Patent ID: 7149795

Claim:
A communication system for implementing an overall communication policy comprising: a first communication interface for accepting a first plurality of separate communication links forming a first trunked communication link; a second communication interface for accepting a second plurality of separate communication links forming a second trunked communication link; and a plurality of processors, each coupled to a corresponding different one of the first plurality of separate communication links and coupled to a corresponding different one of the second plurality of communication links, and coupled to one another over a communication channel; wherein each processor in the plurality of processors is configured to implement a separate communication policy for data passing between one of the first plurality of communication links forming the first trunked communication link and a corresponding one of the second plurality of communication links forming the second trunked communication link, such that together the separate communication policies approximate the overall communication policy, wherein the plurality of processors are further configured to communicate among one another to adjust the separate communication policies to adapt to data flows passing through the processors, wherein each processor in the plurality of processors has a copy of each communication policy in the communication system and communicates with the other processors in the plurality of processors to keep state information current for each such copy, and wherein the plurality of processors is divided into a plurality of active processors and a plurality of standby processors, such that each processor in the plurality of active processors actively implements a communication policy on data, while a standby processor in the plurality of standby processors monitors the plurality of active processors for a failure on an active processor, and upon detecting the failure the standby processor joins the plurality of active processors, thus implementing the overall communication policy.