Methods and apparatus for flow-based batching and processing

A system configured for managing packet flows, the system comprising:

• a storage device to store a flow table;
• and
• a processor coupled to the storage device, and configured to operate a nexus in a kernel space, wherein the nexus is configured to:
• receive a packet from a packet pool, wherein the packet is associated with one or more flows, wherein the one or more flows are individually identified by corresponding one or more flow keys;
• extract information from the packet to generate a flow key of the packet indicating a particular flow for the packet;
• look up the flow key in the flow table in the storage device to determine whether there is an existing flow key corresponding to an existing flow, and stored in the flow table matching the flow key of the packet;
• store, responsive to the existing flow key matching the flow key of the packet, the packet into a batch of packets of the existing flow, wherein the batch of packets of the existing flow are stored in a flow-batched data structure;
• and
• release, responsive to a release condition being met, the batch of packets of the existing flow to a user space protocol stack within a user space application through a channel communicatively coupled to the nexus and the user space protocol stack.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer programs stored thereon, when executed by a processor, cause a computerized apparatus to:

• receive, by a nexus in a kernel space, a packet from a packet pool, wherein the packet is associated with one or more flows, wherein the one or more flows are individually identified by corresponding one or more flow keys;
• extract information from the packet to generate a flow key of the packet indicating a particular flow for the packet;
• look up a flow table in a storage device, based on the flow key, to determine whether there is an existing flow key corresponding to an existing flow, and stored in the flow table matching the flow key of the packet;
• store, responsive to the existing flow key matching the flow key of the packet, the packet into a batch of packets of the existing flow, wherein the batch of packets of the existing flow are stored in a flow-batched data structure;
• and
• release, responsive to a release condition is met, the batch of packets of the existing flow to a user space protocol stack within a user space application through a channel communicatively coupled to the nexus and the user space protocol stack.