Method and system for managing traffic in a packet network environment

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: assigning a plurality of TCB indexes to each of the service levels; retrieving one of the TCB indexes corresponding to the service level of the packet; and accessing the database using the one of the TCB indexes.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 , wherein the TCB indexes include at least one index selected from the group consisting of a flow TCB index, a server TCB index, a client TCB index, and an instruction for processing the packet.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 , wherein the instruction for processing the packet is selected from the group consisting of DROP, RESET, IGNORE, and FORWARD.

Claim 6

The method of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the TCB indexes includes a flag for indicating that resources for processing the packet are to be speculatively allocated.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 , wherein the header information includes a destination internet protocol (IP) address, a destination port, and an IP protocol field.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a service level includes: applying the header information to a content addressable memory (CAM) to retrieve a service policy index indicating the service level.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the TCBs is selected from the group consisting of a flow TCB, a server TCB, and a client TCB.

Claim 10

The method of claim 8 , wherein the flow TCB includes a plurality of data fields for maintaining a connection between a client host and a server host.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8 , wherein the server TCB includes a plurality of data fields for maintaining a connection to a server host.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8 , wherein the client TCB includes a plurality of data fields for maintaining a connection to a client host.

Claim 13

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: accessing the TCB in the database based on a determination of whether the packet is associated with an existing connection.

Claim 16

The method of claim 13 , further comprising: accessing a memory for storing a plurality of TCBs using a TCB pointer associated with the packet.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13 , wherein a TCB pointer associated with the packet includes an instruction for processing the packet.

Claim 18

The method of claim 15 , wherein the instruction for processing the packet is selected from the group consisting of DROP, RESET, IGNORE, and FORWARD.

Claim 19

The method of claim 13 , wherein a TCB pointer associated with the packet includes a flag for indicating that resources within the switch for processing the packet are to be speculatively allocated.

Claim 20

The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of determining a service policy index includes: applying the three-tuple to a first content addressable memory (CAM) to retrieve a service policy index indicating the service level.

Claim 21

The method of claim 13 , further comprising: applying the five-tuple to a second content addressable memory (CAM); if a CAM miss occurs, indicating a new connection; and if a CAM hit occurs, retrieving the previously assigned flow TCB pointer from the CAM.

Claim 22

The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of processing includes using the TCB pointer assigned to the packet as a logical address for pointer to an array of memory locations in a buffer.

Claim 25

The system of claim 21 , further comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) configured to pre-load the plurality of service policy indexes into the CAM.

Claim 26

The system of claim 21 , further comprising: means for assigning a plurality of TCB indexes to each of the service levels; means for retrieving one of the TCB indexes corresponding to the service level of the packet; and means for accessing the database using the one of the TCB indexes.

Claim 27

The system of claim 21 , wherein a TCB pointer associated with the packet includes an instruction for processing the packet.

Claim 28

The method of claim 21 , wherein the instruction for processing the packet is selected from the group consisting of DROP, RESET, IGNORE, and FORWARD.

Claim 29

A network switch for processing a packet, comprising: a binding lookup table for extracting a five-tuple and a three-tuple from header information included in the packet; a first content addressable memory (CAM), responsive to the three-tuple, for outputting a service policy index; a second content addressable memory (CAM), responsive to the five-tuple, for outputting a previously assigned flow transmission control block (TCB) pointer; means for detecting a CAM miss when applying the five-tuple to the second CAM; a flow TCB first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory for storing new flow TCB pointers; a client TCB FIFO memory for storing client TCB pointers; a server TCB memory for storing server TCB pointers; means for retrieving a new flow TCB pointer or a client TCB pointer and a server TCB pointer from the TCB FIFO memories and the server TCB memory, respectively, in the event of a CAM miss and based on the service policy index; and a database for storing a plurality of client TCBs, server TCBs, and flow TCBs; and a packet manager for accessing the database and processing the packet as a function of the previously assigned flow TCB pointer, the new flow TCB pointer, or the client and server TCB pointers.

Claim 30

A network switch for processing a packet, comprising: a binding lookup table for extracting a five-tuple and a three-tuple from header information included in the packet; a first content addressable memory (CAM), responsive to the three-tuple, for outputting a service policy index; a second content addressable memory (CAM), responsive to the five-tuple, for outputting a previously assigned flow transmission control block (TCB) pointer; means for detecting a CAM miss when applying the five-tuple to the second CAM; a flow TCB first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory for storing new flow TCB pointers; a client TCB FIFO memory for storing client TCB pointers; a server TCB memory for storing server TCB pointers; means for retrieving a new flow TCB pointer or a client TCB pointer and a server TCB pointer from the TCB FIFO memories and the server TCB memory, respectively, in the event of a CAM miss and based on the service policy index; and a database for storing a plurality of client TCBs, server TCBs, and flow TCBs; and a packet manager for accessing the database and processing the packet as a function of the previously assigned flow TCB pointer, the new flow TCB pointer, or the client and server TCB pointers.

Claim 31

The switch of claim 26 , wherein a TCB pointer associated with the packet includes an instruction for processing the packet.

Claim 32

The switch of claim 27 , wherein the instruction for processing the packet is selected from the group consisting of DROP, RESET, IGNORE, and FORWARD.

Claim 33

The switch of claim 26 , wherein a TCB pointer associated with the packet includes a flag for indicating that resources within the switch for processing the packet are to be speculatively allocated.