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US 9,866,472 B2Granted
Systems and methods for software defined networking service function chaining
AssigneeOath Inc.
InventorMichael P. Biancaniello
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for steering packet traffic through an online network. One method includes receiving, at a switch of a network, a packet of data; classifying, by the switch, the packet to a service function chain based on fields of a packet header of the packet, the service function chain including a set of service functions to be performed on the packet; setting, by the switch, fields of the packet header to identify the service function chain classified; and transmitting, by the switch over the network, the packet to a service function device that performs a service function on the packet, the service function being in the set of service functions.
Claims17
A computer-implemented method for steering packet traffic through an online network, comprising:
- receiving, at a first switch of the online network, a packet of data, wherein the first switch is enabled for service function chaining, and wherein the packet of data includes a source field and a destination field;
- classifying, by the first switch, the packet of data to a service function chain based on any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data, the service function chain including a set of service functions to be performed on the packet of data,
- wherein classifying the packet of data includes matching, by the first switch, any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data to a matching criteria associated with the service function chain, and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then setting, by the first switch, any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data to identify the service function chain classified, and
- transmitting, by the first switch over the online network, the packet of data to a second switch, wherein the second switch is enabled for service function chaining;
- inspecting, by the second switch, any one of the source field and the destination field to determine whether a service function device connected to the second switch is configured to perform a service function on the packet of data, the service function being in the set of service functions;
- and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain, then transmitting the packet of data to the service function device to perform the service function on the packet of data,
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field does not match the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then resetting any one of the source field and the destination field for transmitting the packet of data to a third switch according to a forwarding table, wherein the forwarding table comprises a layer-3 forwarding table.
8 more elements
A system for steering packet traffic through an online network, the system including:
- a data storage device that stores instructions for steering packet traffic through the online network;
- and
- a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:
- receiving, at a first switch over the online network, a packet of data, wherein the first switch is enabled for service function chaining, and wherein the packet of data includes a source field and a destination field;
- classifying, by the first switch, the packet of data to a service function chain based on any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data, the service function chain including a set of service functions to be performed on the packet of data,
- wherein classifying the packet of data includes matching, by the first switch, any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data to a matching criteria associated with the service function chain, and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then setting, by the first switch, any one of the source field and destination field of the packet of data to identify the service function chain classified, and
- transmitting, by the first switch over the online network, the packet of data to a second switch, wherein the second switch is enabled for service function chaining;
- inspecting, by the second switch, any one of the source field and the destination field to determine whether a service function device connected to the second switch is configured to perform a service function on the packet of data, the service function being in the set of service functions;
- and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain, then transmitting the packet of data to the service function device to perform the service function on the packet of data,
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field does not match the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then resetting any one of the source field and the destination field for transmitting the packet of data to a third switch according to a forwarding table, wherein the forwarding table comprises a layer-3 forwarding table.
11 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for steering packet traffic through an online network, the method including:
- receiving, at a first switch of the online network, a packet of data, wherein the first switch is enabled for service function chaining, and wherein the packet of data includes a source field and a destination field;
- classifying, by the first switch, the packet of data to a service function chain based on any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data, the service function chain including a set of service functions to be performed on the packet of data,
- wherein classifying the packet of data includes matching, by the first switch, any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data to a matching criteria associated with the service function chain, and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then setting, by the first switch, any one of the source field and the destination field of the packet of data to identify the service function chain classified, and
- transmitting, by the first switch over the online network, the packet of data to a second switch, wherein the second switch is enabled for service function chaining;
- inspecting, by the second switch, any one of the source field and the destination field to determine whether a service function device connected to the second switch is configured to perform a service function on the packet of data, the service function being in the set of service functions;
- and
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field matches the matching criteria associated with the service function chain, then transmitting the packet of data to the service function device to perform the service function on the packet of data,
- wherein if any one of the source field and the destination field does not match the matching criteria associated with the service function chain,
- then resetting any one of the source field and the destination field for transmitting the packet of data to a third switch according to a forwarding table, wherein the forwarding table comprises a layer-3 forwarding table.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.