Method and apparatus for performing link aggregation
First Claim
1. A method of performing link aggregation, comprising:
- mapping a given ingress flow to an egress flow identifier;
mapping the egress flow identifier to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in the given ingress flow; and
forwarding the given ingress flow to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network node or corresponding method of performing link aggregation reduces a number of Content Addressable Memory (CAM) entries required to make a forwarding decision for a given ingress flow, reducing cost, size, and power consumption of the CAM and accompanying static RAM. In one embodiment, an ingress flow is mapped to an egress flow identifier. Subsequently, the egress flow identifier is mapped to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in a given ingress flow. Finally, the given ingress flow is forwarded to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface. A hashing technique or two lookups may be used alone or in combination in mapping the ingress flow to the egress flow identifier to reduce CAM memory usage.
170 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of performing link aggregation, comprising:
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mapping a given ingress flow to an egress flow identifier; mapping the egress flow identifier to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in the given ingress flow; and forwarding the given ingress flow to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A node, comprising:
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a first mapping unit configured to map a given ingress flow to an egress flow identifier; a second mapping unit configured to map the egress flow identifier to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in the given ingress flow; and a flow forwarding unit configured to forward the given ingress flow to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions, when executed by a digital processor, that cause the processor to:
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map a given ingress flow to an egress flow identifier; map the egress flow identifier to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in the given ingress flow; and forward the given ingress flow to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface.
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Specification