COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, CONTROL DEVICE, FORWARDING NODE, METHOD FOR UPDATING PROCESSING RULES, AND PROGRAM

摘要

Disclosed is a configuration that can quickly rewrite processing rules (flow entry) that are set in a forwarding node when altering the forwarding pathway of packets. The disclosed communication system contains a forwarding node provided with: a packet processing unit that processes received packets using processing rules applied to the received packets; and a processing rule replacement unit that replaces designated processing rules among the aforementioned processing rules with designated content en bloc. The communication system further contains a control device that, in response to a request from the aforementioned forwarding node, creates a forwarding pathway for the aforementioned received packets and subsequent packets belonging to the same flow; sets processing rules that are to be set in the forwarding node on the aforementioned forwarding pathway; and when altering the aforementioned forwarding pathway, identifies a forwarding node of which processing rules are set that need to be rewritten for altering said forwarding pathway, and instructs the processing rule replacement unit of the aforementioned identified forwarding node to replace the contents of the aforementioned processing rules that need to be rewritten.