(19)
(11)EP 3 836 509 B1

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45)Mention of the grant of the patent:
24.01.2024 Bulletin 2024/04

(21)Application number: 20213217.1

(22)Date of filing:  10.12.2020
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
H04L 69/22(2022.01)
(52)Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC):
H04L 69/22

(54)

FLEXIBLE PARSER IN A NETWORKING DEVICE

FLEXIBLER PARSER IN EINER NETZWERKVORRICHTUNG

ANALYSEUR FLEXIBLE DANS UN DISPOSITIF DE RÉSEAU


(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR

(30)Priority: 10.12.2019 US 201916708470

(43)Date of publication of application:
16.06.2021 Bulletin 2021/24

(73)Proprietor: Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.
2069200 Yokneam (IL)

(72)Inventors:
  • URMAN, Avi
    2069200 Yokneam (IL)
  • NARKIS, Lior
    2069200 Yokneam (IL)
  • BLOCH, Noam
    2069200 Yokneam (IL)

(74)Representative: Kramer, Dani 
Mathys & Squire The Shard 32 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9SG
London SE1 9SG (GB)


(56)References cited: : 
US-A1- 2013 215 906
US-A1- 2019 215 384
US-A1- 2015 081 726
  
      
    Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention).


    Description

    FIELD OF THE INVENTION



    [0001] The present invention relates to network equipment, and in particular, but not exclusively to, parsers.

    BACKGROUND



    [0002] As a first step in deciding how to forward a given packet, a router (or other network device) generally parses the header section of packet, i.e., identifies the fields in the header section that contain relevant information and extracts the information from these fields that is to be used by steering logic. This sort of header parsing, along with other packet processing operations, is generally carried out by hardware logic and therefore lacks the flexibility of software-driven processing. Handling new or custom packet headers and/or options, for example, options in the IPv4 header, can be particularly challenging in this context, since in contrast to the fixed structure of the basic header, the new or custom headers and choice of optional records and their order can vary from packet to packet. Similar problems arise in parsing of other protocol headers that can include variable options, such as the TCP header.

    [0003] US20190215384 of Kfir, et al., describes a communication apparatus including multiple interfaces configured to be connected to a network so as to receive and transmit data packets having respective packet headers that includes a basic header record and one or more optional records. Parsing instructions specify one or more types of the optional records and indicate, for each specified type, an offset within an optional record of the specified type. Upon receiving each packet, routing logic parses the basic header record in the packet, parses the one or more optional records so as to identify any optional records of the one or more specified types, extracts header data from the identified optional records at the offset indicated for the specified type, and processes and forwards the data packets via the interfaces to the network in accordance with information parsed from the basic header record and the extracted header data.

    SUMMARY



    [0004] The invention is defined by the claims. In order to illustrate the invention, aspects and embodiments which may or may not fall within the scope of the claims are described herein.

    [0005] There is provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a network device, including hardware parsers coupled to receive data of a header section of a packet, the header section including respective headers, parser configuration registers configured to store a default parsing configuration data set, wherein at least one of the hardware parsers is configured to parse at least one of the headers responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data, a packet processing engine coupled to the hardware parsers, and configured to select a parsing configuration data set from a selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data, cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set into the parser configuration registers, and wherein ones of the hardware parsers are configured to parse respective ones of the headers responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data, and process the packet responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0006] Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device includes an interface configured as an egress port, wherein the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet via the egress port to a network node in a packet data network responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0007] Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the packet processing engine is configured to change data in the header section responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0008] Additionally in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device includes a cache memory configured to cache the selection of parsing configuration data sets including the selected parsing configuration data set, the packet processing engine being configured to cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set from the cache memory into the parser configuration registers.

    [0009] Moreover in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the hardware parsers are configured to parse header sections of respective virtual network functions (VNFs) having respective header parsing schemes responsively to respective ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets, the packet processing engine is configured to select the selected parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data being identified as associated with one of the VNFs, ones of the hardware parsers are configured to parse respective ones of the headers in accordance with one of the header parsing schemes of the one VNF responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, and the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0010] Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure respective ones of the VNFs include at least one virtual machine.

    [0011] Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet to a virtual machine responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0012] Additionally, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the packet processing engine is configured to identify the one VNF from a network address included in the first parsed data.

    [0013] Moreover, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure respective ones of the hardware parsers are configured to successively parse the header section respective offsets in the header section, ones of the hardware parsers being configured to compute the respective offsets responsively to the selected parsing configuration data and the header section.

    [0014] Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the selected parsing configuration data set includes for respective ones of the hardware parsers a next header offset of a next header identification (ID) in the header section, and a next protocol table linking next header IDs with next protocols, wherein a first one of the hardware parsers is coupled to retrieve the next header offset for the first hardware parser from the selected parsing configuration data set in the parser configuration registers, retrieve the next header ID, which is located in the header section at the next header offset, from the header section responsively to the retrieved next header offset, retrieve an identification of a next protocol to be processed from the next protocol table for the first hardware parser from the selected parsing configuration data set in the parser configuration registers responsively to the retrieved next header ID, and transfer the header section to a second one of the hardware parsers, which is configured to parse the header section in accordance with the next protocol.

    [0015] Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the selected parsing configuration data set includes for respective ones of the hardware parsers, at least one data extraction offset in the header section for which data is to be extracted, a first one of the hardware parsers being configured to extract data from the header section responsively to the at least one data extraction offset of the first hardware parser in the selected parsing configuration data set.

    [0016] There is also provided in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a network method, including receiving data of a header section of a packet, the header section including respective headers, storing a default parsing configuration data set in parser configuration registers, parsing at least one of the headers responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data, selecting a selected parsing configuration data set from a selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data, causing loading of the selected parsing configuration data set into the parser configuration registers, parsing respective ones of the headers responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data, and processing the packet responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0017] Additionally, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes forwarding the packet via an egress port to a network node in a packet data network responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0018] Moreover, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes changing data in the header section responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0019] Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes caching the selection of parsing configuration data sets including the selected parsing configuration data set in a cache memory, and cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set from the cache memory into the parser configuration registers.

    [0020] Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes parsing header sections of respective virtual network functions (VNFs) having respective header parsing schemes responsively to respective ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets, selecting the selected parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data being identified as associated with one of the VNFs, parsing respective ones of the headers in accordance with one of the header parsing schemes of the one VNF responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, and forwarding the packet responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0021] Additionally, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure respective ones of the VNFs include at least one virtual machine.

    [0022] Moreover, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes forwarding the packet to a virtual machine responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0023] Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes identifying the one VNF from a network address included in the first parsed data.

    [0024] Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes successively parsing the header section respective offsets in the header section, and computing the respective offsets responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set and the header section.

    [0025] Additionally in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the selected parsing configuration data set includes a next header offset of a next header identification (ID) in the header section, and a next protocol table linking next header IDs with next protocols, the method further including retrieving the next header offset from the selected parsing configuration data set, retrieving the next header ID, which is located in the header section at the next header offset, from the header section responsively to the retrieved next header offset, retrieving an identification of a next protocol to be processed from the next protocol table from the selected parsing configuration data set responsively to the retrieved next header ID, and parsing the header section in accordance with the next protocol.

    [0026] Moreover in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the selected parsing configuration data set includes at least one data extraction offset in the header section for which data is to be extracted, the method further including extracting data from the header section responsively to the at least one data extraction offset of the first hardware parser in the selected parsing configuration data set.

    [0027] Any feature of one aspect or embodiment may be applied to other aspects or embodiments, in any appropriate combination. In particular, any feature of a method aspect or embodiment may be applied to an apparatus aspect or embodiment, and vice versa.

    BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS



    [0028] The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

    Fig. 1 is a block diagram view of a network device constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

    Fig. 2 is a block diagram view of hardware parsers in the device of Fig. 1 operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

    Fig. 3 is a block diagram view of hardware parsers accessing data from a parsing configuration data set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

    Fig. 4 is a block diagram view illustrating fields in the parsing configuration data set of Fig. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

    Fig. 5 is a flowchart including steps in a parsing method of the device of Fig. 1; and

    Fig. 6 is a flowchart including steps in a method of operation of the device of Fig. 1.


    DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS


    OVERVIEW



    [0029] As previously mentioned, header parsing, along with other packet processing operations, is generally carried out by hardware logic and therefore lacks the flexibility of software-driven processing. Handling new or custom packet headers and/or options can be particularly challenging in this context, since in contrast to the fixed structure of the basic header, the new or custom headers and choice of optional records and their order can vary from packet to packet.

    [0030] One possible response to this difficulty, which is commonly adopted in simpler devices, is to parse only the basic header and skip over the options and other new or custom formats. Even if parsing all the headers is not necessary in order to comply with the relevant standards, some network functions, such as network security and route monitoring, may not be supported if these headers are skipped.

    [0031] In the alternative, the device can be configured to process the required header formats. This approach, however, requires that the device has sufficient memory resources to hold all of the header data that the parser extracts from packets in transit through the device. These demands also increase the size and cost of the device.

    [0032] Embodiments of the present invention solve the above problems by providing a network device including flexible hardware parsers. The flexible hardware parsers are configured to parse headers of a header section based on using parsing configuration data stored in registers. The parsing configuration data may be updated as needed thereby providing flexibility so that the flexible hardware parsers may be configured to parse different headers of different lengths and formats even after the hardware of the network device has been manufactured.

    [0033] The header section may be passed successively to different hardware parsers which parse different headers of the header section. The order of the passing of the header section among the different hardware parsers may be configured using the parsing configuration data. The parsing configuration data may include data which is used by the flexible hardware parsers to determine a length of each header, a new header to be processed after the current header and therefore which hardware parser should next receive the header section for parsing, and which fields of the header should be extracted, for example.

    [0034] The network device may also include native hardware parsers which may work alongside the flexible hardware parsers. The native hardware parsers are generally not configurable and simply parse the header type that they were designed to parse. For example, there may be a native hardware parser for parsing Media Access Control (MAC) headers and a flexible hardware parser for parsing VXLAN headers.

    [0035] Therefore, the respective flexible hardware parsers of the network device may be configured using the parsing configuration data set to parse headers of different respective protocols.

    [0036] The network device may need to process different types of packets according to different parsing schemes. For example, a network interface card may serve a server hosting multiple virtual machines (VMs). Each of the VMs may use a custom parsing scheme. The header types of the different schemes may exceed the number of flexible hardware parsers in the network device.

    [0037] Embodiments of the present invention solve the above problem by storing different parsing configuration data sets in memory. The parsing configuration data sets may be dynamically loaded into the registers used by the flexible hardware parsers according to the type of packet being processed. For example, a packet destined for VM1 is received by the network device. The header section is parsed according to a default parsing configuration data set, yielding parsing data (e.g., a MAC address), which indicates that the packet is destined for VM1. The parsing configuration data set for VM1 is loaded into the registers and the header section is reparsed according to the loaded parsing configuration data set for VM1. The packet is processed using the data from the second parse including steering the packet towards VM1. Therefore, a first parse may be performed according to the default parsing configuration data set followed by a second parse performed according to a selected parsing configuration data set.

    [0038] In some embodiments, the hardware parsers of the network device receive data of a header section including respective headers. Parser configuration registers store a default parsing configuration data set. At least one of the hardware parsers parses at least one of the headers responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data. A packet processing engine selects a parsing configuration data set from a selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data. The packet processing engine causes loading of the selected parsing configuration data set into the parser configuration registers. At least some of the hardware parsers parse respective ones of the headers responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data. The packet processing engine processes the packet responsively to the second parsed data, which may include forwarding the packet via an egress port to a network node in a packet data network responsively to the second parsed data, and/or changing data in the header section responsively to the second parsed data, and/or forwarding to another device or node.

    [0039] In some embodiments, to allow quick loading of the configuration data into the registers, the network device includes a cache memory to cache the selection of parsing configuration data sets for loading therefrom into the registers.

    SYSTEM DESCRIPTION



    [0040] Reference is now made to Fig. 1, which is a block diagram view of a network device 10 constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The network device 10 may be any suitable device, for example, but not limited to, a router, a switch, or a network interface card. The network device 10 includes at least one network interface 12 configured to operate as at least ingress port and at least one egress port for receiving packets from, and sending packets to, a packet data network 14.

    [0041] The network device 10 also includes a buffer 16, hardware parsers 18, a packet processing engine 20, a controller 22, parser configuration registers 24, a cache memory 26, match and action tables 28, and optionally a communication bus interface 30.

    [0042] Packets received by the network interface 12 are stored in the buffer 16. Header sections of the received packets are parsed by the hardware parsers 18 which are controlled by the controller 22, typically under instruction of the packet processing engine 20. At least some of the hardware parsers 18 parse the header sections according to data loaded into the parser configuration registers 24. The cache memory 26 caches a selection of parsing configuration data sets 32, which are selectively loaded into the parser configuration registers 24 from the cache memory 26 by the controller 22 under instruction from the packet processing engine 20.

    [0043] The hardware parsers 18 parse the various headers included in the header sections of packets and may optionally extract additional information from the header sections. The parsed information is stored in the buffer 16 for retrieval by the packet processing engine 20 and/or sent to the packet processing engine 20. In some embodiments, the header section is also sent by the hardware parsers 18 to the packet processing engine 20. Operation of the hardware parsers 18 and the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32 are described in more detail below with reference to Figs. 2-6.

    [0044] The packet processing engine 20 uses the match and action tables 28 to determine how each packet should be processed according to the parsed information generated by the hardware parsers 18. The match and action tables 28 include data to match to the parsed information, and associated actions to be performed when a match is found. The data to be matched may include any field from the packet, for example, MAC or IP addresses, security information, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) data, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) data, Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) data, Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) data, and Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation (GENEVE) data, by way of example only. The actions may include any suitable action or actions per match, for example, but not limited to, reparsing the header section using a different parsing configuration set, sending the packet to a given network node 36 via the packet data network 14, sending the packet to a server 34 connected to the network device 10 via the communication bus interface 30, amending the header section, adding a new header, and/or removing a header, e.g., VLAN or Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). The communication bus interface 30 may operate in accordance with any suitable protocol, for example, but not limited to, PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express) interface standard.

    [0045] For example, if a MAC address in the header section is matched to a given MAC address then the packet is to be reparsed by the hardware parsers 18 after the parser configuration registers 24 are loaded with parsing configuration data set A. In this example, the packet processing engine 20 instructs the controller 22 to load parsing configuration data set A from the cache memory 26 and send the header section, or a link to the header section in the buffer 16, to the hardware parsers 18 so that the header section can be reparsed according to parsing configuration data set A. By way of another example, if the parsed information includes data B, then the packet is forwarded to server C via the communication bus interface 30. By way of an additional example, if the parsed information includes data D, then the header section is amended. By way of yet another example, if the parsed information includes data E, then the packet is sent back to the packet data network 14 on port F. One or more actions may be associated with a single match.

    [0046] The functionality of the packet processing engine 20 is also described with reference to Fig. 6. In practice, some or all of the functions of the packet processing engine 20 may be combined in a single physical component or, alternatively, implemented using multiple physical components. These physical components may comprise hard-wired or programmable devices, or a combination of the two. In some embodiments, at least some of the functions of the packet processing engine 20 may be carried out by a programmable processor under the control of suitable software. This software may be downloaded to a device in electronic form, over a network, for example. Alternatively, or additionally, the software may be stored in tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as optical, magnetic, or electronic memory.

    [0047] The functionality of the controller 22 is also described with reference to Fig. 6. In practice, some or all of the functions of the controller 22 may be combined in a single physical component or, alternatively, implemented using multiple physical components. These physical components may comprise hard-wired or programmable devices, or a combination of the two. In some embodiments, at least some of the functions of the controller 22 may be carried out by a programmable processor under the control of suitable software. This software may be downloaded to a device in electronic form, over a network, for example. Alternatively, or additionally, the software may be stored in tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as optical, magnetic, or electronic memory.

    [0048] In some embodiments, the functionality of the controller 22 may be implemented in the packet processing engine 20.

    [0049] In the example of Fig. 1, the network device 10 may be implemented as a network interface card for the server 34. The server 34 may include multiple virtual network functions (VNFs) 38. Each virtual network function 38 may include one or more virtual machines (VMs). A hypervisor running on the server 34 may implement the VMs. In some examples, different VMs may be operated for different customers, each having their own parsing and packet processing requirements. Each customer may want to be able to configure the hardware parsers 18 of the network device 10 according to their own requirements. However, as the number of hardware parsers 18 is limited, the hardware parsers 18 cannot be programed with a single parsing configuration data set to parse the data of the different customers according to the customer needs. When a packet is received in the buffer 16, the hardware parsers 18 parse at least some of the header section according to a default parsing configuration data set. The packet processing engine 20 uses the match and action tables 28 to determine what action should be performed. One action may include reparsing the header section using the specific parsing configuration data set for the customer or VM associated with the header section. For example, a MAC address included in the header section may indicate the VM associated with this header section.

    [0050] Reference is now made to Fig. 2, which is a block diagram view of the hardware parsers 18 in the device 10 of Fig. 1 operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The hardware parsers 18 include flexible hardware parsers 40 and optionally one or more native hardware parsers 42 as shown in Fig. 2. The flexible hardware parsers 40 are configured to parse header section data according to the data in the parser configuration registers 24. The flexible hardware parsers 40 are therefore reconfigurable even after the network device 10 has been manufactured. The native hardware parsers 42 on the other hand are not generally reconfigurable after the network device 10 has been manufactured. For example, one of the native hardware parsers 42 may be configured to parse a MAC header, another one of the native hardware parsers 42 may be configured to parse a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) header, while another one of the native hardware parsers 42 may be configured to parse a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header. The native hardware parsers 42 may be connected together in a fixed order as shown in Fig. 2 so that when one of the native hardware parsers 42 finishes parsing part of a header section (e.g., one of the headers), the header section is passed to the next native hardware parser 42 in line via one of connections 46. Additionally, or alternatively, each of the native hardware parsers 42 may be connected via connections 44 to one or more (typically to each) of the flexible hardware parsers 40. For example, after one of the native hardware parsers 42 finishes parsing part of a header section (e.g., one of the headers), the header section is passed to one of the flexible hardware parsers 40 via one of the connections 44. The flexible hardware parsers 40 are also connected to each other via the connections 44 so that when one of the flexible hardware parsers 40 finishes parsing part of a header section (e.g., one of the headers), the header section is passed to another one of the flexible hardware parsers 40 via one of the connections 44. The connections 44 between the hardware parsers 40, 42 (i.e., which parser 40, 42 is to receive the header section for processing next) may be configured using the data in the parser configuration registers 24. For example, an identification of the connection 44 used to send the header section to the next parser 40, 42 may be included in the data stored in the parser configuration registers 24. For a given configuration of the hardware parsers 40, 42 some of the connections 44 may be enabled while others are disabled. The configuration of the connections 44 is described in more detail with reference to Figs. 3-5.

    [0051] In some embodiments, one of the flexible hardware parsers 40 may be configured as a zero-length parser, described in more detail below with reference to Fig. 4, whereby the flexible hardware parser 40 is used to pass the header section between two native hardware parsers 42 without actually parsing any of the header section.

    [0052] The order of passing the header section between the hardware parsers 40, 42 is determined by the order of the headers in the header section. For example, if the header section includes, a MAC header, followed by an Internet Protocol (IP) header, following by a UDP header, followed by a Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) header, the hardware parsers 40, 42 and their connections 44 are configured to parse the MAC header, followed by the IP header, followed by the UDP header, followed by the VXLAN header. In some embodiments, the header section may include more than one of a particular header protocol. For example, when tunneling is employed, there may be two MAC headers. In such a case, both MAC headers may be parsed using the same flexible hardware parser 40 or native hardware parser 42 at different times in the parsing process. Alternatively, the MAC headers may each be parsed by different ones of the hardware parsers 40, 42. Tunneling is described in more detail with reference to Fig. 4 below.

    [0053] Reference is now made to Fig. 3, which is a block diagram view of flexible hardware parsers 40 accessing data from a parsing configuration data set 48 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 shows that the parsing configuration data set 48 is currently loaded into the parser configuration registers 24. The parsing configuration data set 48 includes a plurality of data subsets 50. Respective ones of the data subsets 50 are used to configure respective ones of the flexible hardware parsers 40. For example, the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured according to the data in data subset 1, the flexible hardware parser 40-2 is configured according to the data in data subset 2, the flexible hardware parser 40-3 is configured according to the data in data subset 3, and the flexible hardware parser 40-4 is configured according to the data in data subset 4.

    [0054] Reference is now made to Fig. 4, which is a block diagram view illustrating fields in the parsing configuration data subset 1 (reference numeral 50) of Fig. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

    [0055] The data subset 50 may include a header size field (not shown) which gives the size of the headers that the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to parse. This field may be useful when the headers parsed by the flexible hardware parser 40-1 are all the same length. Alternatively, the data subset 50 may include a header size offset field 52, which provides the offset of a "header size field" in the header, which the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to parse. The "header size field" in the header gives the size of the header. The header size offset is not the absolute offset with respect to the beginning of the header section, but the relative offset from the beginning of the current header being parsed. The data subset 50 may optionally include a header size mask field 54 giving the number of bits included in the header size field in the header.

    [0056] The data subset 50 may include a next header field 56 which gives an identification of the next header to be parsed in the header section. This field may be useful when there is only one option for the next header from the current one. Alternatively, the data subset 50 may include a next header offset field 58 and a next header mask field 60. The next header offset field 58 provides the relative offset of a next header identification field in the header giving the identification of the next header to be parsed in the header section. The data subset 50 may also include a next protocol table 62, which maps next header identifications with protocols. The protocol value found in the next protocol table 62 may provide the identification of one of the connections 44 (Fig. 2) connecting the current flexible hardware parser 40 with another hardware parser 40, 42. The "next header" fields are described in more detail with reference to Fig. 5. The next header mask field 60 provides the number of bits included in the next header identification field in the header.

    [0057] The data subset 50 may include a data extraction offset field 64, which gives the offset(s) in the header of data to be extracted. The data subsets 50 may include a data extraction mask field which provides the number of bits to be extracted at the offset(s).

    [0058] The data subset 50 may include a zero-size field 66, which indicates if the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is a zero-size parser. As mentioned above a zero-size parser may be used to pass the header section between two native hardware parsers 42 (or any two parsers) without proceeding any further into the packet.

    [0059] The data subset 50 may include a tunneling behavior field 68. As mentioned above, the same parser 40, 42 may parse more than one header of the same type from a header section when tunneling is used. When a tunneled header (inner header) is to be processed a tunneling bit is sent with the header section to the next hardware parser 40, 42. When the next parser 40, 42 receives the header section with the tunneling bit, the parser 40, 42 processes the header according to tunneling which means that data produced from the parsing process (e.g., offset and extracted data) are saved to a location in the buffer 16 defined in the tunneling behavior field 68.

    [0060] If the data subset 50 used by one of the flexible hardware parsers 40 does not include next header information or the header does not include next header information, parsing is stopped (and the header section is not passed to another hardware parser 40, 42) and further processing of the packet is passed to the packet processing engine 20 (Fig. 1).

    [0061] As previously mentioned, parsing performed by native hardware parsers 42 is not configured by the parsing configuration data set stored in the parser configuration registers 24. However, in order to enable one of the native hardware parsers 42 to pass the header section to one of the flexible hardware parsers 40, the data subsets 50 include a compare data field 70 and a start header field 72. Each native hardware parser 42 includes a multiplexer (not shown) which receives the header section and the offset computed by that native hardware parser 42 from that native hardware parser 42 and routes the header section and the offset to the next flexible hardware parser 40 via one of the connections 44. The multiplexer selects the relevant connection 44 as follows. The multiplexer retrieves a next header identification from the header processed by that native hardware parser 42. The multiplexer searches the compare data field 70 of the data subsets 50 until a match is found. A match means that the multiplexer should send the header section and offset to the flexible hardware parser 40 associated with that data subset 50 in which the match was found. The multiplexer then retrieves the protocol value found in the start header field 72, of that data subset 50 in which the match was found, providing the identification of one of the connections 44 (Fig. 2) connecting to the flexible hardware parser 40 associated with that data subset 50. If the multiplexer cannot find a match to the next header identification in any of the data subsets 50 parsing is stopped and further processing of the packet is passed to the packet processing engine 20 (Fig. 1).

    [0062] Reference is now made to Fig. 5, which is a flowchart 100 including steps in a parsing method of the device 10 of Fig. 1. Reference is also made to Fig. 4. The method is described with reference to flexible hardware parser 40-1 for the sake of clarity. However, the method may be applied to any of the flexible hardware parsers 40.

    [0063] The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to receive (block 102) the absolute offset (from the beginning of the header section) where the previous hardware parser 40, 42 completed parsing from the previous hardware parser 40, 42. If the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is the first parser to parse the header section, the flexible hardware parser 40-1 does not receive any offset and assumes that the offset is zero. The offset is used in the parsing process described below. Therefore, respective ones of the hardware parsers 40, 42 are configured to successively parse the header section according to respective offsets in the header section.

    [0064] The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to retrieve (block 104) the header size offset from the header size offset field 52 (Fig. 4) and optionally the mask data from the header size mask field 54 (Fig. 4). The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to retrieve (block 106) the header size from the header size (relative) offset in the header. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to compute (block 108) an offset for passing to the next hardware parser 40, 42 responsively to the retrieved header size and the offset received in the step of block 102. The computed offset provides the offset of the last bit in this header. Therefore, the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to compute the offset responsively to the header size offset field 52 (and optionally header size mask field 54) of the parsing configuration data and the header size from the header section, and the offset received in the step of block 102. The computed offset may be saved in the buffer 16 and/or passed on to the packet processing engine 20 in addition to being passed on to the next hardware parser 40, 42.

    [0065] As mentioned above, the data subset 50 of the parsing configuration data set 48 for the flexible hardware parser 40-1 includes data extraction offset field 64 identifying an offset(s) in the header section from which data is to be extracted. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is configured to retrieve (block 110) the offset(s) from the data extraction offset field 64, and extract data (block 112) from the header of the header section responsively to the data extraction offset(s). The extracted data may be saved in the buffer 16 and/or passed on to the packet processing engine 20.

    [0066] As mentioned above, the data subset 50 for the flexible hardware parser 40-1 includes: the next header offset field 58 providing the next header offset of the next header identification (ID) in the header of the header section; and the next protocol table 62 linking next header IDs with next protocols. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is coupled to retrieve (block 114) the next header offset from the data subset 50 for the flexible hardware parser 40-1 in the parser configuration registers 24 (Fig. 1). The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is coupled to retrieve (block 116) the next header ID, which is located in the header of the header section at the next header offset, from the header section responsively to the retrieved next header offset. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is coupled to retrieve (block 118) an identification of a next protocol to be processed from the next protocol table 62 of the data subset 50 for the flexible hardware parser 40-1 in the parser configuration registers 24 (Fig. 1) responsively to the retrieved next header ID. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is coupled to transfer (block 120) the header section to one of the hardware parsers 40, 42, which is configured to parse the next header of the header section in accordance with the next protocol. The identification of the next protocol provides the identification of the connection 44 over which the flexible hardware parser 40-1 is connected to the next hardware parser 40, 42. The flexible hardware parser 40-1 is coupled to send (block 122) the offset computed in the step of block 108 to the next hardware parser 40, 42. The steps of blocks 102-122 are repeated by the next hardware parser 40, and so on.

    [0067] Reference is now made to Fig. 6, which is a flowchart 200 including steps in a method of operation of the device 10 of Fig. 1. Reference is also made to Fig. 1.

    [0068] The hardware parsers 18 are coupled to receive (block 202) data of a header section of a packet. The header section includes respective headers. In some embodiments, the controller 22 is configured to select packets from the buffer 16 and load the packets into the hardware parsers 18 for parsing by the hardware parsers 18.

    [0069] The controller 22 is configured to load (block 204) a default parsing configuration set into the parser configuration registers 24 from the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32 cached in the cache memory 26. The parser configuration registers 24 are configured to store the default parsing configuration data set.

    [0070] One of the hardware parsers 40, 42 may be defined as an initial parser to receive the header section for parsing. The initial parser may be fixed or may be configurable according to the data stored in the parser configuration registers 24.

    [0071] At least one of the hardware parsers 40, 42 is configured to parse (block 206) at least one of the headers of the header section responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data. The default parsing configuration data set may be populated so that one or more of the flexible hardware parsers 40 and/or one or more of the native hardware parsers 42 parse at least part of the header section, e.g., the MAC header is parsed by one of the native hardware parsers 42 (e.g., a MAC hardware parser). For example, the default parsing configuration data set may include data such that there is no next header after the MAC parser leading the parsing to complete after the MAC parser completes parsing.

    [0072] The packet processing engine 20 is coupled to the hardware parsers 18, The packet processing engine 20 is configured to select (block 208) a parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32 responsively to the first parsed data, for example, using the match and action tables 28. The packet processing engine 20 is configured to cause loading (block 210) of the selected parsing configuration data set from the cache memory 26 into the parser configuration registers 24. The packet processing engine 20 typically sends a command to the controller 22, which is configured to load the selected parsing configuration set into the parser configuration registers 24 from the cache memory 26.

    [0073] Typically, under control of the controller 22, the hardware parsers 40, 42 are configured to parse (block 212) the same header section again according to the selected parsing configuration data. The hardware parsers 40, 42 are configured to parse respective ones of the headers of the header section responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data. It should be noted that each header is parsed by one of the hardware parsers 40, 42, even though one of the hardware parsers 40, 42 may parse two or more headers, e.g., two MAC headers when tunneling is used.

    [0074] The packet processing engine 20 is configured to process (block 214) the packet responsively to the second parsed data, for example, using the match and action tables 28. The processing may include any suitable processing including the examples provided above with reference to Fig. 1 and below. The packet processing engine 20 may be configured to forward (block 216) the packet via the communication bus interface 30 to a virtual machine running on the server 34 or via an egress port of the network interface 12 to the network node 36 in the packet data network 14 responsively to the second parsed data. The packet processing engine 20 is configured to change data (block 218) in the header section responsively to the second parsed data.

    [0075] By way of example, the parsing function of the network device 10 may be shared among different VNFs each having different parsing requirements. In a virtualized environment where there are multiple VNFs running over the network device 10 (e.g., a network interface card), each VNF may have its own parsing scheme requirements (e.g. a proprietary header that needs to be parsed for a particular VNF). One example for a VNF is a User Plane Function (UPF) that has to parse General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) headers. Assuming, the VNF is running over a VXLAN virtualized environment, the default parser configuration would parse the VXLAN header of a packet. A rule in the match and action tables 28 would identify the correct VNF based on the initial parse of the outer header of the packet. After identifying the VNF, the packet processing engine 20 strips the outer header from the header section of the packet and instructs the controller 22 to load the parsing configuration set for that VNF into the parser configuration registers 24 to parse the GTP header. Another VNF using the same network device 10 may include a firewall the performs IPSEC. In this case, identifying the VNF from the packet header leads to the parsing configuration set for that VNF to be loaded into the parser configuration registers 24 to support IPSEC parsing.

    [0076] Therefore, the hardware parsers 40, 42 are configured to parse header sections of respective virtual network functions (VNFs) having respective header parsing schemes responsively to respective ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32. The packet processing engine 20 may be configured to identify a first VNF of the VNFs from a network address included in the first parsed data. The step of block 208 may include the packet processing engine 20 being configured to select the selected parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32 responsively to the first parsed data being identified as associated with the first VNF. The step of block 212 may include hardware parsers 40, 42 being configured to parse respective headers in accordance with the header parsing scheme of the first VNF responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set of the first VNF, yielding second parsed data. The step of block 214 may include the packet processing engine 20 being configured to forward the packet responsively to the second parsed data, for example, to a virtual machine of the first VNF.

    [0077] In accordance with another example, the number of hardware parsers 18 limits the number of protocols that can be supported without selectively loading different ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets 32 into the parser configuration registers 24. For example, the default parsing configuration data set is not configured to support a VXLAN header. Upon reaching the UDP header in the initial parsing stage, the UDP destination port is extracted and parsing is stopped. The packet processing engine 20 uses the match and action tables 28 to look up the UDP destination port. If the UDP destination port indicates VXLAN, the controller 22 loads the parsing configuration data set that supports VXLAN parsing into the parser configuration registers 24 and instructs the flexible hardware parsers 40 to reparse the header section accordingly.

    [0078] Various features of the invention which are, for clarity, described in the contexts of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

    [0079] The embodiments described above are cited by way of example, and the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove, as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art.

    [0080] It will be understood that aspects and embodiments are described above purely by way of example, and that modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the claims.

    [0081] Each apparatus, method, and feature disclosed in the description, and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided independently or in any appropriate combination.

    [0082] Reference numerals appearing in the claims are by way of illustration only and shall have no limiting effect on the scope of the claims.


    Claims

    1. A network device (10), comprising:

    hardware parsers (18) coupled to receive data of a header section of a packet, the header section including respective headers;

    parser configuration registers (24) configured to store a default parsing configuration data set, wherein at least one of the hardware parsers is configured to parse at least one of the headers responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data;

    a packet processing engine (20) coupled to the hardware parsers, and configured to:

    select a parsing configuration data set from a selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data;

    cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set into the parser configuration registers, and wherein ones of the hardware parsers are configured to parse respective ones of the headers responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data; and

    process the packet responsively to the second parsed data.


     
    2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an interface configured as an egress port, wherein the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet via the egress port to a network node (36) in a packet data network (14) responsively to the second parsed data.
     
    3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the packet processing engine is configured to change data in the header section responsively to the second parsed data.
     
    4. The device according to any preceding claim, further comprising a cache memory (26) configured to cache the selection of parsing configuration data sets including the selected parsing configuration data set, the packet processing engine being configured to cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set from the cache memory into the parser configuration registers.
     
    5. The device according to any preceding claim, wherein:

    the hardware parsers are configured to parse header sections of respective virtual network functions, VNFs (38), having respective header parsing schemes responsively to respective ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets;

    the packet processing engine is configured to select the selected parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data being identified as associated with one of the VNFs;

    ones of the hardware parsers are configured to parse respective ones of the headers in accordance with one of the header parsing schemes of the one VNF responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set; and

    the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet responsively to the second parsed data.


     
    6. The device according to claim 5, wherein respective ones of the VNFs include at least one virtual machine.
     
    7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the packet processing engine is configured to forward the packet to a virtual machine responsively to the second parsed data.
     
    8. The device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the packet processing engine is configured to identify the one VNF from a network address included in the first parsed data.
     
    9. The device according to any preceding claim, wherein respective ones of the hardware parsers are configured to successively parse the header section according to respective offsets in the header section, ones of the hardware parsers being configured to compute the respective offsets responsively to the selected parsing configuration data and the header section.
     
    10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the selected parsing configuration data set includes for respective ones of the hardware parsers: a next header offset (58) of a next header identification, ID, in the header section; and a next protocol table (62) linking next header IDs with next protocols, wherein a first one of the hardware parsers is coupled to:

    retrieve the next header offset for the first hardware parser from the selected parsing configuration data set in the parser configuration registers;

    retrieve the next header ID, which is located in the header section at the next header offset, from the header section responsively to the retrieved next header offset;

    retrieve an identification of a next protocol to be processed from the next protocol table for the first hardware parser from the selected parsing configuration data set in the parser configuration registers responsively to the retrieved next header ID; and

    transfer the header section to a second one of the hardware parsers, which is configured to parse the header section in accordance with the next protocol.


     
    11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the selected parsing configuration data set includes for respective ones of the hardware parsers, at least one data extraction offset (64) in the header section for which data is to be extracted, a first one of the hardware parsers being configured to extract data from the header section responsively to the at least one data extraction offset of the first hardware parser in the selected parsing configuration data set.
     
    12. A network method, comprising:

    receiving data of a header section of a packet, the header section including respective headers;

    storing a default parsing configuration data set in parser configuration registers (24);

    parsing at least one of the headers responsively to the default parsing configuration data set, yielding first parsed data;

    selecting a selected parsing configuration data set from a selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data;

    causing loading of the selected parsing configuration data set into the parser configuration registers;

    parsing respective ones of the headers responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set, yielding second parsed data; and

    processing the packet responsively to the second parsed data.


     
    13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising at least one of the following:

    (a) forwarding the packet via an egress port to a network node (36) in a packet data network (14) responsively to the second parsed data;

    (b) changing data in the header section responsively to the second parsed data;

    (c) caching the selection of parsing configuration data sets including the selected parsing configuration data set in a cache memory; and cause loading of the selected parsing configuration data set from the cache memory into the parser configuration registers; and

    (d) parsing header sections of respective virtual network functions, VNFs (38), having respective header parsing schemes responsively to respective ones of the selection of parsing configuration data sets;

    selecting the selected parsing configuration data set from the selection of parsing configuration data sets responsively to the first parsed data being identified as associated with one of the VNFs;

    parsing respective ones of the headers in accordance with one of the header parsing schemes of the one VNF responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set; and

    forwarding the packet responsively to the second parsed data


     
    14. The method according to claim 13, wherein respective ones of the VNFs include at least one virtual machine, preferably further comprising forwarding the packet to a virtual machine responsively to the second parsed data and/or identifying the one VNF from a network address included in the first parsed data.
     
    15. The method according to any of claims 12 to 14, further comprising:

    successively parsing the header section according to respective offsets in the header section; and

    computing the respective offsets responsively to the selected parsing configuration data set and the header section,

    preferably wherein the selected parsing configuration data set includes: a next header offset (58) of a next header identification, ID, in the header section; and a next protocol table (62) linking next header IDs with next protocols, the method further comprising:

    retrieving the next header offset from the selected parsing configuration data set;

    retrieving the next header ID, which is located in the header section at the next header offset, from the header section responsively to the retrieved next header offset;

    retrieving an identification of a next protocol to be processed from the next protocol table from the selected parsing configuration data set responsively to the retrieved next header ID; and

    parsing the header section in accordance with the next protocol; and/or

    wherein the selected parsing configuration data set includes at least one data extraction offset (64) in the header section for which data is to be extracted, the method further comprising extracting data from the header section responsively to the at least one data extraction offset of the first hardware parser in the selected parsing configuration data set.


     


    Ansprüche

    1. Netzwerk-Vorrichtung (10), die Folgendes umfasst:

    Hardware-Parser (18), die gekoppelt sind, um Daten eines Header-Abschnitts eines Pakets zu empfangen, wobei der Header-Abschnitt entsprechende Header enthält;

    Parser-Konfigurationsregister (24), die dafür konfiguriert sind, einen Standard-Parser-Konfigurationsdatensatz zu speichern, wobei mindestens einer der Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert ist, mindestens einen der Header als Reaktion auf den Standard-Parser-Konfigurationsdatensatz zu parsen, wodurch erste geparste Daten geliefert werden;

    eine Paketverarbeitungsmaschine (20), die mit den Hardwareparsern gekoppelt und für Folgendes konfiguriert ist:

    Auswählen eines Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes aus einer Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen als Reaktion auf die ersten geparsten Daten;

    Veranlassen des Ladens des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes in die Parser-Konfigurationsregister, wobei einige der Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert sind, als Reaktion auf den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz jeweils einen der Header zu parsen, wodurch zweite geparste Daten geliefert werden; und

    Verarbeiten des Pakets in Abhängigkeit von den zweiten geparsten Daten.


     
    2. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, die ferner eine Schnittstelle umfasst, die als Ausgangsanschluss konfiguriert ist, wobei die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, das Paket als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten über den Ausgangsanschluss an einen Netzwerkknoten (36) in einem Paketdatennetzwerk (14) weiterzuleiten.
     
    3. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, wobei die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, Daten im Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten zu ändern.
     
    4. Vorrichtung nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, die ferner einen Arbeitsspeicher (26) umfasst, der dafür konfiguriert ist, die Auswahl der Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätze einschließlich des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes zwischenzuspeichern, wobei die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, das Laden des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes aus dem Arbeitsspeicher in die Parser-Konfigurationsregister zu veranlassen.
     
    5. Vorrichtung nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei:

    die Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert sind, Header-Abschnitte jeweiliger virtueller Netzwerkfunktionen, VNFs (38), mit jeweiligen Header-Parsing-Schemata als Reaktion auf jeweilige der Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen zu parsen;

    die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz aus der Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen als Reaktion darauf auszuwählen, dass die ersten geparsten Daten als einer der VNFs zugeordnet identifiziert werden;

    einer der Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert ist, die jeweiligen Header gemäß einem der Header-Parsing-Schemata der einen VNF als Reaktion auf den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz zu parsen; und

    die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, das Paket als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten weiterzuleiten.


     
    6. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 5, wobei die jeweiligen VNFs mindestens eine virtuelle Maschine enthalten.
     
    7. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 6, wobei die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, das Paket als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten an eine virtuelle Maschine weiterzuleiten.
     
    8. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 6 oder 7, wobei die Paketverarbeitungsmaschine dafür konfiguriert ist, die eine VNF anhand einer Netzwerkadresse zu identifizieren, die in den ersten geparsten Daten enthalten ist.
     
    9. Vorrichtung nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die jeweiligen Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert sind, den Header-Abschnitt entsprechend den jeweiligen Offsets im Header-Abschnitt nacheinander zu parsen, wobei einer der Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert ist, die jeweiligen Offsets in Abhängigkeit von den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdaten und dem Header-Abschnitt zu errechnen.
     
    10. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 9, wobei der ausgewählte Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz für die jeweiligen Hardware-Parser enthält: einen nächsten Header-Offset (58) einer nächsten Header-Identifikation, ID, im Header-Abschnitt; und eine nächste Protokolltabelle (62), die nächste Header-IDs mit nächsten Protokollen verknüpft, wobei ein erster der Hardware-Parser für Folgendes gekoppelt ist:

    Abrufen des nächsten Header-Offsets für den ersten Hardware-Parser aus dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz in den Parser-Konfigurationsregistern;

    Abrufen der nächsten Header-ID, die sich im Header-Abschnitt am nächsten Header-Offset befindet, aus dem Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf den abgerufenen nächsten Header-Offset;

    Abrufen einer Identifikation eines nächsten zu verarbeitenden Protokolls aus der nächsten Protokolltabelle für den ersten Hardware-Parser aus dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz in den Parser-Konfigurationsregistern als Reaktion auf die abgerufene nächste Header-ID; und

    Übertragen des Header-Abschnitts an einen zweiten der Hardware-Parser, der dafür konfiguriert ist, den Header-Abschnitt gemäß dem nächsten Protokoll zu parsen.


     
    11. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 9 oder 10, wobei der ausgewählte Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz für die jeweiligen Hardware-Parser mindestens einen Datenextraktions-Offset (64) im Header-Abschnitt enthält, für den Daten extrahiert werden sollen, wobei ein erster der Hardware-Parser dafür konfiguriert ist, Daten aus dem Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf den mindestens einen Datenextraktions-Offset des ersten Hardware-Parsers in dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz zu extrahieren.
     
    12. Netzwerk-Verfahren, das Folgendes umfasst:

    Empfangen von Daten eines Header-Abschnitts eines Pakets, wobei der Header-Abschnitt entsprechende Header enthält;

    Speichern eines Standard-Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes in Parser-Konfigurationsregistern (24) ;

    Parsen mindestens eines der Header als Reaktion auf den Standard-Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz, was erste geparste Daten ergibt;

    Auswählen eines ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes aus einer Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen als Reaktion auf die ersten geparsten Daten;

    Veranlassen des Ladens des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes in die Parser-Konfigurationsregister;

    Parsen der jeweiligen Kopfzeilen als Reaktion auf den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz, wodurch zweite geparste Daten geliefert werden; und

    Verarbeiten des Pakets in Abhängigkeit von den zweiten geparsten Daten.


     
    13. Verfahren nach Anspruch 12, das mindestens eines der Folgenden umfasst:

    (a) Weiterleiten des Pakets über einen Ausgangsanschluss an einen Netzwerkknoten (36) in einem Paketdatennetzwerk (14) als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten;

    (b) Ändern von Daten im Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten;

    (c) Zwischenspeichern der Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen einschließlich des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes in einem Arbeitsspeicher; und Veranlassen des Ladens des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes aus dem Arbeitsspeicher in die Parser-Konfigurationsregister; und

    (d) Parsen von Header-Abschnitten jeweiliger virtueller Netzwerkfunktionen, VNFs (38), mit jeweiligen Header-Parsing-Schemata als Reaktion auf jeweilige der Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen;

    Auswählen des ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatzes aus der Auswahl von Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensätzen als Reaktion darauf, dass die ersten geparsten Daten als einer der VNFs zugeordnet identifiziert werden;

    Parsen der jeweiligen Header gemäß einem der Header-Parsing-Schemata der einen VNF als Reaktion auf den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz; und

    Weiterleiten des Pakets als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten.


     
    14. Verfahren nach Anspruch 13, wobei die jeweiligen VNFs mindestens eine virtuelle Maschine enthalten, vorzugsweise ferner umfassend das Weiterleiten des Pakets an eine virtuelle Maschine als Reaktion auf die zweiten geparsten Daten und/oder das Identifizieren der einen VNF anhand einer Netzwerkadresse, die in den ersten geparsten Daten enthalten ist.
     
    15. Verfahren nach einem der Ansprüche 12 bis 14, das ferner Folgendes umfasst:

    sukzessives Parsen des Header-Abschnitts entsprechend der jeweiligen Offsets in dem Header-Abschnitt; und

    Berechnen der jeweiligen Offsets als Reaktion auf den ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz und den Header-Abschnitt,

    wobei der ausgewählte Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz vorzugsweise enthält: einen nächsten Header-Offset (58) einer nächsten Header-Identifikation, ID, in dem Header-Abschnitt; und eine nächste Protokolltabelle (62), die nächste Header-IDs mit nächsten Protokollen verknüpft, wobei das Verfahren ferner umfasst:

    Abrufen des nächsten Header-Offsets aus dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz;

    Abrufen der nächsten Header-ID, die sich im Header-Abschnitt am nächsten Header-Offset befindet, aus dem Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf den abgerufenen nächsten Header-Offset;

    Abrufen einer Identifikation eines nächsten zu verarbeitenden Protokolls aus der nächsten Protokolltabelle aus dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz als Reaktion auf die abgerufene nächste Header-ID; und

    Parsen des Header-Abschnitts gemäß dem nächsten Protokoll; und/oder

    wobei der ausgewählte Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz mindestens einen Datenextraktions-Offset (64) in dem Header-Abschnitt enthält, für den Daten zu extrahieren sind, wobei das Verfahren ferner das Extrahieren von Daten aus dem Header-Abschnitt als Reaktion auf den mindestens einen Datenextraktions-Offset des ersten Hardware-Parsers in dem ausgewählten Parsing-Konfigurationsdatensatz umfasst.


     


    Revendications

    1. Dispositif de réseau (10), comprenant :

    des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels (18) couplés pour recevoir des données d'une section d'en-tête d'un paquet, la section d'en-tête comportant des en-têtes respectifs ;

    des registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique (24) configurés pour stocker un ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique par défaut, dans lequel au moins un des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels est configuré pour analyser syntaxiquement au moins un des en-têtes en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique par défaut, produisant des premières données analysées syntaxiquement ;

    un moteur de traitement de paquet (20) couplé aux analyseurs syntaxiques matériels, et configuré pour :

    sélectionner un ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique parmi une sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique en réponse aux premières données analysées syntaxiquement ;

    amener le chargement de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique, et dans lequel certains des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels sont configurés pour analyser syntaxiquement des en-têtes respectifs des en-têtes en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné, produisant des deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement ; et

    traitez le paquet en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.


     
    2. Dispositif selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre une interface configurée en tant que port de sortie, dans lequel le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour transférer le paquet via le port de sortie à un noeud de réseau (36) dans un réseau de données par paquets (14) en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.
     
    3. Dispositif selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans lequel le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour modifier des données dans la section d'en-tête en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.
     
    4. Dispositif selon toute revendication précédente, comprenant en outre une mémoire cache (26) configurée pour mettre en cache la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique comportant l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse sélectionné, le moteur de traitement de paquet étant configuré pour amener le chargement de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné depuis la mémoire cache jusque dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique.
     
    5. Dispositif selon toute revendication antérieure, dans lequel :

    les analyseurs syntaxiques matériels sont configurés pour analyser syntaxiquement des sections d'en-tête de fonctions de réseau virtuel, VNF (38), respectives, ayant des schémas d'analyse syntaxique d'en-tête respectifs en réponse à des ensembles respectifs de la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique ;

    le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour sélectionner l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné à partir de la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique en réponse aux premières données analysées syntaxiquement identifiées comme étant associées à l'une des VNF ;

    certains des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels sont configurés pour analyser des en-têtes respectifs des en-têtes conformément à un des schémas d'analyse syntaxique d'en-tête de la VNF en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné ; et

    le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour transférer le paquet en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.


     
    6. Dispositif selon la revendication 5, dans lequel les VNF respectives comportent au moins une machine virtuelle.
     
    7. Dispositif selon la revendication 6, dans lequel le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour transférer le paquet à une machine virtuelle en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.
     
    8. Dispositif selon la revendication 6 ou 7, dans lequel le moteur de traitement de paquet est configuré pour identifier une VNF à partir d'une adresse réseau incluse dans les premières données analysées syntaxiquement.
     
    9. Dispositif selon toute revendication précédente, dans lequel des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels respectifs des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels sont configurés pour analyser syntaxiquement successivement la section d'en-tête conformément à des décalages respectifs dans la section d'en-tête, les analyseurs syntaxiques matériels respectifs étant configurés pour calculer les décalages respectifs en réponse aux données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionnées et à la section d'en-tête.
     
    10. Dispositif selon la revendication 9, dans lequel l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné comporte pour des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels respectifs des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels :
    un décalage d'en-tête suivant (58) d'une identification, ID, d'en-tête suivant, dans la section d'en-tête ; et une table de protocoles suivants (62) liant les ID d'en-têtes suivants à des protocoles suivants, dans lequel un premier analyseur syntaxique matériel des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels est couplé pour :

    récupérer le décalage d'en-tête suivant pour le premier analyseur syntaxique matériel à partir de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique ;

    récupérer l'ID d'en-tête suivant, qui se trouve dans la section d'en-tête au décalage d'en-tête suivant, à partir de la section d'en-tête en réponse au décalage d'entête suivant récupéré ;

    récupérer une identification d'un protocole suivant à traiter à partir de la table de protocoles suivante pour le premier analyseur syntaxique matériel à partir de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique en réponse à l'ID d'en-tête suivant récupérée ; et

    transférer la section d'en-tête à un deuxième des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels, lequel est configuré pour analyser syntaxiquement la section d'en-tête conformément au protocole suivant.


     
    11. Dispositif selon la revendication 9 ou 10, dans lequel l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné comporte pour des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels respectifs des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels, au moins un décalage d'extraction de données (64) dans la section d'en-tête pour laquelle des données doivent être extraites, un premier des analyseurs syntaxiques matériels étant configuré pour extraire des données de la section d'en-tête en réponse à l'au moins un décalage d'extraction de données du premier analyseur syntaxique matériel dans l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné.
     
    12. Procédé de réseau, comprenant :

    la réception de données d'une section d'en-tête d'un paquet, la section d'en-tête comportant des en-têtes respectifs ;

    le stockage d'un ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique par défaut dans des registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique (24) ;

    l'analyse syntaxique d'au moins un des en-têtes en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique par défaut, produisant des premières données analysées syntaxiquement ;

    la sélection d'un ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné parmi une sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique en réponse aux premières données analysées syntaxiquement ;

    l'action d'amener le chargement de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique ;

    l'analyse syntaxique d'en-têtes respectifs des en-têtes en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné, produisant des deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement ; et

    le traitement du paquet en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.


     
    13. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comprenant en outre au moins une action parmi :

    (a) le transfert du paquet via un port de sortie à un noeud de réseau (36) dans un réseau de données par paquets (14) en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées ;

    (b) la modification des données dans la section d'entête en fonction aux deuxièmes données analysée syntaxiquement ;

    (c) la mise en cache de la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique comportant l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné, dans une mémoire cache ; et l'action d'amener le chargement de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné depuis la mémoire cache jusque dans les registres de configuration d'analyseur syntaxique ; et

    (d) l'analyse syntaxique de sections d'en-tête de fonctions de réseau virtuel, VNF (38), respectives, ayant des schémas d'analyse syntaxique d'en-tête respectifs en réponse à des ensembles respectifs de la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique ;

    la sélection de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné à partir de la sélection d'ensembles de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique en réponse à des premières données analysées syntaxiquement identifiées comme étant associées à l'une des VNF ;

    l'analyse syntaxique d'en-têtes respectifs des en-têtes conformément à un des schémas d'analyse syntaxique d'en-tête de la VNF en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné ; et

    le transfert du paquet en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement.


     
    14. Procédé selon la revendication 13, dans lequel les VNF respectives comprennent au moins une machine virtuelle, comprenant de préférence le transfert du paquet à une machine virtuelle en réponse aux deuxièmes données analysées syntaxiquement et/ou l'identification de la VNF à partir d'une adresse réseau incluse dans les premières données analysées syntaxiquement.
     
    15. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 12 à 14, comprenant en outre :

    l'analyse syntaxique successive de la section d'entête conformément à des décalages respectifs dans la section d'en-tête ; et

    le calcul des décalages respectifs en réponse à l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse sélectionné et à la section d'en-tête,

    de préférence dans lequel l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse sélectionné comporte : un décalage d'en-tête suivant (58) d'une identification, ID, d'en-tête suivant, dans la section d'en-tête ; et une table de protocoles suivants (62) liant les ID d'en-têtes suivants à des protocoles suivants, le procédé comprenant en outre :

    la récupération du décalage d'en-tête suivant à partir de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné ;

    la récupération de l'ID d'en-tête suivant, lequel se trouve dans la section d'en-tête au niveau du décalage d'en-tête suivant, à partir de la section d'en-tête en réponse au décalage d'en-tête suivant récupéré ;

    la récupération d'une identification d'un protocole suivant à traiter à partir de la table de protocoles suivants à partir de l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné en réponse à l'ID d'entête suivant récupérée ; et

    l'analyse syntaxique de la section d'en-tête conformément au protocole suivant ; et/ou

    dans lequel l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné comporte au moins un décalage d'extraction de données (64) dans la section d'entête pour laquelle des données doivent être extraites, le procédé comprenant en outre l'extraction de données de la section d'en-tête en réponse à l'au moins un ensemble de données d'extraction de données du premier analyseur syntaxique matériel dans l'ensemble de données de configuration d'analyse syntaxique sélectionné.


     




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    Cited references

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