Method and system for managing forwarding tables
US6678274B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 30, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 13, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 30, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/02
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and a method for managing forwarding table lookups and updates involve maintaining a first forwarding table in a first memory and a second forwarding table in a second memory, and then utilizing the first forwarding table to forward packets while the second forwarding table is updated with current route entries. The second forwarding table is updated in the background and therefore conventional CPU speeds do not cause performance problems. Once the second forwarding table is completely updated, a forwarding table pointer is switched and the second forwarding table is utilized to forward packets while the first forwarding table is updated. Because the second forwarding table has been completely updated in the background, switching the forwarding table pointer causes newly arriving packets to be forwarded according to a forwarding table that is free of inconsistencies.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.