METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AVOIDING NEW FLOW PACKET FLOOD FROM DATA PLANE TO CONTROL PLANE OF A NETWORK DEVICE

摘要

A mechanism is provided by which communication is reduced between a data plane of a network device and a control plane associated with that network device upon introduction of a new flow. A holding table is provided for every active flow table in the data plane. The holding table holds flow contexts for new flows not found in the associated active flow table, while awaiting flow information from the control plane. Each flow context includes a queue of subsequent data packets associated with the flow, which are held from the control plane pending receipt of the flow information from the control plane. A timeout mechanism compensates for packet loss between the network device and control plane. When the data plane receives the flow information from the control plane, the data plane then processes all the queued packets, deletes the flow context, and enters the data into an associated flow table.