PACKET FORWARDING APPARATUS AND METHOD USING FLOW SUBGROUP BASED PATH SELECTION FOR DYNAMIC LOAD BALANCING
First Claim
1. A packet forwarding apparatus, comprising:
- a path selection device, configured to generate a path selection signal referenced for selecting a destination path from a plurality of egress paths belonging to an egress path group, the path selection device comprising;
a flow group based path selection circuit, configured to set the path selection signal based on a flow group into which a packet to be forwarded is categorized when a dynamic load balancing function is not applied to forwarding of the packet; and
a flow subgroup based path selection circuit, configured to set the path selection signal based on a flow subgroup into which the packet to be forwarded is categorized when the dynamic load balancing function is applied to forwarding of the packet;
wherein flows associated with the egress path group are categorized into a plurality of flow subgroups, the flow subgroups are categorized into a plurality of flow groups, and each of the flows includes a group of packets with same tuple(s).
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Abstract
A packet forwarding apparatus has a path selection device used to generate a path selection signal for selecting a destination path from egress paths of an egress path group. The path selection device has a flow group based path selection circuit and a flow subgroup based path selection circuit. The flow group based path selection circuit sets the path selection signal based on a flow group into which a packet is categorized when a dynamic load balancing function is not applied to forwarding of the packet. The flow subgroup based path selection circuit sets the path selection signal based on a flow subgroup into which the packet is categorized when the dynamic load balancing function is applied to forwarding of the packet. Flows associated with the egress path group are categorized into flow subgroups, the flow subgroups are categorized into flow groups, and each flow includes packets with same tuple(s).
40 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A packet forwarding apparatus, comprising:
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a path selection device, configured to generate a path selection signal referenced for selecting a destination path from a plurality of egress paths belonging to an egress path group, the path selection device comprising; a flow group based path selection circuit, configured to set the path selection signal based on a flow group into which a packet to be forwarded is categorized when a dynamic load balancing function is not applied to forwarding of the packet; and a flow subgroup based path selection circuit, configured to set the path selection signal based on a flow subgroup into which the packet to be forwarded is categorized when the dynamic load balancing function is applied to forwarding of the packet; wherein flows associated with the egress path group are categorized into a plurality of flow subgroups, the flow subgroups are categorized into a plurality of flow groups, and each of the flows includes a group of packets with same tuple(s). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A packet forwarding method, comprising:
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generating a path selection signal referenced for selecting a destination path from a plurality of egress paths belonging to an egress path group, wherein the generating a path selection signal comprises; when a dynamic load balancing function is not applied to forwarding of a packet, performing a flow group based path selection to set the path selection signal based on a flow group into which the packet to be forwarded is categorized; and when the dynamic load balancing function is applied to forwarding of the packet, performing a flow subgroup based path selection to set the path selection signal based on a flow subgroup into which the packet to be forwarded is categorized; wherein flows associated with the egress path group are categorized into a plurality of flow subgroups, the flow subgroups are categorized into a plurality of flow groups, and each of the flows includes a group of packets with same tuple(s). - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification