JP6783206B2 - Home device control device, control method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network control technique.

Patent Document 1 discloses a control technique for maintaining communication quality against traffic fluctuations. According to Patent Document 1, when the number of packets or the number of bytes arriving during the measurement period exceeds a predetermined threshold value, congestion is avoided by changing the destination of the packets.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-216961

However, the configuration of Patent Document 1 starts the congestion avoidance control triggered by the detection of congestion, and the communication quality deteriorates during the period from the congestion detection to the effect of the congestion avoidance control.

The present invention provides a control device, a control method, and a program for controlling a home device so as to suppress deterioration of communication quality.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the control device for controlling the home device installed at the plurality of bases of each company network of the plurality of company networks is a plurality of control targets installed at each base of each of the company networks . Among the home devices, the first acquisition means for acquiring communication information indicating the communication status of the link from each of the home devices that terminates the link connecting the bases via the Internet, and the predetermined event information from the Internet server. A second acquisition means to be acquired, a first link via the Internet where congestion occurs due to congestion on the Internet based on the communication information and the event information, and a prediction means for predicting the congestion period occurring on the first link. During the predicted congestion period of the first link, at least one part of the traffic flowing to the first link before the congestion period is connected between the same bases as the first link. It is characterized in that it is provided with a control means for controlling the first link and the first home device for terminating the second link so as to flow to the second link.

According to the present invention, deterioration of communication quality can be suppressed.

The figure which shows the enterprise network by one Embodiment. The block diagram of a part in the base A of FIG. The explanatory view of the control method of CPE by a control device. The block diagram of the control device by one Embodiment.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are examples, and the present invention is not limited to the contents of the embodiments. Further, in each of the following figures, components not necessary for the description of the embodiment will be omitted from the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a corporate network of a company A for explaining the present embodiment. According to FIG. 1, company A has three bases A, B, and C, and a network is constructed so that one base is connected to each of the other bases by three bidirectional links. Since the configurations in the bases A, B, and C are the same, the three links to the base B in the base A will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, the customer premises equipment (CPE: Customer Premium Equipment) 1 is installed by the telecommunications carrier A and terminates three bidirectional links 7, 8 and 9 connected to the CPE of the base B. Of these, the bidirectional link 7 is set via the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network 2 provided by the telecommunications carrier A. The bidirectional link 7 via the MPLS network 2 is a bandwidth-guaranteed or secured link, but is generally expensive. The MPLS link is an example, and the bidirectional link 7 can be a link via an arbitrary network that guarantees or secures the bandwidth. On the other hand, the bidirectional link 8 is set via the Internet 3, for example, using VPN technology. It is assumed that the bidirectional link 8 uses the line provided by the telecommunications carrier A to access the Internet 3. The bidirectional link 9 is also set via the Internet 3, for example, using VPN technology, but the bidirectional link 9 uses a line provided by the carrier B to access the Internet 3. .. Bidirectional links 8 and 9 via the Internet 3 are generally inexpensive, but their communication status may fluctuate due to other traffic flowing through the Internet 3. Of the two-way links 7, 8 and 9, the links in the direction from the base A to the base B are designated as links 71, 81 and 91, respectively, and the links in the direction from the base B to the base A are linked, respectively. It is set to 72, 82 and 92.

In the present embodiment, the control device 6 is a device installed by the telecommunications carrier A in the network operated by the telecommunications carrier A, and can communicate with the CPE 1 by a bidirectional link 4 via the MPLS network 2. It is configured. Of the bidirectional links 4, the link in the direction from the CPE 1 to the control device 6 is referred to as the link 41, and the link in the direction from the control device 6 to the CPE 1 is referred to as the link 42. The control device 6 may be configured to communicate with the CPE 1 via the Internet 3. CPE1 distributes the traffic from the network of the base A of the company A to the network of the base B to the links 71, 81 and 91 based on the setting information. The setting information is, for example, information indicating the relationship between one or more combinations of a destination address, a source address, a destination port number, a source port number, and the like, and a link of a distribution destination. This setting information is set in the control device 6 based on a prior agreement between the company A and the telecommunications carrier A, and the control device 6 sets this setting information in the CPE 1 via the link 42. The control device 6 is not only connected to the CPE installed at each base of the company A, but also connected to each CPE installed at each base of the corporate network of a plurality of companies contracting with the telecommunications carrier A. To.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the control device 6. As described above, the control device 6 is connected to each CPE installed at each base of the plurality of corporate networks. However, in order to simplify the figure and the description, in FIG. Only CPE1 installed at the base A of the company A is shown. Further, the control device 6 similarly controls the CPE 1 described below for the other CPEs to be controlled.

The control device 6 repeatedly collects communication information of packets received by the CPE to be controlled via the link set via the Internet 3. Communication information is collected individually for each link. For example, the communication information of the links 82 and 92 is repeatedly acquired from CPE1, respectively. Further, although not shown, the communication information of the links 81 and 91 is repeatedly acquired from the CPE of the base B of the company A, respectively. Here, the communication information is information related to the communication state of the link, and includes, for example, information on the packet loss rate, the packet delay (latency), the packet delay fluctuation (jitter), and the like. In addition, the control device 6 repeatedly collects traffic information indicating the amount of data traffic transmitted by the CPE to other bases. The traffic information is also acquired for each link. For example, the traffic information of links 71, 81, and 91 is repeatedly acquired from CPE1 of the base A of the company A, respectively. Further, the control device 6 collects event information from each server on the Internet 3.

Here, the event information is information indicating an event that affects the traffic of the Internet 3. As an example, the distribution of widely used smartphone, tablet, and PC update software over the Internet 3 is an event that affects the traffic of the Internet 3. Also, the start of downloading the new popular game software via the Internet 3 is an event that affects the traffic of the Internet 3. The operator of the telecommunications carrier A determines which server of the Internet 3 the control device 6 accesses and which information is acquired, and sets the control device 6 in the control device 6. At this time, basically, the operator of the telecommunications carrier A determines an event that affects the traffic of the Internet 3 from past experience and the like, and sets it in the control device 6. However, at this time, the operator of the telecommunications carrier A regarding an event for which it is unknown whether or not it affects the traffic of the Internet 3 or an event that is not considered to affect the traffic of the Internet 3 at that time. Can also be set in the control device 6 as event information.

The control device 6 predicts the occurrence of future congestion due to the congestion of the Internet 3 for each link via the Internet 3 by machine learning, for example, from the transition of the past communication information. Here, the congestion of a link due to the congestion of the Internet 3 excludes the congestion that occurs only in a certain link regardless of the Internet 3. As described above, the control device 6 acquires communication information from the CPEs of the plurality of bases of the plurality of corporate networks. Further, the control device 6 stores in advance the topology information of the network managed by the control device 6, such as the link to which each CPE to be controlled is connected, the network through which the link passes, and the business operator. Thus, for example, the state in which only the communication state of a single link 81 deteriorates and all other links of company A and other companies are normal is not the congestion of the link 81 due to the congestion of the Internet 3. Can be judged. Event information is also used in this machine learning. Therefore, by machine learning, the control device 6 is affected by the congestion of the Internet 3 due to the congestion of the Internet 3 from the timing of the congestion occurring at the links 81 and 91 and the schedule of the future event, regardless of the event. The timing of congestion occurring at links 81 and 91 can be predicted. Note that the event information includes not only events that are known to affect the traffic of the Internet 3, but also events that are unknown whether or not they affect the traffic of the Internet 3 and events that affect the traffic of the Internet 3. Although he said he could set up unthinkable events, machine learning also reveals which events actually affect which links.

The links 81 and 91 in FIG. 2 both go through the Internet 3, but the carriers in the access sections at both ends thereof are different, and in general, the occurrence of congestion on the Internet 3 is local. Therefore, even if the Internet 3 is congested, the links 81 and 91 are not always congested at the same time. That is, even if the link 81 is in a congested state, the link 91 may not be in a congested state. Similarly, even if the link 91 is in a congested state, the link 81 may not be in a congested state.

Based on machine learning, the control device 6 predicts the period during which congestion will occur for each link via the Internet 3, and when congestion occurs before the predicted congestion occurrence period (hereinafter referred to as congestion prediction period). Send new configuration information to the CPE that directs traffic to the predicted link. For example, regarding the control of the CPE 1 of the base A of the company A, the control device 6 transmits new setting information to the CPE 1 before the congestion prediction period of each of the links 81 and 91. For example, when the control device 6 predicts the congestion of the link 81, the CPE 1 provides the CPE 1 with setting information indicating that all the traffic previously flowing to the link 81 is sent to the link 91 during the congestion prediction period. Can be sent. As a result, the CPE 1 operates so as to flow all the traffic previously flowing to the link 81 to the link 91 during the congestion prediction period of the link 81. It should be noted that the setting information does not allow all the traffic that had been sent to the link 81 until then to flow to the link 91, but causes some of the traffic that had been sent to the link 81 to flow to the link 91. It may be a thing. Note that some traffic to be switched to another link during the congestion prediction period of the link 81 or 91 can be selected in units of an application such as a port number. Further, it can be selected in more detail by one or more combinations of a destination address, a source address, a destination port number, a source port number, and the like. The selection information indicating a part of the traffic to be switched to the other link is specified in advance by the company A, and is set in the control device 6 by the operator of the telecommunications carrier A. Then, for example, the control device 6 transmits the setting information to the CPE 1 so that the traffic indicated by the selection information flows to the link 91 during the congestion prediction period of the link 81.

For example, when the congestion prediction periods of the link 81 and the link 91 are substantially the same, or when they overlap, the traffic flowing through the links 81 and 91 is sent to the link 71 via the MPLS network 2. You can also do it. However, the link 71 is a bandwidth-guaranteed link, and traffic exceeding the contracted bandwidth is discarded. Therefore, the control device 6 predicts the traffic volume of the links 71, 81, and 91 during the congestion prediction period. Therefore, the control device 6 repeatedly acquires the traffic information of each link from each CPE 1, predicts the total traffic volume of the links 71, 81, and 91 in the congestion prediction period by machine learning, and compares it with the contracted bandwidth of the link 71. To do. Here, if the total traffic volume of the links 71, 81 and 91 in the congestion prediction period is equal to or less than the contracted bandwidth, the control device 6 causes the traffic flowing to the links 81 and 91 to be the link 71 during the congestion prediction period. Notify CPE1 of the setting information to make it flow to. On the other hand, when the total traffic volume of the links 71, 81 and 91 in the congestion prediction period exceeds the contract bandwidth, the control device 6 informs the operator of the communication operator A that the links 71, 81 and the links 71, 81 and 91 during the congestion prediction period Displays that the total traffic volume of 91 exceeds the contracted bandwidth and the contracted bandwidth of link 71 required to transmit the total traffic volume of links 71, 81 and 91 over the link 71 during the congestion prediction period. .. For example, when the operator of the telecommunications carrier A obtains the consent of the person in charge of the company A to temporarily change the contract band, the operator sets the temporary change of the contract band in the communication device constituting the MPLS network 2. At the same time, the control device 6 is instructed to continue the process. When the instruction to continue processing is input, the control device 6 transmits the setting information to CPE1.

When the congestion prediction periods of the link 81 and the link 91 are substantially the same, not all the traffic of the link 81 and the link 91 is sent to the link 71, but only a predetermined part of the traffic of the link 81 and 91 is linked. It can be configured to flow to 71. Further, in the above, when congestion is predicted on the link 81 or 91 due to the congestion of the Internet 3, the traffic flowing on the link where the congestion is predicted during the congestion prediction period is sent to another link via the Internet 3. When the links 81 and 91 are congested at substantially the same time due to the congestion of the Internet 3, the traffic flowing through the links 81 and 91 is sent to the link 71 via the MPLS network 2.

However, when congestion is predicted on the link 81 or 91 due to the congestion of the Internet 3, the traffic flowing on the link where the congestion is predicted is sent to the link 71 via the MPLS network 2 during the congestion prediction period. It can also be. Further, when congestion is predicted for the link 81 or 91 due to the congestion of the Internet 3, the link is predicted to be congested during the congestion prediction period within the range not exceeding the contracted band of the link 71 via the MPLS network 2. The flowed traffic may be flowed, and the portion exceeding the contracted band of the link 71 via the MPLS network 2 may be flowed to another link via the Internet 3. In this case, among the traffic flowing to the link 81 or the link 91 before the congestion, the control device 6 exceeds the contracted bandwidth of the link 71 with the traffic flowing to the link 71 during the congestion prediction period of the link 81 or the link 91. Determine within the range that does not exist.

In the above, when it is necessary to temporarily change the contracted bandwidth of the link 71, or more specifically, to increase it, the control device 6 once displays the fact to the operator of the telecommunications carrier A, and the company A. After obtaining the consent of the person in charge of the temporary change of the contracted bandwidth, the subsequent processing was performed. However, if it is necessary to temporarily change the contract bandwidth of the link 71 due to the prior agreement between the company A and the telecommunications carrier A, the contract bandwidth of the link 71 without obtaining an individual agreement from the person in charge of the company A. Can be configured to be temporarily changed. In this case, if the total traffic volume of the links 71, 81 and 91 in the congestion prediction period of the links 81 and 91 exceeds the contracted bandwidth, the control device 6 temporarily contracts with the communication device constituting the MPLS network 2. Set the band change and send the setting information to CPE1.

It is also possible to change the processing related to the temporary change of the contract bandwidth based on the traffic volume in the congestion prediction period of the link where the congestion is predicted. For example, if the traffic volume during the congestion prediction period is very large and it is unavoidable to change the contract bandwidth temporarily, the contract bandwidth will be changed temporarily without individual consent. If not, the company will be in charge. It is also possible to temporarily change the contracted bandwidth after obtaining individual agreement from the parties. In addition, the upper limit of the contract bandwidth that can be changed without individual agreement is decided in advance with the person in charge on the company side, and if it is within this upper limit, the contract bandwidth is temporarily changed without individual agreement and exceeds this upper limit. In this case, the operator of the telecommunications carrier A may be notified to that effect, and the person in charge of the company may be individually agreed upon. Specifically, the control device 6 determines the contracted bandwidth required for the link 71 when the traffic is diverted to the link 71 due to the congestion predicted for the link 81 or 91. Then, if the required contract bandwidth is within a predetermined upper limit, the contract bandwidth is temporarily changed without individual agreement. On the other hand, if the required contract bandwidth exceeds the predetermined upper limit, the operator of the telecommunications carrier A is notified to that effect.

Further, for example, due to the congestion predicted for the link 81, the control device 6 does not bypass the link 71 but continues to flow the traffic to the link 81 while the part of the traffic normally flowing to the link 81 is bypassed to the link 71. Monitor your traffic. Then, the communication state of the link 81, or the reception of another link that is a CPE installed in the same area as the base B that is the receiving side of the link 81 and that the same communication carrier A as the link 81 provides the access section. If it can be determined from the communication state of the CPE on the side that the line quality has not deteriorated, part or all of the traffic bypassed to the link 71 is returned to the link 81, and the temporary contract bandwidth of the link 71 is used as the original contract. It can be configured to return to the band or to reduce the temporary contract band. Further, the control device 6 monitors the traffic diverted to the link 71 while the traffic normally flowing to the link 81 is diverted to the link 71 due to the congestion predicted for the link 81, for example. When the traffic diverted to the link 71 is smaller than the predicted result, the temporary contract band of the link 71 can be returned to the original contract band, or the temporary contract band can be reduced.

The setting information can be configured to be transmitted to the CPE by the control device 6 at the timing of changing the traffic. For example, when the traffic flowing on the link 81 is switched to the link 91 during the congestion prediction period of the link 81, the control device 6 transmits the setting information to the CPE 1 and flows to the link 81 at the start timing of the congestion prediction period. Switch the traffic to link 91. After that, the control device 6 transmits the setting information to the CPE 1 at the end timing of the congestion prediction period to return the traffic pattern to the original state. Further, by adding the information indicating the temporary change period of the traffic to the setting information, the control device 6 can transmit the setting information to the CPE 1 in advance. In this case, CPE1 distributes the traffic to be sent to each link according to the setting information only during the period indicated by the setting information.

Although FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the three bases of the company A are connected by three omnidirectional links, the number of bases may be any number of two or more. Further, as for the links connecting the same bases, the present invention can be applied as long as there is at least one link via the Internet and at least two links via the Internet or a bandwidth-guaranteed link. When using two or more links via the Internet, the operator that provides the access section is different from the other links for at least one link.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the control device 6 according to the present embodiment. The congestion learning unit 61 generates congestion prediction data by machine learning based on the event information and the communication information. The congestion prediction unit 62 predicts the congestion that occurs in the link via the Internet 3 due to the congestion of the Internet 3 based on the future event information and the data for predicting the congestion, and outputs the congestion prediction result. Based on a predetermined policy, the setting control unit 63 determines a link to which traffic is to be distributed to the link where congestion is predicted during the congestion prediction period, and transmits the setting information to CPE1. The predetermined policy is information indicating another link that distributes the traffic of the link and information for specifying the traffic to be distributed to the other link when the congestion of a certain link is predicted.

Further, the traffic learning unit 64 generates traffic prediction data by machine learning based on the traffic information. The traffic prediction unit 65 predicts the traffic volume of the link in the congestion prediction period based on the traffic prediction data. When the setting control unit 63 distributes the traffic flowing to the link 81 or 91 to the link 71 via the MPLS network 2 due to the congestion of the Internet 3, the setting control unit 63 of the link 71 based on the prediction result of the traffic output by the traffic prediction unit 65. Determine if the traffic fits within the contracted bandwidth. If it does not fit within the contracted band of the link 71, the control device 6 can change the contracted band of the link 71 and transmit the setting information to the CPE 1 as described above. Alternatively, if the control device 6 does not fit within the contracted bandwidth of the link 71, the controller 6 is configured to notify the operator that the contracted bandwidth of the link 71 needs to be changed and the required contracted bandwidth is notified as described above. Can be done. It is also possible to set the priority of the link. For example, the priority of the link 71 is lower than that of the links 81 and 91. Then, when congestion is predicted on the link 81, the control device 6 determines whether or not congestion does not occur on the link 91 even if the traffic of the link 81 is sent to the link 91 having a higher priority than the link 71. Then, when the link 91 is not congested, the traffic of the link 81 is sent to the link 91, and when the link 91 is congested, the traffic of the link 81 is sent to the link 71.

In the above embodiment, one link is controlled independently for each direction. For example, the link 81 and the link 82 of the bidirectional link 8 are individually controlled. However, it is also possible to control the bidirectional link as a unit. For example, when congestion is predicted on the link 81 and the traffic of the link 81 is sent to the link 91, the control device 6 also transmits the setting information to the CPE of the base B and sends the traffic flowing to the link 82 to the link 92. Can be controlled in the same way. Further, when the occurrence of congestion is predicted for a plurality of links at the same time, the control device 6 may be configured to transmit the setting information with priority as the source CPE of the link flowing more traffic. ..

As described above, in the present embodiment, the control device 6 installed by the telecommunications carrier A is CPE not only for the telecommunications carrier A but also for the link set via the Internet by the access line provided by the telecommunications carrier B. Get information from and use it for forecasting. The link via the Internet set by using the access line provided by the telecommunications carrier A is mainly set via the telecommunications carrier A's Internet network (a part of the Internet). Similarly, the link via the Internet set by using the access line provided by the telecommunications carrier B is mainly set via the telecommunications carrier B's Internet network (a part of the Internet). In the past, the telecommunications carrier A could only predict the congestion of its own Internet network, but with this configuration, it is possible to predict the congestion of other telecommunications carriers including the Internet network, thus improving the prediction accuracy. It is possible to bypass the traffic flowing through the link in advance based on the prediction.

The control device 6 according to the present invention can be realized by a program that operates a computer as the control device. These computer programs are stored in a computer-readable storage medium or can be distributed over a network.

61: Congestion learning unit, 62: Congestion prediction unit, 63: Setting control unit

Claims (7)

It is a control device that controls home devices installed at multiple bases of each company network of multiple company networks.
Of the plurality of controlled home devices installed at each base of each corporate network, communication information indicating the communication status of the link is acquired from each of the home devices that terminate the link connecting the bases via the Internet. The first acquisition means to do
A second acquisition means for acquiring predetermined event information from the Internet server, and
Based on the communication information and the event information, a first link via the Internet, where congestion occurs due to congestion on the Internet, and a prediction means for predicting the congestion period that occurs on the first link.
During the predicted congestion period of the first link, at least one part of the traffic flowing to the first link before the congestion period is connected between the same bases as the first link. A control means for controlling the first link and the first home device that terminates the second link so as to flow to the second link.
A control device characterized by being equipped with. The second link is a link via the Internet.
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the first link and the second link are provided with an access line to the Internet by different communication carriers. The second link is a bandwidth-guaranteed link.
The control means performs the first link before the congestion period so that the traffic flowing through the second link does not exceed the guaranteed band of the second link during the predicted congestion period of the first link. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic flowing to the second link is determined from the traffic flowing to the second link during the congestion period. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the control means determines, in units of applications, the traffic to be sent to the second link during the predicted congestion period of the first link. The second link is a bandwidth-guaranteed link.
The control device is
Of the traffic flowing to the first link before the predicted congestion period of the first link, the first traffic flowing to the second link during the predicted congestion period of the first link Retention means to hold the information to be shown and
A third acquisition means for acquiring traffic information indicating the amount of traffic flowed by the first home device to the first link and the second link from the first home device.
Based on the traffic information, a second predicting means for predicting the second traffic volume of the second link by flowing the first traffic to the second link during the predicted congestion period of the first link. ,
Is equipped with
When the amount of the second traffic exceeds the guaranteed band of the second link, the control means displays the guaranteed band of the second link required during the predicted congestion period of the first link. The control device according to claim 1, wherein control is performed. A program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the computer functions as the control device. It is a control method by a control device that controls home devices installed at multiple bases of each company network of multiple company networks.
Of the plurality of controlled home devices installed at each base of each corporate network, communication information indicating the communication status of the link is acquired from each of the home devices that terminate the link connecting the bases via the Internet. The first step to do and
The second step of acquiring predetermined event information from the Internet server, and
Based on the communication information and the event information, the first link via the Internet, in which congestion occurs due to the congestion of the Internet, and the third step of predicting the congestion period generated in the first link,
During the predicted congestion period of the first link, at least one part of the traffic flowing to the first link before the congestion period is connected between the same bases as the first link. A fourth step of controlling the first link and the first home device that terminates the second link so as to flow to the second link.
A control method characterized by including.

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