Patent ID: 8964748
Filing Date: 2015-02-24
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for performing flow compilation packet processing, the method comprising: receiving a packet at a packet processing device; constructing a flow key for the received packet using at least a portion of packet header data of the received packet; comparing the constructed flow key with a plurality of previously constructed flow keys associated with packet flows previously processed at the packet processing device in order to determine if the received packet is associated with one of the packet flows previously processed at the packet processing device; if the received packet is determined not be associated with one of the packet flows, querying a policy database to identify a packet processing activity to be applied to the received packet, compiling a flow program that applies the packet processing activity to the packet, and using the flow key to store the compiled flow program in a flow program database in the packet processing device; if the received packet is determined to be associated with one of the previously processed packet flows, using the flow key to query the flow program database containing compiled flow programs to locate the compiled flow program previously used to process the one of the previously processed packet flows in a manner that bypasses the use of the policy database and utilizing the located compiled flow program to process the received packet.