Methods and apparatus for directing packets among a group of processors
US7254639B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 20, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 7, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 13, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/3009
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention is directed to techniques for allocating packets received by the flow control processor located on the input/output (I/O) communications interface of the data communications device to a forwarding entity or session processor, chosen from a plurality of session processors, for further processing or routing. The session processors have the same ability to make decisions relating to the processing and routing of the packet as does the flow control processor and can have per second packet processing rates that are different from the flow control processor located on the I/O communications interface of the data communications device. To allocate the packets to the session processors for further processing, the flow control processor processes information located within the header component of the received packet. Based upon the results of this processing, the flow control processor selects a session processor from a plurality of session processors and transfers the packet to the selected session processor for further processing and routing of the packet. The flow control processor on the I/O communications interface, therefore, acts to load balance incoming packets among o…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.