Adaptive router architecture

摘要

A router and a router architecture comprising at least one network interface, a plurality of processing elements, at least one switching element and a plurality of forwarding elements. Each of the plurality of processing elements comprises at least one processing unit, wherein each processing unit is capable of processing network traffic to provide at least a portion of a network service. The switching element is capable of acting as a proxy of the plurality of processing elements while each of the plurality of forwarding elements is capable of receiving network traffic on the at least one network interface of the router and delegating processing of network traffic toward at least one of the plurality of processing elements through the at least one switching element.