Method, apparatus and system for optimizing routing of mobile IP packets
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A network device for routing mobile IP packets, the network device comprising:
- a control plane processor;
a forwarding plane processor coupled to the control plane processor, the forwarding plane processor to maintain a binding cache to associate original destination addresses with respective replacement destination address, based on information obtained from one or more routers, the forwarding plane processor also to maintain a forwarding table to associate destination addresses with output interfaces of the network device; and
a fastpath engine responsive to the control plane processor, the fastpath engine capable of operations comprising;
receiving, a mobile IP packet addressed to a destination address;
looking for the destination address of the mobile IP packet in the binding cache to determine if an entry exists to associate a replacement destination address with the destination address for the mobile IP packet;
encapsulating the mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address, in response to finding the entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache;
looking for the replacement destination address in the forwarding table, to determine if an entry exists to associate an output interface with the replacement destination address;
forwarding the encapsulated mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address obtained from the binding cache, via the output interface obtained from the forwarding table; and
routing the mobile IP packet to the forwarding plane processor, in response to finding no entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache;
wherein the forwarding plane processor is capable of routing the mobile IP packet to the control plane processor; and
the control plane processor is capeable of instructing the forwarding plane processor to add an entry for the mobile IP packet to the binding cache maintained by the forwarding plane processor.
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Abstract
Network devices on mobile networks may be configured to improve and optimize packet processing and routing. Specifically, a home agent device may be decomposed into its major functionality, namely processing and routing. Various processors on the device are assigned to specific tasks and each processor may be optimized for its specific tasks, thus improving packet processing and routing. The home agent device may comprise one or more physical components.
292 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A network device for routing mobile IP packets, the network device comprising:
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a control plane processor; a forwarding plane processor coupled to the control plane processor, the forwarding plane processor to maintain a binding cache to associate original destination addresses with respective replacement destination address, based on information obtained from one or more routers, the forwarding plane processor also to maintain a forwarding table to associate destination addresses with output interfaces of the network device; and a fastpath engine responsive to the control plane processor, the fastpath engine capable of operations comprising; receiving, a mobile IP packet addressed to a destination address; looking for the destination address of the mobile IP packet in the binding cache to determine if an entry exists to associate a replacement destination address with the destination address for the mobile IP packet; encapsulating the mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address, in response to finding the entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; looking for the replacement destination address in the forwarding table, to determine if an entry exists to associate an output interface with the replacement destination address; forwarding the encapsulated mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address obtained from the binding cache, via the output interface obtained from the forwarding table; and routing the mobile IP packet to the forwarding plane processor, in response to finding no entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; wherein the forwarding plane processor is capable of routing the mobile IP packet to the control plane processor; and the control plane processor is capeable of instructing the forwarding plane processor to add an entry for the mobile IP packet to the binding cache maintained by the forwarding plane processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of routing mobile IP packets, comprising:
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maintaining, by a forwarding plane processor in a network device, a binding cache in the network device and a forwarding table in the network device, wherein the binding cache associates original destination addresses with respective replacement destination address, based on information obtained from one or more routers, and the forwarding table associates destination addresses with output interfaces of the network device; performing, by a fastpath engine of the network device, operations comprising; receiving a mobile IP packet addressed to a destination address; looking for the destination address of the mobile IP packet in the binding cache to determine if an entry exists to associate a replacement destination address with the destination address for the mobile IP packet; encapsulating the mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address, in response to finding the entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; looking for the replacement destination address in the forwarding table, to determine if an entry exists to associate an output interface with the replacement destination address; forwarding the encapsulated mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address obtained from the binding cache, via the output interface obtained from the forwarding table; and routing the mobile IP packet to the forwarding plane processor, in response to finding no entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; routing the mobile IP packet from the forwarding plane processor to a control plane processor; and from the control plane processor, instructing the forwarding plane processor to add an entry for the mobile IP packet to the binding cache. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An article, comprising a machine-accessible medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a network device, cause the network device to perform operations comprising:
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maintaining, by a forwarding plane processor in the network device, a binding cache in the network device and a forwarding table in the network device, wherein the binding cache associates original destination addresses with respective replacement destination address, based on information obtained from one or more routers, and the forwarding table associates destination addresses with output interfaces of the network device; performing, by a fastpath engine of the network device, operations comprising; receiving a mobile IP packet addressed to a destination address; looking for the destination address of the mobile IP packet in the binding cache to determine if an entry exists to associate a replacement destination address with the destination address for the mobile IP packet; encapsulating the mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address, in response to finding the entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; looking for the replacement destination address in the forwarding table, to determine if an entry exists to associate an output interface with the replacement destination address; forwarding the encapsulated mobile IP packet to the replacement destination address obtained from the binding cache, via the output interface obtained from the forwarding table; and routing the mobile IP packet to the forwarding plane processor, in response to finding no entry for the mobile IP packet in the binding cache; routing the mobile IP packet from the forwarding plane processor to a control plane processor; and from the control plane processor, instructing the forwarding plane processor to add an entry for the mobile IP packet to the binding cache. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification