Platform permitting execution of multiple network infrastructure applications
First Claim
1. A platform permitting execution of multiple network infrastructure applications, comprising:
- (a) selection means to select network traffic according to criteria provided by at least one of the applications and provide a predicate; and
(b) processing means to process the network traffic as specified by at least one of the applications and in accordance with the predicate, the predicate indicating a result obtained from the selection means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a general-purpose programmable packet-processing platform for accelerating network infrastructure applications which have been structured so as to separate the stages of classification and action. Network packet classification, execution of actions upon those packets, management of buffer flow, encryption services, and management of Network Interface Controllers are accelerated through the use of a multiplicity of specialized modules. A language interface is defined for specifying both stateless and stateful classification of packets and to associate actions with classification results in order to efficiently utilize these specialized modules.
168 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A platform permitting execution of multiple network infrastructure applications, comprising:
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(a) selection means to select network traffic according to criteria provided by at least one of the applications and provide a predicate; and
(b) processing means to process the network traffic as specified by at least one of the applications and in accordance with the predicate, the predicate indicating a result obtained from the selection means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of classifying network packets comprising:
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(a) extracting a field of interest from a packet;
(b) comparing the extracted field to a constant and providing a predicate accordingly;
(c) reducing the predicate complexity; and
(d) communicating the reduced predicate to a processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a machine readable medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations including;
extracting a field of interest from a packet;
comparing the extracted field to a constant and providing a predicate accordingly;
reducing the predicate complexity; and
communicating the reduced predicate to a processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
generate a hash key from the extracted field and utilize the hash key to perform a lookup in a hash table to identify a record associated with at least one packet matching the key.
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33. The article of claim 31 wherein the machine readable medium further provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations including:
communicating a pointer to a record to the processing unit to expedite processing of one or more packets.
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34. A system comprising:
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a network of computers, each computer coupled to another to form a local area network;
a link coupled to the network of computers;
a network classification tool coupled to the link to receive a flow of information, the flow of information including network traffic, the network classification tool equipped to select a portion of the network traffic according to criteria provided by at least one network application and to process the network traffic as specified by at least one network application and in accordance with a predicate derived from the selected portion of the network traffic, the predicate indicating a result obtained from the selection act. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification