PACKET PROCESSING DEVICE, FLOW ENTRY ARRANGEMENT METHOD AND PROGRAM

摘要

The invention reduces sorting cost when a new flow entry is recorded in a packet processing apparatus where flow entries are arranged and held in a priority order. The packet processing apparatus is provided with: a flow table in which flow entries can be stored in areas allocated in order of priority groups; an entry management unit that determines, upon receiving a new flow entry from a prescribed control apparatus, a storage position in the flow table based on which priority group among the plural priority groups the new flow entry belongs to, and on a level 2 priority that is used for determining position within the priority group; and an entry retrieval unit that scans from the beginning of the flow table, retrieves an entry having match condition(s) that match(es) a received packet, and determines processing to be applied to the received packet.