Patent ID: 8526435

Claim:
A packet node, comprising: an ingress card for receiving a packet on an input port of the ingress card, for classifying the packet according to a service provided by the packet node, for adding to the packet a first Virtual Media Access Control (VMAC) address selected according to the service and for forwarding the packet; a layer two switch for receiving the packet from the ingress card and for forwarding the packet based on the first VMAC address; a first service component for receiving the packet from the layer two switch, for processing the packet, for replacing the first VMAC address of the packet with a second VMAC address, and for forwarding the packet to the layer two switch; a second service component for receiving the packet from the layer two switch based on the second VMAC address, for processing the packet, for replacing the second VMAC address of the packet with a third VMAC address and for forwarding the packet to the layer two switch; an egress card for receiving the packet from the layer two switch, for removing the third VMAC address, and for forwarding the packet on an output port of the egress card; and a controller for receiving registrations from a plurality of service components, upon startup of the packet node; wherein the first and second service components each support a part of the service provided by the packet node; wherein the controller further provides the ingress card and each of the plurality of service components with a list of VMAC addresses; wherein the ingress card selects the first VMAC address from the list of VMAC addresses after classifying the packet; and wherein each of the plurality of service components uses the list of VMAC addresses to replace an incoming VMAC address before forwarding the packet.