Method and apparatus for ingress port filtering for packet switching systems
First Claim
1. A packet switching system comprising:
- a packet stream splitter;
an input interface of the packet switching system, anda plurality of packet switches;
wherein the input interface includes a plurality of configurable filters coupled to the packet stream splitter and each of said configurable filters is communicatively coupled to a different single one of said packet switches;
wherein the packet stream splitter is configured to receive a packet stream and to provide a copy of said received packet stream to each of said configurable filters; and
wherein each of said configurable filters is configured to forward an identifiable set of packets of said received packet stream such that each packet of said received packet stream is forwarded by a single one of said configurable filters regardless of the packet switching system being in a normal operating mode or a second operating mode; and
wherein all packets forwarded by a configurable filter are forwarded to its corresponding said different single one of said packet switches; and
wherein in a normal operating mode, each of said configurable filters is configured such that there is at least one packet in its said identifiable set of packets; and
wherein in a second operating mode, a particular configurable filter of said configurable filters is configured to forward no packets, and said identifiable set of packets of at least one said configurable filters other than the particular configurable filter is different than when in the normal operating mode in order for all packets of said received stream of packets to be forwarded by a single one of said configurable filters.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are disclosed herein for ingress port filtering for packet switching systems. One implementation includes a mechanism to duplicate and provide an incoming packet stream to multiple per-port ingress filters. Under standard operating conditions, these filters are configured to be cooperative and complementary, with the portion of packet traffic filtered out of the stream on one port allowed to pass through on the other ports so as to load balance traffic across redundant systems. Upon recognition of a failure condition, the filters are typically modified to adapt to the error condition, which may include allowing all traffic to pass through one ingress port while filtering all traffic from the other ingress ports, or dynamically re-programming the filters to effectively redistribute the portion of the traffic going to an ingress port associated with the error condition to the other ingress ports.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A packet switching system comprising:
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a packet stream splitter; an input interface of the packet switching system, and a plurality of packet switches; wherein the input interface includes a plurality of configurable filters coupled to the packet stream splitter and each of said configurable filters is communicatively coupled to a different single one of said packet switches; wherein the packet stream splitter is configured to receive a packet stream and to provide a copy of said received packet stream to each of said configurable filters; and wherein each of said configurable filters is configured to forward an identifiable set of packets of said received packet stream such that each packet of said received packet stream is forwarded by a single one of said configurable filters regardless of the packet switching system being in a normal operating mode or a second operating mode; and
wherein all packets forwarded by a configurable filter are forwarded to its corresponding said different single one of said packet switches; andwherein in a normal operating mode, each of said configurable filters is configured such that there is at least one packet in its said identifiable set of packets; and
wherein in a second operating mode, a particular configurable filter of said configurable filters is configured to forward no packets, and said identifiable set of packets of at least one said configurable filters other than the particular configurable filter is different than when in the normal operating mode in order for all packets of said received stream of packets to be forwarded by a single one of said configurable filters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A packet switching system comprising:
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a packet stream splitter; and a first and a second configurable filters coupled to the packet stream splitter, the first and the second configurable filters each including a normal operating state; wherein the packet stream splitter is configured to provide a received packet stream to each of the first and the second configurable filters; and wherein when the first and the second configurable filters are simultaneously in their respective normal operating states;
each particular packet of the received packet stream is forwarded only by one of the first and the second configurable filters and both the first and second configurable filters are configured to forward at least one packet of the received packet streamwherein the first and the second configurable filters determine whether to drop or forward a particular packet based on at least one value contained within the particular packet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A packet switching system comprising:
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a first means for filtering and forwarding; a second means for filtering and forwarding; and means for providing a received packet stream to each of the first means for filtering and forwarding and the second means for filtering and forwarding wherein the first means for filtering and forwarding is configured to forward a first identifiable set of packets of said received packet stream, and the second means for filtering and forwarding is configured to forward a second identifiable set of packets of said received packet steam; wherein when said first and second means for filtering and forwarding are in their respective normal operating states;
a particular packet of the single received packet stream is forwarded only by one of said first and second means for filtering and forwarding and both said first and second means for filtering and forwarding are configured to forward at least one packet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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receiving a stream of packets; providing the stream of packets to both a first and a second configurable filters; the first configurable filter determining whether or not to forward a particular packet from the stream of packets based on a first programmable filtering scheme; the second configurable filter determining whether or not to forward a particular packet from the stream of packets based on a second programmable filtering scheme; wherein each particular packet of said received stream of packets is forwarded only by one of the first and the second configurable filters and both the first and second configurable filters are configured to forward at least one packet of said received stream of Rackets when simultaneously the first configurable filter is responsive to the first programming scheme and the second configurable filter is responsive to the second programmable filtering scheme. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A packet switching system comprising:
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a packet stream splitter; and a first and a second configurable filters coupled to the packet stream splitter, the first and the second configurable filters each including a normal operating state; wherein the packet stream splitter is configured to provide a received packet stream to each of the first and the second configurable filters; wherein when the first and the second configurable filters are in their respective normal operating states;
a particular packet is forwarded only by one of the first and the second configurable filters and both the first and second configurable filters are configured to forward at least one packet; andwherein the first and the second configurable filters determine whether to drop or forward a particular packet based on at least one value contained within the particular packet.
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26. A method comprising:
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receiving a stream of packets; providing the stream of packets to a first and a second configurable filters; the first configurable filter determining whether or not to forward a particular packet from the stream of packets based on a first programmable filtering scheme; and the second configurable filter determining whether or not to forward a particular packet from the stream of packets based on a second programmable filtering scheme; wherein a particular packet is forwarded only by one of the first and the second configurable filters and both the first and second configurable filters are configured to forward at least one packet; and wherein the first and the second configurable filters determine whether to drop or forward a particular packet based on a value of a source address, a destination address, a packet type, or a quality of service of the particular packet.
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Specification