second network device, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform by the communication unit 903: receiving a data message with indication information, wherein the indication information is used for indicating a third main path fault; and sending the data message through a fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and under the condition that the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path does not belong to the second specific link, sending the data message of the setting indication information through the fourth standby path for sending the data message.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and under the condition that the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path belongs to the second specific link, clearing the indication information in the data message with the indication information, and sending the data message with the indication information cleared through the fourth standby path for sending the data message.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: and sending the data message of the setting indication information through a fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message.

In case the network device 901 is a second network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 902 may perform: under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message does not correspond to the fourth main path for sending the data message, the indication information in the data message for setting the indication information is cleared; and sending the data message of the clearing indication information through a fourth main path.

The concepts related to the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, explanation, detailed description and other steps related to the network device refer to the descriptions of the foregoing methods or other embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

Fig. 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating several possible configurations of the network device in the system architecture of fig. 2, and the network device 911 shown in fig. 10A and 10B may be any one of the network devices in fig. 2, a network device for performing the first network device side method shown in fig. 3 or 5, or a network device for performing the first network device side method shown in fig. 3 or 5.

As shown in fig. 10A, the network device 911 includes a main control board 912 and an interface board 913.

The main control board 912 may include one or more processors (illustrated in fig. 10A as the processor 9121). Optionally, the main control board 912 may also include a memory 9122. The interface board 913 may include one or more processor(s) (illustrated in fig. 10A as processor 9131 by way of example) communication interfaces 9133. The communication interface 9133 may also be referred to as an interface card. Optionally, the interface board 913 may also include a memory 9132.

In the network device 911 shown in fig. 10B, multiple processors may be integrated, such as shown in fig. 10B. The processor 9121 and the processor 9131 may be integrated in one module, and the memory 9122 and the memory 9132 may be integrated in one module.

Fig. 10A and fig. 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating two possible network device structures, and in practical applications, various devices, units, and modules in the network device 911 may be arranged in other manners, which are not limiting embodiments of the present application.

The processors in an embodiment of the application (e.g., the processor 9121 and the processor 9131 shown in fig. 10A or 10B) may be one chip. For example, the processor may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), an application specific integrated chip (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

The communication interface 9133 may be a transceiver module for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, RAN, wireless local area network (wireless local area networks, WLAN), etc. For example, the transceiver module may be a device such as a transceiver or a transceiver. Optionally, the communication interface 9133 may also be a transceiver circuit located in the processor 9131, so as to implement signal input and signal output of the processor.

The memories (such as the memory 9122 and the memory 9132 shown in fig. 10A or 10B) may be devices having a storage function. It will be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory. The memory may be stand alone and be coupled to the processor via a communication line. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

The memory 9132 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 9131 controls the execution. The processor 9131 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 9132, thereby implementing the related methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. The memory 9122 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for performing aspects of the present application, and is controlled for execution by the processor 9121. The processor 9121 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 9122, thereby implementing the related methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 9121 and/or the processor 9131 may perform functions related to processing in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication interface 9133 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation, when a message is a control plane message, after the network device (such as a router) receives the message (such as the network device receives the message on a data plane), it needs to perform "upload to CPU" on the message, where the CPU may be a general-purpose CPU in the network device, for example, may be a CPU that processes a network protocol message, for example, may be the processor 9121 in fig. 10A or fig. 10B.

For example, referring to fig. 10A, the network device 911 receives a message, which is a control plane message, through the communication interface 9133 in the interface board 913, and the network device 911 needs to send the message to the processor 9121 in the main control board 912 for processing. After the processor 9121 in the main control board 912 processes the message, the message may be discarded, or the message may be sent to the processor 9131 in the interface board 913 again for processing, and a specific port in the ASIC chip may be designated to forward the message.

In another possible implementation manner, when a message is a data plane message, the network device processes and forwards the message directly on the data plane after receiving the message on the data plane. The message is processed on the data plane, which may be by dedicated hardware or a chip in the network device, such as the processor 9131 in fig. 10A or fig. 10B. For example, referring to fig. 10A, for example, the network device 911 receives a message through the communication interface 9133 in the interface board 913, where the message is a data plane message, and the processor 9131 in the interface board 913 processes and forwards the message, that is, the message does not need to be reported by the network device 911 to the processor 9121 in the main control board 912 for processing.

In a possible implementation, when the network device 911 is used to implement the first network device side in the method shown in fig. 3, the network device 911 may be regarded as a first network device, and the steps 301, 302, and 303 may be implemented by the processor 9131 through the communication interface 9133 or be implemented by the processor 9121 through the communication interface 9133.

In a possible implementation manner, when the network device 911 is used to execute the second network device side method in the method shown in fig. 3, the network device 911 may be regarded as a second network device, and the steps 304 and 305 may be executed by the processor 9131 through the communication interface 9133, that is, the second network device does not need to report the received data plane notification packet to the processor 9121, so that the processing speed of the data plane notification packet may be increased.

In a possible implementation manner, when the network device 911 is used to execute the method shown in fig. 5 and described on the first network device side, the network device 911 may be regarded as the first network device, and then the steps 501, 502, 503, and 504 may be executed by any processor in the network device through the communication interface 9133, for example, may be executed by the processor 9131 through the communication interface 9133, or may be executed by the processor 9121 through the communication interface 9133, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

In a possible implementation, when the network device 911 is used to implement the second network device side in the method shown in fig. 5, the network device 911 may be regarded as the second network device, and then the step 505 may be implemented by any processor in the network device through the communication interface 9133, for example, may be implemented by the processor 9131 through the communication interface 9133, or may be implemented by the processor 9121 through the communication interface 9133, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that, when the network device 911 is configured to perform the second network device side in the method shown in fig. 3, the scheme performed by the communication unit 903 in fig. 9 may also be implemented by the communication interface 9133 in fig. 10A or fig. 10B; the arrangement performed by the processing unit 902 of fig. 9 may also be implemented by the processor 9131 of fig. 10A or 10B; the scheme performed by the storage unit 904 may also be implemented by the memory 9132 of fig. 10A or 10B described above.

When the network device 911 is configured to execute the scheme on the first network device side shown in fig. 3 described above, or configured to execute the scheme on the first network device side in the method shown in fig. 5, or configured to execute the scheme on the second network device side in the method shown in fig. 5, the scheme executed by the communication unit 903 in fig. 9 may also be implemented by the communication interface 9133 in fig. 10A or fig. 10B described above; the arrangement performed by the processing unit 902 in fig. 9 may also be implemented by at least one of the processors 9131 or 9121 of fig. 10A or 10B; the scheme performed by the storage unit 904 may also be implemented by at least one of the memories 9132 or 9122 of fig. 10A or 10B.

The concepts related to the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, explanation, detailed description and other steps related to the network device 911 refer to the descriptions of the foregoing methods or other embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

According to a method provided by an embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, including: computer program code or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the embodiments shown in any of figures 3 or 5.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium storing a program code, which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 3 or 5.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the application further provides a chip system, and the chip system can comprise a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to perform the method of any of the embodiments shown in any of fig. 3 or 5. Optionally, the system on a chip further comprises a memory. Memory for storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions). A processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, causing a device on which the chip system is installed to perform the method of any of the embodiments shown in any of figures 3 or 5.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the application also provides a system which comprises the first network equipment and the second network equipment.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions in accordance with embodiments of the present application are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means from one website, computer, server, or data center. Computer readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices, such as servers, data centers, etc., that contain an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

It is noted that a portion of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has reserved copyright rights, except for making copies of patent documents or recorded patent document content of the patent office.

The network device in the above-mentioned respective apparatus embodiments corresponds to the first network device or the second network device in the method embodiments, the respective steps are performed by respective modules or units, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps than transmitting and receiving may be performed by the processing unit (processor). Reference may be made to corresponding method embodiments for the function of a specific unit. Wherein the processor may be one or more.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Furthermore, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with one another in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks (illustrative logical block) and steps (steps) described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of elements is merely a logical functional division, and there may be additional divisions of actual implementation, e.g., multiple elements or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

The foregoing is merely illustrative embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about variations or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the application should be covered. Therefore, the protection scope of the application is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of fault handling, the method comprising:

the first network device determines a first primary path failure;

the first network device switches a path corresponding to a route associated with the first main path from the first main path to a first standby path, wherein the first main path and the first standby path correspond to the same prefix;

the first network device sends a data surface notification message to the second network device, where the data surface notification message is used to notify the first main path fault.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data plane advertisement message includes the prefix.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the data plane advertisement message further comprises hop count information, the hop count information being used to indicate the number of hops the data plane advertisement message is forwarded.

4. A method of fault handling, the method comprising:

the second network equipment receives a data surface notification message from the first network equipment, wherein the data surface notification message is used for notifying a first main path fault;

the second network device determines a second main path fault according to the data plane notification message, switches a path corresponding to a route associated with the second main path from the second main path to a second standby path, and the first main path and the second main path correspond to the same prefix; the second primary path and the second backup path correspond to the same prefix.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data plane advertisement message includes the prefix.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein after the second network device receives the data plane advertisement message from the first network device, further comprising:

and the second network equipment sends the data surface notification message through the second standby path.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data plane advertisement message further includes hop count information, the hop count information indicating a hop count at which the data plane advertisement message is forwarded, the second network device sending the data plane advertisement message via the second backup path, comprising:

and the second network equipment sends the data surface notification message through the second standby path according to the hop count information.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the second network device sending the data plane advertisement message over the second backup path comprises:

and the second network equipment sends the data surface notification message through the second standby path under the condition that the link corresponding to the outlet interface of the second standby path does not belong to the first specific link.

9. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein after the second network device receives the data plane advertisement message from the first network device, further comprising:

and the second network equipment determines not to send the data surface notification message any more under the condition that the link corresponding to the outgoing interface of the second standby path belongs to the first specific link.

10. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the second network device determining a second primary path failure from the data plane advertisement message comprises:

and the second network equipment determines that the second main path fails under the condition that an interface for receiving the data plane notification message corresponds to the second main path.

11. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the second network device further comprises, after receiving the data plane advertisement message from the first network device;

and under the condition that the interface of the second network equipment for receiving the data surface notification message is not corresponding to the second main path, determining that the second main path is not faulty, and determining that the data surface notification message is not sent any more.

12. A method of fault handling, the method comprising:

The first network equipment receives the data message;

the first network device determines a third main path fault for sending the data message;

the first network device sets indication information in the data message, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the third main path fault;

and the first network equipment transmits the data message of the setting indication information through a third standby path for transmitting the data message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the indication information is located in an explicit congestion notification, ECN, field, or a network protocol, IP, extension header of the data message.

14. A method of fault handling, the method comprising:

the second network equipment receives a data message with indication information, wherein the indication information is used for indicating a third main path fault;

and the second network equipment sends the data message through a fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second network device sends the data message over a fourth backup path for sending the data message, comprising:

And the second network equipment sends the data message of the setting indication information through the fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path does not belong to a second specific link.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second network device sends the data message over a fourth backup path for sending the data message, comprising:

the second network device clears the indication information in the data message of the setting indication information under the condition that the link corresponding to the output interface of the fourth standby path belongs to a second specific link;

and the second network equipment transmits the data message for clearing the indication information through the fourth standby path for transmitting the data message.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the second network device sending the data message over a fourth backup path for sending the data message if an interface receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth primary path for sending the data message, comprising:

and the second network equipment sends the data message of the setting indication information through a fourth standby path for sending the data message under the condition that the interface for receiving the data message corresponds to the fourth main path for sending the data message.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein after the second network device receives the data message of the setting indication information, further comprising:

the second network device clears the indication information in the data message of the setting indication information under the condition that an interface for receiving the data message does not correspond to a fourth main path for sending the data message;

and the second network equipment sends a data message for clearing the indication information through the fourth main path.

19. The method according to any of claims 14-18, wherein the indication information is located in an explicit congestion notification, ECN, field, or a network protocol, IP, extension header of the data message.

20. A network device comprising a communication interface and a memory,

the communication interface is used for inputting and/or outputting signaling or data;

the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-3, or the method of any one of claims 4-11, or the method of any one of claims 12-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-19, over a communication interface.

21. A network device comprising a processor and a memory,

The memory is used for storing a computer program or instructions;

the processor for executing a computer program or instructions in a memory, causing the method of any one of claims 1-3, or causing the method of any one of claims 4-11, or causing the method of any one of claims 12-13, or causing the method of any one of claims 14-19.

22. A network device, comprising a processing module and a communication module:

the communication module is used for inputting and/or outputting signaling or data;

the processing module is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-3, or the method of any one of claims 4-11, or the method of any one of claims 12-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-19, by means of the communication module.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when invoked by a computer, cause the method of any one of claims 1-3, or cause the method of any one of claims 4-11, or cause the method of any one of claims 12-13, or cause the method of any one of claims 14-19 to be performed.

24. A system on a chip comprising a communication interface and a processor:

the processor is configured to execute a computer executable program to cause a device on which the chip system is installed to perform the method of any one of claims 1-3, or to perform the method of any one of claims 4-11, or to perform the method of any one of claims 12-13, or to perform the method of any one of claims 14-19.