CN100542103C - Method and device for hot upgrading network processor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and device for thermally upgrading a network processor. In the present invention, the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor is set to the state of no message processing, and after the setting is completed, the old service module instruction in the engine is updated with the upgraded service module instruction, so that the network processor is in the Realize hot upgrade without interrupting business. Moreover, the realization process of the present invention is stable and reliable, and has a wide range of applications. The realization of the present invention can also meet the modification of a large number of business module codes, improve the reliability and stability of the router, and ensure the normal operation of the carrier-class business.

Description

Method and device for hot upgrading network processor

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of communications, in particular to a method and device for hot upgrading a network processor.

Background technique

With the transformation of interactive network analysis (Internet) from scientific research to commercial applications, network users are increasing rapidly, and various types of applications coexist on a physical network. The processing capacity of network nodes, guarantee of quality of service (QoS) and network bandwidth Gradually become the main obstacle to the continued development of the Internet. However, with the development of optical transmission technology, transmission bandwidth is no longer the bottleneck of the network, and the processing capability of network switching nodes is particularly important.

In order to meet the ever-changing changes in the network, gigabit routers (GSR) and terabit routers (TSR) emerged as the times require. These high-end routers use large-capacity switching structures and hardware high-speed forwarding technology to greatly increase the packet forwarding speed. The network processor (NP: Network Processor), which is the switching core of these devices, has also been rapidly developed and applied.

The network processor is a programmable device, which is the brain of the router device, and it is applied to various tasks in the communication field, such as data packet processing, protocol analysis, route lookup, voice/data aggregation, firewall, and QoS.

With the continuous introduction of new technologies and the new requirements of users for NP functions, NP needs to be continuously upgraded, that is, update old instructions with new operating instructions to meet user requirements and implement new technologies. Then, how to realize the hot upgrade of the NP in the router without interrupting the service of the NP in the router running the business on the backbone network has become the focus of current research.

In the existing technology, the NP in the router that is running the business on the backbone network is hot-upgraded by using the modified instruction jump technology. The basic principle of this technology is to put the newly added instruction into the free area of the microcode instruction space , and replace the instruction to be modified with the instruction address that jumps to the newly added microcode.

When using the method in the prior art to upgrade, you need to be very familiar with the microcode, and also need to be very familiar with the resources such as the relevant registers of the entire NP, and need to prevent the coverage of the internal resources of the NP during the upgrade, and this method only Suitable for modifying a small amount of instruction code. If you use this method to modify a software vulnerability (bug), you need to jump at the same time where the original code is discontinuous, which may cause the update to be out of sync, causing problems in microcode processing. At the same time, this method It also causes a waste of instruction space.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and device for hot upgrading network processors, so that the network processors can perform hot upgrading without interrupting services.

The purpose of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

The invention provides a method for thermally upgrading a network processor, comprising:

The engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor is set to the state of not receiving the message, and after the setting is completed, delay for a period of time, so that the engine is in the state of no message processing;

Using the upgraded business module instructions to update the old business module instructions in the engine;

Release the no-message processing state of the engine in the network processor, and restore the normal operation of the network processor.

The method for setting the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to the state of not receiving messages includes: performing link-level back pressure on the uplink of the network processor by the general-purpose central processing unit in the network processor.

The method also includes: if the general-purpose central processing unit has a message to send to the network server before the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor is set to the state of no message processing, the general-purpose central processing unit stops sending messages to the network processor. said message.

The present invention also provides a device for thermally upgrading network processors, including:

The setting unit is used to set the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to a state of not receiving messages, and after the setting is completed, delay for a period of time, so that the engine is in a state of no message processing;

The update unit is used for updating the old service module instructions in the engine with the upgraded service module instructions after the setting unit completes the setting, so as to complete the upgrade of the network processor;

The recovery unit is configured to release the no-message processing state of the engine in the network processor and restore the normal operation of the network processor after the update unit completes the update.

The setting unit specifically includes:

The state setting module is used to set the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to the state of not receiving messages;

The time delay module is used to delay for a period of time after the state setting module completes the setting, so as to ensure that the engine to be upgraded in the network processor is in the state of no message processing.

It can be seen from the above-mentioned technical solution provided by the present invention that the present invention provides a reliable, simple and practical method and device for network processor hot upgrade, so that the network processor can realize hot upgrade without interrupting services. Moreover, the realization process of the present invention is stable and reliable, and has a wide range of applications. The realization of the present invention can also meet the modification of a large number of business module codes, improve the reliability and stability of the router, and ensure the normal operation of the carrier-class business.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for thermally upgrading a network processor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a device for hot upgrading a network processor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a setting unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The embodiment of the present invention proposes a method of thermally upgrading the network processor by setting the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor (NP), so that the NP can realize hot upgrading without interrupting the service.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the engine that needs to be upgraded in the NP is set to the no-message processing state; and when the engine is in the no-message processing state, the old business module in the engine is updated by using the upgraded business module instruction command, and after the upgrade is complete, resume NP normal operation.

Specifically, the embodiment of the present invention can use technical means to prevent the engine that needs to be upgraded in the NP from receiving messages, and in order to ensure that the business processing module in the engine sends all remaining messages, the technical means After the engine that needs to be upgraded in the NP does not receive the message, delay for a period of time, so that the engine that needs to be upgraded in the NP is completely in the state of no message processing, and then use the upgraded business module command to update the command of the business module in the engine Space, and after the update and upgrade is completed, the engine in the network processor is released from the no-message processing state, and the normal operation of the network processor is resumed.

In order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiment of the present invention, the method of the present invention is divided into three stages below, and combined with the flow chart of the method for thermally upgrading the network processor of the embodiment of the present invention (as shown in FIG. 1 ), the method of the embodiment of the present invention is analyzed. The specific implementation process is described in detail, including:

1. Setup stage

At present, the idea of NP upgrade is: use NP resources as little as possible, that is, let NP be in the simplest state; determine which instructions to execute when upgrading as much as possible; when upgrading, business processes must also be considered The diversity and breadth of the system to expand its scope of application.

The simplest state of NP is when the engine does not have any messages to process, because at this time the engine will be in the polling state for messages or waiting to be activated. In this state, the use of NP resources is the least, and the related NP The status of is also the clearest.

So as long as the engine to be upgraded in the NP is managed to be in a state where there is no message to be processed, then the general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) can directly use the upgraded service module instructions to refresh the service instruction space.

Based on the NP upgrade idea, the present invention adopts technical means to prevent the engines in the NP that need to be upgraded from receiving messages. The technical means can use link-level backpressure on the NP uplink, but it is not limited to this method , and other technical means can also be used, for example, by resetting the port so that the port no longer receives messages, the same effect can also be achieved. In this way, it can be guaranteed that the engine will not receive any more messages.

The operation of performing link-level back pressure on the uplink of the NP may be controlled by a general-purpose CPU in the router.

Although the engine will no longer receive messages through technical means, there may still be messages received before the engine is in the state of not receiving messages that have not been sent out in the business processing module of the engine. , in order to completely send out the remaining messages that may still exist in the business processing module in the engine, so after the engine that needs to be upgraded in the NP does not receive messages through technical means, it can be delayed for a period of time, so that The engine completely sends the remaining messages, so that the engines in the NP that need to be upgraded are completely in a state of no message processing. The delay time can be set differently according to different upgrade situations, for example, 1ms.

This stage also includes, if the general-purpose CPU in the router is sending the message to the NP before the engine to be upgraded in the NP is in the state of no message processing, then the general-purpose CPU stops sending the message to the NP.

2. Update stage

After the engine to be upgraded in the NP is in the state of no message processing, use the upgraded service module instruction to update the instruction space of the service module in the engine.

3. Recovery stage

After the updating phase is completed, cancel the influence of the setting phase on the engine, release the no-message processing state of the upgraded engine in the NP, and restore the normal operation of the network processor.

This stage also includes, if the general-purpose CPU is suspended to send messages to the NP during the setting stage, then the general-purpose CPU is resumed to send messages to the NP at this stage.

The implementation of the embodiments of the method of the present invention has the following advantages:

1. This method has nothing to do with specific NPs and is applicable to multiple NPs;

2. Regardless of the specific business process, data communication products using NP can be upgraded by this method, and wireless products using NP can also be upgraded by this method;

3. It is not necessary to understand the microcode machine code, nor to be familiar with the relevant registers and other resources of the entire NP;

4. There is no need to prevent new services from covering useful resources within the NP;

5. It can meet the modification of a large number of business module codes;

6. Reliability and high serviceability;

7. No instruction will be wasted, because there is no patch area concept, and there is no additional jump required for patching;

8. It can realize the upgrade of new microcode and new features.

The present invention also provides a device for thermally upgrading a network processor, and the schematic diagram of the device is shown in FIG. 2 . Described device specifically comprises:

(1) A setting unit, configured to set the engine to be upgraded in the network processor to a state of no message processing.

(2) An update unit, configured to use the upgraded service module instructions to update the old service module instructions in the engine after the setting unit completes the setting, so as to complete the upgrade of the network processor.

(3) A recovery unit, configured to release the no-message processing state of the engine in the network processor and restore the normal operation of the network processor after the update unit completes the update.

Wherein, the specific structural diagram of the setting unit is shown in Figure 3, and the setting unit may specifically include:

The state setting module is used to set the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to the state of not receiving messages;

The time delay module is used to delay for a period of time after the state setting module completes the setting, so as to ensure that the engine to be upgraded in the network processor is in the state of no message processing.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention can easily think of changes or Replacement should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1. A method for thermally upgrading a network processor, comprising: The engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor is set to the state of not receiving the message, and after the setting is completed, delay for a period of time, so that the engine is in the state of no message processing; Using the upgraded business module instructions to update the old business module instructions in the engine; Release the no-message processing state of the engine in the network processor, and restore the normal operation of the network processor. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method for setting the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to the state of not receiving messages comprises: by the general-purpose central processing unit in the network processor to the network processor link-level backpressure on the uplink. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: if there is a message to be sent by the general-purpose central processing unit before the engine to be upgraded in the network processor is set to the state of no message processing to the network server, the general central processing unit stops sending the message to the network processor. 4. A device for thermally upgrading a network processor, comprising: The setting unit is used to set the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to a state of not receiving messages, and after the setting is completed, delay for a period of time, so that the engine is in a state of no message processing; The update unit is used for updating the old service module instructions in the engine with the upgraded service module instructions after the setting unit completes the setting, so as to complete the upgrade of the network processor; The recovery unit is configured to release the no-message processing state of the engine in the network processor and restore the normal operation of the network processor after the update unit completes the update. 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the setting unit specifically includes: The state setting module is used to set the engine that needs to be upgraded in the network processor to the state of not receiving messages; The time delay module is used to delay for a period of time after the state setting module completes the setting, so as to ensure that the engine to be upgraded in the network processor is in the state of no message processing.

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