Patent ID: 9450837
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method of processing groups of policies, the method comprising: (a) establishing, by a device, a first group of policies and a second group of policies to apply to packets received by the device, a policy of the first group of policies identifying an action to apply the second group of policies subsequent to processing of the policy of the first group of policies, wherein the establishing step comprises receiving, by the device, configuration of the policy of the first group of policies to have the action of the policy to apply the second group of policies upon evaluation to true of an expression of the policy; (b) applying, by the device, one or more policies of the first group of policies to a packet in an execution order; (c) determining, by the device, to apply the second group of policies to the packet responsive to evaluation of the policy of the first group of policies identifying the action to apply the second group of policies, wherein the determining step further comprises evaluating an expression of the policy of the first group of policies to the packet, a result of the evaluation identifying to take the action of applying the second group of policies; and (d) applying, by the device, responsive to the determination and after processing of the policy of the first group of policies, one or more policies of the second group of policies to the packet.