System and method for flow management in software-defined networks
First Claim
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1. A switch, comprising:
- one or more ports capable of processing data flows based on a flow rule;
flow circuitry configured to allocate a flow identifier to a generic flow definition, which indicates a flow that is not specific to any input port of the switch;
lookup circuitry configured to;
store, in a first data structure, one or more port-specific flow rules generated based on the generic flow definition, wherein each port-specific flow rule corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and
store the flow identifier in a respective entry of a second data structure, wherein each entry of the second data structure corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and
forwarding circuitry configured to determine an egress port for a packet based on one of the one or more port-specific flow rules.
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Abstract
A system facilitates flow definition management in a switch. During operation, the system identifies a generic flow definition which specifies a flow that is not specific to any input port of a switch. The system further stores in a flow lookup data structure one or more port-specific flow rules based on the generic flow definition, wherein each port-specific flow rule corresponds to a respective port capable of processing data flows.
649 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A switch, comprising:
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one or more ports capable of processing data flows based on a flow rule; flow circuitry configured to allocate a flow identifier to a generic flow definition, which indicates a flow that is not specific to any input port of the switch; lookup circuitry configured to; store, in a first data structure, one or more port-specific flow rules generated based on the generic flow definition, wherein each port-specific flow rule corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and store the flow identifier in a respective entry of a second data structure, wherein each entry of the second data structure corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and forwarding circuitry configured to determine an egress port for a packet based on one of the one or more port-specific flow rules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method, comprising:
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allocating a flow identifier to a generic flow definition, which indicates a flow that is not specific to any input port of a switch, wherein the switch comprises one or more ports capable of processing data flows based on a flow rule; storing, in a first data structure one or more port-specific flow rules generated based on the generic flow definition, wherein each port-specific flow rule corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; storing the flow identifier in a respective entry of a second data structure, wherein each entry of the second data structure corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and determining an egress port for a packet based on one of the one or more port-specific flow rules. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computing system, comprising:
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one or more ports capable of processing data flows based on a flow rule; a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising; allocating a flow identifier to a generic flow definition, which indicates a flow that is not specific to any input port of the switch; storing, in a first data structure, one or more port-specific flow rules generated based on the generic flow definition, wherein each port-specific flow rule corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; storing the flow identifier in a respective entry of a second data structure, wherein each entry of the second data structure corresponds to a port of the one or more ports; and determining an egress port for a packet based on one of the one or more port-specific flow rules. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification