JP7743964B2 - Communication system and communication program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication system and a communication program.

In recent years, services have begun to emerge that combine applications such as network-based calls, video streaming, games, sensing, and remote control to provide a single piece of content. However, some applications have strict communication requirements (e.g., latency of 10 ms or less), making stable service operation difficult when using a network with a variety of traffic flows to provide the service.

What is a VPN? A thorough explanation of the basics and secure VPN connections [Retrieved August 13, 2020], Internet <URL: https://cybersecurity-jp.com/security-measures/26436>

One option for ensuring stable service operation is to use bandwidth-guaranteed lines. However, stable service operation also requires communication requirements other than bandwidth (for example, acceptable delays, jitter, and security requirements such as blocking unauthorized access to terminals and servers). Furthermore, for content comprised of multiple applications, as described above, the communication quality required by each application (the quality required by the communication requirements) changes dynamically. This presents a problem: it is difficult to allocate appropriate network resources to content.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems and appropriately allocate network resources for content consisting of a group of applications whose communication requirements change dynamically.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is characterized by comprising a resource allocation determination unit that determines the amount of resources to be allocated to each application from a predetermined amount of available resources based on communication requirements, which are requirements when applications communicate via a network, and a setting unit that sets the amount of resources to be allocated to each application based on the determined communication requirements in each network device that makes up the network.

This invention makes it possible to appropriately allocate network resources to content consisting of a group of applications whose communication requirements change dynamically.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of content. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a modified example of the configuration of the communication system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the communication system of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the communication system of FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a computer that executes a communication program.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention (embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

First, we will explain an example of content handled by the communication system of each embodiment. For example, the content may include multiple applications, and each application may provide a service by communicating over a network. This content may be, for example, a competitive XR sport. Below, we will explain the characteristics of the content when the content is a competitive XR sport (table tennis) using Figure 1.

[Content example]
- Users of this content include players, audience members, observers, etc. In addition, the state of the match in the virtual space is captured by a camera (virtual camera) and distributed to a monitor, etc.
・Players, for example, use VR devices via the network to play matches with other players and cheer on others. Audiences use VR devices via the network to watch and cheer on the game. Observers watch the game using smartphones.
The content is provided as a service using an application according to the type of user described above, for example.
- The communication requirements for Player traffic are low latency, jitter suppression, and guaranteed bandwidth. Additionally, the communication requirements for Audience traffic are low latency and guaranteed bandwidth. Additionally, the communication requirement for Observer traffic is guaranteed bandwidth. The traffic priority for each application is as follows: Player traffic (play signals) is "highest priority," Audience viewing and cheering is "medium priority," viewing images captured by the camera is "medium priority," and Observer viewing is "low priority."
-Security requirements common to Player, Audience, and Observer include that networks that meet the above latency and bandwidth requirements are available only to designated terminals and servers, and that closed networks are ensured to prevent unauthorized use by other terminals, etc.

[Example of communication requirements]
Also shown are examples of communication requirements handled by the communication system of each embodiment and processing to satisfy the quality indicated in the communication requirements. Communication bandwidth: QoS control and transfer route bandwidth guarantee at network edge nodes and gateway nodes. Communication delay: Control of the location of the data center used by the content, the transfer route, and the QoS class (packet processing scheduling). Jitter: Suppression of delays within each device on the route by Time Sensitive Networking, Deterministic Networking, etc. Security: Prevention of unauthorized access and communication by applying network appliances such as firewalls, IPS (Intrusion Prevention Systems), and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack mitigation systems, or ensuring network closure by using VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology to prevent communication routes from outside, such as the Internet. Computing resources, storage resources: Provision of CPUs (Central Processing Units), memory, storage, etc. required to process packets at data centers used by content.

[First embodiment]
[Configuration example]
Next, an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The communication system 1 according to the first embodiment includes a content server device 10, a network, and a resource setting device 30. The content server device 10 runs content including one or more applications 100. Note that the content server device 10 performs the same processing as described below even when it is installed separately for each application or when it is installed with multiple content server devices 10 each with the same application depending on the processing load of the application, etc.

The network is composed of multiple network devices (not shown) and, for example, transfers traffic for each content application 100.

The resource setting device 30 determines the amount of resources to be allocated when each application 100 communicates via a network based on the communication requirements, and sets the determined amount of resources to be allocated to each network device (transfer device).

The resource setting device 30 includes a communication requirements integration management unit 32, a communication requirements receiving unit 33, and a transfer device setting unit 34.

The communication requirements integration management unit 32 manages the communication requirements of each application 100 and includes, for example, a communication requirements management unit 321 and a communication requirements notification unit 322. The communication requirements management unit 321 determines the communication requirements of each application 100. The communication requirements notification unit 322 outputs the determined communication requirements of each application 100 to the communication requirements receiving unit 33.

The communication requirements receiving unit 33 receives the communication requirements of each application 100 and outputs them to the transfer device setting unit 34.

The transfer device setting unit 34 sets the communication requirements for each application 100 in each network device (transfer device) within the network. For example, the transfer device setting unit 34 sets in each network device the identification information of the application 100 and the communication requirements of the application 100 associated with that identification information (e.g., the communication bandwidth used by the application 100, the communication delay and jitter width allowed for the application 100, and the communication pattern for allowing or restricting communication (IP address, port number, packet arrival rate, etc.)). Based on these settings, the network device then performs control for each application 100, such as securing bandwidth, allocating transfer destinations, controlling delays, allocating computing resources by location, and applying security appliances such as firewalls that allow or restrict communication.

With this communication system 1, resources can be allocated appropriately even for content composed of applications 100 whose communication requirements change dynamically.

In addition, each application 100 in the communication system 1 may notify the resource setting device 30 of the communication requirements of its own application 100. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, each application 100 includes a communication requirement setting unit 111 and a communication requirement notification unit 322.

The communication requirement setting unit 111 determines and sets the communication requirements for its own application 100. The communication requirement notification unit 322 notifies the resource setting device 30 of the communication requirements set by the communication requirement setting unit 111 together with the identification information of its own application 100.

This type of communication system 1 also allows appropriate allocation of resources to content composed of applications 100 whose communication requirements change dynamically.

Second Embodiment
[Configuration example]
Next, an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again.

The communication system 1a of the second embodiment is characterized in that it determines the amount of resources to be allocated when each application 100 communicates over a network based on communication requirements, using the amount of resources available for the entire content.

The resource setting device 30a of this communication system 1a includes a resource allocation determination unit 323. The resource allocation determination unit 323 determines the amount of resources to be allocated when each application 100 communicates via the network based on communication requirements and the amount of resources available for the entire content. The amount of resources available for the entire content is notified, for example, by the content provider or the network.

The communication requirements notification unit 322 outputs the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements determined by the resource allocation determination unit 323 to the communication requirements reception unit 33. The communication requirements reception unit 33 outputs the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements to the transfer device setting unit 34. The transfer device setting unit 34 sets the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements to each transfer device (each network device) within the network.

The resource setting device 30a also stores application information in the storage unit 31 that indicates the priority (priority class) and distribution policy when allocating resources to applications 100. This application information is referenced by the resource allocation determination unit 323 when determining the amount of resources to allocate when each application 100 communicates over the network based on communication requirements and the amount of resources available for the entire content. Details of how the amount of resource allocation is determined here will be described later using specific examples.

[Example of processing procedure]
Next, an example of the processing procedure of the resource setting device 30a will be described with reference to Fig. 5. It is assumed that the resource setting device 30a has already received in advance the amount of resources available for the entire content (the amount of available resources).

First, the resource allocation determination unit 323 of the resource setting device 30a determines the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements and the amount of resources available for the entire content (S1).

After S1, the resource setting device 30a sets the resource allocation amount for each application 100 based on the communication requirements determined in S1 to each network device within the network (S2). That is, the communication requirements notification unit 322 outputs the resource allocation amount for each application 100 based on the communication requirements determined by the resource allocation determination unit 323 to the communication requirements receiving unit 33. The communication requirements receiving unit 33 then outputs the resource allocation amount for each application 100 based on the communication requirements to the transfer device setting unit 34. The transfer device setting unit 34 sets the resource allocation amount for each application 100 based on the communication requirements to each network device within the network.

Here, referring to Figure 4, we will explain an example of a method for determining the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on communication requirements in S1 of Figure 5.

For example, first, the resource allocation determination unit 323 determines the amount of resource allocation for the first communication requirement as follows. In the following explanation, it is assumed that the content server device 10 is equipped with applications 1 to 4 (see Figure 4). Here, it is assumed that the priority class of application 1 is Class_1, the priority class of application 2 is Class_2, the priority class of application 3 (not shown in Figure 4) is Class_3, and the priority class of application 4 is Class_4.

The conditions used to determine resource allocation are as follows:

・Available resource amount: X (X<Σxl*nl, l=1,2,3,4)
- Priority classes within content: Class_1, Class_2, Class_3, Class_4
・Number of applications: Class_1 → n1, Class_2 → n2, Class_3 → n3, Class_4 → null
・Distribution resource variables for each class: Class_1 → x1, Class_2 → x2, Class_3 → x3, Class_4 → x4
・Distribution policy for each class: Class_1 → Required, Class_2, 3 → Weighted (α, β) and distributed equally

Based on the above conditions, the resource allocation determination unit 323 determines the amount of resource allocation (distributed resources) for each class for the first communication requirement as follows:

Resource allocation per class:
Class_1=x1
Class_2=x2=α(Xx*n1)/(αn2+βn3)
Class_2=x3=β(Xx*n1)/(αn2+βn3)
Class_4=x4=0

The resource allocation determination unit 323 sequentially determines the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements as described above. The resource setting device 30a then sets the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the determined communication requirements in each network device within the network.

With this type of communication system 1a, even if the amount of resources available for the entire content is fixed, resources can be appropriately allocated to content composed of applications 100 whose communication requirements change dynamically.

In the communication system 1a, as shown in FIG. 3, each application 100 may also include a communication requirement setting unit 111 and a communication requirement notification unit 322, and each application 100 may notify the resource setting device 30a of its own communication requirements.

[Third embodiment]
[Configuration example]
Next, an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. The same components as those in the above-described embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The communication system 1b of the third embodiment is characterized by determining the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on communication requirements, based on the results of measuring network resource usage.

This communication system 1b includes a communication quality measurement unit 20 and a resource setting device 30b. Furthermore, the content server device 10 of the communication system 1b includes an application setting unit 110. The application setting unit 110 changes the settings of each application 100 in accordance with the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements notified by the resource setting device 30b. Furthermore, the storage unit 31 of the communication system 1b further stores resource information indicating the amount of resources that can be provided to content for each resource type.

The communication quality measurement unit 20 measures the resource usage for each resource type in the network and notifies the resource setting device 30b.

The resource setting device 30b includes a communication quality management unit (update unit) 35 and a communication quality notification unit 36.

The communication quality management unit 35 calculates and updates the amount of resources that can be provided to content based on the measurement results of resource usage for each resource type notified by the communication quality measurement unit 20.

For example, the communication quality management unit 35 calculates the resource utilization rate for the entire network based on the measurement results of the resource utilization amount for each resource type notified by the communication quality measurement unit 20. Then, based on the calculation results of the resource utilization rate for the entire network, the communication quality management unit 35 calculates the amount of resources that can be provided to the currently operated content. Thereafter, the communication quality management unit 35 updates the resource information using the calculated amount of resources that can be provided to the currently operated content.

The communication quality notification unit 36 notifies the resource allocation determination unit 323 of the updated resource information (the latest amount of available resources).

The resource allocation determination unit 323 then determines the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements, using the latest notified amount of available resources. The transfer device setting unit 34 then notifies the content server device 10 of the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements determined by the resource allocation determination unit 323.

The application setting unit 110 of the content server device 10 then changes the settings of each application 100 according to the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the notified communication requirements.

For example, the application setting unit 110 changes the output traffic of each application 100 and the quality level of the content to be transmitted in accordance with the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the notified communication requirements.

In this way, the resource setting device 30b can set the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on communication requirements, in accordance with the resource utilization rate in the network. As a result, for example, the resource setting device 30b can throttle the output traffic of each application 100 when the network is congested (when there is a resource shortage), and can improve the quality level of the content transmitted by each application 100 when the network is not congested (when there are sufficient resources).

[Example of processing procedure]
Next, an example of the processing procedure of the resource setting device 30b will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the communication quality management unit 35 of the resource setting device 30b acquires the network resource usage amount based on the measurement results of the resource usage amount for each resource type notified by the communication quality measurement unit 20 (S11). Then, the communication quality management unit 35 calculates the resource usage rate for the entire network, and calculates the amount of resources that can be provided to the currently operated content based on the calculation results. Then, the communication quality management unit 35 updates the resource information using the calculated amount of resources that can be provided to the currently operated content (S12: Update available resource amount).

After S12, the resource allocation determination unit 323 of the resource setting device 30b determines the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements from the updated amount of available resources (S13). The resource setting device 30b then notifies the content server device 10 of the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the determined communication requirements (S14). That is, the communication requirements notification unit 322 of the resource setting device 30b outputs the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements determined in S13 to the communication requirements notification unit 322. The communication requirements notification unit 322 then notifies the content server device 10 of the amount of resources to be allocated to each application 100 based on the communication requirements.

Then, the application setting unit 110 of the content server device 10 changes the settings of each application 100 based on the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on the notified communication requirements.

In this way, the resource setting device 30b can set the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 within the network based on communication requirements, which is determined according to the resource utilization rate in the network.

In communication system 1b, as shown in FIG. 3, each application 100 may also include a communication requirement setting unit 111 and a communication requirement notification unit 322, and each application 100 may notify the resource setting device 30b of its own communication requirements.

The resource setting device 30b may also set the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 based on communication requirements, determined based on the results of measuring resource usage, to each network device, or may set it to both each network device and each application 100.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned communication systems 1, 1a, and 1b may perform billing processing based on the amount of resources allocated to each application 100 on the content server device 10 or the amount of resources used.

Furthermore, the communication requirements integrated management unit 32 of the above-mentioned communication systems 1, 1a, and 1b may be provided on the content server device 10 side.

[System configuration, etc.]
Furthermore, the components of each device shown in the figure are conceptual functional units and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each device is not limited to that shown, and all or part of the devices can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit depending on various loads, usage conditions, etc. Furthermore, all or any part of the processing functions performed by each device can be realized by a CPU and a program executed by the CPU, or can be realized as hardware using wired logic.

Furthermore, among the processes described in the above embodiments, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can be performed automatically using known methods. In addition, the information, including the processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, various data, and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings, can be changed as desired unless otherwise specified.

[program]
The above-described communication systems 1, 1a, and 1b can be implemented by installing a program as package software or online software on a desired computer. For example, by executing the above-described program on an information processing device, the information processing device can function as the communication system of each embodiment. The information processing device referred to here includes desktop and notebook personal computers. Other information processing devices also include mobile communication terminals such as smartphones, mobile phones, and PHS (Personal Handyphone Systems), as well as slate terminals such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants).

Furthermore, the communication system of each embodiment can be implemented as a server device that provides services related to the above-mentioned processing to a client terminal device used by a user. In this case, the server device may be implemented as a web server, or as a cloud that provides services related to the above-mentioned processing through outsourcing.

Figure 8 shows an example of a computer that executes a communications program. The computer 1000 has, for example, memory 1010 and a CPU 1020. The computer 1000 also has a hard disk drive interface 1030, a disk drive interface 1040, a serial port interface 1050, a video adapter 1060, and a network interface 1070. These components are connected by a bus 1080.

The memory 1010 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1011 and a RAM 1012. The ROM 1011 stores a boot program such as a BIOS (Basic Input Output System). The hard disk drive interface 1030 is connected to a hard disk drive 1090. The disk drive interface 1040 is connected to a disk drive 1100. A removable storage medium such as a magnetic disk or optical disk is inserted into the disk drive 1100. The serial port interface 1050 is connected to a mouse 1110 and a keyboard 1120, for example. The video adapter 1060 is connected to a display 1130, for example.

The hard disk drive 1090 stores, for example, an OS 1091, an application program 1092, a program module 1093, and program data 1094. That is, the programs that define the processes executed by the communication system of each embodiment are implemented as program modules 1093 in which computer-executable code is written. The program modules 1093 are stored, for example, on the hard disk drive 1090. For example, a program module 1093 for executing processes similar to the functional configuration of the communication system of each embodiment is stored on the hard disk drive 1090. Note that the hard disk drive 1090 may be replaced by an SSD.

In addition, various information used in the processing of the above-described embodiments is stored as program data 1094, for example, in memory 1010 or hard disk drive 1090. Then, the CPU 1020 reads the program modules 1093 and program data 1094 stored in memory 1010 or hard disk drive 1090 into RAM 1012 as needed and executes them.

The program module 1093 and program data 1094 do not necessarily have to be stored on the hard disk drive 1090; they may instead be stored on a removable storage medium and read by the CPU 1020 via the disk drive 1100 or the like. Alternatively, the program module 1093 and program data 1094 may be stored on another computer connected via a network (such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network)). The program module 1093 and program data 1094 may then be read by the CPU 1020 from the other computer via the network interface 1070.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1, 1a, 1b Communication system 10 Content server device 20 Communication quality measurement unit 30, 30a, 30b Resource setting device 31 Storage unit 32 Communication requirement integrated management unit 33 Communication requirement reception unit 34 Transfer device setting unit 35 Communication quality management unit 36 Communication quality notification unit 321 Communication requirement management unit 322 Communication requirement notification unit 323 Resource allocation determination unit

Claims (6)

A communication system comprising two or more applications and providing services defining a plurality of different roles,
an updating unit that updates the amount of available resources that can be used by each application based on measurement results of the amount of resource usage of the network acquired from each network device that constitutes the network;
a resource allocation determination unit that determines an amount of resources to be allocated to each application from the updated amount of available resources based on communication requirements notified from each application corresponding to a role in a virtual space provided within a service consisting of a group of applications, the communication requirements being requirements for the application to communicate via the network; and
a setting unit that sets, for each network device that constitutes the network, the amount of resource allocation to each application based on the determined communication requirements;
A communication system comprising: The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising one or more of the network devices that perform forwarding control of traffic of each application based on the amount of resource allocation to each application based on the set communication requirements. The resource allocation determination unit
The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that for applications included in the same content, the amount of resources to be allocated to each application based on communication requirements is determined in accordance with information indicating the priority when allocating resources to each of the applications. The communication requirements are:
The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication bandwidth used by the application when communicating via the network, the communication bandwidth includes at least one of an allowable communication delay, an allowable jitter width, computing resources, and security. A communication system that is comprised of two or more applications and provides services that define a plurality of different roles,
an updating unit that updates the amount of available resources that can be used by each application based on measurement results of the amount of resource usage of the network acquired from each network device that constitutes the network;
a resource allocation determination unit that determines an amount of resources to be allocated to each application from the updated amount of available resources based on communication requirements notified from each application corresponding to a role in a virtual space provided within a service consisting of a group of applications, the communication requirements being requirements for the application to communicate via the network; and
an application setting unit that sets, for each application, an amount of resource allocation to the application based on the determined communication requirements;
one or more of the applications that change the quality level of the content they transmit based on the setting;
the application setting unit suppresses output traffic of the application when a resource shortage occurs.
A communication system comprising: A communication program that is made to be executed by a communication system that provides a service that is composed of two or more applications and defines a plurality of different roles,
updating the amount of available resources available to each application based on measurement results of the amount of resource usage of the network acquired from each of the network devices constituting the network;
determining an allocation amount of resources to be allocated to each application from the updated amount of available resources based on communication requirements notified from each application corresponding to a role in a virtual space provided within a service consisting of a group of applications, the communication requirements being requirements for the application to communicate via the network;
setting, in each of the network devices constituting the network, the amount of resource allocated to each application based on the determined communication requirements;
A communication program characterized by causing a computer to execute the above.