Patent ID: 7395349
Filing Date: 2008-07-01
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for routing packets over a network, the packets comprising a first packet type and a second packet type, wherein each packet of the first packet type has a corresponding packet of the second packet type, the apparatus comprising: (a) a transceiver configured to receive and to forward each packet; and (b) a processor, coupled to the transceiver, that is arranged to perform actions, including: if the received packet is of the first packet type, forwarding the received packet to a first traffic manager that is selected based on at least a first field in the received packet, wherein forwarding the received packet further comprises hashing the first field in the received packet to obtain a hash key and employing the hash key to select the first traffic manager to which the packet is forwarded; and if the received packet is of the second packet type, forwarding the received packet to a second traffic manager that is selected based on at least a second field in the received packet, wherein the first traffic manager is the same as the second traffic manager when the received packet of the first packet type corresponds to the received packet of the second packet type.