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AssigneeBig Switch Networks, Inc.
InventorsRobert Edward Adams, Mandeep Singh Dhami, Kanzhe Jiang
Estimating the term…
Network packets may be transmitted from packet sources to packet destinations through a network of switches. The switches may have corresponding flow tables that control how the packets are forwarded through the switches. A controller server may generate network switch forwarding paths for the network packets by modifying the flow tables with entries based on attributes of the network packets and network topology information. The controller server may forward selected packets directly to packet destinations instead of generating the network switch forwarding paths. To determine which packets to directly forward, the controller server may calculate cost metrics associated with the network switch forwarding paths and associated with forwarding network packets directly to packet destinations. The cost metrics may be calculated based on network topology information, network traffic conditions, controller server processing load, packet forwarding delays, an expected number of future network packets, or attributes of the network packets.
A method of forwarding a set of network packets from a packet source to a packet destination through a network that has a first network switch coupled to the packet source, a second network switch coupled to the packet destination, and a controller server that controls the first and second network switches, comprising:
A method of forwarding network packets from a packet source to a packet destination through a network that includes a plurality of switches with corresponding flow tables that control the forwarding of the network packets through the switches, comprising:
A method of forwarding a set of network packets through a network that includes a plurality of switches, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.