Parallelizing packet classification and processing engines

摘要

An apparatus that recursively classifies packets includes a hierarchical set of classification engines that perform parallel classification of the packets in a packet processing queue. In particular, a first classification engine separates the packets based on physical-layer information and/or link-layer information in the packets. Then, second classification engines further separate the packets into multiple parallel pipelines based on layer information in the packets that is other than the physical-layer information and the link-layer information. The first classification engine and the second classification engines maintain a relative ordering of the packets in network sub-flows while allowing changes in relative ordering among different network flows.

主权项

1. An apparatus configured to recursively classify packets, comprising:
a first classification engine, at a first hierarchical level, configured to separate the packets based on at least one of physical-layer information and link-layer information in the packets; and second classification engines, at a second hierarchical level, coupled to the first classification engine, configured to further separate the packets into multiple parallel pipelines based on layer information in the packets that is other than the physical-layer information and the link-layer information, wherein the first classification engine and the second classification engines maintain a relative ordering of the packets in network sub-flows while allowing changes in the relative ordering among different network flows, wherein the second hierarchical level is deeper than the first hierarchical level in a hierarchy for the first classification engine and the second classification engines.