Patent ID: 7639674

Claim:
A switching device comprising a plurality of switching modules, each of the switching modules comprising: at least one external port adapted to receive a protocol data unit (PDU); a classifier communicably coupled to a controller, the classifier adapted to identify: one or more PDU processing operations for application to the PDU; and a second switching module of the plurality of switching modules to which to forward the packet, including a flow identifier and an egress port identifier, to the controller to identify a first set of one or more packet processing operations to be performed at an ingress port, based on forwarding information related to a tag, appended to the PDU, that includes an identifier of the PDU and an operations code of the PDU, the identifier used to instruct the second switching module to perform one or more dynamic, load balancing forwarding operations on behalf of a first switching module, the operations code related to a command that causes the second switching module to be configured to execute the forwarding operations specified by the identifier of the PDU associated with the operations code; and the controller adapted to: allocate each of the one or more PDU processing operations between a first set of PDU processing operations and a second set of PDU processing operations; execute the first set of PDU processing operations upon receipt of the PDU from the external port; and transmit a command to execute the second set of PDU processing operations to the second switching module, wherein the allocation of PDU processing operations between the first set of PDU processing operations and the second set of PDU processing operations is determined as a function of a flow identifier and a pre-determined congestion status of the second switching module and the first switching module.