Patent ID: 8553582

Claim:
A method for processing network traffic in a modular switching device that includes a plurality of packet processors interconnected by a plurality of connecting devices, wherein the plurality of packet processors includes a first packet processor and a second packet processor, the method comprising: receiving, at the first packet processor, one or more data packets via a network port of the first packet processor; storing the one or more data packets in a queue; generating, at the first packet processor, a communication unit that includes at least a portion of a first data packet in the one or more data packets, wherein the communication unit is associated with a unique communication unit identifier, wherein the communication unit is to be transmitted to the second packet processor, and wherein generating the communication unit is responsive to an amount of data in the queue meeting a threshold value associated with the queue; dividing the communication unit into a plurality of transmission units; assigning a respective position identifier to each transmission unit of the plurality of transmission units, wherein the position identifier is indicative of a position of the respective transmission unit within the communication unit; including the communication unit identifier in each transmission unit of the plurality of transmission units; including an indicator of the second packet processor in each transmission unit of the plurality of transmission units, the indicators of the second packet processor to inform the plurality of connecting devices that the transmission units are to be directed by the plurality of connecting devices to the second packet processor among the plurality of packet processors; and causing the plurality of transmission units to be transmitted in parallel to respective ones of the plurality of connecting devices via a plurality of uplinks.