Streaming telemetry data from network device to remote collector

A network device, comprising:

• a switch core packet processor having a forwarding engine configured to process packets received by the network device to determine ports of the network device via which the packets are to be forwarded, the switch core packet processor further including circuitry configured to generate telemetry data that provides information regarding operational status of at least one of i) the network device, and ii) one or more network links connected to ports of the network device;
• and
• hardware circuitry configured to:
• collect telemetry data generated by the switch core packet processor,
• generate packets that include respective sets of the telemetry data collected by the hardware circuitry, the packets generated by the hardware circuitry being addressed to a remote network device in, or communicatively coupled to, a communication network that includes the network device, the generating of the packets including, for each of at least some of the packets, adding telemetry data to the packet as telemetry data is collected by the hardware circuitry, and
• provide the packets to the switch core packet processor to prompt the switch core packet processor to transmit the packets to the remote network device via one or more ports of the network device, including, for each packet amongst at least a subset of the at least some packets:
• determining whether a time duration has reached a threshold, the time duration corresponding to a time since the network device transmitted a previous packet having telemetry data, and
• in response to determining that the time duration has reached the threshold, providing the packet to the switch core packet processor.

A method in a communication network for communicating telemetry data generated by a network device, the method comprising:

• collecting, by hardware circuitry of the network device, the telemetry data generated by the network device, the telemetry data providing information regarding operational status of at least one of i) the network device, and ii) one or more network links connected to the network device;
• generating, by the hardware circuitry, packets that include respective sets of the telemetry data collected by the hardware circuitry, the packets generated by the hardware circuitry to be addressed to a remote network device in, or communicatively coupled to, the communication network, the generating of packets including, for each of at least some of the packets, monitoring a size of the packet while the hardware circuitry adds telemetry data to the packet;
• and
• prompting, by the hardware circuitry, the network device to transmit the packets to the remote network device, including, for each packet amongst at least a subset of the at least some packets, providing the packet to the switch core packet processor to prompt the switch core packet processor to transmit the packet in response to determining that a size of the packet has reached a maximum size based on the monitoring of the size of the packet while the hardware circuitry adds telemetry data to the packet.

A method in a communication network for communicating telemetry data generated by a network device, the method comprising:

• collecting, by hardware circuitry of the network device, the telemetry data generated by the network device, the telemetry data providing information regarding operational status of at least one of i) the network device, and ii) one or more network links connected to the network device;
• generating, by the hardware circuitry, packets that include respective sets of the telemetry data collected by the hardware circuitry, the packets generated by the hardware circuitry to be addressed to a remote network device in, or communicatively coupled to, the communication network, the generating of the packets including, for each of at least some of the packets, adding telemetry data to the packet as telemetry data is collected by the hardware circuitry;
• and
• prompting, by the hardware circuitry, the network device to transmit the packets to the remote network device, including, for each packet amongst at least a subset of the at least some packets:
• determining whether a time duration has reached a threshold, the time duration corresponding to a time since the network device transmitted a previous packet having telemetry data, and
• in response to determining that the time duration has reached the threshold, providing the packet to the switch core packet processor.