(19)
(11)EP 3 182 659 A1

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC

(43)Date of publication:
21.06.2017 Bulletin 2017/25

(21)Application number: 15838816.5

(22)Date of filing:  06.08.2015
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
H04L 12/801(2013.01)
(86)International application number:
PCT/CN2015/086268
(87)International publication number:
WO 2016/034029 (10.03.2016 Gazette  2016/10)
(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME
Designated Validation States:
MA

(30)Priority: 01.09.2014 CN 201410440555

(71)Applicant: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
Shenzhen Guangdong 518129 (CN)

(72)Inventors:
  • DING, Shenyu
    Shenzhen Guangdong 518129 (CN)
  • LIN, Guanghui
    Shenzhen Guangdong 518129 (CN)
  • CAI, Wenjuan
    Shenzhen Guangdong 518129 (CN)

(74)Representative: Pfenning, Meinig & Partner mbB 
Patent- und Rechtsanwälte Joachimsthaler Straße 12
10719 Berlin
10719 Berlin (DE)

  


(54)METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING SERVICE TRAFFIC


(57) The present invention provides a service traffic processing method and apparatus. The service traffic processing method in the present invention includes: sending, by a home gateway HG, a registration request message to a server, where the registration request message includes an identifier of the HG; receiving, by the HG, the policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server; and determining, by the HG according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sending, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. In embodiments of the present invention, because the HG may compare the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic with the policy control packet, to determine a transmission tunnel that is corresponding to the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, fine control of service traffic transmission is implemented by the HG.




Description


[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410440555.8, filed with the Chinese Patent Office on September 1, 2014 and entitled "SERVICE TRAFFIC PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD



[0002] Embodiments of the present invention relate to communications technologies, and in particular, to a service traffic processing method and apparatus.

BACKGROUND



[0003] Currently, a data subscriber line (Digital Subscriber Line, DSL for short) tunnel is mainly provided for a home gateway (Home Gateway, HG for short) user to transmit service traffic. However, the DSL-only link cannot meet a requirement of the HG user for transmitting high-bandwidth service traffic.

[0004] To meet the requirement that the HG user can transmit high-bandwidth service traffic, in the prior art, a DSL link and a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE for short) link may be bonded by using a hybrid access (Hybrid Access, HA for short) technology, to form a hybrid access aggregation point (Hybrid Access Aggregation Point, HAAP for short) tunnel, that is, the HAAP tunnel includes one GRE over DSL link and one GRE over LTE link, so as to implement transmission of vast-traffic service traffic by using the DSL-only link and/or the HAAP tunnel. Specifically, a process of establishing the HAAP tunnel is as follows: An HG sends a Tunnel Setup Request message to an HAAP server, and the HAAP server establishes an HAAP tunnel according to an LTE address and a DSL address in the Tunnel Setup Request message. The LTE address is a destination address for establishing a GRE over LTE link, and the DSL address is a destination address for establishing a GRE over DSL link.

[0005] In addition, the HG mainly transmits service traffic in an equal division manner or an idle manner. That is, the service traffic is separately transmitted by using a DSL-only link and an HAAP tunnel after the service traffic is equally divided, or the service traffic is transmitted by using an idle tunnel when a DSL-only link or an HAAP tunnel is idle. However, for service traffic of a service that has a relatively high requirement for real-time performance, for example, for service traffic of a voice service, if the service traffic is transmitted by using a DSL-only link or an HAAP tunnel in an equal division manner or an idle manner, voice quality is relatively poor. It can be learned that the current HG cannot implement fine control of service traffic transmission.

SUMMARY



[0006] Embodiments of the present invention provide a service traffic processing method and apparatus, which implements fine control of service traffic transmission by an HG.

[0007] A first aspect of the present invention provides a service traffic processing method, including:

sending, by a home gateway HG, a registration request message to a server, where the registration request message includes an identifier of the HG;

receiving, by the HG, a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server; and

determining, by the HG according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sending, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.



[0008] In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, by the HG according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission specifically includes:

parsing, by the HG, the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet; and

performing, by the HG, matching processing on the rule in the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determining a digital subscriber line DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission; or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, determining a hybrid access aggregation point HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.



[0009] With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

receiving, by the HG, a policy control update packet, and replacing the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.



[0010] With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the replacing the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet specifically includes:

replacing the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if the HG determines that a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet.



[0011] A second aspect of the present invention provides a service traffic processing method, including:

receiving, by a server, a registration request message sent by a home gateway HG, and obtaining, according to an identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG; and

sending, by the server, the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.



[0012] In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending, by the server, a policy control update packet to the HG, where the policy control update packet is used by the HG to replace a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0013] A third aspect of the present invention provides a service traffic processing apparatus, including: a sending module, a receiving module, a determining module, and a traffic transmission module, where
the sending module is configured to send a registration request message to a server, where the registration request message includes an identifier of a home gateway HG;
the receiving module is configured to receive a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server;
the determining module is configured to determine, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission; and
the traffic transmission module is configured to send, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0014] In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the determining module includes a parsing unit and a matching processing unit, where
the parsing unit is configured to parse the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet; and
the matching processing unit is configured to: perform matching processing on the rule and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determine a digital subscriber line DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission; or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, determine a hybrid access aggregation point HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.

[0015] With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the apparatus further includes: a replacement module, where
the receiving module is further configured to receive a policy control update packet;
the parsing unit is further configured to parse the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet; and
the replacement module is configured to replace the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet.

[0016] With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the replacement module is specifically configured to:

replace the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet.



[0017] A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a service traffic processing apparatus, including: a receiving module, an obtaining module, and a sending module, where
the receiving module is configured to receive a registration request message sent by a home gateway HG, where the registration request message includes an identifier of the HG;
the obtaining module is configured to obtain, according to the identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG; and
the sending module is configured to send the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0018] In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the sending module is further configured to send a policy control update packet to the HG, so that the HG replaces a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0019] According to the service traffic processing method provided in the embodiments, an HG sends a registration request message that includes an identifier of the HG to a server, the HG receives a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server according to the identifier of the HG, and the HG determines, according to the policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. Because the HG may compare the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic with the policy control packet, to determine a transmission tunnel that is corresponding to the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, fine control of service traffic transmission is implemented by the HG.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS



[0020] To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show some embodiments of the present invention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an HAAP network networking structure on which a service traffic processing method is based according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.


DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS



[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an HAAP network networking structure on which a service traffic processing method is based according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the HAAP network networking structure includes a server 1, a home gateway 2, a base station 3, a DSL access multiplexer 4, a gateway control device 5, and user equipment. The user equipment includes terminal devices such as a computer 6, a television 7, and a set-top box 8. Two communications links are established between the HAAP server 1 and the home gateway 2. One is a GRE over LTE link established for accessing a wireless core network by using the base station 3, and the other is a GRE over DSL link established by using the DSL access multiplexer (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer, DSLAM for short) 4 and a broadband network gateway (Broadband Network Gateway, BNG for short) 5. The two links jointly form one HAAP tunnel. User equipment (for example, the computer 6, and the set-top box 8 connected to the television 7) of the home gateway 2 may transmit service traffic by using the GRE over LTE link or the GRE over DSL link.

Embodiment 1



[0023] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0024] 101. An HG sends a registration request message to a server.

[0025] The registration request message includes an identifier of the HG, so that the server obtains, according to the identifier of the HG, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

[0026] In this embodiment, for example, the server may be an HAAP server, or may be another server, which is not limited herein. A series of rules are preset on the server. After the server receives a policy control packet generation command, the server generates different policy control packets by using multiple rules and according to the command. The server obtains the corresponding policy control packet according to the identifier of the HG when receiving the registration request message that includes the identifier of the HG. Specifically, the identifier of the HG is an identifier of the HG itself, for example, an Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, IP for short) address of the HG. The server divides multiple HGs into several groups in advance, and allocates one group identifier to each group. The server may identify, according to the IP address of the HG, a group in which the HG is located, obtain a group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, and obtain, according to the group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, the policy control packet corresponding to the HG.

[0027] In addition, in this embodiment, the policy control packet is obtained by means of extension on the basis of an existing Generic Routing Encapsulation (Generic Routing Encapsulation, GRE for short) packet. For example, when a protocol number carried in the GRE packet is 0x0101, it is indicated that the GRE packet carries an HAAP protocol packet (where the HAAP protocol packet is a packet used for communication between an HAAP server and an HG). An enumerated value 8 may be added to a MsgType field in the HAAP protocol packet to represent the policy control packet. A format of the policy control packet is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Format of the policy control packet
Message header1 byteMessage type + Tunnel type
AVP 1 byte avp_type
2 bytes avp_length
4 bytes commit_time
2 bytes packet_sum
2 bytes packet_id
Variable length filter_list_tlv
AVP 1 byte end_avp


[0028] In Table 1, the policy control packet includes the message header, avp_type, avp_length, commit_time, packet_sum, packet_id, filter_list_tlv, and end_avp, where avp_type indicates a packet format type of the policy control packet, avp_length indicates a packet length of the policy control packet, commit_time is a sending time of the policy control packet, packet_sum indicates a total quantity of fragments of the policy control packet, packet_id indicates a fragment sequence of a current policy control packet, filter_list_tlv indicates a specific rule in the policy control packet, and end_avp indicates an end of the policy control packet.

[0029] 102. The HG receives a policy control packet that is corresponding to an identifier of the HG and returned by the server.

[0030] In this embodiment, the policy control packet received by the HG may include one or more rules. These rules may be of different types, or may be of a same type. Specifically, a type of rule in the policy control packet may be shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Type of the rule in the policy control packet
filter_list_tlv
Filter typeTLV formatDescription
TYPELEN GTHVALUE     
EnableDescription lengthDescription ValueFilter valueValue Object 
2 Bytes2 Bytes2 Bytes2 Bytes0∼32 bytes0∼256 bytes  
Filter list FQDN 0x0001   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String FQDN value
DSCP 0x0002   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   integer DSCP value
DSTPORT 0x0003   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   integer Single destination port.
DSTIP 0x0004   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Destination IPv4 address with mask or destination IPv6
                  address with mask.
DSTIPPORT 0x0005   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Destination IPv4 address with mask and port or destination IPv6 address with mask and port
SRCPORT 0x0006   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   integer Single source port.
SRCIP 0x0007   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Source IPv4 address with mask or source IPv6 address with mask.
SRCIP PORT 0x0008   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Source IPv4 address with mask and port or source IPv6 address with mask and port
SRC HW 0x0009   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Source MAC address
PROTOCOL 0x000A   0x0001   0∼32 bytes   String Only four types of protocols:
                  "TCP", "UDP", "HTTP", "SIP"
End TLV 0xFFFF NA NA NA NA NA NA End TLV
Example 0x0004 0x0013 0x0001 0x0003 aaa 12.12. 12.12/ 32   Telekom list "aaa" is destination IP address 12.12.12.12/ 32


[0031] In Table 2, a filter type is a type of the rule in the policy control packet. A specific type includes a fully qualified domain name (Fully Qualified Domain Name, FQDN for short), a differentiated services code point (Differentiated Services Code Point, DSCP for short), a destination port (destination port, DSTPORT for short), a destination IP (destination Internet Protocol, DSTIP for short), a destination IP port DSTIPPORT, a source port (Single source port, SRCPORT for short), a source IP (source IP, SRCIP for short), a source IP port SRCIPPORT, a source Media Access Control MAC address SRCHW, and a protocol PROTOCOL. It should be noted that some types of the rule in the policy control packet are listed in this embodiment, and the rule in the policy control packet may be of another type and/or another format, which is not limited in the present invention. Another rule type and rule format may be set in an actual operation.

[0032] In this embodiment, for example, the policy control packet received by the HG includes two rules: a first rule and a second rule. A type of the first rule is an FQDN, a type of the second rule is a DSCP, and the type of the first rule is different from the type of the second rule. If both of the types of the two rules (for example, the first rule and the second rule) in the policy control packet received by the HG are a DSTIP, although a filter value corresponding to the type DSTIP of the first rule is 12.12.12.12/32, and a filter value corresponding to the type DSTIP of the second rule is 12.12.12.12/57, the two rules (for example, the first rule and the second rule) are of the same type, that is, the DSTIP.

[0033] In addition, the HG receives the policy control packet returned by the server. When there are more rules in the policy control packet received by the HG from the server, a capacity of the policy control packet is larger. The policy control packet may be a fragmented policy control packet. After receiving all fragments of the same policy control packet, the HG sends a policy control ACK packet to the server to acknowledge that the sending succeeds. A format of the policy control ACK packet is shown in Table 3.

[0034] In this embodiment, the policy control ACK packet is also obtained by means of extension on the basis of an existing GRE packet. For example, when a protocol number carried in the GRE packet is 0x0101, it is indicated that the GRE packet carries an HAAP protocol packet (where the HAAP protocol packet is a packet used for communication between an HAAP server and an HG). An enumerated value 30 may be added to a MsgType field in the HAAP protocol packet to represent the policy control ACK packet. Specifically, the format of the policy control ACK packet is shown in Table 3.
Table 3 Format of the policy control ACK packet
Message header1 byteMessage type + Tunnel type
AVP 1 byte avp_type
2 bytes avp_length
4 bytes commit_time
1 byte error_code
AVP 1 byte end_avp


[0035] In Table 3, the policy control ACK packet includes the message header, error_code, avp_type, avp_length, commit_time, and end_avp, where error_code indicates a packet error code, and content indicated by avp_type, avp-length, commit_time, and end_avp is the same as that in Table 1. Details are not described herein again.

[0036] 103. The HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0037] In this embodiment, for example, if service traffic to be sent by an HG user is voice service traffic, the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, the tunnel that is to be used for transmission is a DSL-only link, so as to ensure voice quality. If service traffic to be sent by an HG user is general Internet access service traffic, the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, the tunnel that is to be used for transmission is an HAAP tunnel. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The rule in the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic may be set according to an actual requirement, so that different service traffic enters, for transmission, tunnels that meet corresponding requirements.

[0038] According to the service traffic processing method provided in this embodiment, an HG sends a registration request message that includes an identifier of the HG to a server, the HG receives a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server, and the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. Because the HG may compare the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic with the policy control packet, to determine a transmission tunnel that is corresponding to the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, fine control of service traffic transmission is implemented by the HG.

[0039] Optionally, on the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 1, the service traffic processing method further includes step 104 (not shown in the figure).

[0040] 104. The HG receives a policy control update packet, and replaces a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0041] In this embodiment, after the policy control packet on the server is reconfigured, the server sends corresponding policy control update packets to all HGs. After an HG (for example, an HG1) receives a policy control update packet corresponding to an identifier of the HG1, the HG1 replaces an original rule in a policy control packet in the HG1 with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0042] Optionally, in step 104, the replacing a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet specifically includes: replacing the original rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if the HG1 determines that a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet. For example, when the HG1 parses the received policy control update packet, if a value of commit_time in the policy control update packet is 2014.06.21.08.32.16, and a value of original commit_time in the policy control packet in the HG1 is 2014.06.21.08.30.24, the HG1 replaces the original rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet.

[0043] In this embodiment, an HG receives a policy control update packet, parses the policy control update packet, and replaces an original rule in a policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet when a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet. The policy control packet may be dynamically updated according to an actual requirement, which implements dynamic control of service traffic transmission by the HG.

Embodiment 2



[0044] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0045] 201. An HG sends a registration request message to a server.

[0046] The registration request message includes an identifier of the HG, so that the server obtains, according to the identifier of the HG, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

[0047] In this embodiment, a series of rules are preset on the server. After the server receives a policy control packet generation command, the server generates different policy control packets by using multiple rules and according to the command. The server obtains the corresponding policy control packet according to the identifier of the HG when receiving the registration request message that includes the identifier of the HG Specifically, the identifier of the HG is an identifier of the HG itself, for example, an IP address of the HG. The server divides multiple HGs into several groups in advance, and allocates one group identifier to each group. The server may identify, according to the IP address of the HG, a group in which the HG is located, obtain a group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, and obtain, according to the group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, the policy control packet corresponding to the HG.

[0048] 202. The HG receives a policy control packet that is corresponding to an identifier of the HG and returned by the server.

[0049] In this embodiment, step 201 and step 202 are the same as step 101 and step 102 in the foregoing Embodiment 1, and details are not described herein again.

[0050] 203. The HG parses the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet.

[0051] In this embodiment, a format of the policy control packet received by the HG is shown in Table 1 in the foregoing Embodiment 1. The HG parses the policy control packet to obtain a field with a rule, that is, content of a filter_list_tlv field, and the content of the filter_list_tlv field is the rule that is carried in the policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

[0052] 204. The HG performs matching processing on the rule in the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and performs step 205 if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet; or performs step 206 if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet.

[0053] 205. Determine a DSL-only link as a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and perform step 207.

[0054] 206. Determine an HAAP tunnel as a tunnel that is to be used for transmission.

[0055] Specifically, the technical solution in this embodiment is described in detail by using a rule of a DSTIP type as an example. Packets that carry to-be-sent service traffic and are to be sent by the HG are IP packets, and include fields such as a source MAC address, a destination MAC address, a source IP address, a DSTIP, and a protocol number. The HG parses the received policy control packet, and obtains the rule in the policy control packet by means of parsing. For example, a type code of a rule is 0x0004, that is, the rule is a DSTIP. A filter value corresponding to the DSTIP is 12.12.12.12/32. The HG further parses the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. If a filter value corresponding to a DSTIP in the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic is 12.12.12.12/32, it is considered that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches the rule. If a filter value corresponding to a DSTIP in the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic is not 12.12.12.12/32, it is considered that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic does not match the rule of a DSTIP type, and then the HG continues to determine, according to the foregoing method, another rule in the policy control packet and another field in the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, to check whether the another rule in the policy control packet matches the another field in the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, and if the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches any one of the rules in the policy control packet corresponding to the HG, determines the DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, or if the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of the rules in the policy control packet corresponding to the HG, determines the HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.

[0056] 207. Send, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0057] In this embodiment, after determining the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the HG sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0058] According to the service traffic processing method provided in this embodiment, an HG sends a registration request message that includes an identifier of the HG to a server, the HG receives a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server, and the HG obtains a rule in the policy control packet by means of parsing; performs matching processing on the rule and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determines a DSL-only link as a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, the HG determines an HAAP tunnel as a tunnel that is to be used for transmission; and sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, so that the HG specifically controls, according to the policy control packet, different service traffic to enter different tunnels for transmission, which implements fine control of service traffic transmission by the HG.

[0059] Optionally, on the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 2, the service traffic processing method further includes step 208 (not shown in the figure).

[0060] 208. The HG receives a policy control update packet, and replaces the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0061] In this embodiment, after the policy control packet on the server is reconfigured, the server sends, to all HGs, policy control update packets corresponding to identifiers of the HGs. After an HG (for example, an HG1) receives a policy control update packet corresponding to an identifier of the HG1, the HG1 parses the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet, and replaces, with the rule in the policy control update packet, all rules in a policy control packet that are originally stored in the HG1.

[0062] Optionally, in step 208, the replacing the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet specifically includes: replacing the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if the HG1 determines that a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet. For example, when the HG1 parses the received policy control update packet, if a value of commit_time in the policy control update packet is 2014.06.21.08.32.16, and a value of original commit_time in the policy control packet in the HG1 is 2014.06.21.08.30.24, the HG1 replaces, with the rule in the policy control update packet, all the original rules in the policy control packet that are obtained by means of parsing.

[0063] In this embodiment, an HG receives a policy control update packet, parses the policy control update packet, and replaces an original rule in a policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet when a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet. The policy control packet may be dynamically updated according to an actual requirement, which implements dynamic control of service traffic transmission by the HG.

Embodiment 3



[0064] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a service traffic processing method according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps.

[0065] 301. A server receives a registration request message sent by an HG, and obtains, according to an identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

[0066] In this embodiment, a series of rules are preset on the server. After the server receives a policy control packet generation command, the server generates different policy control packets by using multiple rules and according to the command. The server obtains the corresponding policy control packet according to the identifier of the HG when receiving the registration request message that includes the identifier of the HG. Specifically, the identifier of the HG is an identifier of the HG itself, for example, an IP address of the HG. The server divides multiple HGs into several groups in advance, and allocates one group identifier to each group. The server may identify, according to the IP address of the HG, a group in which the HG is located, obtain a group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, and obtain, according to the group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, the policy control packet corresponding to the HG.

[0067] In addition, in this embodiment, for example, the server may be an HAAP server, or may be another server, which is not limited herein. The identifier of the HG is an identifier of the HG itself, for example, an Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, IP for short) address of the HG. The server divides multiple HGs into several groups in advance, and allocates one group identifier to each group. The server may identify, according to the IP address of the HG, a group in which the HG is located, obtain a group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, and obtain, according to the group identifier of the group in which the HG is located, the policy control packet corresponding to the group identifier of the HG.

[0068] In this embodiment, the policy control packet is obtained by means of extension on the basis of an existing GRE packet. For example, when a protocol number carried in the GRE packet is 0x0101, it is indicated that the GRE packet carries an HAAP protocol packet (where the HAAP protocol packet is a packet used for communication between an HAAP server and an HG). An enumerated value 8 may be added to a MsgType field in the HAAP protocol packet to represent the policy control packet, or an enumerated value 30 may be added to a MsgType field in the HAAP protocol packet to represent a policy control ACK packet. Specifically, a format of the policy control packet is shown in Table 1 in the foregoing Embodiment 1, and a format of the policy control ACK packet is shown in Table 3 in the foregoing Embodiment 1.

[0069] In this embodiment, the HG is configured to send the registration request message to the server. The registration request message includes the identifier of the HG, so that the server obtains, according to the identifier of the HG, the policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

[0070] 302. The server sends the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0071] In this embodiment, the server sends the policy control packet to the HG. After receiving the policy control packet, the HG determines, according to a rule in the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic enters the corresponding tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. For example, by using the policy control packet, voice traffic on the HG may be controlled to enter a DSL-only link for transmission, and general Internet access traffic may be controlled to enter an HAAP tunnel for transmission.

[0072] For a specific implementation method, refer to the implementation method of step 203 and step 204 in the foregoing Embodiment 2. Details are not described herein again.

[0073] In this embodiment, the server may fragment the policy control packet, and send a fragmented policy control packet to the HG. The HG sends a policy control ACK packet to the server after receiving all fragmented policy control packets of the same policy control packet. If the server does not receive the policy control ACK packet within a preset time after sending the policy control packet to the HG, the server resends the policy control packet to the HG. If the policy control ACK packet replied by the HG is still not received after resending is performed for a preset quantity of times, the server clears related information of the HG, and the HG automatically gets offline. For example, after the server sends all the fragmented policy control packets of the same policy control packet to the HG, if the policy control ACK packet replied by the HG is not received within the preset time, the server resends the policy control packet to the HG according to a delay of 3 seconds, 5 seconds, or 7 seconds. If the policy control ACK packet replied by the HG is still not received within the preset time after resending is performed three times, the server clears the related information of the HG. Because the HG sends a heartbeat detection message to the server according to a particular time interval, when the HG still does not receive, after sending the heartbeat detection message multiple times, a heartbeat detection ACK message returned by the server, the HG automatically gets offline.

[0074] In this embodiment, the HG may perform step 102 and step 103 in the foregoing Embodiment 1, or may perform step 202 to step 207 in the foregoing Embodiment 2, and details are not described herein again.

[0075] According to the service traffic processing method provided in this embodiment, a server sends a registration request message that includes an identifier of an HG to the HG, and the server obtains, according to the identifier of the HG, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG, and sends the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic. The server controls, by using the policy control packet, different service traffic on the HG to enter different tunnels for transmission, which implements fine control of service traffic transmission by the HG.

[0076] Optionally, on the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 3, the service traffic processing method further includes step 303 (not shown in the figure).

[0077] 303. The server sends a policy control update packet to the HG, where the policy control update packet is used by the HG to replace a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.

[0078] In this embodiment, after the policy control packet on the server is reconfigured, the server actively sends, to all HGs, policy control update packets corresponding to identifiers of the HGs. After an HG (for example, an HG1) receives a policy control update packet corresponding to an identifier of the HG1, the HG1 parses the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet, and replaces, with the rule in the policy control update packet, all original rules in the HG1 that are obtained by parsing the policy control packet.

[0079] In this embodiment, a server sends a policy control update packet to an HG, so that the HG parses the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet, and replaces, with the rule in the policy control update packet, a rule that is in the policy control packet and obtained by means of parsing. The policy control packet may be dynamically updated on a server side according to an actual requirement, which implements dynamic control of service traffic transmission by the HG.

Embodiment 4



[0080] FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus includes: a sending module 11, a receiving module 12, a determining module 13, and a traffic transmission module 14. The sending module 11 is configured to send a registration request message to a server, where the registration request message includes an identifier of an HG, so that the server obtains, according to the identifier of the HG, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG. The receiving module 12 is configured to receive the policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server. The determining module 13 is configured to determine, according to the policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission. The traffic transmission module 14 is configured to send, by using the tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0081] The apparatus in this embodiment may execute the technical solution in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 2. Implementation principles and beneficial effects thereof are similar, and details are not described herein again.

[0082] Optionally, the service traffic processing apparatus may be disposed on the HG corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

Embodiment 5



[0083] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. On the basis of the embodiment in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the determining module 13 includes: a parsing unit 21 and a matching processing unit 22. The parsing unit 21 is configured to parse the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet. The matching processing unit 22 is configured to: perform matching processing on the rule and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determine a digital subscriber line DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission; or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, determine a hybrid access aggregation point HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.

[0084] Optionally, the service traffic processing apparatus further includes: a replacement module 23, configured to replace, with a rule in the policy control update packet, the rule that is in the policy control packet and obtained by means of parsing. The receiving module 12 is further configured to receive the policy control update packet. The parsing unit 21 is further configured to parse the policy control update packet to obtain the rule in the policy control update packet.

[0085] Optionally, the replacement module 23 is specifically configured to: if a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet, replace, with the update rule, the rule that is in the policy control packet and obtained by means of parsing.

[0086] The apparatus in this embodiment may execute the technical solution in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 3. Implementation principles and beneficial effects thereof are similar, and details are not described herein again.

[0087] Optionally, the service traffic processing apparatus may be disposed on the HG corresponding to the identifier of the HG.

Embodiment 6



[0088] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a service traffic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the apparatus includes: a receiving module 31, an obtaining module 32, and a sending module 33. The receiving module 31 is configured to receive a registration request message sent by a home gateway HG, where the registration request message includes an identifier of the HG. The obtaining module 32 is configured to obtain, according to the identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG. The sending module 33 is configured to send the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.

[0089] Optionally, the sending module 33 is further configured to send a policy control update packet to the HG, so that the HG parses the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet, and replaces, with the rule in the policy control update packet, a rule that is in the policy control packet and obtained by means of parsing.

[0090] The apparatus in this embodiment may execute the technical solution in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 4. Implementation principles and beneficial effects thereof are similar, and details are not described herein again.

[0091] Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some of the steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware. The foregoing program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program runs, the steps of the method embodiments are performed. The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

[0092] Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merely intended for describing the technical solutions in the present invention, but not for limiting the present invention. Although the present invention is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they may still make modifications to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to some or all technical features thereof, without departing from the scope of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention.


Claims

1. A service traffic processing method, comprising:

sending, by a home gateway HG, a registration request message to a server, wherein the registration request message comprises an identifier of the HG;

receiving, by the HG, a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server; and

determining, by the HG according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sending, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.


 
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the HG according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission specifically comprises:

parsing, by the HG, the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet; and

performing, by the HG, matching processing on the rule in the policy control packet and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determining a digital subscriber line DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission; or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, determining a hybrid access aggregation point HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.


 
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

receiving, by the HG, a policy control update packet, and replacing the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.


 
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the replacing the rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet specifically comprises:

replacing the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if the HG determines that a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet.


 
5. A service traffic processing method, comprising:

receiving, by a server, a registration request message sent by a home gateway HG, and obtaining, according to an identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG; and

sending, by the server, the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.


 
6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: sending, by the server, a policy control update packet to the HG, so that the HG replaces a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.
 
7. A service traffic processing apparatus, comprising: a sending module, a receiving module, a determining module, and a traffic transmission module, wherein
the sending module is configured to send a registration request message to a server, wherein the registration request message comprises an identifier of a home gateway HG;
the receiving module is configured to receive a policy control packet that is corresponding to the identifier of the HG and returned by the server;
the determining module is configured to determine, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission; and
the traffic transmission module is configured to send, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.
 
8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the determining module comprises a parsing unit and a matching processing unit, wherein
the parsing unit is configured to parse the policy control packet to obtain a rule in the policy control packet; and
the matching processing unit is configured to: perform matching processing on the rule and the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic; and if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches at least one of rules in the policy control packet, determine a digital subscriber line DSL-only link as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission; or if it is determined that the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic matches none of rules in the policy control packet, determine a hybrid access aggregation point HAAP tunnel as the tunnel that is to be used for transmission.
 
9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: a replacement module, wherein
the receiving module is further configured to receive a policy control update packet;
the parsing unit is further configured to parse the policy control update packet to obtain a rule in the policy control update packet; and
the replacement module is configured to replace the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet.
 
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the replacement module is specifically configured to:

replace the rule in the policy control packet with the rule in the policy control update packet if a packet sending time of the policy control update packet is later than a packet sending time of the policy control packet.


 
11. A service traffic processing apparatus, comprising: a receiving module, an obtaining module, and a sending module, wherein
the receiving module is configured to receive a registration request message sent by a home gateway HG, wherein the registration request message comprises an identifier of the HG;
the obtaining module is configured to obtain, according to the identifier of the HG in the registration request message, a policy control packet corresponding to the identifier of the HG; and
the sending module is configured to send the policy control packet to the HG, so that the HG determines, according to the policy control packet and a packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic, a tunnel that is to be used for transmission, and sends, by using the determined tunnel that is to be used for transmission, the packet carrying to-be-sent service traffic.
 
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the sending module is further configured to send a policy control update packet to the HG, so that the HG replaces a rule in the policy control packet with a rule in the policy control update packet.
 
13. A network system, comprising:

the service traffic processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10; and

the service traffic processing apparatus according to claim 11 or claim 12.


 




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Cited references

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION



This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description