Patent ID: 7606172

Claim:
A method for configuring a plurality of switches with a switch controller comprising: obtaining a switch program, wherein the switch program comprises a plurality of instructions written using a switch control language, wherein the plurality of instructions in the switch program identify the plurality of switches, and wherein the switch program defines a heterogeneous configuration of the plurality of switches; and executing the switch program on the switch controller, wherein executing the switch program during a single execution of the switch program comprises: identifying, from the plurality of instructions, a first switch of the plurality of switches; sending a first configuration to the first switch, wherein the first configuration is defined for the first switch in the plurality of instructions; configuring the first switch according to the first configuration; identifying, from the plurality of instructions, a second switch of the plurality of switches; sending a second configuration to the second switch, wherein the second configuration is defined for the second switch in the plurality of instructions; and configuring the second switch according to the second configuration, wherein the second switch is not configured with the first configuration, and wherein the first configuration specifies a different set of ports than the second configuration.