Method and system for reducing look-up time in packet forwarding on computer networks
First Claim
1. A method executing on hardware for reducing the time to determine data packet routes on a computer network, the method comprising:
- performing a single lookup in a memory tree to find a particular first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree to determine a first protocol route for a packet of data to be routed on the computer network, wherein the first protocol forwarding entry includes first protocol information for a first protocol and a cache of associated second protocol information for a second protocol different from the first protocol;
determining whether the cached second protocol information associated with one or more first protocol entries in the memory tree has been invalidated due to an update to at least one second protocol entry in the memory tree; and
retrieving and using the cached second protocol information in the determination of the first protocol route for the packet of data on the computer network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Lookup time in packet forwarding on computer networks is reduced. A first lookup is performed in a memory tree to find a first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree. The forwarding entry includes first protocol (e.g., EGP) information and cached associated second protocol (e.g., IGP) information. Both EGP and IGP information are retrievable with the first lookup and used in the determination of an EGP route for the data packet. If the cached IGP information has been invalidated due to address updates, a second lookup can be performed to find an original IGP entry in the memory tree, the information from which can be cached in the EGP forwarding entry if a background maintenance task has finished designating all the EGP entries as having out-of-date caches.
14 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method executing on hardware for reducing the time to determine data packet routes on a computer network, the method comprising:
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performing a single lookup in a memory tree to find a particular first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree to determine a first protocol route for a packet of data to be routed on the computer network, wherein the first protocol forwarding entry includes first protocol information for a first protocol and a cache of associated second protocol information for a second protocol different from the first protocol; determining whether the cached second protocol information associated with one or more first protocol entries in the memory tree has been invalidated due to an update to at least one second protocol entry in the memory tree; and retrieving and using the cached second protocol information in the determination of the first protocol route for the packet of data on the computer network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A hardware computer readable storage medium including program instructions that perform a method on a computer device for reducing the time to determine data packet routes on a computer network, the program instructions performing steps comprising:
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performing a single lookup in a memory tree to find a particular first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree to determine a first protocol route for a packet of data to be routed on the computer network, wherein the first protocol forwarding entry includes first protocol information for a first protocol and a cache of associated second protocol information for a second protocol different from the first protocol, wherein both the first protocol information and cached second protocol information are retrievable with the single lookup; determining whether the cached second protocol information associated with one or more first protocol entries in the memory tree has been invalidated due to an update to at least one second protocol entry in the memory tree; and using the cached second protocol information in the determination of the first protocol route for the packet of data on the computer network. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for reducing the time to determine data packet routes on a computer network, the apparatus comprising:
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a mechanism that performs a single lookup in a memory tree to find a particular first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree to determine a first protocol route for a packet of data to be routed on the computer network, wherein the first protocol forwarding entry includes first protocol information for a first protocol and a cache of associated second protocol information for a second protocol different from the first protocol; a mechanism that determines whether the cached second protocol information associated with one or more first protocol entries in the memory tree has been invalidated due to an update to at least one second protocol entry in the memory tree; and a mechanism that retrieves and uses the cached second protocol information in the determination of the first protocol route for the packet of data on the computer network. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification