US 11,818,039 B2
Methods and systems for removing expired flow table entries using an extended packet processing pipeline
Sameer Kittur Subrahmanya, Fremont, CA (US); Murty Kota, San Jose, CA (US); Tuyen Quoc, Saratoga, CA (US); and Harinadh Nagulapalli, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to PENSANDO SYSTEMS INC., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by Pensando Systems, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 29, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/898,012.
Application 17/898,012 is a continuation of application No. 16/985,060, filed on Aug. 4, 2020, granted, now 11,456,952.
Prior Publication US 2022/0417142 A1, Dec. 29, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04L 12/741 (2013.01); H04L 45/00 (2022.01); H04L 43/106 (2022.01); H04L 47/28 (2022.01); H04L 49/00 (2022.01); H04L 69/22 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 45/54 (2013.01) [H04L 43/106 (2013.01); H04L 45/38 (2013.01); H04L 47/28 (2013.01); H04L 49/3063 (2013.01); H04L 69/22 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A network appliance comprising:
a memory configured to store a flow table that includes a plurality of flow table entries for a plurality of network traffic flows that include a plurality of packets;
a packet processing circuit and a pipeline circuit that each include a plurality of match-action stages;
a match-action pipeline that includes the match-action stages of the packet processing circuit and that is configured to read the flow table in the memory; and
an extended packet processing pipeline that includes the match-action stages of the pipeline circuit and that is configured to read the flow table in the memory,
wherein
the match-action stages of the match-action pipeline process the packets based on the flow table entries in the flow table in the memory, and
the match-action stages of the extended packet processing pipeline search the flow table in the memory to determine that one of the flow table entries is for a network traffic flow that is expired or terminated.