Method for performing protocol translation in a network switch
View Patent ↗A system and method are disclosed for processing a packet. Processing the packet comprises receiving the packet; translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format; translating the packet from the canonical packet format to a second protocol-specific format; and forwarding the packet.
1. A method of processing a packet comprising:
receiving the packet;
translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format comprising a fixed length generic packet format that can represent multiple-specific formats, but is different than any one protocol-specific format;
translating the packet from the canonical packet format to a second protocol-specific format; and
forwarding the packet.
2. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the translating is performed in a network device.
3. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the translating is performed in a network switch.
4. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the translating is performed in a network switch that includes a pooling switch.
5. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the first and second protocol-specific formats are the same.
6. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes writing information associated with protocol-specific fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format.
7. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes writing information associated with protocol-specific fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format to protocol-specific fields in the packet in the canonical packet format.
8. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes writing information associated with general fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format.
9. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes writing information associated with multiple protocol-specific fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format.
10. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes writing information associated with protocol-specific fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format to common fields in the packet in the canonical packet format.
11. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format includes:
writing information associated with protocol-specific fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format to protocol-specific fields in the packet in the canonical packet format;
writing information associated with general fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format to general fields in the packet in the canonical packet format; and
writing information associated with common fields from the packet in the first protocol-specific format to common fields in the packet in the canonical packet format.
12. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein:
the translating is performed in a network device;
translating the packet from the first protocol-specific format to the canonical packet format occurs during data ingress; and
translating the packet from the canonical packet format to the second protocol-specific format occurs during data egress.
13. A network device for processing a packet comprising:
an ingress interface for receiving the packet;
an ingress processing engine configured to translate a packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format comprising a fixed length generic packet format that can represent multiple-specific formats, but is different than any one protocol-specific format;
an egress processing engine configured to translate the packet from the canonical packet format to a second protocol-specific format; and
an egress interface for forwarding the packet.
14. A network device for processing a packet as recited in claim 13 wherein the ingress and egress interfaces are the same physical interface.
15. A network device for processing a packet as recited in claim 13 wherein the ingress and egress processing engines are implemented on a single physical processor.
16. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein at least one field of the canonical packet format is shared by multiple protocols.
17. An article capable of processing a packet, the article being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising program instructions capable of:
receiving the packet;
translating the packet from a first protocol-specific format to a canonical packet format comprising a fixed length generic packet format that can represent multiple-specific formats, but is different than any one protocol-specific format;
translating the packet from the canonical packet format to a second protocol-specific format; and
forwarding the packet.
18. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the canonical packet format includes a shared field in which values from different fields specific to different protocols are placed.
19. A method of processing a packet as recited in claim 1 wherein the canonical packet format includes: a multiple protocol-specific field associated with a field common to multiple protocols; and a protocol specific-field associated with a field that is specific to only one protocol.