Patent ID: 7170862

Claim:
A method of partitioning a network element into a plurality of virtual network elements, comprising: providing a virtual network element manager that manages resources of the network element, wherein managing resources comprises: managing processor time utilizing time slicing at the virtual network element manager; managing memory, wherein the virtual network element manager receives memory allocation requests from said plurality of virtual network elements; and managing ports, wherein the virtual network element manager receives queries from said plurality of virtual network elements for ports available for the virtual network element sending the query; allocating a portion of the resources of the network element to one of the plurality of virtual network elements; permitting the one of the plurality of virtual network elements to utilize only the portion of the resources of the network element that has been allocated to the one of the plurality of virtual network elements; and reallocating a portion of the resources of the network element allocated to one of the virtual network elements to another one of the virtual network elements.