System and method for processing data packets
First Claim
1. An apparatus for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the apparatus comprising:
- means for storing the header portion of the data packet;
means, connected to the header storing means, for processing the header portion of the data packet;
said processing means comprising;
a processing core for executing instructions for processing the header portion,means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a first value contained within said header portion, for searching through a route table to determine a route of the data packet,means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a second value contained within said header portion, for searching through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet, wherein said table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits,said processing core, said route table search means and said table memory search means operating simultaneously to process said header portion and generate one of an internal header and a network media header; and
means for generating a modified header portion containing at least some of the received header portion together with said generated one of the internal header and the network media header.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network is provided in which the data packet has a header portion and a data portion. The apparatus stores the header portion of the data packet, and processes the header portion of the data packet. The processing may include using a processing core for executing instructions for processing the header portion, searching through a route table to determine a route of the data packet, and searching through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet in which the route table search, the table memory search and the processing core operate simultaneously to process the header portion and generate an internal header or a network media header. A modified header portion is generated to route the data packet through the communications network. A method for processing data packets to determine the route of the data packet is also provided in which a header portion is received from an incoming data packet, an search based on the received header portion is performed, a route look-up search is performed, and the information contained within the header portion is processed simultaneously for determining if the header portion is valid and generating an internal header or network media header based on the results of the route look-up search, the interface search, and other processing.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the apparatus comprising:
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means for storing the header portion of the data packet; means, connected to the header storing means, for processing the header portion of the data packet; said processing means comprising; a processing core for executing instructions for processing the header portion, means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a first value contained within said header portion, for searching through a route table to determine a route of the data packet, means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a second value contained within said header portion, for searching through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet, wherein said table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits, said processing core, said route table search means and said table memory search means operating simultaneously to process said header portion and generate one of an internal header and a network media header; and means for generating a modified header portion containing at least some of the received header portion together with said generated one of the internal header and the network media header. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the method comprising:
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storing the header portion of the data packet; processing the header portion of the data packet; said processing comprising executing instructions for processing the header portion, searching, responsive to a first value contained within said header portion, through a route table to determine a route of the data packet, searching, responsive to a second value contained within said header portion, through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet, wherein said table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits, said route table search and said table memory search operating simultaneously to process said header portion and generate one of an internal header and a network media header; and generating a modified header portion containing at least some of the received header portion together with said generated one of the internal header and the network media header. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for processing data packets to determine the route of the data packet, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the method comprising:
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receiving a header portion of an incoming data packet; performing a flat table memory access based on a first value contained within the received header portion, wherein said flat table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits; performing a route look-up search simultaneously with said flat table memory access, said route table look-up search responsive to a second value contained within the received header portion; checking information contained within the header portion while said flat table memory access and said route look-up search are being performed for determining if the header portion is valid; generating one of an internal header and a network media header based on the results of the route look-up search and the flat table memory access; and generating a modified header portion including the received header portion and said generated one of the internal header and the network media header. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification