Patent · US Active

Load balancing hash computation for network switches

US8756424B2 · kind B2 · utility

21Cited by
16References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 29, 2011
Grant dateJun 17, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 18, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L47/41
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques to avoid polarization in a communication network include a network switch or device having a first interface to receive a data unit or packet, and a second interface via which the packet is transmitted from the network device. The network device includes a hash value generator configured to generate, using a depolarizer, a depolarized key from an initial key (where the initial key is based on contents of the packet and the depolarizer is unique to the network device), and to generate a hash value based on the depolarized key and the packet by using a hash function that is common to all network devices in the network. The hash value may be optionally modified to load balance egress traffic of the network device. The network device selects an egress link or port, such as by determining an index into an egress table based on the (modified) hash value.

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