Network switching system having variable headers and addresses
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorBrian Petersen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
According to an example embodiment, a method may include receiving a message, appending a header set to the message, and transmitting the message from an ingress port to an egress port of the network switching system based on the header set. In an example embodiment, the header set may include a variable number of headers, wherein one or more of the headers in the header set includes a next header field to identify a type of header following a current header in the header set. In an example embodiment, the packet may be segmented and transmitted across the switching system as a plurality of cells, where a cell destination address may be a portion (e.g., subset of bits) of the packet destination address.
Claims9
A method of processing a data packet at a network switching system, comprising:
- receiving a single data packet having a network header;
- appending a fabric header set to the single data packet, wherein the fabric header set includes a plurality of headers including a first header immediately followed by a second header,
- wherein a header type of the second header is from a different subset of header types for each type of the first header, wherein the first header includes a next header field to identify a header type for the second header, wherein a number of bits used for the next header field is based upon a number of header types within one or more of the subsets;
- and
- transmitting the single data packet from an ingress port to an egress port of the network switching system based on the fabric header set.
A network switching system comprising:
- a plurality of network devices coupled together, wherein at least one network device is configured to:
- receive a single data packet having a network header;
- append a fabric header set to the single data packet, the fabric header set including a plurality of headers including a first header immediately followed by a second header, wherein a header type of the second header is from a different subset of header types for each type of the first header, wherein the first header includes a next header field to identify a header type for the second header, wherein a number of bits used for the next header field is based upon a number of header types within one or more of the subsets;
- and
- transmit the single data packet to a second network device of the network switching system based on the fabric header set.
An apparatus for processing a data packet at a network switching system, comprising:
- means for receiving a single data packet having a network header;
- means for appending a fabric header set to the single data packet, wherein the fabric header set includes a plurality of headers including a first header immediately followed by a second, wherein a header type of the second header is from a different subset of header types for each type of the first header, wherein the first header includes a next header field to identify a header type for the second header, wherein a number of bits used for the next header field is based upon a number of header types within one or more of the subsets;
- and
- means for transmitting the single data packet from an ingress port to an egress port of the network switching system based on the fabric header set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.