Segment Routing Packet Policies and Functions Including an Engineered Reverse Reply Path Providing Efficiencies in Communicating Packets in a Network

摘要

In one embodiment, segment routing network processing of packets is performed on segment routing packets to use engineered segment routing reverse reply paths which provide efficiencies in communicating packets in a network. In one embodiment, a source node selects a segment identifier of a destination node, with the segment identifier specifying a function value of a dynamic return path segment routing function in order to invoke this function on the destination node. The source node then sends a segment routing packet to the destination address of this segment identifier. Reacting to receipt of this packet and the function value of the dynamic return path segment routing function in the destination address or current segment identifier of the packet, a receiving node generates a responding segment routing packet including the segment identifiers from the received packet in reverse traversal order.