US 12,267,244 B2
Next hop groups
Kenneth James Duda, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Assigned to ARISTA NETWORKS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Arista Networks, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/385,516.
Application 17/385,516 is a continuation of application No. 16/521,098, filed on Jul. 24, 2019, granted, now 11,108,696.
Application 16/521,098 is a continuation of application No. 15/066,913, filed on Mar. 10, 2016, granted, now 10,412,009, issued on Sep. 10, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0359947 A1, Nov. 18, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04L 47/17 (2022.01); H04L 45/00 (2022.01); H04L 47/2441 (2022.01); H04L 47/50 (2022.01); H04L 101/622 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 47/17 (2013.01) [H04L 45/54 (2013.01); H04L 47/2441 (2013.01); H04L 2101/622 (2022.05)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A network device, comprising:
a processor;
forwarding hardware comprising a memory adapted to store forwarding instructions; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising instructions for:
obtaining next hop information associated with a second network device;
creating a next hop group in a first table, the next hop group comprising the next hop information associated with the second network device, wherein a first prefix is associated with an index associated with the created next hop group in a second table, and the index for the created next hop group is associated with the created next hop group in a third table;
configuring forwarding instructions in the forwarding hardware of the network device based on the next hop information, wherein the forwarding hardware is adapted for:
receiving a first packet;
determining that the first packet is associated with the first prefix; and
based on the determination of the association of the first packet and the first prefix, forwarding the first packet using the forwarding instructions configured based on the next hop information by:
determining the index for the created next hop group from the second table based on the first prefix,
determining the next hop group from the index using the third table,
determining the next hop information from the next hop group using the first table, and
determining the forwarding instructions based on the next hop information.