Batch Processing of Packets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016191384-A1
Application number	US-201414583065-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 24, 2014
Priority date	Dec 24, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method for a managed forwarding element. The method receives a set of packets for processing by the managed forwarding element. For each of several packets in the set, the method associates the packet with one of several groups of other packets in the set. Each group of packets shares a set of characteristics. For each group of packets the method identifies a set of actions to perform and executes the specified set of actions on all of the packets in the group together.

First claim

1 . For a managed forwarding element, a method comprising:
receiving a set of packets for processing by the managed forwarding element; for each of a plurality of packets in the set, associating the packet with one of several groups of other packets in the set, wherein each group of packets shares a set of characteristics; for each group of packets, identifying a set of actions to perform; and for each group of packets, executing the specified set of actions on all of the packets in the group together.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the managed forwarding element is a software forwarding element, wherein a size of the set of packets is determined by a packet processing software library utilized by the managed forwarding element.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of characteristics is a set of packet headers that effects the actions performed on the packet by the managed forwarding element.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of actions for a particular group comprises dropping the packets associated with the particular group.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of actions for a particular group comprises modifying one or more packet headers in a particular manner.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of actions for a particular group comprises outputting the packet to a particular port.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a particular group of packets comprises packets from several different data flows.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein associating a particular packet with one of several groups of other packets comprises:
comparing the packet against a plurality of entries in a first cache, each entry in the first cache for a different data flow; when the packet matches a particular entry in the first cache, associating the packet with a group according to the particular entry; and when the packet does not match any entry in the first cache, associating the packet with a group of unmatched packets.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein each entry in the first cache comprises (i) a set of packet headers to which received packets are compared and (ii) a reference to a flow entry in a second cache of flow entries.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein associating the particular packet with a group comprises adding the packet to a group of packets that match entries in the first cache that comprise references to a same particular flow entry in the second cache as the entry in the first cache matched by the particular packet.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein each flow entry in the second cache of flow entries specifies a set of actions to perform on a packet, wherein identifying the of actions to perform on a particular packet comprises identifying the set of actions specified by a referenced flow entry.

12 . The method of claim 8 further comprising performing a lookup in the second cache of flow entries for each packet in the group of unmatched packets.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the set of actions on all of the packets in a group together comprises passing an array of packets to a function for a particular action in the set of actions.

14 . A machine readable medium storing a managed forwarding element for execution by at least one processing unit, the managed forwarding element comprising sets of instructions for:
receiving a set of packets for processing by the managed forwarding element; for each of a plurality of packets in the set, associating the packet with one of several groups of other packets in the set, wherein each group of packets shares a set of characteristics; for each group of packets, identifying a set of actions to perform; and for each group of packets, executing the specified set of actions on all of the packets in the group together.

15 . The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the set of characteristics is a set of packet headers that effects the actions performed on the packet by the managed forwarding element.

16 . The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the set of actions for a particular group comprises at least one of (i) dropping the packets associated with the particular group, (ii) modifying one or more packet headers in a particular manner, and (iii) outputting the packets to a particular port.

17 . The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the set of instructions for associating a particular packet with one of several groups of other packets comprises sets of instructions for:
comparing the packet against a plurality of entries in a first cache, each entry in the first cache for a different data flow; when the packet matches a particular entry in the first cache, associating the packet with a group according to the particular entry; and when the packet does not match any entry in the first cache, associating the packet with a group of unmatched packets.

18 . The machine readable medium of claim 17 , wherein each entry in the first cache comprises (i) a set of packet headers to which received packets are compared and (ii) a reference to a flow entry in a second cache of flow entries.

19 . The machine readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the set of instructions for associating the particular packet with a group comprises a set of instructions for adding the packet to a group of packets that match entries in the first cache that comprise references to a same particular flow entry in the second cache as the entry in the first cache matched by the particular packet.

20 . The machine readable medium of claim 18 , wherein each flow entry in the second cache of flow entries specifies a set of actions to perform on a packet, wherein identifying the of actions to perform on a particular packet comprises identifying the set of actions specified by a referenced flow entry.

21 . The machine readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for performing a lookup in the second cache of flow entries for each packet in the group of unmatched packets.

22 . The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the set of instructions for executing the set of actions on all of the packets in a group together comprises a set of instructions for passing an array of packets to a function for a particular action in the set of actions.

Assignees

• Nicira Inc

Inventors

• Shelar Pravin
• Gross Iv Jesse E
• Rajahalme Jarno

Classifications

• H04L69/22 Primary

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title

• H04L45/742 Primary

  Route cache; Operation thereof · CPC title

• H04L45/38

  Flow based routing · CPC title