Patent ID: 8774185
Filing Date: 2014-07-08
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: service processing and distinct forwarding processing, by a first processing complex on a first line card of a packet switching device, packets of a flow of packets traveling in a first direction through the packet switching device and received on an interface of the first line card, with said forwarding processing including determining a second line card as the egress line card; communicating state information from the first processing complex to a particular second processing complex on the second line card of the packet switching device via a switching fabric or a switching matrix internal to the packet switching device, with said state information required for service processing packets of the flow of packets traveling in a reverse direction of the first direction; forwarding packet of the flow of packets from the first line card over the switching fabric or the switching matrix to the second line card based on said determination of the second line card as the egress line card, wherein there are a plurality of paths through the packet switching device that packets of the flow of packets could take from ingress to egress, with the plurality of paths including a same path through the packet switching device taken by packets of the flow of packets, wherein the same path would be taken by packet of the flow of packets if only forwarding processing without said service processing was performed; service processing, by the particular second processing complex, packets of the flow of packets traveling in the reverse direction through the packet switching device; wherein said processing of the flow of packets traveling in the reverse direction includes using said communicated state information; and forwarding packets of the flow of packets from the packet switching device via an interface on the second line card.