System and method for distributing packets among a plurality of paths to a destination
First Claim
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1. A network-processing device comprising:
- a first table to be addressed by content information of received data, and to provide output data dependent upon the content information;
a second table to be addressed by an output of the first table, and comprising an output to present output data dependent upon the output of the first table, the output comprising a plurality of fields; and
a multiplexer operable to obtain information of a next-hop transfer of the received data by selecting from amongst a plurality of next-hop designations;
separate fields of the plurality of the second table to originate at least two of the next-hop designations.
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Abstract
A network-processor device comprises a packet-processor for an ingress port that is operative to distribute data flows to a plurality of equal-cost paths for transfer of data toward a given destination. The packet-processor also includes further distribution circuitry for designating a link of a link aggregation by which to channel the data between routers within a part of a selected path. Accordingly, each of the layer distributions—i.e., amongst the higher-level equal-cost-paths and amongst the lower-level link aggregation—are capable of being coordinated by a common, generic packet-processor.
244 Citations
72 Claims
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1. A network-processing device comprising:
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a first table to be addressed by content information of received data, and to provide output data dependent upon the content information; a second table to be addressed by an output of the first table, and comprising an output to present output data dependent upon the output of the first table, the output comprising a plurality of fields; and a multiplexer operable to obtain information of a next-hop transfer of the received data by selecting from amongst a plurality of next-hop designations; separate fields of the plurality of the second table to originate at least two of the next-hop designations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A network-processing device comprising:
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a first table having a plurality of selectable pointers and an output to present a selected pointer of the plurality; a second table configured to be indexed by the selected pointer of the first table, the second table comprising a plurality of selectable entries to be output when designated by the pointer output of the first table; a link aggregation (LAG) circuit operable to define a next-hop pointer based upon a first output of the second table; a next-hop table comprising a plurality of selectable entries with next-hop port ID'"'"'s; and a multiplexer to select a next-hop pointer to index the next-hop table from one of the LAG circuit or a second output of the second table. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A multiple-link network-processing device for routing data, comprising:
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a data processor to receive data and determine content information thereof; a content addressable memory having a plurality of pointers to be output dependent upon content information determined by the data processor; a second table comprising a plurality of selectable entries to be output dependent upon the pointers output by the content addressable memory; the second table output comprising a plurality of data fields; a first data field of the plurality comprising a plurality of sub-fields; at least a first plurality of the selectable entries of the second table comprising ID values for at least one sub-field of the first data field; and a multiplexer to select one of the sub-fields of the first data field of the output of the second table to obtain an ID value for establishing an egress port for transfer of the received data. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A network processing device comprising:
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a first table having a plurality of indexed pointers for selectable output; a second table to be indexed by a pointer output of the first table, the second table comprising; a plurality of entries for selective output, and a plurality of output fields to present respective bit-fields of a selected entry of the plurality; a first selection circuit to select an output field of the plurality of output fields of the second table from which to obtain a second pointer; a third table to be indexed by the second pointer established by the first selection circuit, the third table comprising; a plurality of entries for selective output, and a plurality of output fields to present respective bit-fields of a selected entry of the plurality; a second selection circuit to select an output field of the plurality of output fields of the third table from which to obtain a third pointer; and egress port look-up circuitry to establish an egress port identification based upon the third pointer selected by the second selection circuit. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification