Hybrid Packet Processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017142011-A1
Application number	US-201715421662-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 1, 2017
Priority date	Jul 8, 2013
Publication date	May 18, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method of processing an incoming packet for a managed forwarding element that executes in a host to forward packets in a network. The method performs a lookup into a forwarding table to identify a flow entry matched by the incoming packet. The flow entry specifies a high-level action to perform on the incoming packet. The method provides packet data to a module executing separately from the managed forwarding element in the host. The module performs a set of processes in order to identify a set of low-level actions for the managed forwarding element to perform on the incoming packet without additional lookups into the forwarding table. The method receives data from the separate module specifying the set of low-level actions. The method performs the set of low-level actions on the incoming packet in order to further process the packet.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A method of processing packets for a managed forwarding element that executes in a host machine to forward packets in a network, the method comprising:
performing a lookup operation that searches entries in a forwarding table to identify an entry that matches a packet of a data flow, the identified entry specifying a high-level action to perform on the packet; providing data regarding the packet to a module that executes separately from the managed forwarding element on the same host machine as the managed forwarding element, wherein the module performs a set of processes in order to identify a set of low-level actions for the managed forwarding element to perform on the packet without additional lookups into the forwarding table; receiving data from the separate module that specifies the set of low-level actions; and performing the set of low-level actions on the packet in order to further process the packet.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the packet is a first packet in the data flow.

23 . The method of claim 22 further comprising caching the set of low-level actions for use in processing subsequent packets in the data flow.

24 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the separate module comprises a function executing as object code.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the high-level action specifies a call to the function.

26 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the packet matches the identified entry based on one or more register values stored for the packet by the managed forwarding element.

27 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the module identifies the set of low-level actions based on data previously identified for the packet by the managed forwarding element.

28 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the high-level action is outputting the packet to a logical port, wherein providing the data regarding the packet to the module comprises providing a logical egress port of a logical forwarding element.

29 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the received data from the separate module comprises instructions to encapsulate the packet in a particular tunnel to which the logical egress port corresponds.

30 . The method of claim 28 further comprising, prior to performing the lookup operation, performing logical forwarding to identify the logical egress port.

31 . A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a managed forwarding element which when executed by at least one processing unit of a host machine to forward packets in a network, the managed forwarding element comprising sets of instructions for:
performing a lookup operation that searches entries in a forwarding table to identify an entry that matches a packet of a data flow, the identified entry specifying a high-level action to perform on the packet; providing data regarding the packet to a module that executes separately from the managed forwarding element on the same host machine as the managed forwarding element, wherein the module performs a set of processes in order to identify a set of low-level actions for the managed forwarding element to perform on the packet without additional lookups into the forwarding table; receiving data from the separate module that specifies the set of low-level actions; and performing the set of low-level actions on the packet in order to further process the packet.

32 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the packet is a first packet in the data flow.

33 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32 further comprising caching the set of low-level actions for use in processing subsequent packets in the data flow without the use of the separate module.

34 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the separate module comprises a function executing as object code.

35 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 34 , wherein the high-level action specifies a call to the function.

36 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the packet matches the identified entry based on one or more register values stored for the packet by the managed forwarding element.

37 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the module identifies the set of low-level actions based on data previously identified for the packet by the managed forwarding element.

38 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the high-level action is outputting the packet to a logical port, wherein the set of instructions for providing the data regarding the packet to the module comprises a set of instructions for providing a logical egress port of a logical forwarding element.

39 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 38 , wherein the received data from the separate module comprises instructions to encapsulate the packet in a particular tunnel to which the logical egress port corresponds.

40 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 38 , wherein the managed forwarding element further comprises a set of instructions for performing logical forwarding to identify the logical egress port prior to performing the lookup operation.

Assignees

• Nicira Inc

Inventors

• Zhang Ronghua
• Koponen Teemu
• Casado Martin

Classifications

• H04L45/38

  Flow based routing · CPC title

• H04L47/33

  using forward notification · CPC title

• H04L45/54

  Organization of routing tables · CPC title

• H04L45/742

  Route cache; Operation thereof · CPC title

• H04L45/745 Primary

  Address table lookup; Address filtering · CPC title