Methods and systems for routing packets with a hardware forwarding engine and a software forwarding engine
First Claim
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1. A system, comprising:
- a hardware forwarding engine that routes data packets; and
a processor coupled to the hardware forwarding engine, the processor having a software forwarding engine that routes data packets, wherein, if data packets are forwarded from the hardware forwarding engine to the software forwarding engine, the hardware forwarding engine provides route lookup results for at least some of the data packets forwarded to the software forwarding engine.
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Abstract
A system is provided that includes a hardware forwarding engine that routes data packets. The system also comprises a processor coupled to the hardware forwarding engine, the processor having a software forwarding engine that routes data packets. If data packets are forwarded from the hardware forwarding engine to the software forwarding engine, the hardware forwarding engine provides route lookup results for at least some of the data packets forwarded to the software forwarding engine.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a hardware forwarding engine that routes data packets; and
a processor coupled to the hardware forwarding engine, the processor having a software forwarding engine that routes data packets, wherein, if data packets are forwarded from the hardware forwarding engine to the software forwarding engine, the hardware forwarding engine provides route lookup results for at least some of the data packets forwarded to the software forwarding engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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performing, by a hardware forwarding engine, a route lookup process to determine a route associated with a data packet; and
if a next hop of the data packet is a processor interface, encapsulating the data packet in a first tunnel header that includes a result of the route lookup process. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A routing system, comprising:
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a hardware forwarding engine that routes data packets received from a network interface; and
a processor in communication with the hardware forwarding engine, the processor having a software forwarding engine that routes data packets received from a processor interface, such that for a packet received from the network interface destined for the processor interface, the hardware forwarding engine is operable to perform a route lookup, the hardware forwarding engine further operable to insert a route lookup result into a tunnel header associated with the data packet and forward the tunnel header and the data packet to the processor, and further such that the software forwarding engine is operable to extract the route lookup result from the tunnel header and to route the data packet based on the route lookup result. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification