Patent ID: 7817541

Claim:
A network device comprising: a controller residing on a data forwarding element (DFE), the DFE performing data forwarding operations; a first and a second control processor, each of the control processors having either an active role or a standby role with respect to the DFE controller, the active-role control processor communicating with the DFE to configure the DFE forwarding operations and receiving at least some communications from the DFE controller over a virtual channel, wherein the DFE controller directs virtual channel traffic to the appropriate control processor based on which of the control processors currently has the active role, rather than to a specified one of the control processors; and a control plane comprising: an first layer- 2 switch coupled to the first control processor and to the DFE controller; and a second layer- 2 switch coupled to the second control processor and to the DFE controller; a first path from the DFE controller to the first control processor that traverses the first layer- 2 switch; and a second path from the DFE controller to the second control processor that traverses the second layer- 2 switch, wherein the DFE controller directs traffic on the virtual channel that is destined for the active-role control processor along either the first path or the second path based on which of the control processors currently has the active role.