Traffic distribution over multiple paths in a network while maintaining flow affinity
First Claim
1. A method for routing data packets in a network of interconnected networking devices, the method comprising:
- receiving, at one or more input ports of a first networking device, a plurality of data packets, each of the received data packets including one or more fields of information for routing that respective data packet;
generating, with a processor, an N-bit key for each of the received data packets by selecting one or more bits from the one or more fields of information in each respective data packet;
selecting from a table, one or more tag fields for each of the received data packets, based on the generated N-bit key for the respective data packet;
replacing bit values of one or more predetermined fields in a header of each of the plurality of data packets with replacement bit values obtained from one or more of the tag fields selected from the table using the N-bit key generated for the respective data packet;
computing a hash value for each of the received data packets based on the one or more fields of information and the replacement bit values;
selecting one of a plurality of outgoing ports of the first networking device for routing each of the received data packets to a second networking device via the network, the outgoing port being selected for each data packet based on the computed hash value for that respective data packet; and
outputting each of the received data packets to the second networking device via the selected outgoing port.
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Accused Products
Abstract
System and methods for efficiently distributing data packets in a multi-path network while maintaining flow affinity are provided. In one aspect, a system and method includes calculating hash values for distributing different flows, or sets of flows, of data packets received at a routing device. The hash value is calculated not only using information in the data packets, but also based on additional information that is determined based on an N-bit derived from the data packets. In some cases, calculating a hash value based on the additional information increases the entropy of the hashing function, thus enabling a routing device to distribute different flows of data packets over a greater number of network paths. Each routing device can derive a different, and randomly generated N-bit key while maintaining flow affinity for each received data packet in a given flow of data packets.
43 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for routing data packets in a network of interconnected networking devices, the method comprising:
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receiving, at one or more input ports of a first networking device, a plurality of data packets, each of the received data packets including one or more fields of information for routing that respective data packet; generating, with a processor, an N-bit key for each of the received data packets by selecting one or more bits from the one or more fields of information in each respective data packet; selecting from a table, one or more tag fields for each of the received data packets, based on the generated N-bit key for the respective data packet; replacing bit values of one or more predetermined fields in a header of each of the plurality of data packets with replacement bit values obtained from one or more of the tag fields selected from the table using the N-bit key generated for the respective data packet; computing a hash value for each of the received data packets based on the one or more fields of information and the replacement bit values; selecting one of a plurality of outgoing ports of the first networking device for routing each of the received data packets to a second networking device via the network, the outgoing port being selected for each data packet based on the computed hash value for that respective data packet; and outputting each of the received data packets to the second networking device via the selected outgoing port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17)
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9. A system including a plurality of routing devices for an interconnection network, each routing device of the plurality of routing devices comprising:
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one or more input ports coupled to one or more output ports of other routing devices in the interconnection network, the input ports being configured to receive data packets from the one or more output ports of the other routing devices; memory for storing information regarding the data packets; and a processor coupled to the one or more input ports and the memory, the processor being configured to; receive at the one or more input ports a plurality of data packets, each of the received data packets including one or more fields of information for routing each the respective data packet; generate an N-bit key for each of the received data packets by selecting one or more bits from the one or more fields of information in each respective data packet; select from a table, one or more tag fields for each of the received data packets, based on the generated N-bit key for the respective data packet; replace bit values of one or more predetermined fields in a header of each of the plurality of data packets with bit values of one or more of the selected tag fields selected from the table based on the N-bit key generated for the respective data packet; compute a hash value for each of the received data packets based on the one or more fields of information and the replaced bit values of the one or more predetermined fields in the header of the respective data packet; select one or more output ports for routing one or more of the received data packets to the one or more input ports of a downstream routing device, the one or more output ports being selected for each received data packet based on the computed hash value for that respective data packet; and output one or more of the received data packets via the selected one or more output ports over the interconnection network to the downstream routing device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of:
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receiving a plurality of data packets over a network, each of the received data packets including one or more fields of information for routing the respective data packet further into the network; generating, an N-bit key for each of the received data packets by selecting one or more bits from the one or more fields of information in the respective data packet; selecting from a table, one or more tag fields for each of the received data packets, based on the generated N-bit key for the respective data packet; replacing bit values of one or more predetermined fields in a header of each of the plurality of data packets with bit values of one or more of the selected tag fields selected from the table; computing a hash value for each of the received data packets based on the one or more fields of information and the replaced bit values of the one or more predetermined fields in the header of each respective data packet; selecting a downstream networking device from a plurality of networking devices for each of the received data packets, the downstream networking device for each received data packet being selected based on the computed hash value for each respective data packet; and outputting each of the received data packets to the selected downstream networking device over the network.
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Specification