Packet header optimization in ethernet internet protocol networks

An apparatus, comprising:

• one or more processors configured to:
• generate a source identifier (SID), the SID comprising a shortened representation of a source Internet Protocol (IP) address, wherein the source IP address is an IP address of a source network device that is to transmit a packet to a destination network device, and
• generate a header for the packet, wherein the SID is in a SID field of the header,
• wherein generating the SID includes:
• obtaining an output of a lookup table generated based on providing to the lookup table a first subset of the source IP address and a second subset of the source IP address, the output comprising N bits, and
• generating the SID as M lowest order bits of the output appended to a third subset of the source IP address, wherein:
• M is an integer smaller than N,
• the first subset, the second subset, and the third subset are non-overlapping subsets of consecutive bits of the source IP address, and
• the third subset includes lower order bits of the source IP address than the first subset and the second subset.

An apparatus, comprising:

• one or more processors configured to generate a packet header for a packet from a source network device to a destination network device, wherein the packet header includes:
• one or more bits indicating the packet includes a proper subset of Ethernet and IPv4 header fields, and
• the proper subset of Ethernet and IPv4 header fields, comprising:
• a field comprising a source identifier (SID), the SID comprising a shortened representation of a complete Internet Protocol (IP) address of the source network device,
• a field comprising a destination identifier (DID), the DID comprising a shortened representation of a complete IP address of the destination network device, and
• a field having a total number of bits that is less than 8 and comprising a shortened representation of a type of encapsulation protocol for the packet,
• wherein the proper subset of Ethernet and IPv4 header fields does not include:
• a field comprising the IP address of the source network device,
• a field comprising the IP address of the destination network device,
• a field comprising a media access controller (MAC) address of the source network device,
• a field comprising a MAC address of the destination network device,
• a field comprising a header checksum, and
• a field comprising a total size of the packet.