Search

EP-4742615-A1 - COMMUNICATION METHOD AND DEVICE

EP4742615A1EP 4742615 A1EP4742615 A1EP 4742615A1EP-4742615-A1

Abstract

This application provides a communication method and a related device, to indicate, on a transmission path of a packet, different network measurement technologies by using information at different positions of the packet, so that communication devices on the path can implement network measurement based on the different network measurement technologies. In this method, a first device receives a first packet. The first packet includes first information, and the first information indicates to perform first network measurement on the first packet. The first device sends a second packet based on the first packet. The second packet includes second information, and the second information indicates to perform second network measurement on the second packet. A first position of the first information in the first packet is different from a second position of the second information in the second packet.

Inventors

  • ZHANG, Zhonggang
  • HOU, Yanxiang
  • LI, Juchang
  • QIN, Yonggang
  • YAO, BO

Assignees

  • Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240717

Claims (20)

  1. A communication method, comprising: receiving a first packet, wherein the first packet comprises first information, and the first information indicates to perform first network measurement on the first packet; and sending a second packet based on the first packet, wherein the second packet comprises second information, the second information indicates to perform second network measurement on the second packet, and a first position of the first information in the first packet is different from a second position of the second information in the second packet.
  2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second packet further comprises the first information, and the first information is at a first position in the second packet.
  3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first packet further comprises a first measurement result, and the first measurement result comprises a measurement result obtained based on the first information; and the second packet further comprises a second measurement result, and the second measurement result is obtained by processing the first measurement result.
  4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises: sending a third measurement result to a controller, wherein the third measurement result is obtained based on the first information and/or the second information.
  5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first information or the second information comprises at least one of the following: delay detection information, path detection information, and packet loss detection information.
  6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the path detection information is carried in one field or carried in one header.
  7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first position or the second position is in at least one of the following: an internet protocol version 4 IPv4 header, an internet protocol version 6 IPv6 header, a virtual extensible local area network VXLAN header, a generic routing encapsulation GRE header, a generic network virtualization encapsulation GENEVE header, an in-band flow analyzer IFA header, an in-band flow analyzer metadata IFA Metadata header, an in-situ flow information telemetry IFIT header, an in-situ operation, management, and maintenance trace option-types IOAM Trace Option-Types header, an in-situ operation, administration, and maintenance direct exporting option-types IOAM DEX Option-Type header, an IPv6 extension header, and a GENEVE extension header.
  8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the first position is in an IPv4 header, the first information is carried in at least one of a differentiated services code point DSCP field, an explicit congestion notification ECN field, or a flags Flags field; when the first position is in an IPv6 header, the first information is carried in a traffic class Traffic Class field; when the first position is in a VXLAN header, the first information is carried in at least one of an R bit and a reserved Reserved field; when the first position is in a GRE header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Reserved0 field and a Reserved1 field; when the first position is in a GENEVE header, the first information is carried in a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IFA header, the first information is carried in an R bit; when the first position is in an IFA Metadata header, the first information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a C bit, and an R bit; when the first position is in an IFIT header, the first information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a D bit, and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IOAM Trace Option-Types header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IOAM DEX Option-Type header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IPv6 extension header, the first information is carried in an options Options field; when the first position is in a GENEVE extension header, the first information is carried in an option data Option Data field; when the second position is in an IPv4 header, the second information is carried in at least one of a DSCP field, an ECN field, or a Flags field; when the second position is in an IPv6 header, the second information is carried in a Traffic Class field; when the second position is in a VXLAN header, the second information is carried in at least one of an R bit and a Reserved field; when the second position is in a GRE header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Reserved0 field and a Reserved1 field; when the second position is in a GENEVE header, the second information is carried in a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IFA header, the second information is carried in an R bit; when the second position is in an IFA Metadata header, the second information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a C bit, and an R bit; when the second position is in an IFIT header, the second information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a D bit, and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IOAM Trace Option-Types header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IOAM DEX Option-Type header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IPv6 extension header, the second information is carried in an Options field; or when the second position is in a GENEVE extension header, the second information is carried in an Option Data field.
  9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the method further comprises: receiving third information, wherein the third information indicates that a next-hop node has a capability of performing the second network measurement based on the second information and/or the third information indicates that the next-hop node does not have a capability of performing the first network measurement based on the first information, and the third information is from the next-hop node or the controller.
  10. A communication method, comprising: determining a first packet, wherein the first packet comprises first information and second information, the first information indicates to perform first network measurement on the first packet, the second information indicates to perform second network measurement on the first packet, and a first position of the first information in the first packet is different from a second position of the second information in the first packet; and sending the first packet.
  11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a third packet, wherein the third packet does not comprise the first information and/or the second information; and determining the first packet comprises: determining the first packet based on the third packet.
  12. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the third packet does not comprise the second information and the third packet comprises the first information, the first packet comprises a first measurement result obtained by processing a measurement result obtained based on the first information; or when the third packet does not comprise the first information and the third packet comprises the second information, the first packet comprises a second measurement result obtained by processing a measurement result obtained based on the second information.
  13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the method further comprises: sending a third measurement result to a controller, wherein the third measurement result is obtained based on the first information and/or the second information.
  14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the first information or the second information comprises at least one of the following: delay detection information, path detection information, and packet loss detection information.
  15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the path detection information is carried in one field or carried in one header.
  16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the first position or the second position is in at least one of the following: an internet protocol version 4 IPv4 header, an internet protocol version 6 IPv6 header, a virtual extensible local area network VXLAN header, a generic routing encapsulation GRE header, a generic network virtualization encapsulation GENEVE header, an in-band flow analyzer IFA header, an in-band flow analyzer metadata IFA Metadata header, an in-situ flow information telemetry IFIT header, an in-situ operation, management, and maintenance trace option-types IOAM Trace Option-Types header, an in-situ operation, administration, and maintenance direct exporting option-types IOAM DEX Option-Type header, an IPv6 extension header, and a GENEVE extension header.
  17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein when the first position is in an IPv4 header, the first information is carried in at least one of a DSCP field, an ECN field, or a Flags field; when the first position is in an IPv6 header, the first information is carried in a Traffic Class field; when the first position is in a VXLAN header, the first information is carried in at least one of an R bit and a Reserved field; when the first position is in a GRE header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Reserved0 field and a Reserved1 field; when the first position is in a GENEVE header, the first information is carried in a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IFA header, the first information is carried in an R bit; when the first position is in an IFA Metadata header, the first information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a C bit, and an R bit; when the first position is in an IFIT header, the first information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a D bit, and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IOAM Trace Option-Types header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IOAM DEX Option-Type header, the first information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the first position is in an IPv6 extension header, the first information is carried in an Options field; when the first position is in a GENEVE extension header, the first information is carried in an Option Data field; when the second position is in an IPv4 header, the second information is carried in at least one of a DSCP field, an ECN field, or a Flags field; when the second position is in an IPv6 header, the second information is carried in a Traffic Class field; when the second position is in a VXLAN header, the second information is carried in at least one of an R bit and a Reserved field; when the second position is in a GRE header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Reserved0 field and a Reserved1 field; when the second position is in a GENEVE header, the second information is carried in a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IFA header, the second information is carried in an R bit; when the second position is in an IFA Metadata header, the second information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a C bit, and an R bit; when the second position is in an IFIT header, the second information is carried in at least one of an L bit, a D bit, and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IOAM Trace Option-Types header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IOAM DEX Option-Type header, the second information is carried in at least one of a Flags field and a Reserved field; when the second position is in an IPv6 extension header, the second information is carried in an Options field; or when the second position is in a GENEVE extension header, the second information is carried in an Option Data field.
  18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, wherein the method further comprises: receiving third information, wherein the third information indicates that a next-hop node has a capability of performing the second network measurement based on the second information and/or the third information indicates that the next-hop node has a capability of performing the first network measurement based on the first information, and the third information is from the next-hop node or the controller.
  19. A communication method, comprising: receiving a first packet, wherein the first packet comprises first information and second information, the first information indicates to perform first network measurement on the first packet, the second information indicates to perform second network measurement on the first packet, and a first position of the first information in the first packet is different from a second position of the second information in the first packet; and performing the first network measurement based on the first information and/or performing the second network measurement based on the second information.
  20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises: sending a second packet based on the first packet, wherein the second packet comprises the first information and/or the second information.

Description

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310965731.9, filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on August 1, 2023 and entitled "COMMUNICATION METHOD AND DEVICE", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and a device. BACKGROUND With development of communication networks, network measurement is very important for network management and optimization. For example, network status monitoring, network fault analysis, network security defense, and even network intelligence all depend on the network measurement. Currently, the network measurement may be implemented by using a plurality of network measurement technologies such as in-situ flow information telemetry (In-Situ flow information telemetry, IFIT), in-band flow analyzer (In-band flow analyzer, IFA), or in-band network telemetry (In-band network telemetry, INT). In a network transmission process of a packet, communication devices (for example, forwarding devices) on a path of the packet need to record measurement results based on a same network measurement technology, to implement network measurement. In other words, in an implementation process of the network measurement, the communication devices on the path of the packet need to support the same network measurement technology. However, in a communication network, different communication devices may support different network measurement technologies. As a result, communication devices on a path of a packet cannot perform network measurement based on a same network measurement technology. Consequently, the network measurement fails. SUMMARY This application provides a communication method and a related device, to indicate, on a transmission path of a packet, different network measurement technologies by using information at different positions of the packet, so that communication devices on the path can implement network measurement based on the different network measurement technologies. A first aspect of this application provides a communication method. The method is performed by a first device, the method is performed by a part of components (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first device, or the method may be implemented by a logical module or software that can implement all or a part of functions of the first device. In the first aspect and a possible implementation of the first aspect, an example in which the method is performed by the first device is used for description. The first device may be a communication device like a router (router), a switch (switch), a firewall (Firewall), a virtual switch (virtual switch), a virtual router (virtual router), or an intelligent network interface card. In this method, the first device receives a first packet. The first packet includes first information, and the first information indicates to perform first network measurement on the first packet. The first device sends a second packet based on the first packet. The second packet includes second information, and the second information indicates to perform second network measurement on the second packet. A first position of the first information in the first packet is different from a second position of the second information in the second packet. According to the foregoing technical solution, the first packet received by the first device includes the first information indicating to perform the first network measurement on the first packet. Then, the second packet sent by the first device based on the first packet includes the second information indicating to perform the second network measurement on the second packet. The first position of the first information in the first packet is different from the second position of the second information in the second packet. In addition, different network measurement technologies are usually indicated by information (for example, fields/headers) at different positions in a packet. In other words, in a packet transmission process, for the first device and/or previous N (N is a positive integer) devices of the first device, a device supporting the first network measurement may perform, based on the first information at the first position in the packet, network measurement corresponding to a network measurement technology. In addition, for the first device and/or next M (M is a positive integer) devices of the first device, a device supporting the second network measurement may perform, based on the second information at the second position in the packet, network measurement corresponding to another network measurement technology. Therefore, compared with an implementation in which communication devices (for example, forwarding devices) on a path of a packet perform network measurement based only on a same network measurement technology, in the foregoi