US 12,592,884 B2Granted

Sharing egress tunnel header rewrite table entries across virtual private network (VPN) tunnels

AssigneeArista Networks, Inc.

InventorsVishal Bandekar, Binoshmon Tb, Basil Saji

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Abstract

A method of forwarding a data packet includes, in part, receiving the data packet at an ingress interface, reordering entries of the data packet such that a first forwarding equivalence class (FEC), indexed by a first forwarding lookup table, is caused to point to a virtual private network (VPN) identifier associated with a tunnel through which the data packet is to be forwarded. The reordering of the entries causes a second FEC to point to a multitude of common tunnel header entries. The second FEC is indexed by the first FEC and has a lower level than the first FEC. The data packet with the reordered entries is forwarded through the tunnel. The egress tunnel header rewrite table entries are also reordered in accordance with which the data packet is forwarded.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of forwarding a plurality of data packets, the method comprising:

receiving, by a network device, a first data packet at an ingress interface;
reordering, by the network device, entries of the first data packet such that a first forwarding equivalence class (FEC), indexed by a first forwarding lookup table, points to a virtual private network (VPN) identifier associated with a first VPN tunnel through which the first data packet is to be forwarded, and a second FEC points to a plurality of common tunnel header entries shared by a plurality of VPN tunnels including the first VPN tunnel, wherein the second FEC is indexed by the first FEC and has a lower level than the first FEC, wherein the plurality of common tunnel header entries are for common tunnel header data in a tunnel header, and wherein the VPN identifier is disposed in the tunnel header;
encapsulating, by the network device, the first data packet with the tunnel header;
and
forwarding, by the network device, the first data packet with the reordered entries through the first VPN tunnel.

2 more elements

A network device comprising:

an ingress interface;
a memory;
and
a control system configured to:
receive a first data packet at the ingress interface;
reorder entries of the first data packet such that a first forwarding equivalence class (FEC), indexed by a first forwarding lookup table, points to a virtual private network (VPN) identifier associated with a first VPN tunnel through which the first data packet is to be forwarded, and a second FEC points to a plurality of common tunnel header entries shared by a plurality of VPN tunnels including the first VPN tunnel, wherein the second FEC is indexed by the first FEC and has a lower level than the first FEC, wherein the plurality of common tunnel header entries are for common tunnel header data in a tunnel header, and wherein the VPN identifier is disposed in the tunnel header;
and
encapsulate the first data packet with the tunnel header;
and
forward the first data packet with the reordered entries through the first VPN tunnel.

7 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising stored instructions, which when executed by a processor of a network device, cause the processor to:

receive a first data packet at an ingress interface;
reorder entries of the first data packet such that a first forwarding equivalence class (FEC), indexed by a first forwarding lookup table, points to a virtual private network (VPN) identifier associated with a first VPN tunnel through which the first data packet is to be forwarded, and a second FEC points to a plurality of common tunnel header entries shared by a plurality of VPN tunnels including the first VPN tunnel, wherein the second FEC is indexed by the first FEC and has a lower level than the first FEC, wherein the plurality of common tunnel header entries are for common tunnel header data in a tunnel header, and wherein the VPN identifier is disposed in the tunnel header;
add the tunnel header, including the common tunnel header data and the VPN identifier, to the first data packet;
and
forward the first data packet with the reordered entries through the first VPN tunnel.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.