Patent ID: 9077668
Filing Date: 2015-07-07
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method performed by a network device acting as a forwarding element within a software-defined network, comprising the steps of: receiving, at the network device, over a network connection with a controller device within the software-defined network, a representation of: creating, in the network device, a flow table based on each of the configurable flow table definitions, wherein each of the flow tables includes a configurable key column for each of the header fields identified by the key composition included in the configurable flow table definition on which that flow table is based, wherein each of the flow tables also includes a set of one or more action columns to store forwarding decisions; installing, in the network device, the configurable logic for selecting between flow tables; receiving data to populate the configurable key columns and action columns of the flow tables; and populating the flow tables according to the received data for forwarding received packets.