Patent · US Expired

Configurable packet processor

US7236492B2 · kind B2 · utility

12Cited by
3References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 21, 2001
Grant dateJun 26, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 10, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L69/22
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A packet processing device has an on-board match engine memory. Actions to be taken on a packet can be looked up in the match engine memory using a key comprising a match engine index and a protocol field from the packet. The match engine index is obtained from either a relatively small on-board parser memory or a larger context memory. The parser memory contains match engine indices for sparse protocols. Performance approaching that of hard-wired packet processors can be obtained. New protocols or changes in protocols can be accommodated by writing new values into the match engine, parser and context memories. The packet processing device can be provided in a pipelined architecture.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.