Integrated heterogeneous software-defined network

1. A switch, comprising:

a port partitioned into a first partition for a software-defined data flow and a second partition for a regular data flow;

flow management circuitry configured to:

examine an identifier included in a header of a frame, the frame being received via the port;

determine, based on the identifier, whether the frame belongs to the software-defined data flow or to the regular data flow;

allocate the frame to the first partition in response to the frame belonging to the software-defined data flow; and

allocate the frame to the second partition in response to the frame belonging to the regular data flow; and

forwarding circuitry configured to:

in response to the frame being allocated to the first partition, determine a first output port for the frame based on a flow definition in a local flow table and forward the frame via the first output port; and

in response to the frame being allocated to the second partition, determine a second output port for the frame based on a forwarding entry in a local forwarding table and forward the frame via the second output port.

2. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the software-defined network is an OpenFlow-enabled network.

3. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the identifier includes one or more of:

a virtual local area network (VLAN) tag or identifier;

a type of a frame; and

a flag in a header of a received frame.

4. The switch of claim 1 , wherein bandwidth of the port is allocated for the first and second partitions.

5. The switch of claim 1 , further comprising:

arbitration circuitry configured to determine, in response to another frame belonging to a second software-defined flow, an order based on which the switch uses the flow table and the forwarding table for processing frames.

6. The switch of claim 5 , wherein the order for the frames is based on a priority value associated with the second software-defined data flow.

7. The switch of claim 5 , wherein using the flow table comprises providing, to the another frame, one or more of:

access control;

backup forwarding;

policy based routing;

network management; and

a service that includes one or more of: firewall, load balancing, network access control, intrusion detection/protection, network analysis, and network virtualization.

8. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the flow definition is received from a controller of a software-defined network and the flow definition indicates how the software-defined data flow is processed in the software-defined network.

9. The switch of claim 8 , further comprising:

information management circuitry configured to construct a message comprising network state information, wherein

the message is destined for the controller of the software-defined network, and

the network state information includes one or more of: topology discovery information, traffic statistics, and link status information.

10. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the forwarding circuitry is further configured to drop another frame allocated to the first partition in response to determining that a flow definition corresponding to the another frame indicates the drop operation or no flow definition corresponding to the another frame exists in the local flow table.

11. A method, comprising:

partitioning a port of a switch into a first partition for a software-defined data flow and a second partition for a regular data flow;

examining, by flow management circuitry, an identifier included in a header of a frame, the frame being received via the port;

determining, by the flow management circuitry and based on the identifier, whether the frame belongs to the software-defined data flow or to the regular data flow;

allocating the frame to the first partition in response to the frame belonging to the software-defined data flow;

allocating the frame to the second partition in response to the frame belonging to the regular data flow;

in response to the frame being allocated to the first partition, determining a first output port for the frame based on a flow definition in a local flow table and forwarding the frame via the first output port; and

in response to the frame being allocated to the second partition, determining a second output port for the frame based on a forwarding entry in a local forwarding table and forwarding the frame via the second output port.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the software-defined network is an OpenFlow-enabled network.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifier includes one or more of:

a virtual local area network (VLAN) tag or identifier;

a type of a frame; and

a flag in a header of a received frame.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein bandwidth of the port is allocated for the first and second partitions.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining, in response to another frame belonging to a second software-defined flow, an order based on which the switch uses the flow table and the forwarding table for processing frames.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the order for the frames is based on a priority value associated with the second software-defined data flow.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein using the flow table comprises providing, to the another frame, one or more of:

access control;

backup forwarding;

policy based routing;

network management; and

a service that includes one or more of: firewall, load balancing, network access control, intrusion detection/protection, network analysis, and network virtualization.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the flow definition is received from a controller of a software-defined network and the flow definition indicates how the software-defined data flow is processed in the software-defined network.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

constructing a message comprising network state information, wherein

the message is destined for the controller of the software-defined network, and

the network state information includes one or more of: topology discovery information, traffic statistics, and link status information.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

dropping another frame allocated to the first partition in response to determining that a flow definition corresponding to the another frame indicates the drop operation or no flow definition corresponding to the another frame exists in the local flow table.