Network accounting statistics collection
First Claim
1. A system for network accounting statistics collection, comprising:
- a statistics collector associated with a packet forwarding engine;
at least one accounting element within said statistics collector, wherein said accounting element includes at least one counter;
wherein said packet forwarding engine is operable to generate at least one accounting instruction in response to a packet processed by said forwarding engine, wherein said accounting instruction includes unique identification of said accounting element within said statistics collector;
wherein said statistics collector is operable to process at least one accounting instruction generated by said collocated forwarding engine, wherein said processing includes identifying said at least one accounting element responsive to said unique identification of said accounting element in said accounting instruction, and wherein said processing includes incrementing said at least one counter within said at least one accounting element responsive to said at least one accounting instruction; and
a system control component operable to forward a contents of said at least one accounting element to an accounting and statistics system, and wherein said accounting and statistics system is further operable to compute at least one statistical output based on said contents of said at least one accounting element, and wherein said accounting and statistics system is further operable to forward statistical output to a routing control system, wherein said routing control system is operable to use said at least one statistical output to determine a new route for a packet flow in response to said statistical output and distribute said new route for said packet flow to at least one networking device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for network accounting statistics collection including a statistics collector associated with each packet forwarding engine. Each statistics collector has one or more accounting elements, each of which includes some number of counters, such as packet and byte counters. Each statistics collector receives accounting instructions from the associated forwarding engine for packets processed by the forwarding engine, including packets that will be discarded without being forwarded. Each accounting instruction includes an identifier uniquely indicating one of the accounting elements, and information used to increment the counters within the accounting element. Upon receipt of an accounting instruction, the receiving statistics collector increments the counters in the accounting element. The accounting instruction is a relatively simple primitive operation in the disclosed system, enabling high-speed operation. Each statistics collector collects data over a fixed sampling interval that may range from a number of milliseconds to one or more minutes. Each sampling period begins with a reset of an accounting element store, and ends with at least one set of data being flushed to a management system for further processing and/or formatting.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for network accounting statistics collection, comprising:
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a statistics collector associated with a packet forwarding engine; at least one accounting element within said statistics collector, wherein said accounting element includes at least one counter; wherein said packet forwarding engine is operable to generate at least one accounting instruction in response to a packet processed by said forwarding engine, wherein said accounting instruction includes unique identification of said accounting element within said statistics collector; wherein said statistics collector is operable to process at least one accounting instruction generated by said collocated forwarding engine, wherein said processing includes identifying said at least one accounting element responsive to said unique identification of said accounting element in said accounting instruction, and wherein said processing includes incrementing said at least one counter within said at least one accounting element responsive to said at least one accounting instruction; and a system control component operable to forward a contents of said at least one accounting element to an accounting and statistics system, and wherein said accounting and statistics system is further operable to compute at least one statistical output based on said contents of said at least one accounting element, and wherein said accounting and statistics system is further operable to forward statistical output to a routing control system, wherein said routing control system is operable to use said at least one statistical output to determine a new route for a packet flow in response to said statistical output and distribute said new route for said packet flow to at least one networking device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of collecting network accounting statistics, comprising:
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generating at least one accounting instruction in response to a packet processed by a forwarding engine, wherein said accounting instruction includes unique identification of an accounting element, wherein said accounting element is one of a plurality of accounting elements; processing said at least one accounting instruction, wherein said processing includes identifying said accounting element responsive to said unique identification of said accounting element in said accounting instruction, and wherein said processing includes incrementing at least one counter within said at least one accounting element responsive to said at least one accounting instruction; and forwarding a contents of said at least one accounting element to an accounting and statistics system, wherein said accounting and statistics system computes at least one statistical output based on said contents of said at least one accounting element, and wherein said accounting and statistics system forwards said statistical output to a routing control system, wherein said routing control system processes said at least one statistical output to determine a new route for a packet flow in response to said statistical output and distributes said new route for said packet flow to at least one networking device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for collecting network accounting statistics, comprising:
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means for generating at least one accounting instruction in response to a packet processed by a forwarding engine, wherein said accounting instruction includes unique identification of an accounting element, wherein said accounting element is one of a plurality of accounting elements; means for processing said at least one accounting instruction, wherein said processing includes identifying said accounting element responsive to said unique identification of said accounting element in said accounting instruction, and wherein said processing includes incrementing at least one counter within said at least one accounting element responsive to said at least one accounting instruction; and means for forwarding a contents of said at least one accounting element to an accounting and statistics system, wherein said accounting and statistics system computes at least one statistical output based on said contents of said at least one accounting element, and wherein said accounting and statistics system forwards said statistical output to a routing control system, wherein said routing control system processes said at least one statistical output to determine a new route for a packet flow in response to said statistical output and distributes said new route for said packet flow to at least one networking device.
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Specification