Chaining control marker data structure
First Claim
1. An apparatus for increasing the capacity of a network device, comprising:
- a network processor; and
a component that performs actions, including;
pre-processing a plurality of tasks separate from a network processor for each received packet;
generating a plurality of words that include a plurality of results for the pre-processed plurality of tasks;
inserting the plurality of words before a header of a received packet, wherein the received packet is relatively near a front of a flow of received packets; and
providing the received packet with the inserted plurality of words to the network processor, wherein each of the plurality of words include an indication that they are chained to each other, and wherein the network processor employs the results to process the flow of packets.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data structure for linking or chaining at least two 32 bit words or control markers that are inserted into a packet before the header of the packet that is also positioned at the front of a flow of packets that is being processed by a network processor in a network device. There are at least two types of control markers, primary and cluster. A reserved single bit field in the control marker indicates if multiple control markers are included and chained together in the packet ahead of the header and if the control marker is not a primary control marker, another three bit field indicates the type of that particular control marker, such as a cluster control marker.
17 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for increasing the capacity of a network device, comprising:
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a network processor; and
a component that performs actions, including;
pre-processing a plurality of tasks separate from a network processor for each received packet;
generating a plurality of words that include a plurality of results for the pre-processed plurality of tasks;
inserting the plurality of words before a header of a received packet, wherein the received packet is relatively near a front of a flow of received packets; and
providing the received packet with the inserted plurality of words to the network processor, wherein each of the plurality of words include an indication that they are chained to each other, and wherein the network processor employs the results to process the flow of packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for increasing the capacity of a network device, comprising:
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pre-processing a plurality of tasks separate from a network processor for each received packet;
generating a plurality of words that include a plurality of results for the pre-processed plurality of tasks;
inserting the word at a beginning a header of a received packet, wherein the received packet is relatively near a front of a flow of received packets from a cluster; and
providing the received packet with the inserted plurality of words to the network processor, wherein the network processor employs the results to process the flow of packets from the cluster. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for increasing the capacity of a network device, comprising:
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means for pre-processing a plurality of tasks in hardware for each received packet;
means for generating a plurality of words that include a plurality of results for the plurality of tasks;
means for inserting the plurality of words at a beginning of a header of a received packet, wherein the received packet is relatively near a front of a flow of received packets from a cluster; and
means for providing the received packet with the inserted plurality of words to a network processor, wherein the network processor employs the results to process the flow of packets from the cluster.
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Specification