Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-074475, filed on Mar. 29, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     The present art relates to a communication path estimation method, a communication path estimation program, and a monitoring apparatus for a network. 
     BACKGROUND 
     It is important to be able to perform path identification for a network for the following purposes: in the case of an Internet Protocol (IP) network, for example, to check whether a path that was set during the design of the network corresponds to an actual path; and in the case of a service such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), to find out, after occurrence of a quality deterioration, which path an influential flow passes through and to check, when performing a network reconstruction, whether a path is appropriately bypassed so that the service will not be affected. In order to perform path control for an IP network, for example, an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol is used. In the OSPF protocol, path control information called “link-state advertisements (LSAs)” is exchanged between routers that form a network. By exchanging LSAs between routers, a routing table is constructed to perform path control for an IP network. 
     There may be a case in which, for example, in order to perform load distribution or the like in a network subjected to path control performed using the OSPF protocol, a path that is different from a path set using the OSPF protocol is statically set for a particular sub-network. Path information that has been statically set does not appear on the network in the form of LSAs of the OSPF protocol. Therefore, with an apparatus that monitors a path by obtaining LSAs in a similar manner to a router, only path information relating to a network set using the OSPF protocol can be obtained, and path information relating to a network that is actually managed cannot be obtained. For this reason, when performing a path identification for a network, it is important to obtain path information concerning a path that is statically set and match the path information to path information relating to a network that is actually managed. 
     In order to obtain statically set path information, to date, for example, the following has been performed: a management information base (MIB) of routing tables of all routers has been obtained; a check using a command has been performed after login; or tracing of a path has been executed between source and destination addresses and the results have been compared with the calculation results in the OSPF protocol so as to find out a different path. In these methods, because entries of routing tables of all routers need to be found or paths of all source and destination flows need to be traced and checked, a router that cannot be accessed, if any, cannot be detected or the check may take time to execute tracing for all the source and destination flows. 
     Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-061139 is an example of related art. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of an invention, a communication path estimation method for estimating a communication path in a network in which communication is performed by forwarding packets from a plurality of transmission source nodes to a plurality of transmission destination nodes through a plurality of nodes, the method has obtaining, by a computer, path information of a plurality of paths connecting the plurality of transmission source nodes and the plurality of transmission destination nodes on the basis of connection information generated by the plurality of nodes that have transmitted and received information relating to a node connected to the respective plurality of nodes to/from one another, extracting a path in which a number of lost packets out of packets flowing in the extracted path is a predetermined value or more on the basis of the path information, choosing a pair of adjacent nodes included in the extracted path, the pair of adjacent nodes being an upstream node and a downstream node and being assumed to have an abnormal point therebetween, and outputting a hypothesis that a static path is set from a first downstream node to a second downstream node when the first downstream node being included in a plurality of paths connected to a plurality of destination nodes and a first upstream node is the same with a second upstream node, the first upstream node and the first downstream node being included in a first path, the second upstream node and the second downstream node being included in a second path. 
     The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a path monitoring system; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram for describing a routing table; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating the routing table; 
         FIG. 4  is a first diagram illustrating a method for estimating a quality deterioration point; 
         FIG. 5  is a second diagram illustrating the method for estimating a quality deterioration point; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a quality measurement result database; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a search path candidate storage table; 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating a principle configuration of a method for estimating a static path; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a routing table corresponding to  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of a computer; 
         FIG. 12  is a first diagram illustrating an example of an operation in which an actual path is checked; and 
         FIG. 13  is a second diagram illustrating another example of the operation in which an actual path is checked. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a path monitoring system  0  according to an embodiment of the present art. The path monitoring system  0  has a plurality of routers  200 , a path monitoring apparatus  100  that analyses packets flowing between the routers  200 , and a terminal  300 . 
     The path monitoring apparatus  100  has a packet receiver  102 , a topology/path manager  104 , a quality measurement unit  106 , a quality analysis result holder  108 , a static path determination unit  110 , and a path search execution request unit  112 . 
     The packet receiver  102  is connected to an arbitrary point in a network and receives all IP packets including LSAs of an OSPF protocol. 
     The topology/path manager  104  obtains LSAs from the packet receiver  102 . The topology/path manager  104  manages information concerning connection between the routers  200  and path information of each flow from the obtained LSAs. The topology/path manager  104  creates a routing table. 
     A routing table according to this embodiment is described here with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a network system  1  has a transmission source sub-network  12 , a transmission source sub-network  14 , a transmission destination sub-network  18 , and a transmission destination sub-network  21 . 
     A router A  24  is connected to the transmission source sub-network  12 , and a router B  26  is connected to the transmission source sub-network  14 . A router C  28  is connected to the router A  24  and the router B  26 . The router A  24 , the router B  26 , and the router C  28  form Area  1 . 
     A router D  34  is connected to the router C  28 . A router E  38  and a router F  40  are connected to the router D  34 . The router C  28 , the router D  34 , the router E  38 , and the router F  40  form a backbone. 
     A router G  42  is connected to the router E  38 . The transmission destination sub-network  18  is connected to the router G  42 . A router H  48  is connected to the router F  40 . The transmission destination sub-network  21  is connected to the router H  48 . The router E  38 , the router F  40 , the router G  42 , and the router H  48  form Area  2 . 
     The above-mentioned LSAs are generated by the routers and transmitted to respective adjacent routers. For example, the router C  28  transmits LSAs to the router A  24 , the router B  26 , and the router D  34 . In addition, the router D  34  transmits LSAs to the router C  28 , the router E  38 , and the router F  40 . The router C  28  refers to the LSA transmitted from the router D  34  to verify that the router E  38  and the router F  40  are connected to the router D  34 . The router C  28  then adds information relating to the router E  38  and the router F  40 , both of which are connected to the router D  34 , to the LSAs generated thereby. Thus, the routers update LSAs that are generated thereby and transmitted to adjacent routers. The path monitoring apparatus  100  generates a routing table by obtaining the updated LSAs. 
     A routing table  400  illustrated in  FIG. 3  has transmission source sub-network information  402 , transmission destination sub-network information  404 , and path information  406 . In the path information  406 , passing routers provided along a path from a transmission source sub-network to a transmission destination sub-network are described. 
     The quality measurement unit  106  categorizes packets obtained from the packet receiver  102  into flows of corresponding source and destination IP addresses. The quality measurement unit  106  measures the quality of each flow and identifies a quality deterioration point from the relationship between flows whose quality has deteriorated. The quality measurement unit  106  then stores the analysis results of the flows in the quality analysis result holder  108 . If there is a quality deterioration point, the quality measurement unit  106  notifies the static path determination unit  110  of the quality deterioration point. 
     A method for estimating a quality deterioration point according to this embodiment is described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . A network system  2  illustrated in  FIG. 4  has a plurality of sub-networks  902 ,  904 ,  906 ,  908 , and  910 . The sub-network  902  is connected to a router  912 . The router  912  is connected to a router  914 . The router  914  is connected to a router  916  and a router  920 . The router  916  is connected to the sub-network  910  and a router  922 . The sub-network  904  is connected to a router  918 . The router  918  is connected to the router  920 . The router  920  is connected to a router  924  and the router  922 . The router  922  is connected to the sub-network  908 . The sub-network  906  is connected to the router  924 . 
     Now, suppose that a quality deterioration occurs at a link L 3  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The quality measurement unit  106  receives traffic flows of Flow  1 , Flow  2 , Flow  3 , and Flow  4  and measures the quality of the traffic flows. The path of Flow  1  runs from N 1  to L 1 , N 2 , L 2 , and then to N 3 . The path of Flow  2  runs from N 7  to L 7 , N 5 , L 3 , N 2 , L 2 , and then to N 3 . The path of Flow  3  runs from N 6  to L 6  and then to N 3 . The path of Flow  4  runs from N 4  to L 4 , N 5 , L 3 , N 2 , L 2 , and then to N 3 . The quality measurement unit  106  performs mapping for these flows so as to indicate whether each flow has been normal or abnormal at links through which the flow passed as in a tomography analysis table  500  illustrated in  FIG. 5 . The quality measurement unit  106  refers to this table and, if flows that passed through a shared link (L 3  in this case) are all abnormal, identifies the link as a quality deterioration point. The links L 4  and L 7  may also be abnormal links here, but because the links L 4  and L 7  are also highly likely to be abnormal when the link L 3 , through which both Flow  2  and Flow  4  pass in this embodiment, is an abnormal link, the link L 3  located upstream from the viewpoint of the quality measurement unit  106  is determined as a quality deterioration point. 
     In this embodiment, the types of packet include, for example, an IP packet, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packet, a User Data Protocol (UDP) packet, and a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet. Upon determination of a quality deterioration, the quality measurement unit  106  finds packet loss by checking the ID field of an IP packet, the sequence number of a TCP packet, or, in the case of a UDP packet, lack of the sequence number of an RTP packet. 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a quality measurement result database  700  that is stored in the quality analysis result holder  108 . The quality measurement result database  700  includes a transmission source IP address  702 , a transmission destination IP address  704 , the number of packets transmitted  706 , the number of packets received  708 , the number of packets lost on the transmission side  710 , the number of packets lost on the reception side  712 , and a quality analysis result  714 . 
     The transmission source IP address  702  indicates the IP address of a transmission source network. The transmission destination IP address  704  indicates the IP address of a transmission destination network. The number of packets transmitted  706  indicates the number of request packets that passed through, from a transmission source network to a transmission destination network, a link to which the path monitoring apparatus  100  is connected. The number of packets received  708  indicates the number of response packets that passed through, from a transmission destination network to a transmission source network, a link to which the path monitoring apparatus  100  is connected. The number of packets lost on the transmission side  710  indicates the number of packets that lacked their respective sequence numbers or the like among the request packets that passed through, from a transmission source network to a transmission destination network, a link to which the path monitoring apparatus  100  is connected. The number of packets lost on the reception side  712  indicates the number of packets that lacked their respective sequence numbers or the like among the response packets that passed through, from a transmission destination network to a transmission source network, a link to which the path monitoring apparatus  100  is connected. The quality analysis result  714  indicates a flow whose packet loss was large with a cross (x) and a flow whose packet loss was small with a circle (o). 
     The static path determination unit  110  receives a notification of a quality deterioration point from the quality measurement unit  106 . The static path determination unit  110  obtains the flows whose quality has deteriorated from the quality analysis result holder  108  on the basis of the notification of the quality deterioration point. The static path determination unit  110  categorizes the flows obtained from the quality analysis result holder  108  into flows that are determined on a sub-network-by-sub-network basis and executes quality measurement again after removing flows to a particular transmission destination sub-network. After executing this process on all transmission destination sub-networks, the static path determination unit  110  determines a transmission destination sub-network with which the quality deterioration point has changed as a candidate for a static path. The static path determination unit  110  then makes the path search execution request unit  112  execute a path search that uses traceroute or the like. If path information is found to be different from that held in a routing table by this execution of a path search, the routing table is updated and a router located immediately before a point at which the paths become different is determined as a setting router for the static path. 
     The path search execution request unit  112  executes a path search that uses traceroute or the like on a particular route between transmission source and transmission destination networks upon receiving an instruction from the static path determination unit  110 . In addition, the path search execution request unit  112  requests a transmission source terminal of a path to execute a path search. By requesting execution of a path search only on a particular path, the static path can be identified in a short period of time. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a search path candidate storage table  800  in the static path determination unit  110  according to this embodiment. The search path candidate storage table  800  has transmission source sub-network information  802 , transmission destination sub-network information  804 , and search path candidate information  806 . After obtaining the flows whose quality has deteriorated from the quality analysis result holder  108 , the static path determination unit  110  categorizes these flows into flows that are determined on a transmission-sub-network-by-transmission-sub-network basis and on a destination-sub-network-by-destination-sub-network basis, and registers the flows. On the basis of these transmission source and transmission destination sub-networks, the static path determination unit  110  selects transmission destination sub-networks to be removed and removes the selected transmission destination sub-networks, and makes the quality measurement unit  106  execute quality measurement and a process for estimating the quality deterioration point again. This process is executed for all combinations with one of the transmission destination sub-networks removed, and an entry in which the quality deterioration point has changed is registered as a candidate for a search path. By using this result, the static path determination unit  110  is able to estimate a path with which a path search is executed. 
       FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating the principle configuration of a method for estimating the static path according to this embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , a network system  10  has the transmission source sub-network  12 , the transmission source sub-network  14 , a transmission destination sub-network  16 , a transmission destination sub-network  17 , the transmission destination sub-network  18 , a transmission destination sub-network  19 , a transmission destination sub-network  20 , and the transmission destination sub-network  21 . The path monitoring apparatus  100  has the quality analysis result holder  108  and the static path determination unit  110 . The quality analysis result holder  108  has the quality measurement result database  700  described with reference to  FIG. 6 , and the static path determination unit  110  has the search path candidate storage table  800  described with reference to  FIG. 7 . 
     The router A  24  is connected to the transmission source sub-network  12 , and the router B  26  is connected to the transmission source sub-network  14 . The router C  28  is connected to the router A  24  and the router B  26 . The router A  24 , the router B  26 , and the router C  28  form Area  1 . 
     A router K  30  is connected to the router C  28 . A router L  32  and the router D  34  are connected to the router K  30 . The transmission destination sub-network  16  and a router M  36  are connected to the router L  32 . The transmission destination sub-network  17  is connected to the router M  36 . The router E  38  and the router F  40  are connected to the router D  34 . The router C  28 , the router K  30 , the router L  32 , the router M  36 , the router D  34 , the router E  38 , and the router F  40  form a backbone. 
     The router G  42 , a router I  44 , and a router J  46  are connected to the router E  38 . The transmission destination sub-network  18  is connected to the router G  42 . The transmission destination sub-network  19  is connected to the router I  44 . The transmission destination sub-network  20  is connected to the router J  46 . The router H  48  is connected to the router F  40 . The transmission destination sub-network  21  is connected to the router H  48 . The router E  38 , the router F  40 , the router G  42 , the router I  44 , the router J  46 , and the router H  48  form Area  2 . 
     In this embodiment, first, the quality measurement unit  106  determines that there are quality deterioration points in a link between the router D  34  and the router E  38  and a link between the router D  34  and the router F  40  as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . The quality measurement unit  106  does not determine a link between the router K  30  and the router D  34 , which is a link located upstream of the link between the router D  34  and the router E  38  and the link between the router D  34  and the router F  40 , but determines the link between the router D  34  and the router E  38  and the link between the router D  34  and the router F  40  as quality deterioration points. It is to be noted that although flows categorized on a sub-network-by-sub-network basis are illustrated for convenience of description, there are flows associated with a plurality of source and destination IP addresses in practice. It is also to be noted that, regarding the router D 34 , a static path is set for the transmission destination sub-network  21  so that packets in the router D  34  are forwarded to the router E  38  here. 
     According to path calculation results obtained by using LSAs of the OSPF protocol, a path from the transmission source sub-network  12  to the transmission destination sub-network  21  is relayed from the router D  34  to the router F  40 . Therefore, although a flow from the transmission source sub-network  12  to the transmission destination sub-network  21  also passes through a quality deterioration link in practice, which causes a quality deterioration in packets therein, the flow is regarded as passing through a link that connects the router D  34  and the router F  40  in the path calculation results obtained by using LSAs of the OSPF protocol. As a result, the quality measurement unit  106  incorrectly determines that the quality deterioration point is a link between the router K  30  and the router D  34 . 
     The topology/path manager  104  creates a routing table  4001  illustrated in  FIG. 9  from the obtained LSAs. The routing table  4001  has transmission source sub-network information  40012 , transmission destination sub-network information  40014 , and path information  40016 . The topology/path manager  104  obtains the path information of the network system  10 . From the routing table  4001  created by the topology/path manager  104 , the static path determination unit  110  determines that the router G  42 , the router I  44 , and the router J  46  are connected to the router E  38 , and the router H  48  is connected to the router F  40 . As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , when a plurality of routers are connected to the router E  38  and, in contrast, a single router is connected to the router F  40 , the thickness of a link connecting the router D  34  and the router E  38  is estimated to be larger than that of the link connecting the router D  34  and the router F  40 . In such a case, a path may be statically set to be relayed from the router D  34  to the router E  38  so as to increase the reliability of packet transmission by passing through a thick link. The static path determination unit  110  estimates that the router E  38  is statically set. 
       FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating a method for estimating a static path according to this embodiment. 
     In step S 101 , the packet receiver  102  receives all IP packets including LSAs of the OSPF protocol. The process proceeds to step S 102 . 
     In step S 102 , the topology/path manager  104  creates a routing table on the basis of the LSAs obtained from the packet receiver  102 . The process proceeds to step S 103 . 
     In step S 103 , the quality measurement unit  106  measures the quality of each flow and detects a quality deterioration point. The process proceeds to step S 104 . 
     In step S 104 , the static path determination unit  110  determines whether or not at least two or more quality deterioration points have been detected. If at least two or more quality deterioration points have been detected, the process proceeds to step S 105 . On the other hand, if at least two or more quality deterioration points have not been detected, the process terminates. 
     In step S 105 , the static path determination unit  110  refers to the routing table to determine whether or not a plurality of routers are connected to a router located downstream of a detected first quality deterioration point. If a plurality of routers are connected to a router located downstream of the first quality deterioration point, the process proceeds to step S 106 . In this embodiment, the first quality deterioration point is located between the router D  34  and the router E  38 , and the router G  42 , the router I  44 , and the router J  46  are connected to the router E  38 , which is a router located downstream of the quality deterioration point. On the other hand, if a plurality of routers are not connected to a router located downstream of the detected first quality deterioration point, the process terminates. 
     In step S 106 , the static path determination unit  110  refers to the routing table to determine whether or not a router located upstream of a detected second quality deterioration point corresponds to a router located upstream of the detected first quality deterioration point. In this embodiment, the second quality deterioration point is located between the router D  34  and the router F  40 , and the router D  34 , which is a router located upstream of the second quality deterioration point, is also a router located upstream of the first quality deterioration point. If a router located upstream of the detected second quality deterioration point corresponds to a router located upstream of the detected first quality deterioration point, the process proceeds to step S 107 . On the other hand, if a router located upstream of the detected second quality deterioration point does not correspond to a router located upstream of the detected first quality deterioration point, the process terminates. 
     In step S 107 , the static path determination unit  110  outputs an indication that it is possible that a static route is set for the router D  34 . The process terminates. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , in a path monitoring system, a memory  2501  (storage unit), a central processing unit (CPU)  2503  (processor), a hard disk drive (HDD)  2505 , a display controller  2507  connected to a display device  2509 , a drive device  2513  for a removable disk  2511 , an input device  2515 , and a communication controller  2517  for connecting to a network are connected by a bus  2519 . An operating system (OS) and application programs including a web browser are stored in the HDD  2505 , and when executed by the CPU  2503 , the OS and the application programs are read out to the memory  2501  from the HDD  2505 . The CPU  2503  controls the display controller  2507 , the communication controller  2517 , and the drive device  2513  as necessary to cause the display controller  2507 , the communication controller  2517 , and the drive device  2513  to perform necessary operations. In addition, data being processed is stored in the memory  2501 , and may be stored in the HDD  2505  as necessary. Such a computer realizes the various functions described above through organic and cooperative operation of hardware such as the CPU  2503  and the memory  2501 , the OS, and necessary application programs, which are described above. 
     Finally, the effectiveness of this embodiment is described.  FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation in which it is supposed that a path for the transmission destination sub-network  21  is statically set, and traceroute is executed for a flow in the path in order to check an actual path. The path monitoring apparatus  100  logs in an arbitrary terminal of the transmission source sub-network  12  or the router A  24  using Telnet or the like and causes the terminal to execute a traceroute command. 
     After causing the terminal to execute traceroute, the path monitoring apparatus  100  receives response packets that have been sent back in response to traceroute at the packet receiver  102  and analyzes routers through which the response packets have passed on the basis of the transmission source IP addresses. Because the router D  34 , the router E  38 , the router F  40 , and the router H  48  send back their respective response packets, a path can be identified from the transmission source IP addresses of the response packets. After the path is identified, if the path is different from one in a routing table, the routing table is modified. Since a path after the router D  34  is different here, it is determined that the path for the transmission destination sub-network  21  is statically set and setting of the path is performed at the router D  34 . 
       FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating another example of an operation in which traceroute is executed for a candidate for a static path. In the example of the operation illustrated in  FIG. 12 , the path search execution request unit  112  requests a terminal of a sub-network of a target path to execute traceroute. However, in this example of the operation, traceroute is directly executed by the path monitoring system  0  using an option of traceroute for designating a relay router, and the path to the transmission destination sub-network  21  is searched for while a router of the transmission source sub-network  12  is passed through once. In doing so, path search can be realized even when a router or terminal of a sub-network cannot be directly controlled. 
     In contrast to the examples of the operation illustrated in  FIGS. 12 and 13 , in this embodiment, it is not necessary to search or check routing tables of all the routers nor to execute traceroute for all the source and destination addresses, which successfully reduces the time taken by path search. In addition, since packets flowing in a network are monitored, it is possible to check a path even for, for example, a network having routers that cannot be accessed. 
     According to an aspect of the art, a statically set path in a network can be efficiently identified. 
     According to the wireless communication device and the method for wireless communication disclosed herewith, extension of a period of time required for data communication between nodes can be reduced in a wireless network to which a plurality of nodes belongs for carrying out ad hoc communication. 
     As mentioned above, the present invention has been specifically described for better understanding of the embodiments thereof and the above description does not limit other aspects of the invention. Therefore, the present invention can be altered and modified in a variety of ways without departing from the gist and scope thereof.

Technology Category: 5