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US 6,434,618 B1Granted
Programmable network element for packet-switched computer network
AssigneeLucent Technologies Inc.
InventorsAriel Cohen, Sampath Rangarajan
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLucent Technologies Inc.
InventorsAriel Cohen, Sampath Rangarajan
Estimating the term…
A programmable network element (400) operates on packet traffic flowing through the element in accordance with a gateway program (404, 405, 406) which is dynamically uploaded into the network element or unloaded from it via a mechanism separate from the actual packet traffic as the element operates. Such programmable network element can simultaneously operate on plural packet flows with different or the same programs being applied to each flow. A dispatcher (402) provides a packet filter (403) with a set of rules provided by one or more of the dynamically loaded and invoked programs. These rules define, for each program, the characteristics of those packets flowing through the network element that are to be operated upon in some manner. A packet that flows from the network through the filter and satisfies one or more of such rules is sent by the packet filter to the dispatcher. The dispatcher, in accordance with one of the programs, either sends the packet to the program for manipulation by the program itself, or manipulates the packet itself in a manner instructed by the program. The processed packet is sent back through the filter to the network for routing to its destination.
A network element for a packet-based computer network comprising:
A network element for a packet-based computer network comprising:
A method for manipulating a packet transmitted on a packet-based computer network at a network element through which packets transmitted on the computer network flow, the method comprising the steps of:
A computer readable medium storing computer program instructions which are executable on a computer system implementing a network element through which packets transmitted on a packet-based computer network flow, said computer program instructions comprising instructions defining the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.