FCoE over trill

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9380132-B2
Application number	US-201213524161-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2012
Priority date	Jun 27, 2011
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

A method for processing packets, in a network device including at least one processing engine that i) is not configured to process destination information that conforms to a first protocol and ii) is configured to process destination information that conforms to a second protocol, includes receiving a packet at the network device, and determining, in the network device, first destination information included in the packet. The first destination information conforms to the first protocol. The method also includes generating, in the network device, second destination information conforming to a third protocol based on the first destination information. The method also includes generating, in the network device, third destination information conforming to the second protocol based on the second destination information. The method also includes processing the packet with the at least one processing engine included in the network device using the third destination information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing packets in a network device including at least one processing engine that i) is not configured to process destination information that conforms to a first protocol and ii) is configured to process destination information that conforms to a second protocol, the method comprising:
receiving a packet at the network device;
determining, in the network device, first destination information included in the packet, wherein the first destination information i) conforms to the first protocol, and ii) corresponds to a first destination;
generating, in the network device, second destination information based on the determined first destination information, wherein the second destination information i) conforms to a third protocol, ii) corresponds to a second destination, and iii) includes a media access control (MAC) address, wherein the second destination is a first intermediate destination between the network device and the first destination;
generating, in the network device, third destination information using the generated second destination information, wherein the third destination information conforms to the second protocol; and
processing the packet with the at least one processing engine included in the network device using the third destination information.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the third destination information corresponds to a third destination, wherein the third destination is a second intermediate destination between the network device and the second destination.

3. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to determining the first destination information included in the packet, determining that the packet conforms to the first protocol,
wherein determining that the packet conforms to the first protocol includes determining at least one of i) a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) included in the packet and ii) a media access control (MAC) address included in the packet.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the packet with the at least one processing engine using the third destination information includes causing the packet to be forwarded to a different device based on the third destination information.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein causing the packet to be forwarded to the different device based on the third destination information includes
generating fourth destination information based on the generated third destination information, wherein the fourth destination information conforms to the third protocol.

6. A method according to claim 5 , wherein causing the packet to be forwarded to the different device based on the third destination information further includes
adding one or more headers to the packet, wherein the one or more headers include the fourth destination information.

7. A method according to claim 6 , wherein
determining the first destination information included in the packet includes determining a Fibre Channel (FC) destination identifier included in the packet,
generating the second destination information based on the determined first destination information includes generating a first media access control (MAC) address based on the determined FC destination identifier,
generating the third destination information using the generated second destination information includes generating an egress routing bridge (RBridge) nickname based on the generated first MAC address, and
generating the fourth destination information based on the generated third destination information includes generating a second MAC address based on the generated egress RBridge nickname.

8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein generating the second destination information based on the determined first destination information includes determining a path length between i) the first destination and ii) the second destination.

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein determining the third destination information includes determining a path length between i) a third destination corresponding to the third destination information and ii) the second destination.

10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein
the first destination is a destination Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) node (ENode),
the second destination is an FCoE forwarder (FCF) entity or an FCoE data-plane forwarder (FDF) entity, and
the third destination is an RBridge entity.

11. A method according to claim 10 , wherein generating the third destination information includes generating the third destination information using the at least one processing engine.

12. A network device comprising:
a network interface configured to receive a packet;
a first destination determination module configured to determine first destination information included in the packet, wherein the first destination information i) conforms to a first protocol, and ii) corresponds to a first destination;
a second destination generation module configured to generate second destination information based on the determined first destination information, wherein the second destination information conforms to a third protocol, ii) corresponds to a second destination, and iii) includes a media access control (MAC) address, wherein the second destination is a first intermediate destination between the network device and the first destination;
a third destination generation module configured to generate third destination information using the generated second destination information, wherein the third destination information conforms to a second protocol; and
at least one processing engine, wherein the at least one processing engine i) is not configured to process destination information that conforms to the first protocol and ii) is configured to process destination information that conforms to the second protocol.

13. A network device according to claim 12 , wherein:
the third destination information corresponds to a third destination, wherein the third destination is a second intermediate destination between the network device and the second destination.

14. A network device according to claim 12 , further comprising:
a packet type determination module configured to determine that the packet conforms to the first protocol.

15. A network device according to claim 14 , wherein the packet type determination module is configured to determine that the packet conforms to the first protocol at least in part by determining at least one of i) a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) included in the packet and ii) a media access control (MAC) address included in the packet.

16. A network device according to claim 12 ,
wherein the at least one processing engine is configured to generate fourth destination information by processing the third destination information, and
wherein the fourth destination information conforms to the third protocol.

17. A network device according to claim 16 , wherein the second destination generation module is configured to generate the second destination information based on the determined first destination information at least in part by determining a path length between i) the first destination and ii) the second destination.

18. A network device according to claim 17 , wherein the third destination generation module is configured to generate the third destination information using the generated second destination information at least in part by determining a path length between i) a third destination corresponding to the third destination information

Assignees

• Melman David
• Mizrahi Tal
• Marvell Israel Misl Ltd

Inventors

• Melman David
• Mizrahi Tal

Classifications

• H04L49/60

  Software-defined switches · CPC title

• H04L12/4633

  Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling · CPC title

• H04L49/357

  Fibre channel switches · CPC title

• H04L69/18 Primary

  Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols · CPC title