Statistical classification of high-speed network data through content inspection
First Claim
1. A network data classifier configured to statistically classify data and comprising:
- a network interface configured to receive packets carrying the data;
a feature extraction hardware block coupled to the network interface and configured to extract at least one feature from the received data;
a statistical classifier coupled to the feature extraction and configured to statistically classify the data in accordance with the at least one extracted feature; and
a policy engine coupled to the statistical classifier and configured to define a rule corresponding to the data class, wherein the statistical classifier is further configured to statistically classify the data at a same rate at which the network interface receives the packets.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network data classifier statistically classifies received data at wire-speed by examining, in part, the payloads of packets in which such data are disposed and without having a priori knowledge of the classification of the data. The network data classifier includes a feature extractor that extract features from the packets it receives. Such features include, for example, textual or binary patterns within the data or profiling of the network traffic. The network data classifier further includes a statistical classifier that classifies the received data into one or more pre-defined categories using the numerical values representing the features extracted by the feature extractor. The statistical classifier may generate a probability distribution function for each of a multitude of classes for the received data. The data so classified are subsequently be processed by a policy engine. Depending on the policies, different categories may be treated differently.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A network data classifier configured to statistically classify data and comprising:
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a network interface configured to receive packets carrying the data;
a feature extraction hardware block coupled to the network interface and configured to extract at least one feature from the received data;
a statistical classifier coupled to the feature extraction and configured to statistically classify the data in accordance with the at least one extracted feature; and
a policy engine coupled to the statistical classifier and configured to define a rule corresponding to the data class, wherein the statistical classifier is further configured to statistically classify the data at a same rate at which the network interface receives the packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An integrated circuit configured to perform wire-speed computations for use in statistical classification of network data, the integrated circuit comprising:
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a lookup table configured to store weights for a multitude of events associated with the network data;
an adder coupled to add the weights it receives from the look-up table;
a register configured to store a value;
an accumulator; and
a multiplexer configured to deliver to the accumulator one of the added weights it receives from the adder at its first input terminal and the value it receives from the register at its second input terminal, the accumulator further configured to supply a summation of the added weights to the adder. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method for statistically classifying data, the method comprising:
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receiving packets carrying the data;
extracting at least one feature from the received data;
statistically classifying the data in accordance with the at least one extracted feature and at a same rate at which the packets are received; and
applying a rule corresponding to the data class. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification