Patent · US Active

High-efficiency service chaining with agentless service nodes

US9794379B2 · kind B2 · utility

46Cited by
2References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 16, 2014
Grant dateOct 17, 2017
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 5, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L45/586
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An example method for distributed service chaining is provided and includes receiving a packet belonging to a service chain in a distributed virtual switch (DVS) network environment, the packet includes a network service header (NSH) indicating a service path identifier identifying the service chain. The packet is provided to a virtual Ethernet module (VEM) connected to an agentless service node (SN) providing an edge service such as a server load balancer (SLB). The VEM associates a service path identifier corresponding to the service chain with a local identifier such as a virtual local area network (VLAN). The agentless SN returns the packet to the VEM for forwarding on the VLAN. Because the VLAN corresponds exactly to the service path and service chain, the packet is forwarded directly to the next node in the service chain. This can enable agentless SNs to efficiently provide a service chain for network traffic.

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