Abstract:
There is a need for a network interface supporting various line speeds to have a smaller size and provide more flexible accommodation than the related art. In the present invention, provided is a communication device including a transfer processing unit which has four connectors capable of coupling with network interface units to be accommodated in one slot, and a packet processing circuit configured to process a packet input from the network interface via any one of the connectors and output the packet toward the network interface unit to be coupled with the connector, and a path control unit configured to manage a path between the packet processing circuit and the connector.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a network apparatus and a packet processing device. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0002]    A network apparatus of the related art is configured such that two network interfaces may be connected in a lateral direction to one packet processing unit as described in PTL 1. 
       CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
       [0003]    PTL 1: JP 2009-177681 A 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
       [0004]    In a network apparatus of the next generation, a line speed becomes faster and ten thousand times of scalability is achieved extending lines to support from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps. 
         [0005]    On the other hand, in terms of the physical size of a line port, there is only a difference about several times when compared with a port of 10 BASE-T which is the slowest, and a transceiver of 100 Gbps which is the fastest. Such a difference is small when compared to the difference in the scalability of the line speed. Thus, there is a need for a network interface supporting various line speeds to have a smaller size and provide more flexible accommodation than the related art. 
         [0006]    In the related art, it is configured such that a plurality of network interfaces may be connected in the one direction in order to realize the flexible accommodation, however, there is a need to enable the plurality of network interfaces to be connected also in a vertical direction. Meanwhile, even in a case where a network interface having a large line capacity is used, there is a need to enable connection using one connector, but according to this method, a transmission signal pin to be allocated to each connector from a packet forwarding engine is insufficient. 
       Solution to Problem 
       [0007]    In order to solve at least one of the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, provided is a network apparatus including a transfer processing unit which has four connectors capable of coupling with network interface units to be accommodated in one slot, and a packet processing circuit configured to process a packet input from the network interface via any one of the connectors and output the packet toward the network interface unit to be coupled with the connector, and a path control unit configured to manage a path between the packet processing circuit and the connector. 
         [0008]    More specifically, for example, the path control unit of the network apparatus allocates a transmission signal pin being output from a packet forwarding engine according to a type of the network interface to be connected. 
       Advantageous Effects of Invention 
       [0009]    According to an aspect of the present invention, it is possible to cope with various network interfaces. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  A configuration diagram of a network apparatus. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  A connector connected with a pin  52  and a pin  54  according to a network interface connection position and network type information. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  The maximum number of pins allocated to one connector and the number of pins allocated to each connector according to a network interface type. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  A flow of switching a switch (at the time of connecting a network interface). 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  An external view of a plurality of mobiles of a packet processing unit and a network apparatus. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  A diagram illustrating a problem. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  A modified example of the network apparatus. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates a configuration of a network apparatus. 
         [0018]    A network apparatus  1000  mainly has a basic control unit  302 , a switch fabric unit  303 , a packet processing unit  301 , a packet processing unit  302  and network interface units  150 ,  160  and  170 . 
         [0019]    The packet processing unit  301  is an example of a packet processing unit or a packet processing device which has at least four connectors capable of coupling with one of network interfaces having different sizes to be accommodated in one slot, a packet forwarding unit configured to process a packet to be input from the network interface via any one of the connectors, and output the packet toward a network interface unit to be coupled with the connector, and a path control unit configured to manage a path between the packet forwarding unit and the connector. 
         [0020]    The packet processing unit  301  is connected to the single full-size network interface unit  150  via an upper left connector  403  and a lower left connector  404 . The two packet processing units  302  are connected with the two single half-size network interface units  160  via an upper right connector  405  and a lower right connector  406 . In addition, the packet processing unit  302  is connected to the double full-size network interface unit  170  via the upper left connector  403 , the lower left connector  404 , the upper right connector  405  and the lower right connector  406 . 
         [0021]    The network interface unit  150  has a port  155  to be connected to a line, a network processor  153  to be connected to the port and a connector  178  on the network side via an internal bus, and type information  122  to be stored in a memory (not illustrated). The type information is information indicating a property of the network interface unit, and for example, information indicating a size of the network interface unit. In this embodiment, for example, four types of the size including a single half-size, a double half-size, a single full-size and a double full-size are used as the size, but the present invention is not limited to such sizes or the number of sizes. In this embodiment, information specifying the single full-size is included in the type information  122  to be stored in the memory of the network interface unit  150 . 
         [0022]    Incidentally, similarly to the network interface unit  150 , each of the network interface units  160  and  170  also has the port  155  to be connected to the line, the network processor  153  to be connected to the port and the connector  178  on the network side via the internal bus, and the type information  122  to be stored in the memory. In addition, information specifying the single half-size is included in the type information  122  to be stored in the memory of the network interface unit  160 . Information specifying the double full-size is included in the type information  122  to be stored in the memory of the network interface unit  170 . 
         [0023]    The packet processing unit  301  has the connectors to which the network interface unit is connected, that is, the upper left connector  403 , the lower left connector  404 , the upper right connector  405  and the lower right connector  406 . 
         [0024]    The packet processing unit  301  has a packet forwarding engine  501 , a search engine  503  and a sub-crossbar switch  504 . The search engine  503  is a circuit configured to perform a process of searching output destination of a packet received via the network interface unit according to the information included in a header of the packet. 
         [0025]    The packet forwarding engine  501  is a circuit configured to perform a process of forwarding the received packet to the output destination specified by the search engine. 
         [0026]    The sub-crossbar switch  504  is an interface to a crossbar switch  185  and capable of communicating with one or more of other packet processing units via the crossbar switch  185 . 
         [0027]    The packet forwarding engine  501  is connected to transmission signal pins  51 ,  52 ,  53  and  54 . 
         [0028]    The transmission signal pin  51  is a pin connecting the connector  404  and the packet forwarding engine  501 . Data transmission of a packet or the like is performed between the connector  404  and the packet forwarding engine  501  using the transmission signal pin  51 . 
         [0029]    The transmission signal pin  52  is a pin connecting the upper left connector  403  or the lower left connector  404  and the packet forwarding engine  501 . Any one among the plurality of connectors to which the transmission signal pin  52  is connected is determined according to a switch direction of a switch  5501 . The transmission signal pin  52  allows data transfer of a packet or the like through the switch  5501  between the upper left connector  403  or the lower left connector  404 , and the packet forwarding engine  501 . 
         [0030]    The transmission signal pin  53  is a pin connecting the connector  406  and the packet forwarding engine  501 . Data transmission of a packet or the like is performed between the connector  406  and the packet forwarding engine  501  using the transmission signal pin  53 . The transmission signal pin  54  allows data transfer of a packet or the like between the upper right connector  405  or the lower right connector  406 , and the packet forwarding engine  501 . 
         [0031]    As described above, any one among the plurality of connectors to which each of the transmission signal pin  52  and the transmission signal pin  54  is connected is determined according to each switch direction of the switch  5501  and a switch  5502 . In addition, both the transmission signal pin  51  and the transmission signal pin  53  are connected to the connectors at the lower side, that is, the lower left connector  404  and the lower right connector  406  without performing switching, and data from the packet forwarding engine  501  and data to the packet forwarding engine  501  are transmitted via the transmission signal pin  51  or  53 . 
         [0032]    Further, the packet processing unit  301  has a switch control apparatus  121 . The switch control apparatus  121  is an example of a path management unit which manages a path (the transmission signal pin) between the packet forwarding unit (the packet forwarding engine) and the connector. 
         [0033]    The switch control apparatus  121  is connected to the connectors  403 ,  404 ,  405  and  406  via the internal bus. The switch control apparatus  121  acquires the type information  122  from the network interface unit  150  or  160  to be connected to these connectors. The switch control apparatus  121  is connected to the switch  5501  and the switch  5502  via the internal bus. The switch control apparatus  121  has a switch control table  121  showing associations among a connection position of the network interface, the type information, and designation of the connector to be connected. 
         [0034]    The switch control apparatus  121  controls the switch direction of the switch  5501  and the switch  5502  using the acquired type information  122  and the switch control table  121 . According to such control by the switch control apparatus  121 , each of the transmission signal pin  52  and the transmission signal pin  54  is connected to any one of the plurality of connectors  404  and  405 , and the data transmission is performed between the packet forwarding engine  51  and the connector. In other words, the switch control apparatus  121  is the path control unit which manages the path between a packet processing circuit of the packet processing unit  301  and the connector. Incidentally, the switch control apparatus  121  may be provided for each switch. 
         [0035]    Incidentally, the switches  5501  and  5502  may be provided for all the transmission signal pins. Otherwise, the switch direction of the data transmission of a plurality of the transmission signal pins may be determined by the switch control apparatus  121  in unit of the certain number of the transmission signal pins in a switch processing unit including a plurality of the switches. 
         [0036]    A processor  175  is mounted to the basic control unit  302 , and is configured to mainly perform a routing protocol processing and apparatus control. In addition, the basic control unit  302  is configured to receive a command from an input unit, and output a state of the packet processing unit  301  or the network interface unit, information of the network interface unit to be connected to the packet processing unit  31 -, and a switching state according to the switching control apparatus to a display unit. 
         [0037]    In addition, the packet processing unit  302  has the switch control apparatus, the switch control table, the connector, the switch and the circuits (the packet forwarding engine and the search engine) which execute a function necessary for packet relay, similarly to the packet processing unit  301 . 
         [0038]    In addition, although the two packet processing units  301  and  302  are illustrated, one or three or more of packet processing units  115  may be provided. Further, a plurality of the packet processing units  115  may allow the data transmission via a backplane or a switch fabric unit. Through such data transmission, a packet as a target to be relayed may be input to and output from the network via the network interface units  150 ,  160  and  170  to be accommodated in different packet processing units. 
         [0039]      FIG. 2  is an example of a switch control table  190 .  FIG. 2  shows any connector to which each of the output transmission signal pin  52  and the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected from a relation between the type information  122  of the network interface and the connection position of the network interface. 
         [0040]    The switch control table  190  shows associations among a network interface connection position  210 , network type information  220 , and a connector  230  to which the pin  52  is connected. 
         [0041]    Sections of the network interface connection position  210  indicate a position at which the network interface is connected, and the connected connector, and the lower left connector  404  is associated with the switch  5501  at the left side and the lower right connector is associated with the switch  5502  at the right side. The network interface type  220  is the type information of the connected network interface, and the connector  230  to which the pin  52  and the pin  54  are connected indicates any connector to which each pin is connected. Incidentally, in the table, a hyphen indicates the time when the network interface is not connected to the lower connector. 
         [0042]      FIG. 3  illustrates a table  310  showing the maximum number of the pins that may be allocated to each of the four connectors, that is, the upper left connector  403 , the lower left connector  404 , the upper right connector  405  and the lower right connector  406 . When the total of the transmission signal pins to be output from the packet forwarding engine  501  to the network interface is N pins, the maximum number of the allocated pins of each connector is as follows: N/2 pins for the lower left connector  404 , N/4 pins for the upper left connector  403 , N/2 pins for the lower right connector  406 , and N/4 pins for the upper right connector  405 . 
         [0043]    A table  320  shows the number of the allocated pins of each connector in relation to the left connectors from the relation between the network interface type information  122  and the network interface connection position. A table  330  shows the number of the allocated pins of each connector in relation to the right connectors from the relation between the network interface type information  122  and the network interface connection position. In the table, a size refers to a size of each network interface when a size of the single half-size network interface is one. The total of the transmission signal pins to be output from the packet forwarding engine  501  to the network interface is N pins. In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the network interface type is the single half-size or the double half-size, the number of the allocated pins of the lower left connector  404  is N/4, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper left connector  403  is N/4. In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the network interface type is the single full-size or the double full-size, the number of the allocated pins of the lower left connector  404  is N/2, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper left connector  403  is zero. In a case where the network interface is not connected to the lower left connector  404 , the number of the allocated pins of the lower left connector  404  is N/4, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper left connector  403  is N/4. In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower right connector  406 , and the network interface type is the single half-size or the double half-size, the number of the allocated pins of the lower right connector  406  is N/4, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper right connector  405  is N/4. In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower right connector  406 , and the network interface type is the single full-size or the double full-size, the number of the allocated pins of the lower right connector  406  is N/2, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper right connector  405  is zero. In a case where the network interface is not connected to the lower right connector  406 , the number of the allocated pins of the lower right connector  406  is N/4, and the number of the allocated pins of the upper right connector  405  is N/4. 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  illustrates a flowchart of switching the switch. 
         [0045]    The switch control unit is configured to monitor a mounting state of the network interface and detect insertion and removal of the network interface. In a case where it is detected that the network interface is inserted into the upper left connector  403  and the upper right connector  405  ( 410 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5501  to the upper-side connector. The switch control apparatus  121  is configured to determine whether the insertion position of the network interface is the lower-side connector ( 420 ). In a case where the network interface is inserted into the lower left connector  404  and the lower right connector  406  (Yes in  420 ), the switch control apparatus  121  reads the type information  122  of the network interface and checks a type of the network interface ( 430 ). If the type is the single full-size or the double full-size, the switch control apparatus  121  checks the switch direction ( 460 ) with reference to the switch control table  190 , and the process ends when the switch position of the switch ( 5501  or  5502 ) is the lower-side connector. The switch control apparatus  121  sends the switch an instruction for switching the switch position to the lower-side connector in a case where the switch direction is the upper side (No in  460 ) as the result of checking the switch direction. 
         [0046]    Meanwhile, in a case where the type of the network interface is the single half-size or the double half-size as the result of the check, the switch control apparatus  121  checks the switch direction ( 455 ), and send the switch ( 5501 ,  5502 ) an instruction for switching the switch  5502  to the upper-side connector when the switch position is the lower-side connector (Yes in  480 ). On the contrary, in a case where one of the switches is not the lower-side connector (No in  455 ) as the result of the check of report of the switch, the process ends. Further, the switch control apparatus  121  regularly monitors the state of the network interface and in a case of detecting the network interface is removed from the lower connector ( 415 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5502  to the upper-side connector when the switch position is the lower-side connector side (Yes in  455  or  480 ). 
         [0047]    A description will be made using a specific example. When the network interface is connected to the packet processing unit  301 , the switch control apparatus  121  mounted to the packet processing unit  301  reads the network interface type information  122  from the network interface ( 430 ). In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the network type information is the single half-size or the double half-size (Yes in  440 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5501  so that the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the upper left connector  403  (No in  460 ). 
         [0048]    In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the network type information is the single full-size or the double full-size (No in  440 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5501  so that the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the lower left connector  404  (No in  480 ). Incidentally, in a case where the network interface is not connected to the lower left connector  404 , the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5501  so that the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the upper left connector  403 . 
         [0049]    In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower right connector  406 , and the network type information is the single half-size or the double half-size (Yes in  440 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5502  so that the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the upper right connector  405  (No in  460 ). In a case where the network interface is connected to the lower right connector  406 , and the network type information is the single full-size or the double full-size (No in  440 ), the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5502  so that the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the lower right connector  405  (No in  480 ). Incidentally, when the network interface is not connected to the lower right connector  406 , the switch control apparatus  121  switches the switch  5502  so that the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the upper right connector  405 . 
         [0050]      FIG. 5  illustrates a state in which a plurality of packet processing units  301  is coupled inside a casing  201  of the network apparatus, and the network interface is coupled with the plurality of packet processing units  301 . Incidentally, the casing  201  has a plurality of vertically configured slots on a front surface side, and the switch fabric unit  303  on the rear surface side. Each slot and packet processing unit is inserted from the front surface side to the rear surface side in a horizontal direction and the switch fabric unit is coupled. In  FIG. 5 , a single full-size network interface  150   e  having a half width and a full height is loaded to the slot at the top. The port  155  to be connected to a network cable is provided to the front surface side of the casing of the network interface  150   e . The packet processing units  301   a ,  301   b ,  301   c ,  301   d  and  301   e  to be coupled with one or two or more of the network interfaces  150 ,  160 ,  170  and  180 , respectively, via the connector are mounted also to the other slots. As described above, the casing of the network apparatus, illustrated in  FIG. 5 , is provided with the plurality of slots capable of accommodating the plurality of network interfaces. Two or more of the network interfaces ( 150 ,  160 ,  180 ) are two-dimensionally disposed on a plane parallel to a surface of a substrate ( 590 ) of the network interface in the slot. The network interface has a different size in two axial directions orthogonal to each other in a plane perpendicular to the substrate. Further, the packet processing units  301   a ,  301   b ,  301   c ,  301   d  and  301   e  have a plurality of connectors to be electrically connected to the network interface. The plurality of connectors is two-dimensionally disposed when viewed from the front surface side of the casing, and is electrically connected to the same network interface while being coupled with the connector one-dimensionally disposed parallel to the substrate surface. Incidentally, in  FIG. 5 , a connection mode at the time of being loaded is that schematically illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0051]    As the network interface, four types of the network interfaces are exemplified, that is, a single half-size  160  having a half width and a half height, a single full-size  150  having a half width and a full height (corresponding to a height of the slot), a double half-size  180  having a full width and a half height, and a double full-size  170  having a full width (corresponding to a width in a lateral direction of the slot) and a full height, with respect to one slot. These network interfaces also have the port  155  on the front surface side of the casing. The packet processing unit  301   a  of the casing  201  of the network apparatus is coupled with one single full-size network interface and two single half-size network interfaces  160 . At this time, the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the upper right connector  405 . 
         [0052]    Next, the packet processing unit  301   b  is coupled with two double half-size network interfaces  180  via the connector. At this time, the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the upper left connector  403 , and the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the upper right connector  405 . 
         [0053]    The packet processing unit  301   c  is connected with one double half-size network interface  180  and two single half-size network interfaces  160  via the connector. At this time, the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the upper left connector  403 , and the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the upper right connector  405 . The packet processing unit  301   d  is coupled with the double full-size network interface  170 . At this time, the output transmission signal pin  52  is connected to the lower left connector  404 , and the output transmission signal pin  54  is connected to the lower right connector  406 . In addition to this, four single half-size network interfaces or two single full-size network interfaces may be connected. In addition, the packet processing unit  301  may communicate with another packet processing unit  301  by the switch fabric unit  101 . 
         [0054]    Next, a description will be made regarding an example of checking the mounting state of the NIF of the network apparatus. When the network apparatus  1000  receives a command of “show nif” from a management terminal, information of mounting the network interface is acquired. Here, a network device equipped with two packet processing units is exemplified. A PPU is the packet processing unit, and the NIF&#39;s 0 to 7 are a number of the connector provided in the PPU as the network interface of the PPU. The network interface, the network interface number, the mounting state and the network interface type are displayed in association with one another. An output example is as follows. 
         [0000]    show nif 
       PPU 0 
       [0055]    NIF 0: active NIF_TYPE
 
NIF 1: active NIF_TYPE
 
NIF 2: unused
 
NIF 3: active NIF_TYPE
 
       PPU 1 
       [0056]    NIF 4: active NIF_TYPE
 
NIF 5: active NIF_TYPE
 
NIF 6: active NIF_TYPE
 
NIF 7: active NIF_TYPE
 
         [0057]    According to such output, a manager may apprehend which connector is being used and which type of the NIF is being connected. 
         [0058]      FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an aspect of connecting the network interface when viewed from the side. Using this example, a description will be made regarding the problem in a case where the single full-size network interface or the double full-size network interface is connected to the packet processing unit  301  without mounting the switch  5501  and the switch  5502 . As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the plurality of connectors of the network interface needs to be disposed in the vertical direction. The reason for this is because there is a limit to the transmission signal pins to be output from the packet forwarding engine  501 , and accordingly, when the transmission signal pins are allocated to the four connectors, a transmission band is insufficient in a case where the single full-size network interface or the double full-size network interface is connected. In addition, in the case where the plurality of connectors of the network interface is disposed in the vertical direction, when a front surface of the network interface is pressed ( 630 ) in order to connect the network interface to the packet processing unit, a force is not uniformly applied since a connector  161  is not applied with the force directly from the horizontal direction ( 610  and  620 ) so that the engagement between the connector  161  and a connector  162  may not be properly achieved. This causes the problem of engagement when a connector on the substrate of the network interface is coupled with a connector on a plane different from the substrate surface. 
         [0059]      FIG. 7  is a modified example of the casing  201  of the network apparatus  1000  illustrated in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 7  is a view achieved by rotating  FIG. 5  at 90 degree to the right when viewed from the front surface of the casing. An alignment direction of the slot and the substrate of the network interface is lateral direction when viewed from the front surface side of the casing. Respective network interfaces  150 ,  160 ,  170  and  180  having different sizes are coupled with the common packet processing unit  301 , and disposed in a direction of right and left on the casing of the network apparatus. The other configuration is the same as the embodiment that has been described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5 . Accordingly, when the connector is disposed vertically while standing on the substrate surface of the packet processing unit, the same problem as in  FIG. 6  is caused. Thus, it is possible to apply the configuration or the process illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 5  of the embodiment. 
         [0060]    A part or all the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means or the like may be realized using hardware, for example, by designing using an integrated circuit or the like. In addition, the above-described configurations, functions and the like may be realized using software by allowing a processor to interpret and execute a program configured to implement each function. Information such as the program implementing each function, a table and a file may be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk and a solid state drive (SSD), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card and a DVD. In addition, a control line and an information line, considered to be necessary for description, are illustrated, and it is not limited such that all the control lines and information lines required for the product are illustrated. It may be considered that almost all the configurations are connected to one another in actual. 
       REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
       [0000]    
       
           1000  network apparatus 
           301  packet processing unit 
           501  packet forwarding engine 
           5501  switch for left connector 
           5502  switch for right connector 
           121  switch control apparatus