Patent ID: 9667718
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A method for a network element to initiate a service to be applied on a traffic flow, comprising: receiving, at the network element, the traffic flow from a traffic flow source, wherein the traffic flow includes packets addressed to a destination; generating, at the network element, an application programming interface (API) call that indicates the service to be applied on the traffic flow at a service provider, the API call including parameters that are based on the traffic flow; transmitting the API call to the service provider to initiate the service; transmitting, from the network element, the traffic flow to the service provider, wherein the service provider processes the traffic flow by applying the service to the packets of the traffic flow; and receiving, at the network element, the processed traffic flow from the service provider, wherein the processed traffic flow is forwarded to the destination.