Patent Abstract:
A router for interconnecting N interfacing peripheral devices. The router comprises a switch fabric and routing nodes coupled to the switch fabric. Each routing node comprises: i) a plurality of physical medium device (PMD) modules for transmitting data packets to and receiving data packets from selected ones of the N interfacing peripheral devices; ii) an input-output processing (IOP) module coupled to the PMD modules and the switch fabric for routing the data packets between the PMD modules and the switch fabric and between the PMD modules; and iii) a classification module associated with the IOP module for classifying a first data packet received from the IOP module. The classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on the classification. The router architecture incorporates streams-based billing support, firewall capabilities, and data surveillance functionality.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to massively parallel routers and, more specifically, to a massively parallel, distributed architecture router that performs traffic classification and related services normally performed by peripheral devices at network access points.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There has been explosive growth in Internet traffic due to the increased number of Internet users, various service demands from those users, the implementation of new services, such as voice-over-IP (VoIP) or streaming applications, and the development of mobile Internet. Conventional routers, which act as relaying nodes connected to sub-networks or other routers, have accomplished their roles well, in situations in which the time required to process packets, determine their destinations, and forward the packets to the destinations is usually smaller than the transmission time on network paths. More recently, however, the packet transmission capabilities of high-bandwidth network paths and the increases in Internet traffic have combined to outpace the processing capacities of conventional routers. Thus, increasingly, routers are the cause of major bottlenecks in the Internet.  
         [0003]     Early routers resided on a computer host and the CPU of the host performed all tasks, such as packet forwarding via a shared bus and routing table computation. This simple, centralized architecture proved to be inefficient due to the concentrated overhead of the CPU and the existence of congestion on the bus. As a result, router vendors developed distributed router architectures that provide efficient packet processing compared to a centralized architecture. Some distributed router architectures distribute many of the functions previously performed by the centralized CPU to the line cards, and a high-speed crossbar switch replaces the shared bus. This greatly increases the throughput of routers and reduces bottlenecks on the Internet.  
         [0004]     Despite increased complexity and sophistication, the primary function of most massively parallel, distributed routers remains relatively simple: routing (or forwarding) data packets from an ingress port to the correct egress port. Peripheral devices at the network access points perform more sophisticated functions, such as security (anonymity), firewall protection, data surveillance, and the like.  
         [0005]     Recently, however, telecommunication equipment vendors have begun to develop and to disclose distributed routers that do more than simple routing and forwarding functions. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/431,770, filed on May 8, 2003 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/460,995, filed on Jun. 13, 2003 disclose distributed router architectures that use classification modules on forwarding nodes to perform IPv6 forwarding and non-traditional router functions. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/431,770 and 10/460,995 are assigned to the assignee of the present application. The subject matter disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/431,770 and 10/460,995 is hereby incorporated into the present application as if fully set forth herein.  
         [0006]     Nonetheless, peripheral devices located at the access points of a communication network continue to perform many functions that may be performed by routers of the communication network. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved Internet protocol (IP) router. In particular, there is a need for a massively parallel, distributed architecture router that is capable of performing functions (i.e., services) that are conventionally performed by peripheral devices located at the network edges.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a router for interconnecting N interfacing peripheral devices. According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the router comprises: 1) a switch fabric; and 2) a plurality of routing nodes coupled to the switch fabric, each of the routing nodes comprising: i) a plurality of physical medium device (PMD) modules capable of transmitting data packets to and receiving data packets from selected ones of the N interfacing peripheral devices; 
        ii) an input-output processing (IOP) module coupled to the PMD modules and the switch fabric and capable of routing the data packets between the PMD modules and the switch fabric and between the PMD modules; and iii) a classification module associated with the IOP module for classifying a first data packet received from the IOP module, wherein the classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on the classification.        
 
         [0009]     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the classification module classifies the first data packet based on at least one of Layer 2 through Layer 7 of the ISO model.  
         [0010]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the classification module is capable of modifying header information of the first data packet.  
         [0011]     According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the classification module replaces at least one of a medium access control (MAC) address and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first data packet with a replacement address selected from a pool of addresses associated with the router.  
         [0012]     According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on a traffic type of the first data packet.  
         [0013]     According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on a source of the first data packet.  
         [0014]     According to a still further embodiment of the present invention, the classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on a destination of the first data packet.  
         [0015]     According to a yet further embodiment of the present invention, the classification module causes the IOP module to forward the first data packet based on a content of a user payload of the first data packet.  
         [0016]     In one embodiment of the present invention, the classification module comprises a classification engine and a content addressable memory.  
         [0017]     In another embodiment of the present invention, the classification module is programmable.  
         [0018]     This has outlined rather broadly several features of this disclosure so that those skilled in the art may better understand the DETAILED DESCRIPTION that follows. Additional features may be described later in this document. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the concepts and the specific embodiments disclosed as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.  
         [0019]     Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and hrases used throughout this patent document. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. A controller may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, and those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers designate like objects, and in which:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary distributed architecture router, which implements classification modules according to the principles of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  illustrates selected portions of an exemplary routing node in the distributed architecture router in  FIG. 1  according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating packet format states at various stages in the exemplary distributed architecture router according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  illustrates in greater detail a data packet at the PMD-IOP interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  illustrates in greater detail a data packet in a classification module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]      FIGS. 1 through 5 , discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present invention in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present invention may be implemented in any suitably arranged distributed router.  
         [0027]      FIG. 1  illustrates exemplary distributed architecture router  100 , which implements classification modules according to the principles of the present invention. Distributed architecture router  100  provides scalability and high-performance using up to N independent routing nodes (RN), including exemplary routing nodes  110 ,  120 ,  130  and  140 , connected by switch  150 , which comprises a pair of high-speed switch fabrics  155   a  and  155   b . Each routing node comprises an input-output processor (IOP) module, and one or more physical medium device (PMD) module. Exemplary RN  110  comprises PMD module  112  (labeled PMD-a), PMD module  114  (labeled PMD-b), and IOP module  116 . RN  120  comprises PMD module  122  (labeled PMD-a), PMD module  124  (labeled PMD-b), and IOP module  126 . RN  130  comprises PMD module  132  (labeled PMD-a), PMD module  134  (labeled PMD-b), and IOP module  136 . Finally, exemplary RN  140  comprises PMD module  142  (labeled PMD-a), PMD module  144  (labeled PMD-b), and IOP module  146 .  
         [0028]     Each one of IOP modules  116 ,  126 ,  136  and  146  buffers incoming Internet protocol (IP) frames and MPLS frames from subnets or adjacent routers, such as router  190  and network  195 . Additionally, each of IOP modules  116 ,  126 ,  136  and  146  classifies requested services, looks up destination addresses from frame headers or data fields, and forwards frames to the outbound IOP module. Moreover, each IOP module also maintains an internal routing table determined from routing protocol messages and provisioned static routes and computes the optimal data paths from the routing table. Each IOP module processes an incoming frame from one of its PMD modules. According to one embodiment of the present invention, each PMD module encapsulates an incoming frame (or cell) from an IP network (or ATM switch) for processing in an IOP module and performs bus conversion functions.  
         [0029]     Each one of routing nodes  110 ,  120 ,  130 , and  140 , configured with an IOP module and PMD module(s) and linked by switch fabrics  155   a  and  155   b , is essentially equivalent to a router by itself. Thus, distributed architecture router  100  can be considered a set of RN building blocks with high-speed links (i.e., switch fabrics  155   a  and  155   b ) connected to each block. Switch fabrics  155   a  and  155   b  support frame switching between IOP modules. Switch processor (SWP)  160   a  and switch processor (SWP)  160   b , located in switch fabrics  155   a  and  155   b , respectively, support system management.  
         [0030]     Unlike a traditional router, distributed architecture router  100  requires an efficient mechanism of monitoring the activity (or “aliveness”) of each routing node  110 ,  120 ,  130 , and 
        140. Distributed architecture router  100  implements a routing coordination protocol (called “loosely-coupled unified environment (LUE) protocol”) that enables all of the independent routing nodes to act as a single router by maintaining a consistent link-state database for each routing node. The loosely-unified environment is (LUE) protocol is based on the design concept of OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) routing protocol and is executed in parallel by daemons in each one of RN  110 ,  120 ,  130 , and  140  and in SWP  160   a  and SWP  160   b  to distribute and synchronize routing tables. As is well known, a daemon is an agent program that continuously operates  20  on a processing node and provides resources to client systems. Daemons are background processes used as utility functions.        
 
         [0032]      FIG. 2  illustrates selected portions of exemplary routing node  120  in distributed architecture router  100  according to one embodiment of the present invention. Router  100  shares routing information in the form of aggregated routes among the routing engines. The routing engines are interconnected through Gigabit optical links to the switch modules (SWMs). Multiple SWMs can be interconnected through 10 Gbps links. Classification module  230  is an optional daughter card that may be inserted on any or all IOP modules. Ingress data can be sent to classification modules  230  to enable, for example, IPv6 tunneling through router  100 , streams-based billing, subnet independent NAT, Layers 4-7 and QoS-based forwarding, data filtering and blocking for firewall functionality, and data surveillance, among other functions.  
         [0033]     Routing node  120  comprises physical medium device (PMD) module  122 , physical medium device (PMD) module  124  and input-output processor module  126 . PMD module  122  (labeled PMD-a) comprises physical layer circuitry  211 , physical medium device (PMD) processor  213  (e.g., IXP 1240 processor), and peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bridge  212 . PMD module  124  (labeled PMD-b) comprises physical layer circuitry  221 , physical medium device (PMD) processor  223  (e.g., IXP 1240 processor), and peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bridge  222 .  
         [0034]     IOP module  126  comprises classification module  230 , system processor  240  (e.g., MPC 8245 processor), network processor  260  (e.g., IXP 1200 or IXP 1240 processor), peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bridge  270 , and Gigabit Ethernet connector  280 . Classification module  230  comprises content addressable memory (CAM)  231 , classification processor  232  (e.g., MPC 8245 processor), classification engine  233  and custom logic array (CLA)  234  (e.g., 10 FPGA). Classification engine  233  is a state graph processor. Custom logic array  234  controls the flow of the packet within classification module  230  and between classification module  230  and network processor  260 . PCI bus  290  connects PCI bridges  212 ,  222  and  270 , classification processor  232 , and system processor  240  for is control plane data exchange such as route distribution. IX bus  296  interconnects PMD processor  213 , PMD processor  223 , and network processor  260  for data plane traffic flow. Local bus  292  interconnects classification module  230  and network processor  260  for data plane traffic flow.  
         [0035]     Network processor  260  comprises microengines that perform frame forwarding and a control plane processor. Network processor  260  uses distributed forwarding table (DFT)  261  to perform forwarding table lookup operations. The network processor (e.g., network processor  260 ) in each IOP module (e.g., IOP module  126 ) performs frame forwarding using a distributed forwarding table (e.g., DFT  261 ).  
         [0036]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating packet format states at various stages in exemplary distributed architecture router  100  according to one embodiment of the present invention. Data packets  301 - 308  illustrate the stage-by-stage progress of a representative data packet. As  FIG. 3  shows, router  100  uses proprietary headers to transport data packets within router  100 . It is noted that an MPLS Label is optionally included in data packets  301 - 308  for purposes of illustration only. The MPLS Label may not be present with the IPv4 and IPv6 data packets.  
         [0037]     Initially, PMD module  122  receives data packet  301  from an external network device. Data packet  301  comprises a Layer 2 Encapsulation field, an MPLS label (optional) and an Internet Protocol (IP) packet. PMD processor  213  in PMD module  122  removes the Layer 2 Encapsulation field and adds an Interface Descriptor (IFD) field to form data packet  302 , which PMD module  122  transfers to IOP module  126 .  
         [0038]     If classification is needed, network processor  260  in IOP module  126  adds a header extension least significant (HE LS) word to the IFD field, the MPLS Label (optional), and the IP packet to form data packet  303 , which network processor  260  transfers to classification module  230  in IOP module  126 . Classification module  230  then adds the rest of the header extension (HE) and fills in the matching address from CAM  231  to form data packet  304 , which CM  230  transfers back to network processor  260 .  
         [0039]     Next, network processor  260  uses the header extension and IFD fields of data packet  304  to look up the destination address in distributed forwarding table  261 . Once the destination address is determined, network processor  260  formats the packet for the output interface. If the destination address is accessed through a different IOP module, then the header extension and IFD fields are dropped and the Ethernet Encapsulation is added, thereby forming data packet  305 , which IOP module  126  transfers to switch  150 . If the destination address is part of the same IOP module, then the header extension field is dropped and the packet with IFD is sent by IOP module  126  to PMD  122  or PMD  124 .  
         [0040]     Data packet  305  then passes through switch  150 . At the output, switch  150  forwards data packet  306 , which is identical to data packet  305 , to IOP module  136 . Network processor  360  in IOP module  136  is similar to network processor  260 . Network processor  360  removes the Ethernet Encapsulation field of data packet  306  and adds an IFD field to form data packet  307 , which IOP module  136  transfers to PMD module  132 . Finally, PMD processor  313  removes the IFD field and adds a Layer 2 Encapsulation field to form data packet  308 . PMD module  132  then transmits data packet  308  to an external device in the network.  
         [0041]     According to the principles of the present invention, router  100  uses classification module  230  in each IOP module to provide other functions in addition to conventional routing and forwarding functions. Classification module  230  primarily supports Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) forwarding and streams-based billing. However, once implemented in an IOP module, classification module  230  may be programmed to perform many other “non-traditional” router functions.  
         [0042]     These functions include:  
         [0043]     i) Security—Classification module  230  may achieve anonymity by translating Layer 2 and 3 addresses. The actual Medium Access Control (MAC) and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses may be isolated to the user interface by translating the addresses to a pool of router addresses. The network side interfaces do not see the user addresses because the router addresses are used on the network side.  
         [0044]     ii) Firewall—Classification module  230  may restrict access to user ports to certain traffic types, traffic sources, and/or traffic destinations. It also supports implementation of Access Control Lists (ACLs).  
         [0045]     iii) Data Surveillance—Classification module  230  may search for key words or phrases in user data packet payloads.  
         [0046]     iv) Configuration Independence—Classification module  230  is capable of making the interfaces subnet of router  100  independent by providing a subnet independent Network Address Translation (NAT) in classification engine  233 . This allows laptops to remain configured to their home location IP address and to connect to a router interface in a remote location. The laptop connects to a router interface on a different subnet without changing its configuration. Although Internet providers use dynamic IP address assignment, the laptop still must be configured with the subnet address of the provider. This present invention eliminates the need for this configuration. Allowing only known MAC addresses or IP addresses to gain entry provides security.  
         [0047]     v) Higher Level Routing—Classification module  230  is capable of performing routing and forwarding based on Layers 4-7 of the ISO model and QoS fields.  
         [0048]      FIG. 4  illustrates data packet  302  in greater detail according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Data packet  302  comprises interface descriptor (IFD)  410  and packet payload  420  and is transferred in both directions between PMD module  122  and IOP module  126 . Data packet  302  may also comprise optional MPLS label  430  between IFD  410  and packet payload  420 . However, for the purposes of simplicity and clarity in explaining the present invention, optional MPLS label  430  is not shown in  FIG. 4 . Exemplary interface descriptor (IFD)  410  comprises eight (8) bytes. The first byte of IFD  410  comprises physical medium device (PMD) field  411  (1 bit) and port number field  412  (7 bits). IFD  410  also comprises encapsulation field  413  (1 byte), length field  414  (2 bytes) and sub-channel field  415  (4 bytes). Packet payload  420  comprises up to 2016 bytes and is equivalent to data packets  305  and  306  or may be just an IP packet. Thus, packet payload  420  comprises an optional Ethernet encapsulation field, an optional MPLS label field, and an IP packet.  
         [0049]     PMD field  411  may be either a Logic 0 (for PMD-a) or a Logic 1 (for PMD-b). Port number field  412  gives the physical port number of the associated interface in the PMD. Encapsulation field  413  may contain, for example, (00)hex for IPv4 data, (01)hex for MPLS unicast data, (02)hex for MPLS multicast data, or (03)hex for IPv6 data. The value in length field  414  includes both IFD  410  and packet payload  420 . Finally, sub-channel field  414  specifies, ATM-VPI/VCI or TDM channel numbers.  
         [0050]      FIG. 5  illustrates data packet  304  in greater detail according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Data packet  304  comprises interface descriptor (IFD)  410  and packet payload  420 , as in  FIG. 3 . Data packet  304  may also comprise optional MPLS label  430  between IFD  410  and packet payload  420 . However, for the purposes of simplicity and clarity in explaining the present invention, optional MPLS label  430  is not shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0051]     Data packet  304  also comprises an additional 24 bytes of the header extension (HE) field. The header extension field comprises classification result field  501  (4 bytes), classification digest field  502  (16 bytes), content addressable memory (CAM) match address field  503  (3 bytes) and operations field  504  (1 byte) Together, the header extension field and IFD  410  form an Extended Interface Descriptor (EIFD), which can be used for forwarding table lookup by the routing engines.  
         [0052]     Data packets sent from IOP module  126  to classification module  230  start at CAM match address field  503  and do not contain classification result field  501  and classification digest field  502 . Data packets sent from classification module  230  to IOP module  126  contain all of the fields of data packet  304  shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0053]     IFD  410  enables a PMD module (e.g., PMD module  122 ) to provide information about data packet  302 , such as Layer 2 information, port number, subchannel, and packet length, to the routing engine of the IOP module (e.g., IOP module  126 ). In order to provide maximum flexibility in classification, IFD  410  and a one byte operations field are provided to the classification engine (e.g., CE  233 ) of classification module (CM)  230 . The operations field enables network processor  260  of IOP module  126  to provide instructions to classification module  230 .  
         [0054]     As noted above, classification module  230  comprises classification engine (CE)  233  and content addressable memory (CAM)  231 . Classification engine  233  may classify data packet  304  based on any field in data packet  304 , including operations field  504 , IFD  410 , Layer 3 through Layer 7 headers, and data content in packet payload  420 . Custom logic array (CLA)  234  adds the 4 bytes of classification result field  501  and up to 16 bytes of classification digest field  502  that may be extracted from any portion of packet payload  420  provided by classification engine  233 . CAM  231  performs a lookup on a 144-bit portion of the 160 bits (total) contained in classification result field  501  and classification digest field  502 . The 144-bit field is software selectable. CAM  231  returns 24-bit match address in CAM match address field  503 .  
         [0055]     Data flow in router  100  may be described as follows. Data packets enter a line interface, such as the Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) PMD module  122 , travel through PHY layer  211 , and are delivered to the microengines of PMD processor  213 . PMD processor  213  attaches Interface Descriptor (IFD)  410 , which provides information to IOP module  126  about the packet source and type (e.g., port, encapsulation, subchannel, and packet length). The PMD  213  microengines send the packets to the microengines of network processor  260  over Internet exchange (IX) bus  296 .  
         [0056]     The microengines of network processor  260  determine whether the data packets need to go to classification module (CM)  230 . If so, space is reserved for the results from classification module  230  (i.e., fields  501 ,  502 , and  503 ) and operations field  504  is added. The packets are then sent to CM  230  over local bus  292  with the last word of the header extension (HE) field added. As explained above with respect to  FIG. 5 , the header extension field is an extension to IFD  410  for use by CM  230 . The header extension field has space reserved for classification results field  501 , classification digest field  502 , and CAM match address field  503 .  
         [0057]     Custom logic array (CLA)  234  on CM  230  handles the flow of packets through CM  230 , providing them to classification engine  233  and CAM  231 , as necessary. CM  230  adds classification results field  501 , classification digest field  502 , and CAM match address field  530  as part of the extended packet header (i.e., EIFD). When CM  230  is finished with the packet, the microengines in network processor  260  are notified and the microengines read data packet  304  (including the EIFD) over local bus  292 . Network processor  260  then forwards the data packet to the destination, with IFD  410  included if the data packet is going to PMD module  122  (or  124 ) and without IFD  410  included if the data packet is going to switch  150 . Fields in the Extended IFD may be used by network processor  260  for performing forwarding table lookups in order to determine the destination.  
         [0058]     The Ethernet Encapsulation field is added by IOP module  126  to the data packets going to switch  150 . When the packets reach the destination IOP module (e.g., IOP module  136 ), the Ethernet Encapsulation field is removed and IFD  410  is added. The destination IOP  136  then forwards the packets to PMD module  132  or to PMD module  134 , where IFD  410  is removed, the appropriate ISO model Layer 2 framing is added, and the packet is transmitted out of the network interface.  
         [0059]     As explained above, CM  230  enables support for additional functions (or services), such as IPv6 forwarding, stream based billing, Layer 4-7 forwarding, QoS-based forwarding, Network Address Translation (NAT), user anonymity services, firewall protection, support for Access Control List (ACL) implementation, and data surveillance. Thus, CM  230  extends router  100  functionality beyond the functionality of traditional routers.  
         [0060]     Classification module  230  provides IPv6 forwarding. CE  233  extracts the destination address and provides it to CAM  231 . CAM  231  performs a lookup on the IPv6 destination address and provides the match address. The routing engines use the match address as input to the forwarding table lookup in DFT  261 . CM  230  may identify particular data streams, such as sessions to particular network locations, by examining HyperText Transfer Protocol (http) headers. CM  230  also may also distinguish and separately process other data types, such as voice, video, and data.  
         [0061]     This allows billing based on data type and location. To aid in this billing, custom logic array  234  may increment a packet counter in memory. The counter incremented is the counter indexed by the value in CAM match address field  503 . Classification processor  232  reads these counters and sends the related billing information over PCI bus  290  to network processor  260 . Network processor  260  injects this billing information into the data stream where it can be sent to a billing application, such as a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server located within router  100 , or where it can be sent out a network interface to an external billing application.  
         [0062]     Network Address Translation (NAT) by classification module  230  allows subnet independent connections. For example, a laptop can be configured for its home subnet. When transported to a remote office location, the laptop can connect to a different subnet through router  100  without changing its own configuration. CM  230  may be used to translate the IP address to a router pool of network addresses. This is particularly useful for laptops using wireless networks, such as IEEE 802.11b. Although many internet providers dynamically assign IP addresses, it still is necessary for the computer to be configured with the internet provider&#39;s subnet. Subnet independent NAT in router  100  does not require this subnet configuration change.  
         [0063]     Since router  100  can use subnet independent NAT to translate IP addresses, this also enables user anonymity. The Layer 2 and Layer 3 addresses on the user network may be hidden from the destination network. The user IP address is confined to the private network of the user. An address from the pool of network addresses in router  100  is used on the public network.  
         [0064]     Classification module  230  may classify the packet based on any portion of the packet, including packet payload  420 . This allows filtering and blocking of packets based on header content or data content, or both. This is useful for firewall implementation where it is desirable to control what types of data are permitted to flow through the system and what source and destination addresses are permitted. Traditionally, firewalls in routers control traffic at the packet level by packet filtering, where packets are allowed to pass through the router or are blocked from passing through the router based on source address, destination address, or port number, or any comination of these factors.  
         [0065]     Typically, host computers control traffic on the application level based upon more detailed information, such as traffic type and Layer 4 through Layer 7 information. The process that examines and forwards the packet traffic is called a proxy service. Proxy-based firewalls often are independent of the Layer 2 and 3 protocols. Proxy-based firewalls can provide a higher level of security because packet filtering firewalls have less control over the traffic actually getting to the host. CM  230  allows router  100  to operate as both a packet-based firewall and a proxy-based firewall. CM  230  permits host level filtering to take place inside router  100 . Finally, since classification module  230  is able to examine the entire packet, including both the headers and the data, CM  230  can perform data surveillance. For example, it can be used to search for key words or phrases in the data stream. Advantageously, classification module  230  is capable of classifying and controlling the forwarding of data packets based on any combination of two or more of the classification criteria described above (i.e., traffic type, source, destination, header data, payload content, and so forth), thereby allowing the implementation of sophisticated filtering and other functions.  
         [0066]     Although the present invention has been described with an exemplary embodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. The present invention is intended to encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7