Flexible processor of a port extender device
First Claim
1. A method for egress processing packets in a network device, the method comprising:
- identifying, with a first stage engine implemented in hardware, a particular set of computer-readable instructions, for a particular packet, the particular set of computer-readable instructions being identified from among a plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions stored in a memory, respective ones of the plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions being for performing different sets of egress processing operations with respect to different packets;
generating, with the first stage engine implemented in hardware, metadata to be used for performing egress processing operations with respect to the particular packet, the metadata including a template populated with header information according to a particular format of a forwarding tag to be inserted into a header of the particular packet; and
executing, with a second stage processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory, the particular set of computer-readable instructions, identified by the first stage engine, to perform the corresponding set of egress processing with respect to the particular packet, the corresponding set of egress processing operations including inserting the forwarding tag populated with the header information into the header of the particular packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a method for egress processing packets in a network device, a first stage engine, implemented in hardware, identifies a particular set of computer-readable instructions for a particular packet. The particular set of computer-readable instructions is identified from among a plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions stored in a memory, respective ones of the plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions being for performing different sets of egress processing operations with respect to different packets. A second stage processor, configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory, executes the particular set of computer-readable instructions, identified by the first stage engine, to perform the corresponding set of egress processing with respect to the particular packet.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for egress processing packets in a network device, the method comprising:
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identifying, with a first stage engine implemented in hardware, a particular set of computer-readable instructions, for a particular packet, the particular set of computer-readable instructions being identified from among a plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions stored in a memory, respective ones of the plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions being for performing different sets of egress processing operations with respect to different packets; generating, with the first stage engine implemented in hardware, metadata to be used for performing egress processing operations with respect to the particular packet, the metadata including a template populated with header information according to a particular format of a forwarding tag to be inserted into a header of the particular packet; and executing, with a second stage processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory, the particular set of computer-readable instructions, identified by the first stage engine, to perform the corresponding set of egress processing with respect to the particular packet, the corresponding set of egress processing operations including inserting the forwarding tag populated with the header information into the header of the particular packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A network device, comprising
a plurality of ports configured to receive and to transmit packets, a memory configured to store a plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions for modifying packet headers, respective ones of the plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions being for performing different sets of egress processing operations with respect to different packets, and an egress processing engine, including a first stage engine implemented in hardware, the first stage engine configured to i) identify, for a particular packet, a particular set of computer-readable instructions, from among the plurality of sets of computer-readable instructions stored in the memory and ii) generate metadata to be used for performing egress processing operations with respect to the particular packet, the metadata including a template populated with header information according to a particular format of a forwarding tag to be inserted into a header of the particular packet, and a second stage processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions, the second stage processor being configured to execute the particular set of computer-readable instructions, identified by the first stage engine, to perform the corresponding set of egress processing operations with respect to the particular packet, wherein the corresponding set of egress processing operations includes inserting the forwarding tag populated with the header information into the header of the particular packet.
Specification