Method for providing guaranteed quality of service in IP network and system thereof

• US 7,319,691 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2004
• Issued: 01/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Li, Guoping, Ge, Jiandong, Qing, Wu, Huang, Jianzhong
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan; Wing
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cho; Hong Sol
• Application Number:
  US10/774,100
• Publication Number:
  US 20040215817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/351, 370/389, 370/392, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 370/400, 370/401, 709/226, 709239-242
• US Class Current: 370/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/50 using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13166 Fault prevention
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13204 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13348 Channel/line reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for providing guaranteed Quality of Services (QoS) in an IP network. In the invention, separated with the function of route selection for IP packets in IP bearer network, the same function for services with guaranteed QoS requirements is accomplished by bearer network resource managers in bearer control layer. After completing the route selection according to network resource occupation condition, the bearer network resource managers control the edge routers so that the traffic streams can be forwarded according to the path designated by the resource manager in the bearer network with multi-level label stack technology. The invention also discloses a system for providing guaranteed QoS in an IP network. The method and system according to the invention have good expansibility and little impact to the prior network.

Claims

1. A method for providing guaranteed Quality of Services (QoS) in an IP network, comprising:

configuring a service bearer logic network layer from a basic network layer for a service type for bearing traffic streams with guaranteed QoS requirements;

after receiving a service request with guaranteed QoS requirement from a subscriber, obtaining, by a service control layer, addresses of a source subscriber and a destination subscriber and QoS parameters of the service through analyzing the service request, and sending a route selection and resource application request to a bearer control layer;

allocating, by a bearer network resource manager in the bearer control layer, resources and route from the source subscriber to the destination subscriber which comprises multiple Label Switched Paths for the service in the service bearer logic network of this service type according to the addresses of the source subscriber and the destination subscriber, generating a multi-level label stack for the resources and route, and informing the multi-level label stack to the service bearer logic network; and

forwarding traffic streams in the service bearer logic network according to labels configured in the multi-level label stack generated by the bearer network resource manager in the bearer control layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service bearer logic network layer comprises edge nodes and tandem switching nodes, between any two nodes Label Switched Path (LSP) connections are established with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the tandem switching nodes are part of core routers selected from network resource management areas of the service bearer logic network layer.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein different network resource management areas are respectively managed by correspondent bearer network resource manager.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein levels of the multi-level label stack are decreased by one level each time an MPLS packet of the service passes a tandem switching node.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the just passed LSP ends after the MPLS packet of the service passes the tandem switching node, the label representing the LSP in the multi-level label stack is popped at the tandem switching node or at a second last hop router in the LSP, the tandem switching node forwards the MPLS packet according to the current top label representing a next LSP.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

informing the service control layer to reject the service request from the subscriber if a bearer network resource manager finds the route selection is failed due to no enough resources in the logic topology of the area.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein service bearer logic network layers for different service types have the same topology.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a network structure of the service bearer logic network layer is identical with the network structure of a public telephone network.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service bearer logic network layer comprises any one of:

a metropolitan area network, a provincial backbone network, a national backbone network and an international backbone network.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the basic network layer comprises any one of:

an IP backbone network, a local area network, a metropolitan network and an internet network.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service with guaranteed QoS requirement comprises any one of:

a voice service, a video communication service, a stream media video service and other services with special QoS requirement.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

after a subscriber terminates or finishes the service, releasing, by the bearer control layer, resources occupied by the service, and informing correspondent edge routers to cancel processing for the traffic stream of the service.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein service bearer logic network layers for different service types have different topologies.

15. A system for providing guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) in an IP network, comprising:

a basic network layer, comprising edge routers and core routers, for bearing various IP service packets;

a service bearer logic layer, planned and configured from the basic network layer and divided into multiple network resource management areas, comprising edge nodes, tandem switching nodes and connections between any two nodes, for bearing traffic streams with guaranteed QoS requirements;

a bearer control layer, comprising bearer network resource managers, for managing the resources of a network resource management area for the service bearer logic layer; and

a service control layer, comprising multiple service control layer servers, for processing service requests;

wherein the bearer network resource manager allocates resources and route comprising multiple Label Switched Paths in the service bearer logic layer for a service, generates a multi-level label stack for the resources and route, wherein the multi-level label stack comprises multiple labels each of the label stands for an LSP of the route, and informs the multi-level label stack to the service bearer logic layer; and

the service bearer logic network forwards the traffic streams of the service along the LSPs represented by the labels configured in the multi-level label stack.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the logic connections between nodes in the service bearer logic layer are Label Switching Path (LSP) connections established with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology.