Using standard fields to carry meta-information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9729431-B1
Application number	US-201213569622-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 8, 2012
Priority date	Aug 16, 2011
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A method of processing one or more packets includes receiving, at a first processing unit, a first packet including first information bits. The first information bits indicate a first control parameter. The method also includes determining whether the first control parameter will be utilized to process the first packet in at least a second processing unit and, at least partially in response to determining that the first control parameter will not be utilized to process the first packet in at least the second processing unit, replacing one or more bits of the first information bits in the first packet with second information bits. The second information bits indicate a second control parameter. The method also includes providing the first packet including the second information bits to the second processing unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of processing one or more packets, the method comprising:
receiving, at a first processing unit that is implemented on an integrated circuit of a network device, a first data structure corresponding to a first packet having a first header, the first data structure including a first field of the first header, the first field including first information bits that conform to a standard communication protocol, wherein the first information bits indicate a first control parameter, wherein the first data structure includes one or more second fields of the first header, and wherein the one or more second fields of the first data structure includes second information bits;
determining whether the first control parameter will be utilized to process the first packet in at least a second processing unit that is implemented on the integrated circuit of the network device; and
at least partially in response to determining that the first control parameter will not be utilized to process the first packet in at least the second processing unit,
overwriting, in the first data structure, one or more bits of the first information bits with third information bits, wherein the third information bits indicate a second control parameter that is a different type of information than the first control parameter, and wherein the second information bits do not conform to the standard communication protocol,
overwriting, in the first data structure, one or more bits of the second information bits with fourth information bits, wherein the fourth information bits indicate the second control parameter is available, and

providing the first data structure that includes i) the third information bits and ii) the one or more second fields of the first header to the second processing unit of the network device.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the first control parameter will be utilized to process the first packet in at least the second processing unit comprises comparing at least a first pattern in the first data structure to at least one reference pattern.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein in response to determining that the first control parameter will not be utilized to process the first packet in at least the second processing unit, the method further comprises:
processing, in the second processing unit, the third information bits in the first data structure.

4. A method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
after processing the second information bits, overwriting, in the first data structure, the third information bits with the one or more bits of the first information bits.

5. A method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
prior to overwriting the one or more bits of the first information bits in the first data structure with the third information bits, storing the one or more bits of the first information bits in a memory; and
prior to overwriting the third information bits in the first data structure with the one or more bits of the first information bits, retrieving the one or more bits of the first information bits from the memory.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the second information bits indicate (i) a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier of the received first packet, or (ii) tunneling information associated with the received first packet.

7. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, in the second processing unit, whether the fourth information bits indicate the second control parameter is available; and
at least partially in response to determining that the fourth information bits indicate the second control parameter is available, processing, in the second processing unit, the second information bits in the first data structure.

8. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the first processing unit, a second data structure corresponding to a second packet having a second header, the second data structure including a third field of the second header, the third field including fifth information bits, wherein the fifth information bits indicate the first control parameter, and wherein the second data structure includes one or more fourth fields of the second header;
determining, in the first processing unit, whether the first control parameter will or may be utilized to process the second packet in at least the second processing unit; and
at least partially in response to determining that the first control parameter will or may be utilized to process the second packet in at least the second processing unit, providing the second data structure, including the fifth information bits, to the second processing unit.

9. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first control parameter is an address,
the first packet is received via one or more ports coupled to the first processing unit,
the second control parameter is at least one of (i) a unique port identifier, or (ii) a link aggregation group (LAG) number, and
the third information bits correspond to at least one of (i) a unique port identifier associated with the one or more ports coupled to the first processing unit, or (ii) a LAG number associated with the one or more ports coupled to the first processing unit.

10. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first control parameter is a destination media access control (MAC) address,
determining whether the first control parameter will be utilized to process the first packet in at least the second processing unit comprises determining whether a destination IP address of the first packet is associated with the first processing unit or the second processing unit, and the second control parameter is one of (i) a unique port identifier, (ii) a link aggregation group (LAG) number, or (iii) an indication that a quota has been exceeded.

11. A network device, comprising:
an integrated circuit;
a first processing unit, implemented on the integrated circuit, configured to receive a data structure corresponding to a packet having a header, the data structure including a first field of the header, the first field including first information bits that conform to a standard communication protocol, wherein the first information bits indicate a first control parameter, wherein the data structure includes one or more second fields of the header, wherein the one or more second fields of the first data structure includes second information bits, and wherein the first processing unit includes
a pattern matching module, implemented on the integrated circuit, configured to determine whether the first control parameter will be utilized to process the packet in at least a second processing unit, implemented on the one or more integrated circuits, of the network device, and
a bit writing module, implemented on the integrated circuit, configured to, at least partially in response to a determination by the pattern matching module that the first control parameter will not be utilized to process the packet in at least the second processing unit,
overwrite, in the data structure, one or more bits of the first information bits with third information bits that do not conform to the standard communication protocol, wherein the third information bits indicate a second control parameter, the second control parameter being a different type of information than the first control parameter, and
overwrite, in the data structure, one or more bits of the second information bits with fourth information bits, wherein the fourth information bits indicate the second control parameter is available,

wherein the first processing unit is further configured to provide the data structure that

Assignees

• Orr Michael
• Marvell Int Ltd

Inventors

• Orr Michael

Classifications

• H04L12/4604

  LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay · CPC title

• H04L49/354

  for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN] · CPC title

• H04L2012/5617

  Virtual LANs; Emulation of LANs · CPC title

• H04L69/22

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title

• H04L45/24 Primary

  Multipath · CPC title