Abstract: A packet processing system includes a plurality of control devices and a packet forwarding device that operate as a single packet forwarding device, each of the control devices executing at least one application. The packet processing system transmits, when a destination of a packet specified by an application is within the packet processing system, the packet from the application to the destination directly without using the packet forwarding device.

Abstract: A packet processing device which can reserve a calculation time for each instruction procedure execution unit independent of the data length of a packet by sequentially selecting an instruction procedure execution unit by a selection signal generation unit and performing a calculation on each packet when packets are consecutively input to a packet access unit is disclosed.

Abstract: A packet processing device capable of restraining overhead and processing packets at high speed. Packet input section is input a packet, and internal information handover section hands over internal information of a packet processor. Packet computing section computes the input packet in accordance with the internal information, and packet output section outputs the computed packet. A communication line connects such packet processors in series.

Abstract: There is provided a packet scheduler for managing output awaiting packets stored in a plural of queue blocks each having a weighting coefficient settled based on an output guaranteeing bandwidth, whereby an output order for the head packets is stored in respective queue blocks. The packet scheduler includes means for controlling selection of a queue having a packet to be sent at the highest priority, based on scheduled output time information obtained by calculation using management information of the output awaiting packets and the weighting coefficient of each queue, and means for correcting processing carried out in the controlling means based on the current time information. The arrangement enables to ensure assignment of vacant bandwidth in a fair manner while suppressing erroneous operation deriving from deviation of a scheduled packet output time from the real time caused by a calculation error or the like in WFQ calculation.

Abstract: In a packet transferring apparatus which communicates between terminals belonging to networks, a packet outputted from a main processor for executing a routing process, a filtering process, and a priority control process determined whether or not to be conformed with a session establishment condition, when the packet is determined conformable, packet information is received and held from the determining portion, and subsequent packets belonging to the same session are transmitted by bypassing the main processor, based on the packet information.

Abstract: In a network arrangement implementing a virtual interface scheme to execute various types of application processes using plural control units, the routing tables of the control units may be synchronized without having to execute a complicated process sequence. In a network apparatus including a forwarding unit corresponding to a base point for conducting packet transmission/reception with an external network, and plural control units for operating plural applications that are arranged to access virtual interfaces of the control units that correspond to actual interfaces of the forwarding unit so that the network apparatus appears from the outside to be functioning as a single unit. A routing process of generating a routing table is executed at a master control unit corresponding to one of the control units, and if the routing table of the master control unit is updated, a routing table of the forwarding unit is updated by a routing synchronization process that operates independently from the routing process.

Abstract: A packet processing system including a forwarding apparatus that sends and receives a packet by using a network interface and a control apparatus that includes an application receiving the packet is provided. The control apparatus includes: a symbol part corresponding to the forwarding apparatus; and a transfer control part for sending a request message, to the forwarding apparatus, requesting the forwarding apparatus to set a packet transfer rule for transferring a receiving packet to the application; and the forwarding apparatus includes: a transfer control part for setting the packet transfer rule as requested by the request message; wherein the packet transfer rule includes an interface identifier corresponding to the communication port; and when the control apparatus detects that the interface identifier is changed, the control apparatus sends a correction message, to the forwarding apparatus, requesting the forwarding apparatus to correct the interface identifier in the packet transfer rule.

Abstract: The hierarchical packet processing system comprises a relay unit and a server, which relay received packets. The relay unit comprises a call unit for calling up a prescribed service processing unit for performing the service process of a received packet, a first service processing unit for performing the service process of the received packet by the call of the call unit, a second service processing unit for performing a virtual service process of the received packet by the call of the call unit. The server comprises an external service processing unit for performing the arbitrary service process of the received packet instead of the second service processing unit when the call unit calls up the second service processing unit.

Abstract: A relay system, comprises interface units for accessing networks, a domain definition module, an connection definition module, a routing module, an address translation module for translating, when forwarding a communication data from one domain to another domain, a source address belonging to the source domain contained in the packet into a proxy host address belonging to the routing destination domain, and an address reverse translation module for translating, when receiving a communication data which has the proxy host address in destination address field, the destination address belonging to the source domain contained in the packet into the address belonging to the routing destination, and a control unit for controlling a connectability for routing between the two or more domains in accordance with definitions of the connection definition module.

Abstract: Interface identifying information related to an individual processing device and forwarding information related to the processing device are received from the processing device, interface identifying information and forwarding information related to a processing device accessible on a network are retained, an access packet is received from a terminal that accesses the accessible processing device, access packet identifying information related to the access packet is compared with the interface identifying information and the forwarding information, the access packet is forwarded to the accessible processing device.

Abstract: A packet control system includes a packet forwarder and a packet control device. The packet forwarder includes a received packet transfer unit that transmits to the packet control device a routing information packet received from a network interface of the packet forwarder. The packet control device includes a virtual interface that has address information associated with the network interface; a transmitted packet reception unit; and a transmitted packet transfer unit. The transmitted packet reception unit receives the routing information packet, associates the routing information packet with the virtual interface, and transmits the routing information packet to the routing process. The transmitted packet transfer unit receives the routing information packet transmitted from the routing process, and transmits the routing information packet to the packet forwarder.

Abstract: Configuration information set in one virtual path configuration apparatus is shared with all the virtual path configuration apparatuses in the virtual private network. The configuration information may be shared by transmitting the configuration information to other virtual path configuration apparatuses or receiving configuration information from the other virtual path configuration apparatuses.

Abstract: A packet processor having a general-purpose arithmetic operator and another dedicated circuit, which extracts a particular field from the general-purpose register as object field, on which the predetermined general-purpose arithmetic operation is to be performed by the general-purpose arithmetic operator and writes a result of the arithmetic operation by the general-purpose arithmetic operator into the general-purpose register as updated information of the particular field. Based on the extraction and write process of the packet field designated by software (instructions), the packet processor realizes high flexibility and high speed processing.

Abstract: A communication apparatus contains a first table having entries each storing a data-link-layer path to a second communication apparatus, and a second table storing a pointer to the entry of the first table, storing the data-link-layer path to the second communication apparatus, corresponding to a network-layer address of one of the at least one other communication apparatus. In addition, a process for determining layer-2 reachability between first and second communication apparatuses, identifies first and second layer-2-connected communication networks to which first and second interfaces of first and second routers are connected, where, on a layer-3 communication path between the first and second communication apparatuses, the first router is located nearest the first communication apparatus and the second router is located nearest the second communication apparatus. When first and second layer-2-connected communication networks are identical, the layer-2 reachability is determined.

Abstract: A control device includes a virtual IF set to associate with address information of an interface on a forwarding device and, when detecting that an application section accesses the virtual IF, requests the forwarding device to set a packet transfer rule for transferring a packet received on an interface to the control device while making the packet associate with the virtual IF. The forwarding device sets the packet transfer rule requested by the control device.

Abstract: A packet-data-processing apparatus includes a first data-processing unit for computing information on a processing count; a memory; a second data-processing-unit for processing the input packet and storing first results in the memory; an access mechanism unit for reading out one of the first results written into the memory least recently from the memory at a request for a read operation and deleting the result of processing read out from the memory; a third data-processing unit for making the request for a read operation and carrying out processing based on the first result read out by the access control unit at the request and an input packet associated with the result of processing; and fourth data-processing unit constituting pipeline data-processing mechanism with the first and third data-processing unit.

Abstract: A broadcast address server which can be implemented by slightly modifying an existing address server to make it possible to distribute broadcast packets in a reduced time period. A connection set-up unit establishes, in advance, a broadcast connection extending to all relevant terminals on the network, based on addressing information maintained in the broadcast address server. An address response unit is designed to respond to address resolution requests from the terminals. When a request is received from a particular source terminal that needs a physical address corresponding to a broadcast protocol address, the address response unit returns to the source terminal a dedicated broadcast physical address to be used to receive broadcast packets. Upon receipt of this response, the source terminal transmits a broadcast packet toward the dedicated broadcast physical address.

Abstract: A packet processing device with an improved architecture which permits a single microcode program to manipulate protocol headers in a unified and efficient way, regardless of differences in their underlying protocol structures. A packet buffer stores a received packet in its fixed-length data registers. An address register stores a protocol header pointer indicating where in the packet buffer a protocol header starts. A field address table stores field location parameters that indicate the locations of each field of a protocol header and specify how to treat such fields. An operation unit manipulates the received packet in the packet buffer, adjusting alignment of each field on a data register boundary according to the protocol header pointer and field location parameters. This architecture enables the same series of instructions to read and/or write fields of a protocol header, regardless of the underlying protocol stack structures.

Abstract: A first edge node in an MPLS network system includes a generation module generating a key value for determining an allocating destination link in a way that uses, as input values, a piece of source identifying information and a piece of destination identifying information contained in a header of a forwarding target frame before being attached with an MPLS header enabling the frame to be forwarded across an MPLS network on the basis of an MPLS protocol, an embedding module embedding the key value generated by the generation module into a specified field in the MPLS header, and a transmitting module transmitting the MPLS frame containing the key value embedded into the specified field in its MPLS header to the MPLS network.

Abstract: Entries which become lookup objects and have variable length comparison conditions are divided into a plurality of groups, a representative lookup key is taken as lookup data for each group, and mask data that sets a range for matching with a match candidate, as well as comparison object data, is stored in masked lookup memory so that setting can be made for each of the entries. Information corresponding to the groups that match the lookup conditions is obtained from the masked lookup memory, and the lookup object entries are limited to the data within the object group. Further, the entries, which become lookup objects, are classified into a tree state, with nodes adopted at points where bit values are either “0” or “1”, in order from the first bit, and lookup for matching entry is performed after the entries are limited to the data within the object groups.