Platform-independent control plane and lower-level derivation of forwarding structures
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- with a software module executing above an operating system of a network device, creating a set of forwarding structures for use in forwarding network traffic with the network device without regard to limitations of an underlying architecture of a forwarding plane of the network device;
providing the set of forwarding structures to a forwarding structure control module operative within or below the operating system of the network device;
with the forwarding structure control module, creating a set of derived forwarding structures for installation in the forwarding plane based on the set of forwarding structures created by the software module, wherein creating the derived set of forwarding structures comprises creating the derived set of forwarding structures in accordance with the limitations of the underlying architecture of the forwarding plane;
installing the derived set of forwarding structures within the forwarding plane;
receiving a packet on an interface of the network device; and
processing the packet in accordance with the installed derived set of forwarding structures.
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Abstract
A network device includes a processor that executes a software module above an operating system of a network device, wherein the software module is configured to create a set of forwarding structures for use in forwarding network traffic with the network device without regard to limitations of an underlying architecture of the forwarding plane. The network device also includes a forwarding structure control module operative within or below the operating system of the network device, wherein the forwarding structure control module is configured to create a set of derived forwarding structures based on the set of forwarding structures provided by the software module for installation in the forwarding information of the forwarding plane. The derived set of forwarding structures is created in accordance with the limitations of the underlying architecture of the forwarding plane.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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with a software module executing above an operating system of a network device, creating a set of forwarding structures for use in forwarding network traffic with the network device without regard to limitations of an underlying architecture of a forwarding plane of the network device; providing the set of forwarding structures to a forwarding structure control module operative within or below the operating system of the network device; with the forwarding structure control module, creating a set of derived forwarding structures for installation in the forwarding plane based on the set of forwarding structures created by the software module, wherein creating the derived set of forwarding structures comprises creating the derived set of forwarding structures in accordance with the limitations of the underlying architecture of the forwarding plane; installing the derived set of forwarding structures within the forwarding plane; receiving a packet on an interface of the network device; and processing the packet in accordance with the installed derived set of forwarding structures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A network device comprising:
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an interface that receives network traffic from a network; a forwarding plane configured to forward the network traffic received by the network device to next hops in accordance with stored forwarding information; a processor that executes a software module above an operating system of a network device, wherein the software module is configured to create a set of forwarding structures for use in forwarding network traffic with the network device without regard to limitations of an underlying architecture of the forwarding plane; a forwarding structure control module operative within or below the operating system of the network device, wherein the software module is configured to provide the set of forwarding structures to the forwarding structure control module, and wherein the forwarding structure control module is configured to create a set of derived forwarding structures based on the set of forwarding structures provided by the software module for installation in the forwarding information of the forwarding plane, wherein the forwarding structure control module is configured to create the derived set of forwarding structures in accordance with the limitations of the underlying architecture of the forwarding plane. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:
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with a software module executing above an operating system of a network device, create a set of forwarding structures for use in forwarding network traffic with the network device without regard to limitations of an underlying architecture of a forwarding plane of the network device; provide the set of forwarding structures to a forwarding structure control module operative within or below the operating system of the network device; with the forwarding structure control module, create a set of derived forwarding structures for installation in the forwarding plane based on the set of forwarding structures created by the software module, wherein creating the derived set of forwarding structures comprises creating the derived set of forwarding structures in accordance with the limitations of the underlying architecture of the forwarding plane; install the derived set of forwarding structures within the forwarding plane; receive a packet on an interface of the network device; and process the packet in accordance with the installed derived set of forwarding structures.
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Specification