US 6,654,373 B1 · Content aware network apparatus

Abstract

A content aware network device is described that is able to scan the contents of entire data packets including header and payload information. The network device includes a physical interface for converting analog network signal into bit streams and vise versa. The bit stream from the physical interface is sent to a traffic flow scanning processor that may be, but is not necessarily, divided into a header processor and a payload analyzer. The header processor scans the header information from each data packet, which is used to determine routing information and session identification. The payload analyzer scans the data packet's payload and matches the payload against a database of known strings. The payload analyzer is able to scan across packet boundaries and to scan for strings of variable and arbitrary length. Once the payload has been scanned the network device can operate on the data packet based on the results of the payload analyzer. The scanned data packets and the associated conclusions are then passed to a quality of service processor which modifies the data packets if necessary and performs traffic management and traffic shaping on the flow of data packets based on contents of the data packets.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A network apparatus connected to a data network passing data packets of a plurality of types and having a plurality of destinations and sources, each data packet consisting of a header and a payload, the network apparatus comprising:

a header processor receiving the data packets from the data network and operable to scan the header to determine the type of the data packet, the source of the data packet, and the destination of the data packets and to classify the data packets based on attributes of the data packets;
a payload analyzer connected to the header processor and operable to scan the payload of each data packet, wherein the payload analyzer can further classify the data packet according to the contents of the payload;
and
a quality of service processor connected to the payload analyzer and operable to process each data packet based on its classification.

1 more element

A network device as part of a data network, the data network including a stream of data packets of a plurality of protocols and a plurality of destinations and sources, each data packet containing header information and payload information, the network device comprising:

a traffic flow scanning processor operable to scan the header information and the payload information of each data packet, the traffic flow scanning processor including at least one reassembly and reordering engine which ensures that the data packets are properly assembled and ordered, and further includes at least one scanning engine which scans the data packet, matches information in the data packet with a database of known signatures, and produces an associated conclusion based on the matching of information in the data packet;
and
a quality of service processor connected to the traffic flow scanning processor and receiving the data packets and the associated conclusion, the quality of service processor operable to interpret the conclusion and to place the data packet onto one of a plurality of quality of service queues contained within the quality of service processor, the quality of service queue determined by the associated conclusion, wherein the data packet in then transmitted from the quality of service queue to the data network.

a physical interface which includes input ports that receive an input analog signal from the data network and converts the input analog signal into an input bit stream containing the data packets and output ports for receiving an output bit stream and converting the output bit stream into an output analog signal sent out onto the data network;
a plurality of route engines each route engine further comprising:
a traffic flow scanning processor connected to the physical interface to receive the input bit stream, the traffic flow scanning processor operable to scan the header information and the payload information of each data packet, the traffic flow scanning processor including at least one reassembly and reordering engine which ensures that the data packets are properly assembled and ordered, and further includes at least one scanning engine which scans the data packet, matches information in the data packet with a database of known signatures, and produces an associated conclusion based on the matching of information in the data packet;
at least one quality of service processor connected to the traffic flow scanning processor and receiving the data packets and the associated conclusion, the at least one quality of service processor operable to interpret the conclusion and to place the data packet onto one of a plurality of quality of service queues contained within the at least one quality of service processor, the quality of service queue being determined by the associated conclusion, wherein the data packet in then transmitted from the quality of service queue to a switch fabric interface;
and
a switch fabric connected between the at least one quality of service processors for at least two or more route engines, such that data packets are sent from one of the at least one quality of service processor associated with an input port for the data packet to the at least one quality of service processor associated with an appropriate output port for the data packet, such that the network device is operable as a network router.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Content aware network apparatus

Life of this patent

Content aware network apparatus

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30