Network application apparatus
First Claim
1. A network apparatus, comprising,at least one network processor module having at least one processor, at least one interface to receive and forward a stream of data packets in a network, and instructions to cause the at least one processor to recognize one or more data packets in the stream of data packets that contain data, including subscriber profile information, for processing by an application executing on the network apparatus by applying a policy to the data, and directing the stream of data packets to at least one flow processor module for executing the application based on the subscriber profile information and the policy;
- the at least one flow processor module having at least one processor and at least one memory for storing the application for execution by the at least one flow processor module processor, the at least one flow processor module including instructions to receive the stream of data packets from the at least one network processor module, to process the data in the one or more data packets thereby providing one or more data packets with processed data, and to return the one or more data packets with processed data to the at least one network processor module for forwarding to a destination in the network; and
at least one control processor module in communication with the at least one flow processor module and the at least one network processor module, and having at least one control processor module processor, and instructions for causing the at least one control processor module processor to manage the applications in the flow processor module memories.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method to distribute applications and services throughout a network, including switch functionality and the ability to apply applications and services to received data according to subscriber profiles. Network Processor Modules (NPMs) receive and recognize data flows from subscribers, extract profile information for the subscribers, and utilize flow scheduling techniques to forward the data to Flow Processor Modules (FPMs). The FPMs utilize resident applications to process data received from the NPMs. A Control Processor Module facilitates applications processing and maintains connections to the NPMs, FPMs, local and remote storage devices, and a Management Server (MS) module that can monitor the health and maintenance of the various modules. The MS can download and otherwise control applications on the FPMs to provide an open architecture for downloading, executing, modifying, and otherwise managing applications.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A network apparatus, comprising,
at least one network processor module having at least one processor, at least one interface to receive and forward a stream of data packets in a network, and instructions to cause the at least one processor to recognize one or more data packets in the stream of data packets that contain data, including subscriber profile information, for processing by an application executing on the network apparatus by applying a policy to the data, and directing the stream of data packets to at least one flow processor module for executing the application based on the subscriber profile information and the policy; -
the at least one flow processor module having at least one processor and at least one memory for storing the application for execution by the at least one flow processor module processor, the at least one flow processor module including instructions to receive the stream of data packets from the at least one network processor module, to process the data in the one or more data packets thereby providing one or more data packets with processed data, and to return the one or more data packets with processed data to the at least one network processor module for forwarding to a destination in the network; and at least one control processor module in communication with the at least one flow processor module and the at least one network processor module, and having at least one control processor module processor, and instructions for causing the at least one control processor module processor to manage the applications in the flow processor module memories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A network apparatus, comprising,
at least one flow processor module comprising at least one processor and at least one memory for storing an application for execution by the at least one processor; -
a first network processor module having at least one network processor module processor, at least one interface to receive and forward a stream of data packets in a network, and instructions to cause the at least one network processor module processor to recognize one or more data packets in the stream of data packets that contain data, including subscriber profile information, for processing by an application executing on the network apparatus by applying a policy to the data, and directing the stream of data packets to the at least one flow processor module for executing the application based on the subscriber profile information and the policy; a first control processor module in communication with the first network processor module and the at least one flow processor modules, and having at least one control processor module processor and instructions for causing the at least one control processor module processor to manage the application in the flow processor module memories, wherein the at least one flow processor module further comprises instructions to; recognize the one or more data packets from the first network processor module; process the data in the stream of data packets, thereby providing one or more data packets with processed data; and return the one or more data packets with processed data to the first network processor module for forwarding to a destination in the network. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for distributing applications in a network, comprising,
receiving a stream of data packets that contain data, including subscriber profile information, from the network at a network device, identifying at least one application executing on the network device to apply to the stream of data packets, processing the stream of data packets according to the at least one identified application by applying a policy to the data, and directing the stream of data packets to at least one processor for executing the at least one identified application based on the subscriber profile information and the policy, and, forwarding the processed stream of data packets from the network device.
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39. A method for managing applications on a network apparatus, comprising,
providing at least one flow processor module having at least one processor and at least one memory for storing applications, providing at least one network processor module connected to the at least one flow processor module having at least one network processor module processor and instructions for: -
recognizing a data request that contains data, including subscriber profile information, processing by the applications stored on the at least one flow processor module by applying a policy to the data, and transferring the data request to the at least one flow processor module capable of processing the data request based on the subscriber profile information and the policy, and, connecting a control processor module to the at least one flow processor module and the at least one network processor module, the control processor module in communication with the at least one flow processor module and the at least one network processor module, and having at least one control processor module processor and instructions for causing the control processor module processor to perform a step from the group consisting of, deleting applications from the at least one flow processor module, and, storing applications to the at least one flow processor module. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification