Automatic filter overlap processing and related systems and methods
First Claim
1. A network packet forwarding device having automatic filter overlap processing, comprising:
- one or more input ports configured to receive packets from one or more source devices;
a plurality of output ports configured to send packets to two or more destination devices;
packet forwarding circuitry coupled between the input ports and the output ports and configured to forward packets from the input ports to the output ports;
at least one filter engine coupled to the packet forwarding circuitry and configured to use filter rules to control at least in part how packets are forwarded by the packet forwarding circuitry from the input ports to the output ports;
a filter interface configured to allow a user to define a plurality of filters representing how packets are desired to be forwarded from input ports to output ports; and
a dynamic filter processor configured to analyze the user-defined filters, to automatically identify filters having different forwarding actions for packets from a single input port as overlapping filters, to automatically generate filter rules for the filter engine to provide for the different forwarding actions, and to automatically apply the filter rules to the filter engine so that the filter engine is configured to cause packets from the single input port to be forwarded according to the different forwarding actions provided by the overlapping filters.
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Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed that allow for improved management and control of packet forwarding in network systems. Network devices and tool optimizers and a related systems and methods are disclosed for improved packet forwarding between input ports and output ports. The input ports and output ports are configured to be connected to source devices and destination devices, for example, network sources and destination tools in a network monitoring environment. The network devices and tool optimizers disclosed can use a packet processing system whereby forwarding behavior is governed by matching packets in parallel against multiple user-specified packet filtering criteria, and by performing forwarding actions associated with all such matching filter criteria. The multi-action packet forwarding can be implemented using hardware configured to directly provide multi-action packet forwarding and/or hardware configured to provide single-packet-forwarding that has been subsequently configured using filter engines to provide multi-action packet forwarding.
61 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A network packet forwarding device having automatic filter overlap processing, comprising:
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one or more input ports configured to receive packets from one or more source devices; a plurality of output ports configured to send packets to two or more destination devices; packet forwarding circuitry coupled between the input ports and the output ports and configured to forward packets from the input ports to the output ports; at least one filter engine coupled to the packet forwarding circuitry and configured to use filter rules to control at least in part how packets are forwarded by the packet forwarding circuitry from the input ports to the output ports; a filter interface configured to allow a user to define a plurality of filters representing how packets are desired to be forwarded from input ports to output ports; and a dynamic filter processor configured to analyze the user-defined filters, to automatically identify filters having different forwarding actions for packets from a single input port as overlapping filters, to automatically generate filter rules for the filter engine to provide for the different forwarding actions, and to automatically apply the filter rules to the filter engine so that the filter engine is configured to cause packets from the single input port to be forwarded according to the different forwarding actions provided by the overlapping filters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 20)
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12. A method for automatic filter overlap processing, comprising:
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providing one or more input ports configured to receive packets from one or more source devices; providing a plurality of output ports configured to send packets to two or more destination devices; forwarding packets between the input ports and the output ports using packet forwarding circuitry; controlling the packet forwarding using at least one filter engine configured to use filter rules to control at least in part how packets are forwarded by the packet forwarding circuitry from the input ports to the output ports; allowing a user to define through an interface a plurality of filters representing how packets are desired to be forwarded from input ports to output ports; analyzing the user-defined filters; automatically identifying filters having different forwarding actions for packets from a single input port as overlapping filters; automatically generating filter rules for the filter engine to provide for the different forwarding actions; automatically applying the filter rules to the filter engine so that the filter engine is configured to cause packets from the single input port to be forwarded according to the different forwarding actions provided by the overlapping filters; and forwarding packets according to the user-defined filters. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21)
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Specification