Service Selection Mechanism In Service Insertion Architecture Data Plane

A method for providing service selection in a service insertion architecture data plane, the method comprising:

• receiving a first packet that includes a service identifier associated with a traffic class, from which a service context and path are derived, the service path comprising a uniquely ordered plurality of logical services, the first packet further including a first sequence number;
• performing a logical service after receiving the first packet;
• generating a second packet that includes the original traffic class identifier and a second sequence number, wherein the second sequence number is different from the first sequence number;
• and
• providing the second packet to a forwarding plane in the service insertion architecture.

A method for providing service selection in a service insertion architecture data plane, the method comprising:

• receiving a first packet associated with performing a first logical service in a service path, the first packet containing first context information associated with the first logical service, the first context information including a unique combination of traffic class identifier and service sequence number;
• determining a next hop location based on the first context information;
• updating the context information in the packet to include a different service sequence number;
• and
• sending the updated packet to a forwarding plane for service chaining to the next hop location.