Ciena Corporation

Paul Curtis

Marc Holness

Hossein Baheri

Pramod Kumar Aggarwal

Ankit Sood

Theodore Ernest Tedijanto

Neeraj Gulati

Helen Zhang

Systems and methods include one or more processing devices configured to implement a Network Operating System (NOS) that is configured to switch frames, wherein the one or more processing devices are connected to a plurality of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) configured to operate in a chain having a service flow, and wherein the NOS is configured to implement frame classification for the frames in order to distribute the frames to the plurality of VNFs, such that some of the plurality of VNFs process a subset of the frames.

Systems and methods for sideline processing in a virtual network function

A Virtual Network Function (VNF) executed on a processing device includes one or more first Terminal Access Point (TAP) interfaces which are virtual network kernel interfaces and which are each mapped to an associated second TAP interface associated with a Network Operating System (NOS), wherein the associated second TAP interface is mapped to an associated physical port; and a processor configured to receive, transmit, and process select frames via the one or more first TAP interfaces, wherein the VNF is in a sideline configuration of a service flow, only receiving and transmitting the select frames of the service flow.

A method and system for aggregating a plurality of parallel communications links transmitting data between adjacent nodes in a network is provided. The method simplifies network topology by replacing multiple parallel communications links between nodes in the network with a single aggregated link. The method advertises the available bandwidth of each aggregated link to the network, the available bandwidth being the maximum bandwidth available for any one of the parallel links in the aggregate. The method permits each aggregated link to select which of the parallel links in the aggregate is to be used to transfer data from one node to the other. Aggregating links can be automatic and based on one or more predetermined criteria, such as the service class supported by the parallel links.

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Alpharetta, GA, United States of America

Paul Curtis