Patent ID: 8005101

Claim:
A method comprising: preparing a network device having a first number of one or more network processors coupled to a network for receiving network traffic and a second number of one or more application processors each adapted to perform deep-packet processing on the network traffic; identifying an expected amount of bandwidth associated with an expected throughput of processed network traffic; identifying an expected amount of processing power associated with the deep-packet processing; dynamically scaling the first number and the second number in accordance with the identified expected amount of processing power and the identified expected amount of bandwidth, wherein the one or more application processors handle the network traffic based on various classes of the network traffic, the classes being associated with corresponding networking applications executed by the application processors; and performing a signaling mechanism within the network device to automatically determine the dynamically scaled first and second numbers of processors in the network device, the signaling mechanism including: periodically sending, from one platform including one or more of both of the network processors and the application processors, an identification to other platforms in the network device; comparing, at the other platforms, the identification to an expected identification; and based on the comparison, determining whether to update the dynamically scaled first and second numbers.